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Hoping for some helpful advise, I do a lot of bay fishing and will be heading off shore once l have sorted my marine electronics, I have limited dash space ,so a combo unit is my only option , I am looking for a top notch fish finder,, with GPS and the radar option at a later date .As anyone owned/operated either units mentioned above , if so how do the fish finders compare ? With either unit l will be using a airmar M260 transducer, thanking you in advance.
I have really enjoyed my CX44e. I have had the Navnet and have used the Garmin but The Simrad is really at the top. If I had to choose again I would go with the Simrad again. My CX44e is paired with the Airmar B260 and is a great combination. No problem marking fish in depths to 1800ft. Marking Tuna Dolphin or bottom fish has been no problem at all. There a some neat features on the Simrad. If you locate fish while cuising, running or fishing you can pull Gps cordinates from the Echosounder screen. I also like the multiple functions for the keypad you can zoom in or out by just hitting the numeric keys. I also like the duel chartplotter screens. You can use the same chart to pull up two different screens at once. You can have one side zoomed in and one screen zoomed out. Any combination of screens can be actively changed without getting out of the duel or multiple screen. You can change the active screen and modifie it with the push of one button. It is nice not having to clear all the screens to modifie just one of the multiple screens showing... tight lines Mark
The Simrad CX series is due to be phased out shortly and will be replaced with something (I am told) which is superior both in performance and ease of use.
I Had the Ray e80's and Furuno Navnet and switched to Simrad cx44E with 6KW Open Array with Airmar M260. The unit is awesome and it works flawlessly. MyCX is paired with the M260 and so farI never lost bottom in shallow or deep stuff. The dual screen mode for Chart and Radar are awesome. I could split the Radar and Chart screen and have one windows zoomed in and the other zoomed out. Just remember to use the dual radar screen you need to have 24v to the radar box.
I have a Simrad CX44e with a 4kW open array and a B260 transducer also. I have had Furuno Navnet with BBFF1 and B260 in the past and also use a Furuno with the BBFF3 and separate commercial 200Hz and 50 Hz transducers on a big Viking. I think both units you are considering are quite good. The display on the Furuno s a little better in bright sunlight than the Simrad (and I do have the "sunview" version of the CX44e), but the Simrad display has a very nice crisp quality to it visually that makes it look a little sharper than the Furuno, though the resolution is identical.
The radar on the Simrad is fantastic, better than the similar sized Furuno, which is also an excellent unit.
The plotter is slow on both, but worse on the Simrad if that is important to you.
The sounder functions on both are also excellent. I disagree with some of the others in that I think the Furuno does a little better, especially in shallower water using 200Hz (less than 50 feet). I have also been on a boat with a Simrad CX44 and a Simrad Combi transducer. That is probably the best of all, but the transducer is enormous and costs more than twice what a B260 costs.
In short, you won't go wrong with either. I would be a little concerned about support from Simrad since the division that makes the recreational equipment was sold last year. I have also heard that Simrad is coming out with a new line this winter to replace the CX series (which is getting quite old in consumer electronics terms) which will be PC based. That will mean great bargains on the CX if you wait a while.
I would be a little concerned about support from Simrad since the division that makes the recreational equipment was sold last year.
Has anyone else heard of this it is news to me???Mark
Yes, the recreational division was sold to Navico, which also owns Lowrance, Northstar, NavMan, B&G, Eagle and probably others. The commercial division of Simrad is still owned by the original Simrad company.
The company that owns simrad bought lowrance last year. Maybe that is what he is talking about but simrad has not been sold and the support is top notch.
I have 2 cx44 displays and would not trade them for anything else. Their only drawback is the plotter is on the slow side but no biggie for me. The radar is without a doubt the best out there.I have the 6' 12 kw and it amazes me every time I use. Once you get the base paramiters set right you rarely need to take it out of auto mode.
I also think the FF is as good as the furuno. I do have the combi-c ducer.
It has great features that the others do not have that are very usefull. Not just bells and whistles.
The Simrad recreational division was sold to a private equity group, which subsequently bought Lowrance. This is the original announcement for the doubters:
What buyout guys like this do is eventually flip the company to someone else -- they are not indefinite owners, which is why I would have some conern over long-term support.
Simrad sold to Altor
KONGSBERG signed an agreement today with the Nordic fund Altor for the sale of the Group's Yachting activities
The contract comprises the four factories: Simrad Egersund, Simrad Støvring, Simrad Margate and B&G Ltd., as well as the holding company Simrad AS and the distribution companies Simrad Marine, Simrad AB (Sweden), Simrad AS (Denmark), Simrad GmbH (Germany), Simrad SA (France), Simrad BV (the Netherlands), Simrad Srl (Italy), Simrad Inc. (USA) and Simrad Canada Ltd. The Fisheries activities in these companies will be transferred to Kongsberg Maritime. Simrad Spain will be kept by Kongsberg Maritime and the Yachting operations in Simrad Spain will be transferred to a new owner.
The Yachting activities will be operated under the name Simrad Yachting, which will have the right to use Simrad as a brand name. KONGSBERG will own 10 per cent of the new company. The transfer is expected to take place in late October.
Nomans,
No "doubters" here just seeking the correct information. I like USTA and others that have contacted have received fast top notch service. Simrad has been the first Company that I have ever contacted and put a "real" tech on the phone not a operator going through a manual. He answered all of my questions the first time with the correct answers. Hopefully this kind or service will continue in the future....... Mark
I have had Simrad autopilots for 10 years and the CX44 for three years now. All of my experiences with their service have also been excellent. I have also had extremely good service from Furuno.
My point was just that after the sale the support may not be as good. I said this in large part because of my experience with Northstar. I had great experiences with the "old" Northstar that used to make the best units on the water. After the company was sold, the service and the relative performance and quality of their products went downhill fast. My last experience with Northstar service was pretty terrible -- long waits on the phone, slow turnaround in making a warranty repair, topped off by a factory tech who did not seat a connector properly so my unit stopped working after a day. Fortuately I had to take my boat to my dealer for engine service. They are an authorized Northstar repair facility and they were able to take it apart and fix the problem created by the factory. It's really too bad because I liked buying Northstar because it was one of the few things actually made in the USA and their stuff was genuinely the best in the 1990's. But no more.
Simrad CX44E vs Furuno navnet 10.4 
