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I have searched around, but was hoping people could give me their opinions. Were looking to outfit our 32 reg with electronics, and are kind of lost as to what to go with. The choices are Garmin 5215 Furuno Navnet 3D or the new Raymarine E seires wide screen. Two screens with sounder, radar, and gps. I like the Navnet, but a lot of people are talking very highly of the Garmin. The boat is used for inshore and offshore fishing out to the canyons.
If fishing in the canyons is important to you, take a look at the new fishing charts that Furuno has released for NavNet 3D. I've loaded them on my system and they are really great. I'm amazed at how outstanding they look in 3D. I had to mess around a bit with the depth shading settings to get it to look like their picture, but it wasn't very difficult at all. Here's a link for more information on their new charts: http://www.furunousa.com/Furuno/Room...D86B0544%5D%5D
The Furuno DFF1 fish finder that I have connected works great!
The new E-series wide looks pretty neat, I would probably wait for those before I made a decision. I would go with Navnet 3d over Garmin, Garmin is lacking in sounder by a long shot and Furuno's the best radar. Once you learn how to use the Navnet 3D, it really is a great unit.
As always - it depends. If you are cost constrained, the choice will be Garmin hands down. If you want the absolute best bling to go with the 4 verados hanging off your boat, or just want to rub elbows with the draggers, go furuno.
But seriously, RM and Furuno are the better choices for both function and reliability. Sorry Garmin, you have a long way to go here.
I have nothing against Garmin. It is a cost effective solution for 80% of the market. They will do very well and you would likely be very happy with them unless you can't take the ribbing you will get from the dock nazi's. In fact, that's what I own. But if cost were no object and I had to have the very best out there, I wouldn't even consider it. It's good enough for me though. I just grumble a lot because I've had better.
I am running all Garmin on one of my crafts, 3xxx series. I really can say I doubt I would change it out for anything else. Your electronics can only do so much for the captain. The most critical part to utilizing your electronics capacity is owner operation. I think as why too many people are critical towards certain manufacturers, not just from ignorance on operating the device but also hearsay. Like the Garmin sounder issues; semingly, so many people lay claim to problems with the Garmin sounder...perhaps true, perhaps operator error. This however has influence over most everyone else that reads that individuals rant. They then become biased against a Garmin because of something they read and not something they experienced first hand. So far three of the four replies have all recommended a different manufacturer. Truth is, I really doubt there is any one unit superior to the other in those you have mentioned. I think they are all great units. Find the best deal between each comparable unit and go with it.
I would suggest Garmin is by far the best chartplotter for ease of use and functionality and Furuno wins hands down on the bottom machine and radar. Try a 2 monitor set up, and the Furuno gives you a backup Chartplotter in case you have a Garmin issue. That is the way my boat is set up and could not be happier. Your Reg should have enough room for both screens.
Please explain why Furuno sounder technology is better then Raymarine? To my knowledge the technologies used and performance are almost identical.
What are the advantages of Furuno UHD radars compared to Raymarine SHD? Do you have experience with both?
And the statment that Garmin chartplotters are the best when it comes to ease of use can also be questioned. For some people Garmin is the simplest to use while others find the very logical user interface of Raymarine simpler.
Here is a test for you Garmin guys. Create a route over a complex course using just the chartplotter. How many screens do you need to navigate? That would be one on a RM unit.
Yes, I have Garmin. Garmin meets my needs. I have no real complaints over what it does or how it does it. I have some rants, but those aren't show stoppers. Some things it simply doesn't do at all (like trials in radar).
Is it as good as the RM gear I had prior? Nope, not even the chartplotter. But a lot of that is personal preference. The technology got better, but it is better on RM as well.
I'm still pleased with Garmin overall. But that is as much pragmatism as anything else.
I have searched around, but was hoping people could give me their opinions. Were looking to outfit our 32 reg with electronics, and are kind of lost as to what to go with. The choices are Garmin 5215 Furuno Navnet 3D or the new Raymarine E seires wide screen. Two screens with sounder, radar, and gps. I like the Navnet, but a lot of people are talking very highly of the Garmin. The boat is used for inshore and offshore fishing out to the canyons.
Your thread seems to have been derailed. Of course all of this is a matter of opinion and personal taste, but having had the benefit of using all three of these systems (though not the newest Raymarine), I would have to say that the choice is really between Furuno and Raymarine. That makes it easy because there is no real advantage to Raymarine but Furuno has great customer support and a large base of installed product. It is also not totally clear what the future holds for Raymarine as a brand given the gyrations of its ownership. Furuno seems very stable by contrast.
Go with two 12" NavNet 3D displays, a DFF1 sounder with an SS270W transducer (which will fit in the pocket on the 32 Regulator hull) and the small 3.5' open array and you will have great system.
Thanks for all the input guys it seems like Furuno will be the way were going to go. The plan a route thing seems nice, but I can't see myself using it that much in reality. I usually boat in very familiar areas, and take shortcuts that the plotter probably won't know. It would be nice if they have a screen bigger than 12 inches without going with the black box processor and a separate screen though.
I have knowledgeable clients that have had all 3 and prefer Furuno
I have knowledgeable clients that have had all 3 and prefer Ray
I have knowledgeable clients that have had all 3 and prefer Garmin
And I'm not kidding...Honestly, you can't tell until you play with all 3 for more than 10 min of showroom inspection. They each have a nice niche and work at diff levels....
I don't think you would go wrong with any of them. Having spent years with a Furuno Navnet2 which was replaced with a Garmin 4000 system and Raymarine C's & E's (not the new C-wide), each are unique. My personal preference is that the Garmin is the easiest to use for someone without significant time playing with the gear - everything pages together logically. I like the Furuno products, but they are the hardest to learn, and the only negative to Raymarine is they are the most expensive.
From a value perspective, Garmin gives you the same (or better in the case of chartplotter features (including two video inputs per display and the best nmea 2000 device support)) performance for 20-30% less cost (except the sounder which is still lacking some) - even more when you add in all the bells and whistles like weather, AIS, heading sensor, etc.
Last edited by LI32; 10-26-2009 at 06:14 AM.
Reason: typo
For a 32 Regulator I would go with Furuno.
My guess is way over half of all Regulators have Furuno on them.
When you sell this boat Furuno will be a plus.
More people in this class of boat dislike Raymarine and Garmin
I would go with all Furuno on your boat. I had Furuno products on my last boat and never had any issues at all. This boat I have Simrad and Garmin. I love the Simrad but knowing that They are under Navico now crosses them off the list. To many customer service and technical support issue. Makes me want to shed tears when I see Navico and Simrad in bed with each other. I like the Garmin but liked all the Furuno stuff much more. Sounder dont even think about Garmin. Chartplotter is great but the connectors on the back are cheap and cheesy. Just had a friend have to send one back because of the connector on the unit cracked. To their credit they sent him a new refurb unit N/C. Get Furuno and you wont have to worry about those problems. Just do a search here and you will see which products have the most and least problems. Very easy to figure out....Mark
I have run both Furuno and Garmin quite a bit.....I have one boat with Furuno sounder and radar and a Garmin plotter....another boat with all Garmin, and I can tell you the next boat....all Garmin! Garmin's radar has come a longg way and the new HD's are some awesome units IMHO. I will agree that the sounder needs work, but for the best overall setup....the Garmin wins hands down!!! Also, the XM Weather is legit!!!
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Grady White 305 Express
"Southern Hunter"
Garmin VS. Raymarine Vs. Furuno
