combo depth/fish finder and GPS/Chart plotter ADVICE - The Hull Truth

ryounglaw · 08-17-2006, 09:58 AM

I know I may be opening the figurative can of worms here but here goes. I am new to boating and I want a combo depth/fish finder and GPS/Chart plotter system for a 25 foot boat that will be used primarily in the Middle Chesapeake Bay. Who make the best one? I looked at the raymarine C120 b/c of the large color screen. Boater World said that this has the best finder on the market but Garmin has the more intuitive chart plotter. I am new to boating and have not used any of these. Please, any advice?

thanks
Ryan

bigrockhunter · 08-17-2006, 10:40 AM

I have the Garmin 3206 with GSD22(sounder), and the weather module. I boat in the Chesapeake bay as well. I reallly like the unit and highly recommand it. This is my second Garmin unit. It is very intuitive. Customer service is excelleant, I had a problem with not reading bottom, sent the 3206 and GSD 22 back within a week I had a new 3206 and the gsd22 returned to me. What kind of boat do you have? What will you be primarily using it for?

Talk to Jim at ByownerElectronics, he will have the best price and be able to help answer specific question. I sent some friends there that were new to boating and he got them set up. He is local in Annapolis as well.

greyg8r · 08-17-2006, 11:28 AM

ryounglaw,

asking who makes the best ff/chartplotter is like asking who makes the best boat! There are a multitude of brands (Furuno, Garmin, Lowrance, Raymarine, Si-tex, et al) and each has models. My guess is that there is a model(s) from each of these brands that would serve you well. You need to read up as much as you can on this forum and others, play with them on others' boats or at stores, and then you will be able to ask specific questions.

And, since you asked, the Si-Tex Colormax Wide that I have with the es502 black fishfinder is pretty slick. The 15" Si-Tex would be that much slicker...

RMM · 08-17-2006, 01:53 PM

Have done a lot of looking at these lately. First, I currently own a Garmin GPS plotter and has been excellent.

The consensus seems to be that for quality and endurance go with Furuno, only issue is they are a little behind the times technology wise.

The new Raymarine E-series looks excellent, tried one out and amazing even compared to the Garmin 3200. Like the Raymarine C series and excellent value but everything new from Ray is angled toward E series and think C will be phased out soon.

Think we've decided to go with the E series unless Furuno comes out with a new line soon.

Ryan your not from Jersey are you? New a Ryan Young back in the day from there.

familyman · 08-18-2006, 04:14 PM

Research your features and costs once all the wiring, networking, black boxes and cartography is added. I found some features such as DSC position indication was not available on some models. Some models have a great sounder but poor chartplotting features.
I will say that Tightline Rods and BOE, both vendors here, do have great prices and customer service, they get my business.
Good Luck!

sixpack324 · 08-18-2006, 04:20 PM

I love my Garmin (forget the model # , maybe 478??) Not only is it very user friendly, it's color, affordable, split screen mode is adjustable so you can adjust the size of each screen in the split and it comes preloaded with charts so no need to buy cards.

aubrey · 08-19-2006, 12:54 AM

I have a Furuno GP7000F combo chartplotter/ff and a Garmin 376c chartplotter. If I were to do it over, I would buy the largest screen Garmin chartplotter with XM weather capability that I could fit/afford and a Furuno 585 fishfinder.

JCJ · 08-19-2006, 08:58 AM

I'm on my fourth Garmin. I just installed the 3210 w/o the weather module, SSA 41 raydome and shoot through hull transducer. The combination unit beats the heck out of looking at 4 units to get the same information. I'm using it in my 2510 Parker.

thataway · 08-19-2006, 11:25 PM

Not sure I would go to Boater World for advice on electronics. There are any number of excellent combo units currently available. My personal read is that skip the hard drive unless you do a lot of traveling over all of the United States (I have a hard drive chart plotter, and do a lot of traveling), Look at the cartography for the area you will be boating in. The choices are Garmin, Navionics and C Map (Lowrance uses a generic Nauticpath, but will accept Navionics also), in the chips. With computer screens there is a slightly wider source, but all basically from the same data base.

Get the largest screen you can afford. Get the brightest screen you can find, but look at the night screen if you do night running (and a good night screen is not just dimming the display--it is using suptle colors and allowing you to keep the night vision). Look at ease of use and learning to use.

In todays world standards are very rapidly changing--and NMEA 2000 is becomming the given standard. You have to look at where you may want to be a year or two down the line, and NMEA 2000 is where you need to be.

I personally like Furuno. They have the best reputation for commercial grade gear. They have made some upgrades in the GPS plotting (which was slow)--and allow either Navionics or C map. RayMarine is only Navionics. Some people have had reliability issues in the past with RayMarine--these seem to be much better now. I had used Garmin for a number of years, but about 4 years ago, felt that their cartography and some policies were restrictive--so I have not purchased their products recently--but they have a very good product.

I also happen to be one who likes separate screens, and diversity, with redundancy. With the single unit, you have put every egg in one basket (put a hand held GPS and VHF radio which run on AA batteries in a steel amo can and keep that for when the fancy stuff goes down). Also have paper charts.

Look at a number of boats and see how the units do on the water. Don't confine your search to one store--look at a number of models--boat show is a good place to do that--electronics dealer also is. Put some real thought into this, since it is a sizable hunk of change, if you get the "works"--GPS, FF, Radar, Weather etc. Also down the line comes AIS--and in fog in the Chesapeake, I would like to have AIS....

Plan how the units would fit on your boat.
Most of all--have fun!

EddieJoe · 08-20-2006, 07:55 PM

Quote:

ryounglaw - 8/17/2006 8:58 AM

I know I may be opening the figurative can of worms here but here goes. I am new to boating and I want a combo depth/fish finder and GPS/Chart plotter system for a 25 foot boat that will be used primarily in the Middle Chesapeake Bay. Who make the best one? I looked at the raymarine C120 b/c of the large color screen. Boater World said that this has the best finder on the market but Garmin has the more intuitive chart plotter. I am new to boating and have not used any of these. Please, any advice?

thanks
Ryan

I have the new Garmin 498 (with a 20' boat) and think that would be a good choice for your needs. However, I really like the Furuno GPS that I used to own, although it had no chartplotter ability.

The G 498 has so many features that it takes some time to learn the machine (and I am pretty gadget savvy). Screen is only moderate in size, but it fits nicely on the console dash. Depends on your needs and room as to what you buy - larger is better but can also be worse, depending on room and how much you can afford.

EJ

timp · 08-21-2006, 01:45 AM

I'll go with Simrad, have their combo 34e been a VERY good unit never have had a problem with it, also have a Furuno GP 32 and somekind of new Hummin bird for back-up. Only unit to pizz me off was a Ramarine chart that I threw overboard in S. Padre Island. Oh the FF in the Simrad works great too, 600watts can see everthing!!

bbrown1264 · 08-21-2006, 11:09 AM

I'd have no problem recommending the Garmin 498. I've got one on my 19' boat and it is great. The interface couldn't be much more logical and intuitive. The charts are preloaded. This was a big selling point for me. And, they are right on the money for my area.

Not sure the FF is the best but, for the inshore fishing I do around Tampa Bay, it works just fine.

If I had the console space and the money, I would probably have gone with Garmin 3206. The display is much better than the 498 but the cost is substantially more. It's over 2x as much by the time you add the sonar.