RMM

Looking for new radar, fishfinder and chartplotter.

Have been leaning toward Furuno 1934 radar & fishfinder and a Garmin 4000 plotter (like the Garmin charts). Problem is a all of it is a little outside my budget, looking around $5K. Boat is a 31' Tiara and used on Chesapeake and mid-atlantic offshore.

Currently use a Garmin 182C and old Furuno 24 mile radar 602D and Furuno fishfinder FCV662. The Furuno equipment is 18 years old but still works well (this is why leaning toward Furuno), just want to update. Thinking about going w/ the 1934 and using as radar and fisfinder and later adding Garmin 4000 series. Questions are:

How does the Furuno BBF1 fishfinder compare to the new 620 or 585?

Is it worth going with the open array over the dome? Besides the fact that I just like the spinning array!

Is it worth upgrading to the 1944 for the better radar?

How hard is the Furuno radar to install and setup? Does it need to be shimmed on a radar arch? Plan on doing myself.

Big holdback is Furuno seems a little behind the times compared with Raymarine and Garmin. Does Furuno have anything new on the horizon?

Considered the Raymarine e-80 but not had good experience with their equipment in the past.

Sure anything will be a world of difference over what I have. Open to suggestions.

Thanks

yachtjim

I would look into the C-Series Raymarine. You can make your money go a long way. Regarding Furuno, the open array is certainly cooler but for basic navigation and dodging storms you will not benefit from the extra power. Don't get me wrong, it will perform better but will not really give you any added benefits for navigation. The BBFF1 is a great unit, but the 585 is newer technology and presents a better picture. Plus the built in knobs on the display make using it much easier. Furuno is definitely behind the times but bulletproof. So you need to figure if you want the latest gizmos or the most reliable.

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