Fusion ip700issues

Here is my subjective rating at the moment

1. Simrad
2. Lowrance
3. Garmin
4. Raymarine

I have all of the above - and Raymarine is very "buggy" in the newest c97 version. The e versions I think are much better but not much better than Garmin and still quite "buggy". But Lowrance and Simrad (both from Navico) has the best tools for fishing and navigation. Garmin has the best (and only) GPS's with "Auto Guidance" and works well.

But Garmin has nothing "reasonable new" in the $2000-$4500 range. So for Garmin - either stay <$2000 with the new GPSMAP 741/741xs or the new 500 series - or go all the way to the 8000 series - which starts at about $4500. Garmins 6000/7000 series are both > 3 years old - so only put them in if you get REALLY good deals.

Simrad & Lowrance are not bug free - but the Lowrance HDS Touch series are very nice and fast - and the Simrad is just elegant :) and easy to use compared to Raymarine. I find Raymarines User Interface to have things "scattered" around without any logic - where Garmin/Simrad/Lowrance - have all nailed it and have easy to use UI's.

Raymarine also uses their complete own standard for Transducers - whereas Garmin, Lowrance, Simrad and most others you can modify or get "pigtail" conversion cables for. Garmin/Lowrance and Simrad uses standard NMEA 2000 Micro-C connectors - where Raymarine uses their own "standard" - so cables are in general about $20 more each.

Radar - Simrad/Lowrance - best dome radar I have used. Garmin radars are far behind and are really outdated - Raymarine - somewhere in between. Simrad has the only "non magnetron" powered radar - which emits 1/100 of the signal strength of "normal domes" - and for me with a baby boy that was important - and since it is better for navigation than the rest - that was my choice. But it is not as good for "weather system" detection as Garmin/Raymarine.

On WiFi access - Garmin are the "worst" - with only Route planning and waypoint sync - and only from i* Devices. Raymarine & Lowrance/Simrad have full "remote control" of MFD's from i* Devices and Android. Raymarine sync's with Navionics i* device apps for routes and waypoints (when it works). Simrad/Lowrance does not have waypoint sync/route sync yet from "tablet" applications.

Fusion integration: Raymarine & Garmin has it (when it works) - Simrad/Lowrance does not - they have their own "fusion re-badge" device - the Sonichub.

And finally - if you ever get VesselView on your boat - they new VV7 is a re-branded Simrad NSS7 - and that can use all your other Simrad/Lowrance accessories and maps/chart sharing. You could also start with VV7 - since that is 6.4" MFD with Simrad software + Mercruiser software (so kind of a color MercMonitor with Chartplotter)
 
I have a 700 series Fusion head unit, and the first one I had received was bad. (Customer service was great) The replacement and the two NRX-2000 remotes connected work flawlessly now. I am waiting to connect and update my Garmin 7212 to control it via Fusion-Link. The Fusion units are years ahead the competition at this time. As soon as they can integrate the Iphone 5 it will be the clear choice.
 
Thank you very much kaz im I know its far away but im alrrady shopping for what I want to install next season. When I have free time I stop at a marine supply by my boat and end up playing with the electronics. I spent an hour in there last week just pushing buttons on all the different units. I think they got a little mad lol but o well. Very discriptive comments. Helped a lot. I always liked the looks of the simrad units but they seem a little intimidating to me. I dunno why but I guees thas the learning curve. Later on this year ill start getting more into what I want and start asking for more info. Im still very new to radar and auto pilot and linking everything together, using them as one and thru hulls (very intimidating) cutting holes, what about the old ones? I dunno I don'teven want to think about it know lol

Sellnit
Did you ever get an answer on what was wrong?
Thats just weird
 
kaz911 said:
Here is my subjective rating at the moment

1. Simrad
2. Lowrance
3. Garmin
4. Raymarine

I have all of the above - and Raymarine is very "buggy" in the newest c97 version. The e versions I think are much better but not much better than Garmin and still quite "buggy". But Lowrance and Simrad (both from Navico) has the best tools for fishing and navigation. Garmin has the best (and only) GPS's with "Auto Guidance" and works well.

But Garmin has nothing "reasonable new" in the $2000-$4500 range. So for Garmin - either stay <$2000 with the new GPSMAP 741/741xs or the new 500 series - or go all the way to the 8000 series - which starts at about $4500. Garmins 6000/7000 series are both > 3 years old - so only put them in if you get REALLY good deals.

Simrad & Lowrance are not bug free - but the Lowrance HDS Touch series are very nice and fast - and the Simrad is just elegant :) and easy to use compared to Raymarine. I find Raymarines User Interface to have things "scattered" around without any logic - where Garmin/Simrad/Lowrance - have all nailed it and have easy to use UI's.

Raymarine also uses their complete own standard for Transducers - whereas Garmin, Lowrance, Simrad and most others you can modify or get "pigtail" conversion cables for. Garmin/Lowrance and Simrad uses standard NMEA 2000 Micro-C connectors - where Raymarine uses their own "standard" - so cables are in general about $20 more each.

Radar - Simrad/Lowrance - best dome radar I have used. Garmin radars are far behind and are really outdated - Raymarine - somewhere in between. Simrad has the only "non magnetron" powered radar - which emits 1/100 of the signal strength of "normal domes" - and for me with a baby boy that was important - and since it is better for navigation than the rest - that was my choice. But it is not as good for "weather system" detection as Garmin/Raymarine.

On WiFi access - Garmin are the "worst" - with only Route planning and waypoint sync - and only from i* Devices. Raymarine & Lowrance/Simrad have full "remote control" of MFD's from i* Devices and Android. Raymarine sync's with Navionics i* device apps for routes and waypoints (when it works). Simrad/Lowrance does not have waypoint sync/route sync yet from "tablet" applications.

Fusion integration: Raymarine & Garmin has it (when it works) - Simrad/Lowrance does not - they have their own "fusion re-badge" device - the Sonichub.

And finally - if you ever get VesselView on your boat - they new VV7 is a re-branded Simrad NSS7 - and that can use all your other Simrad/Lowrance accessories and maps/chart sharing. You could also start with VV7 - since that is 6.4" MFD with Simrad software + Mercruiser software (so kind of a color MercMonitor with Chartplotter)
Click to expand...

Very informative post Kaz.... Should be its own thread......
 
I have the Fusion 700 as well and it works flawlessly... However, the helm remote did fail due to a bad cable. Replaced it at no cost and all is well now.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
cod said:
Very informative post Kaz.... Should be its own thread......
Click to expand...

Thanks - I am working on a comparison article :) - but that was just some of the headlights. I have a 741xs on order so as soon as they start shipping i'll update ya' all.

When I find a good deal on a Ray e9*/e12* - i'll update there as well - right now I have a c97 and that - is just unusable due to lack of touch. If you are a hardcore "raymarine user" the menu structures might be familiar - but for the rest of us - the menu system is ... well ... a POS. I have had discussions on THT with the GM of Ray about it - and he is of course very defensive about their product. But there was nothing he said that convinced me that Ray was "a good direction" to go (for now)

And one more thing - Raymarine is the ONLY one that does not deliver a trunion mount with the GPS's. Garmin/Simrad & Lowrance does - but Ray does not - so that MIGHT add another $50-$130 to the total bill.
 
kaz911 said:
Radar - Simrad/Lowrance - best dome radar I have used. Garmin radars are far behind and are really outdated - Raymarine - somewhere in between.
Click to expand...
Would you be able to explain to us what you mean by "best", "far behind", "somewhere in between"? What are the internal characteristics/deficiencies that led you to this conclusion?
 
ZZ13 said:
Would you be able to explain to us what you mean by "best", "far behind", "somewhere in between"? What are the internal characteristics/deficiencies that led you to this conclusion?
Click to expand...

Lowrance/Simrad 4G radar - I can see small buoys from about 200 meters ahead - small - like 6 inch diameter. I can see people in plastic canoes about 500-700 meter ahead - and I can see which spaces in my harbour are empty and which are full. Plus it is "low power" - less power sent out than a Mobile phone. And you can see things very close - like 10 meters from the boat. It follows land contours very well. I even saw 3 idiots swimming across our harbour inlet on it - their heads bopped up on the radar before I spotted them.

Garmin 18HD - I have never seen a buoy on my Garmin unless it is made from metal. In general it would not show canoes and other things unless they had a lot of metal on them. Closeup things - hard to see at all - land - reasonable - but washed out compared to the Simrad 4G. Range seems to be a little better than the 4G - but range is not so important to me (I think 4G 12-14 miles to land display - Garmin - 13-16 miles) - but I would say good at the 300-500m+ range - but not as good as the 4G.

Raymarine 424HD - on my friends Four Winns - it has better land display than Garmin but not as good as Simrad - but better range I think. And better for spotting weather than both the above. But close up items and small buoys does not show very defined as they do on the 4G. Canoes and other small "non metal parts" needs to be a lot closer to spot - but to close and it washes out the image.

None of the above will show birds at a distance unless you are lucky or it is a huge amount of birds. So for fishing spot finding - domes are not the way to go.

I do not get a lot of bad weather here (as in rain/thunderstorms) - and I have a lot of very narrow dredged canals to navigate. And the local fishermen just throws their "cages" out in the middle of the "lanes" just attached to micro size buoys. But water is quite still in the canals - so that gives good advantages for small object detection. But we get a lot of dense fog - so the Simrad 4G is perfect for our area.

But the above is my subjective opinion - and not a "measured" quantifiable opinion as I cant run the radars at the same time - as my current setup only have room for 1 radar at the time. That might change though :) as the boat is being kitted out for making reviews.
 
Thanks kaz. I have seen so many comments over the years on many sites where the same conclusion was reached. But no one ever said why. Thanks again.
 
Xplicitlnck said:
Very nice and thorough review. I think you made my mind up for my spring refit. Thanks
Click to expand...

All I can say - is DO NOT buy now and install in the spring. :) We have another 6 months for new products to be launched.

And for reviews - I'm working on more detailed reviews. I do have a background in reviews (Former PC World Editor in Scandinavia) :) so I'm trying to be as objective as possible. But for those who want I'll pm a link to my "in progress" website.
 
Cant afford to buy anything till next spring im just doing some brand differentiation right now and I will be asking for your website in the future thanks again
 
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