Would You Buy A Garmin G2 Vision Card Ugrade?

MonacoMike

MonacoMike

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2009
14,721
Indiana lakes and Lake Michigan
Boat Info
2000 Cruisers 3870
8.2 Mercs
Engines
85 Sea Ray Monaco 197
260hp Alpha 1
dburne said:
I am curious what your thoughts on the G2 Vision Card are - I had thought about ordering one for my 531s as it has an SD slot just for that, but found really the pre loaded maps seemed to do pretty good for what I do. I had asked about it on this forum some time ago, and never really got any feedback from anyone that had the G2 card.
I would appreciate any feedback!
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I doubt I would buy a Vision card if I had not gotten the $200 rebate after seeing it in action. The auto route is a neat function but YOU CANNOT TRUST IT!!! There are chart details near my marina that are incorrect and the auto route function would run me into a seawall. This is not Garmin's fault as it is on the chart, also on my Navionics and paper charts as well, Otherwise the regular G2 charts are just fine for what I need.

MM
 
MonacoMike said:
I doubt I would buy a Vision card if I had not gotten the $200 rebate after seeing it in action. The auto route is a neat function but YOU CANNOT TRUST IT!!! There are chart details near my marina that are incorrect and the auto route function would run me into a seawall. This is not Garmin's fault as it is on the chart, also on my Navionics and paper charts as well, Otherwise the regular G2 charts are just fine for what I need.

MM
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There are no kinds of auto routing you can trust 100% :) not in your car either...

Anyway - you can ALWAYS report Garmin Cartography errors on : cartographymail@garmin.com - and usually it takes 1 cycle (6 months) for them to update the G2 Vision charts. They are very nice to deal with.

And it is Garmins "Fault" since they are making the charts and selling them to you at a very high price :) so they have not done an update cycle in your neighbourhood in a while. Garmin does buy data from 3rd parties - so maybe the 3rd party have not updated in a while. 3rd parties are usually Government offices ...... But sometimes Garmin need to push them as well :) So it all starts with filing an error report at the above email address :)

[EDIT: Sometimes they will offer you a discount for sending in serious error reports - so there is kind of an incentive - where I am Garmins maps are 8 years out of date so they have offered me a free update once it has been fixed]
 
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MonacoMike said:
Thanks Kaz, I'll do that. What do you think of the Vision cards?

MM
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Where the maps are up to date I like them. It is VERY nice to have an aerial photo you can look at before navigating in to a new harbour. Auto Guidance is also nice if you have a Garmin Autopilot (ONLY works with Garmin Autopilots :( ) - does NOT work with Zeus/Axius :(

But maps are maps - and you buy what you need. My dad loves the G2 Vision with his 741xs - where I love my Navionics Platinum Plus where I am since they are not 8 years out of date.

But since where I am is prone to currents and sand moving a lot even overnight - I'm first in line for Simrad Forward Scan transducer :) I'm putting in the blanking plug this month in anticipation. That requires me moving the "Merc" depth sensor, expanding the hole so the B617 fits in it - and digging a new hole for the Merc Depth sensor. Then - once the Forward scan transducer arrives - I just plug it in while in the water.
 
Interesting. .. i have been looking at these as well but really wondering if they were worth it.
 
Our boat came with a new Garmin 441 3 years ago when we bought it without the G2 Vision Card in our area it was almost useless without the card after buying it I wish I would have just bought the G2 card. My new last year Echomap has built in Bluechart G2 which covers everything we need the Vision card has some nice extra features we never used. Depending on what your needs are I'd really compare them to see if you need or want to spend the extra money for the Vision card. Our charts are very accurate in this area especially in shallow areas around Islands.
 
I've been looking into the vision charts too. My gps is loaded with the Inland lakes maps and I need to get the coastal maps. Trying to decide on the blue charts or the vision charts.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk
 
The aerial pics are nice to have for unfamiliar ports, but if you're familiar with the area the chip covers, it's hard to justify. Friends of mine have a Garmin autopilot, and that makes a difference because it can follow the auto-guidance route. (my old system doesn't recognize the curved routes that don't include waypoints)

As mentioned above, the auto-guidance can be risky. Even when it draws a "safe" route, I don't like that it isn't aware of nav-aides. It cuts buoys and gets closer to hazards than I like to be.
 
Thanks for all the great feedback gang!
You know I took a look around on Garmin's site, and I think I got more confused than anything - between the regular G2 cards and the vision cards. I just don't think I can justify the cost of the vision card for what it would get me, and it would seem the regular G2 would not really do much more for me than the built in maps I have on my 531s. And really the built in maps do everything I need for the most part - can tell where I am going and where I have been, where the channel runs, the approximate depths of the areas I am going over and headed too, etc. Does not show me things like Marinas and where they are, but having a basic lake map on hand as well can certainly help in that regard.

So I think I will be happy with what I have with my 531s, heck don't need to spend any more at this time anyway, have spent enough this year with the new boat and all...

Thanks,
 
RollerCoastr said:
The aerial pics are nice to have for unfamiliar ports, but if you're familiar with the area the chip covers, it's hard to justify. Friends of mine have a Garmin autopilot, and that makes a difference because it can follow the auto-guidance route. (my old system doesn't recognize the curved routes that don't include waypoints)

As mentioned above, the auto-guidance can be risky. Even when it draws a "safe" route, I don't like that it isn't aware of nav-aides. It cuts buoys and gets closer to hazards than I like to be.
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Garmin is just being naughty and "hiding" the Auto Guidance routes in "hidden" data fields on the NMEA 2000 network that only Garmin NMEA 2000 Autopilots can decode. It would be ZERO problem at all to enable "normal" waypoint routing from Auto Guidance but that is not in Garmins interest financially. The curved routes are just "finesse" and could be abolished with ease.

But G2 vision gives you more than just aerial photo's and auto guidance. It gives you satellite images, 3D views (which I like a lot) with colour highlights of safe water and coastal roads and POI's. The Road and Poi's are now maybe a bit useless with all the GPS's in phones now.
 
Some of Garmin's business decisions puzzle me. They're NOT Apple, but some of their decisions (like propriety route data) make it appear is if they THINK they have a corner on the market. A lot of their pricing seems out of line, even by boating standards. I considered upgrading my auto-pilot, until I saw the cost. I'd like to have a couple of GMI's on my dash, but they cost 3x what I think they should. Their fuel meters aren't compatible with diesels or gassers with return lines. At least they offer incentives on the Vision cards, but even so...

I should've mentioned the satellite imagery - that's my favorite feature. In fact, it's the ONLY reason I keep the Vision card in my plotter. (the alternate views: 3D, fish-eye etc are fun to play with, but I never navigate with them)
 
RollerCoastr said:
Some of Garmin's business decisions puzzle me. They're NOT Apple, but some of their decisions (like propriety route data) make it appear is if they THINK they have a corner on the market. A lot of their pricing seems out of line, even by boating standards. I considered upgrading my auto-pilot, until I saw the cost. I'd like to have a couple of GMI's on my dash, but they cost 3x what I think they should. Their fuel meters aren't compatible with diesels or gassers with return lines. At least they offer incentives on the Vision cards, but even so...

I should've mentioned the satellite imagery - that's my favorite feature. In fact, it's the ONLY reason I keep the Vision card in my plotter. (the alternate views: 3D, fish-eye etc are fun to play with, but I never navigate with them)
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I think Garmin has been the sleeping giant who is now sloooowly waking up. Simrad/Lowrance (Navico) has been taking market share from both Raymarine and Garmin - and that started to really hurt. If Navico is not the largest MFD supplier now - I think they are neck and neck with Garmin. Raymarine seems a bit down the list in Market share due to several years of extremely bad hardware quality and had it not been for FLIR taking over they would have gone down. Raymarine still have some "old timers" in house who is "standing at the tail of progress" and being stubborn about it. But things are changing there too.

But I love my Simrad gear because 1. It is VERY open and easy to integrate with - and 2. It follows NMEA 2000 standards to the LETTER. (Which sometimes gives issues as others might not be as "standards bound") and 3. If you have Mercruiser SmartCraft - Simrad integrates perfectly as they make ALL Mercruiser NMEA 2000 gear :)
 
Guys...

I'm confused. If I can buy THIS for $199, how does the $200 rebate work? Does it wind up costing zero?

Anyone using HomePort? I downloaded it but have to put the charts on it from the SD card, which is in the 740s, which is on the boat.
 
I use Homeport a lot. I pull tracks from the plotter to build and cross-check my logs. I also build routes on the computer using custom-named waypoints etc. I started with the original Mapsource, and then upgraded to Homeport for PC. When I switched to a Mac, Garmin moved my license to the Mac platform without a fee.

A secret about the Vision card: it's possible to copy the vision data from the original card onto a back-up card and use that in your computer for Homeport. The back-up card will NOT work in the plotter however.

I take my tracks into consideration when building routes, because in reality, no-one travels from waypoint to waypoint and then makes a hard turn. By building routes based on my actual habits, I can create routes that feel more natural and make more sense on the water.
 
rondds said:
Guys...

I'm confused. If I can buy THIS for $199, how does the $200 rebate work? Does it wind up costing zero?
Click to expand...

I believe they must be purchased at "authorized" Garmin dealers, but I did find one that sold for that price. Keep in mind you must spend quite a bit to get the rebate, so i doubt they are losing anything. They already have the data and it goes on a $5 chip. What a rip that they hold it hostage. Once they have the data it would seem logical to add it to their plotters standard to boost their market share.

MM
 
RollerCoastr said:
I use Homeport a lot. I pull tracks from the plotter to build and cross-check my logs. I also build routes on the computer using custom-named waypoints etc. I started with the original Mapsource, and then upgraded to Homeport for PC. When I switched to a Mac, Garmin moved my license to the Mac platform without a fee.

A secret about the Vision card: it's possible to copy the vision data from the original card onto a back-up card and use that in your computer for Homeport. The back-up card will NOT work in the plotter however.

I take my tracks into consideration when building routes, because in reality, no-one travels from waypoint to waypoint and then makes a hard turn. By building routes based on my actual habits, I can create routes that feel more natural and make more sense on the water.
Click to expand...

Garmin Cards can be copied and unlocked with the right tools so they are fully usable everywhere. In the US that would be illegal - but in some other countries it it legal to back up your own media for safekeeping. It is a $300 chip we are talking about so a backup is always a good idea - where it is not illegal...
 
The rebate applies to a Vision card when bought with Certain gpsmap units. It is not on a vision card when bought by itself.

The G2maps and Vision maps are the same. Identical. If you are only ever viewing the map page with no frills then a vision map will look no different than what is preloaded. What a vision map adds are the panoramic photos of points of interest, aerial imagery (think google earth), bathymetric fishing maps, and autoguidance. I think it is a very worthwhile upgrade to the bigger units and a no brainer with the current rebate.
 
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