Gps / chartplotter recommendations

inscoe

inscoe

New Member
Aug 31, 2009
12
Maryland
Boat Info
2000 290 DA
Engines
T- 5.0 EFI's
Hello, I am currently in the market for a GPS / Charplotter. I am seriously considering the Garmin 5208. If anybody has this model. What do you think of it? I am also considering the Raymarine E80. Of course I have the same question about the E80. What do you think?

At this point I am open to suggestions, and still looking to find a good GPS. The only things I have been looking at so far is color display, 8" display(minimum), water temp, speed, and depth. Any replies are appreciated
 
I had the Raymarine and it is an awesome system. What you need to consider is Raymarine is famous for radar and Garmin is famous for GPS.

Today I would probably lean toward Garmin if you intend to get a radar someday. Garmin is lowballing their complete system packages (HD radar and GPS) which I have seen on two boats and I have decided to upgrade someday to that Garmin system despite the awesome radar display that the E80 has... But Raymarine is behind on HD...
 
I believe Garmin just put in a bid to buy Raymarine too?
I have a Garmin, not as nice as the 5208, but a 545s and I love it. I think I'd lean toward the 4000 series and avoid the 5000's touch screen. Somehow I think after a few years that will get terribly affected.
 
Well dont let me be the one to rock the proverbial boat but IMHO Garmin units are not very user friendly nor do their features justify them over some of the other brands. I looked at Standard Horizon, Lowrance, Humminbird, Ray, and Garmin 5-8" units and chose the Humminbird 787c2 for price, features and quality. I dont fish a whole lot but I snorkel and the sonar features are great for "seeing" the bottom and whether or not there are weeds and whatnot before I jump in. Also, I knew that I wouldnt ever be upgrading to radar with this vessel or want to on a larger vessel with this unit..so I crossed off the Ray(which was my first choice). After playing with a few Garmin units and even reading the books and then playing I hated them with a passion. I previewed the Standard and the Humminbird next to each other and chose the bird due to the SD style cards that I already had and not the CF style. I could use the Humminbird almost instantly without even consulting the book. Everything is easily found and is used in a common sense kind of way if that makes sense lol. After having it now for a season and a half I'm very happy with it. I actually use the features that I bought it for and it's never let me down.

http://store.humminbird.com/products/269384/787c2
 
I've had good luck with Raymarine. My last boat had radar and auto pilot. The integration with seatalk was perfect.

I purches a Raymarine C90 Widescreen for my new boat. I like the wide screen better for displaying two pages at once. GPS on one side and radar on the other.

Raymarine just introduced the e-series in widescreen also.
 
I have a Garmin 4208 and am very pleased with it. IMO, the Garmin units are the most user-friendly on the market. I checked out Ray, SH, Lowrance, Northstar, and others before I purchased. I felt the Garmin outshone all of them.

The Garmin plotters are excellent in terms of features. If you want the absolute best in sonar or radar technology, there may be better options, but you are likely going to have to get separate units. Garmin's tech in these areas is still very good, and the combined package is excellent. They have added a huge number of optional items that makes a fully configured system really killer (autopilot, fuel usage sensors, video, weather receivers, etc, etc.)

If you like the Garmin touch panel units and can afford them, I would have no problem in installing one. The screens are not coated as with past unit; they are solid glass and should not have longevity problems. It's the same capacitive touch technology that's been incorporated into oven controls and the iPhone. A number of reports indicate that even with fish-covered fingers they operate very reliably. If I had the money it would definitely buy one.

In addition the the features and user-friendly nature of the Garmin, one huge factor in my purchase is Garmin's customer support. I had a couple previous Garmin units, and their customer service was OUTSTANDING. Talking about overnighting a replacement unit to fix a problem, without a bunch of hassle. Lots of other folks have have had similar positive experiences including the same service for out-of-warranty units.

Garmin also is very active in providing firmware updates to provide both bug fixes and new features, particularly for the new units. Garmin listens to customers and makes their products better. This is ongoing support an upgrade service a huge value, as your equipment keeps getting better. I'm not aware of any competitor that provides anywhere near Garmin's level of ongoing support.
 
Re: Gps / chartplotter recommendations - look at maps

My biggest recommendation on chart plotters is to look at the map quality. While you may be 'wowed' by all of the fancy features, if the chart cartography isn't accurate for the water you're on, it's not a good tradeoff.

I had been using a lowrance lms-527c df igps on my last boat and thought it was the cats meow (I am pretty old), but it always bugged me that it seemed the depth contours were somehow electronically generated/estimates based on just a few soundings of the Lake. I am speaking of Lake CHamplain in my case.

When we bought the Sea Ray 260 , we got a Standard Horizon 170C with Cmap of lake champlain. Wow, this thing has accurate charts!!! It's night and day. Everything is mapped and it's accurate.

I think with Garmin, you get garmin cartography.
With Lowrance, you get navonics (and not sure what else).

I vote for C-map (many variations, N, N+, Max, etc)

Get any chart plotter with a good GPS and a C-map for the most accurate cartography (at least in our experience on champlain). Or check for map samples of the area you are going to boat in.

BTW... the lowrance maps look so much cooler, but the depths are not accurate, especially in the shallows.

All of them are accurate for bouys, markers if that's all you need.

Regards,


inscoe said:
Hello, I am currently in the market for a GPS / Charplotter. I am seriously considering the Garmin 5208. If anybody has this model. What do you think of it? I am also considering the Raymarine E80. Of course I have the same question about the E80. What do you think?

At this point I am open to suggestions, and still looking to find a good GPS. The only things I have been looking at so far is color display, 8" display(minimum), water temp, speed, and depth. Any replies are appreciated
Click to expand...
 
I have dual E120's on my inflatable and bought a 5212 Garmin this year for my Sea Ray. People tend to bash one or the other but they are both great units. It seems as though the E series does redraws quicker than the Garmin and I also like the E because when playing videos it displays the picture on more of the screen and has 2 more video inputs than the Garmin. I will say I keep the Raymarine manual close by and I haven't even opened up the Garmin's manual. I have both the Garmin G2 Vision Card and the Platinum for the Raymarine and in my area the Garmin has more pictures and restaurants listed in the information. Both auto guide which is really cool. I originally had issues with both brands and I will say you wait longer for a Garmin Tech and they are definitely not as bright as the Raymarine guys. You can't make a bad decision. If I had to choose one I would go with the Garmin.
 
I keep the Raymarine manual close by and I haven't even opened up the Garmin's manual.
Click to expand...

I think that says it all. I have a Garmin 5212, and it has surpassed my expectations. Every time I find a fault with it, Garmin quickly releases an update to address it.

Mine is only 6 months old, yet it has already been transformed by free updates.

Someone in an earlier thread complained about having difficulty hitting the "softkeys" on the touchscreen in rough seas. My experience with the 5212 has been the opposite- the keys are so large that fat-fingers don't matter.

I'm willing to concede that it could be an issue with smaller screens/boats however.
 
Has anyone seen the new Raymarine Hybrid they are advertising on their site? I'm looking to upgrade this fall and I'm hoping that it is available to see at the Annapolis Power boat show. I found the idea of touching two points to plot a course very interesting, along with the combination touch screen and touch pads.
 
Thanks everybody for all the opinions. I have decided to purchase the Garmin 5208 and the optional Vision Card so that I can get the Auto Guidance feature that will plot your course for you based upon draft and height of your boat. Supposedly you do not have to set waypoints with this feature. Just set your destination and it plots you a safe course through water just like the Nav systems in a vehicle... We shall see! Anyone else have the vision card with there Garmin chartplotter?
 
inscoe said:
...so that I can get the Auto Guidance feature that will plot your course for you based upon draft and height of your boat. Supposedly you do not have to set waypoints with this feature. Just set your destination and it plots you a safe course through water just like the Nav systems in a vehicle...
Click to expand...

See! Who needs to read pesky ole' charts when a computer will do all the work for you!
 
I went different that the rest of the crowd. I purchased a Northstar 660 so I can have my Smart gages on the screen any time I want to check how the systems are operating. Purchased from Hodges for about $700.00. Also connects to my Navman radio. Everything works great on Lake Huron.
 
Banagy- That is a great system as well. My friend has the Northstar on a Whaler and has his Verado guages displayed on it. He has the hard drive and uses it as an entertainment center. Way Cool! Most plotters now will display the guages but with twin engines it gets a bit crouded on the screen.

Inscoe- The Guide To feature works awesome. Obviously always check it against a real chart, but I took a long trip from Mackinaw City to Lake Erie (Cedar Point) for a long weekend and it saved me a few miles from my inputting coordinates from a chart. It will navigate you inside of some buoys if the depth is there. I choose the safer route. I guess I am a chicken! Also I had an issue with a 2006 Vision Chart with a 2009 Plotter. The unit blanked out all of the detail in certain areas. If you find this happens, remove your chip and you may find the unit itself has more detail. This was disturbing and Garmin ended up replacing my card for free. The new ones have a recall but Garmin is updating them for free.
 
inscoe said:
Thanks everybody for all the opinions. I have decided to purchase the Garmin 5208 and the optional Vision Card so that I can get the Auto Guidance feature that will plot your course for you based upon draft and height of your boat. Supposedly you do not have to set waypoints with this feature. Just set your destination and it plots you a safe course through water just like the Nav systems in a vehicle... We shall see! Anyone else have the vision card with there Garmin chartplotter?
Click to expand...

Four Suns said:
See! Who needs to read pesky ole' charts when a computer will do all the work for you!
Click to expand...

I've used it but there are a few things that this feature presents that I find interesting. Routes that I've traveled for years are far off from what the software recommends. I'll save the routes I've run before and re-iuse them. For longer trips that I may not be as familiar with I think it works really well.
 
I think the G2 Vision chip is great, but not for the auto-guidance feature. I'm surprised that Garmin's legal dept allows them to offer it.

This is a route I created, which I traverse on a regular basis.

ballast.jpg


Just for fun, I configured auto-guidance using a 6 ft minimum depth. It directed me, fairly enough, through the 7' area marked "Buckeye Reef".

If I were on the boat I could show you the actual guidance by using the "screen capture" feature...

It plotted a curved course, ignoring those big floating green things. As familiar as I am with the area, I still like to see buoys on the correct side of the boat as I pass near an area rocky and shallow enough to turn the bottom of a SeaRay into several decks of fiberglass playing cards.

If the auto-course had been a straight line, I could have at least steered to a heading, but I still don't like the idea of ignoring buoys - whether I'm trying to steer a perpetually changing course or not. (would that be the Raytheon auto-pilot and fluxgate's final revenge?!?)

The other thing that made me nervous is that nearly half the time that I travel through that channel, some guy figures that I look like I know where I'm going, and follows me.

I'd hate to lead some poor idiot onto the rocks because he wasn't following me closely enough....

Until auto-guidance learns to use channels, I give it a "no thanks".
 
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IIRC, the 5000 series has the touch screen interface. I know airline pilots who absolutely hate touch screen in their aircraft because the movement of the aircraft often times causes them to touch the wrong icon.

If your engines are SmartCraft ready, you may want to take a look at the Northstar system. You get SmartCraft as an added bonus.

My 2 cents.
 
inscoe said:
Thanks everybody for all the opinions. I have decided to purchase the Garmin 5208 and the optional Vision Card so that I can get the Auto Guidance feature that will plot your course for you based upon draft and height of your boat. Supposedly you do not have to set waypoints with this feature. Just set your destination and it plots you a safe course through water just like the Nav systems in a vehicle... We shall see! Anyone else have the vision card with there Garmin chartplotter?
Click to expand...

Yes, I have the Garmin 545s with the vision card. Do not rely on the Auto Guidance feature!! Yes, technically it will send you on safe routes for your boat based on your draft, etc.... but it will also send you between rocks, into 4 foot depths, and into danger zones. I rarely use it...when I do, it is when I am being lazy and do not feel like charting a course. Regardless, I still follow all Navigational markers and have my paper chart out.

Ed
 
5208 with the 18" Radome (nonHD) on my boat. Installed it all myelf last year and it has been working fine. I don't have the g2 card as I didn't see the need to spend yet another several hundred bucks to get fancy pictures. I tried them all at the West marine and found the touch screen much easier to navigate than the little buttons and knobs. YMMV so try them before you buy one.
 
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