GPS Chartplotter

C

Captain Quest

New Member
Jul 25, 2011
55
Ontario
Boat Info
1989 Sea Ray
Engines
Twin
Hi everyone, Happy new year & I am sure everyone up here in the cold is starting to count the weeks to boating season. Aside from tuning the 7.4's & making a few other dry dock repairs, planning the buffing job etc, a major item on the agenda (for me anyhow as I don't currently have one) is a gps chartplotter. I would appreciate some input, here's where I'm at right now......was just about to settle on a Lowrance HDS-7 or 8. Went to the Toronto boat show on the weekend, started talking to some people & received quite a few negatives on Lowrance in general (pooor customer service, long waits for warranty work etc). Then got really excited about the Raymarine E7....rave reviews, easy to use, bluetooth, wi fi, hybrid touch screen, seems awesome.

Here's my dilemma....the E7 is around $1600.00. The lowrance HDS-7 is just under $1000.00, the HDS-8 is around $1400.00, so for $600.00 less I can get the same size 7" screen & for $200.00 less I can get an 8" screen both in the Lowrance. Any opinions if the E7 is worth the extra, also is there a better area I should be looking in like maybe Standard Horizon, Garmin, etc. Would love some opinions & guidance as I wish to make the right choice. Would like not to have to spend $1600.00 plus tax but will if its well worth it. Thank you in advance for your much appreciated ideas
 
I am very satisfied with my Lowrance HDS7.

What kind of accessories do you plan on using with it? Radar, Sonar, SiriusXM Weather, etc. That may help others gve you feedback.

By the way, the sponsorer of this very site, www.boemarine.com has what I have found to be about the best prices around on electronics, at least from a reputable dealer. Great prices and service, you should check them out.
 
I agree with jason78. I have both an HDS-7 (upper helm) and HDS-5 (lower helm). I'm very impressed with their performance and the ease of networking the units and add ons.
 
I have a Garmin 720. I testdrove a few and really liked the quality of maps as well as the speed and smoothness. In the end, the touchscreen sold it for me. Some people like that there are no buttons, others don't. The 3D views are pretty useful sometimes, but are more of a "neato" factor. I would say the availability of good maps for your main boating areas are one of the most important considerations.

I integrated the chartplotter with SmartCraft via a MercMonitor / NMEA2K and it required some fiddling; none of it Garmin's fault; it worked the way it should...if only Merc did! I also added trim tab position sensors and a Garmin analog to NMEA2K trim tab sensor adapter to see how it would work (only an extra ~$200)- it turns out I like being able to see the tab position. It shows up on the MercM as well as the 720.

Finally, I also added the Garmin XM Weather & Radio antenna, which was a good addition, although not cheap. The overlaid weather maps are definitely valuable. Choosing XM radio channels through the touchscreen is the best interface I have seen for XM.

Looking into the Fusion stereo head units with NMEA2K interfaces now to see if I can control them via the 720 as well.
 
Last summer I tossed the Raymarine stuff that came with the boat originally. In it's place I put a Garmin 4210. It was the largest one I could fit in the old hole after some saw work. This year I replace the radar with a Garmin unit. I have been verrrry happy with the Garmin. Went on a 10 day cruise in the San Juan Islands and it was superb. It has the N2K network system so adding peripherals is a snap. It was $1,785. I just looked at one at Hodges Marine for $1,760.
 
I went through this recently. I have to be honest when I say financially I don't blame you for not wanting to shell out the cash. I have no practical experience but the E7 seems like the most up to date technology. Mind you I am an apple guy and the e7 is designed to suck people like me in.

I'm actually going to keep my existing Raymarine 435 and add an iPad with a dual gps receiver with the inavx app. This way I can have updatable software and change my stereo to a Bluetooth compatible head unit and run my music collection from my iPad as well as have weather and tidal information.

Let me also say I boat on the South Shore of Long Island and would never go off shore without at least one dedicated chart plotter. I mostly know where I am 95% of the time anyway.

I just feel that the tablet and app market are going to drive the marine electronics market into new and innovative products and I don't want to drop $1500-2000 on a unit that will be antiquated in a very short time.

Mark my words when I say in a few years you will be able to buy Radar Raydome that will connect to an iPad via bluetooth or Wifi. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

This is an IMO and I know the downsides of the non marine electronics. But why not?
 
KatzNDogs said:
I went through this recently. I have to be honest when I say financially I don't blame you for not wanting to shell out the cash. I have no practical experience but the E7 seems like the most up to date technology. Mind you I am an apple guy and the e7 is designed to suck people like me in.

I'm actually going to keep my existing Raymarine 435 and add an iPad with a dual gps receiver with the inavx app. This way I can have updatable software and change my stereo to a Bluetooth compatible head unit and run my music collection from my iPad as well as have weather and tidal information.

Let me also say I boat on the South Shore of Long Island and would never go off shore without at least one dedicated chart plotter. I mostly know where I am 95% of the time anyway.

I just feel that the tablet and app market are going to drive the marine electronics market into new and innovative products and I don't want to drop $1500-2000 on a unit that will be antiquated in a very short time.

Mark my words when I say in a few years you will be able to buy Radar Raydome that will connect to an iPad via bluetooth or Wifi. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

This is an IMO and I know the downsides of the non marine electronics. But why not?
Click to expand...

I bet your right. especially since I found this little darling for my iPhone and soon for iPad
4g-front-black_bumper_high-.jpg

http://www.lifeproof.com/
Completely waterproof cases
[video=youtube;-qf4wWZmeyc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qf4wWZmeyc[/video]
 
I have a humminbird in my boat and love it!!! The xm weather feature is a pretty cool feature that alot of other companies dont offer
i have the 958c found it online for around a grand......
 
skillz48047 said:
I have a humminbird in my boat and love it!!! The xm weather feature is a pretty cool feature that alot of other companies dont offer
i have the 958c found it online for around a grand......
Click to expand...
I had a Humminbird on my last boat and I really liked it. It was easy to use and worked like a dream. I wanted to get Humminbird on my boat when I upgraded the electronics but they did not offer the networking capabilities I wanted. Like I said, I like the Lowrance units I have but the display and ease of use on the Humminbird was great.
 
I just bought the HDS-5 , Ive heard all good reviews on it , boe marine has good priceing at $632. But since i have so many points with West Marine I asked if they price match , and they do ! , I bought my HDS for $632. minus $75 dollars in points coupons , and then on top of it Lowrances rebate of $100 . So after Taxes , total cost I paid was $485. I think thats a killer deal for this unit , I plan on getting the G3 radar , fuel flow/ level sensors and sirious weather radar
 
fasttoys7619 said:
I just bought the HDS-5 , Ive heard all good reviews on it , boe marine has good priceing at $632. But since i have so many points with West Marine I asked if they price match , and they do ! , I bought my HDS for $632. minus $75 dollars in points coupons , and then on top of it Lowrances rebate of $100 . So after Taxes , total cost I paid was $485. I think thats a killer deal for this unit , I plan on getting the G3 radar , fuel flow/ level sensors and sirious weather radar
Click to expand...

Wow, that's a great deal. I think you will be very happy with the Lowrance HDS-5.
 
OK now here's a cog in the works. Just ran across a standard Horizon 12" screen CP500 on sale for $1099.00 regular $1649.00. Last years model, has an external antenna included. That seems like a big bang for the buck. What do you think ?
 
I looked at Standard Horizon when I was shopping last year but they didn't seem to offer the networking features I wanted.

When I got my Lowrance units my buddy decided to get the Standard Horizon GPS units because they were a "great deal". He is not very happy in hind sight, especially seeing how my Lowrance units look and work.

Mind you that is only one experience and I don't know anyone else who has Standard Horizon so that is all I can tell you.
 
fasttoys7619 said:
I just bought the HDS-5 , Ive heard all good reviews on it , boe marine has good priceing at $632. But since i have so many points with West Marine I asked if they price match , and they do ! , I bought my HDS for $632. minus $75 dollars in points coupons , and then on top of it Lowrances rebate of $100 . So after Taxes , total cost I paid was $485. I think thats a killer deal for this unit , I plan on getting the G3 radar , fuel flow/ level sensors and sirious weather radar
Click to expand...

So you used the sponsor of this site to get a price and then took it to a competitor and shoved it in their face to beat the price and then come back to this site and brag about it.

Glad you are a paying supporter of the site!!! Oh wait...
 
Last year I got a Standard Horizon (I think it's a 350 ?) But the model with with the built in fishfinder/depth and like it a lot.
You don't need a black box, just a transducer. Seven inch screen etc, better priced than most. Their customer service is great. Immediate responses by email.
The Standard Horizon stuff doesn't look as sharp as a Garmin, let's say, and some folks don't like the map system they use. I like mine just fine tho..
 
Four Suns said:
So you used the sponsor of this site to get a price and then took it to a competitor and shoved it in their face to beat the price and then come back to this site and brag about it.

Glad you are a paying supporter of the site!!! Oh wait...
Click to expand...

I just glazed over the "BOE Marine" part, you make a good point.

Dammit..... Now I'm really upset because I have to agree with you :smt013
 
Paladin said:
Last year I got a Standard Horizon (I think it's a 350 ?) But the model with with the built in fishfinder/depth and like it a lot.
You don't need a black box, just a transducer. Seven inch screen etc, better priced than most. Their customer service is great. Immediate responses by email.
The Standard Horizon stuff doesn't look as sharp as a Garmin, let's say, and some folks don't like the map system they use. I like mine just fine tho..
Click to expand...

I just looked at the box, It is the CPF300i that I got..
 
Dammit .......... I did not realize BOE was a sponser of CSR , I am truly sorry , If I would have known , I would have contacted BOE about makeing a deal , I am sorry if I offended anyone , I just thought Id brag a bit about my good deal , sorry agian , good call four suns
 
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