Raymarine or Garmin

S

sea paws

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Oct 7, 2012
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long island NY
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I presently have a raymarine RL70c that im looking to upgrade. I have been looking at the Garmin 5208 and Raymarine E95/97. The Garmin looks user friendly but im still not sure.. Also Im curious if the garmin radar dome will fit the mounting holes of the raymarine radar dome. Any suggesions from 340 owners will be appreciated.
 
look at Furuno. Very good equipment. I have also had two Ray systems. I was happy.
 
Best way is to download the manuals and check the mounting holes for each unit against the unit you currently have. Many of the units have the same hole pattern but you will need to verify before purchasing. I have a garmin 3210 and like the interface and the detail/adjustability of the radar, works really weel. Better than I could ever get the raymarine stuff or my northstar broadband to ever function.
 
its the old Ford vs Chevy debate

I like garmin myself
I have a GPSMAP 535 Plotter and a 400c depth finder and I love them
 
Im planning on going to the javits boat show and checking out all the models in person. I have a feeling that i will have to replace the dash insert and cut out a new hole.
 
I have a Garmin 4210 with a 2kw radome. I like it a lot. Never used Raymarine, so I can't compare. I like being able to overlay the radar on the GPS and I like the G2 Vision chip detail, complete with satellite photos.
 
If you do an internet search on "Raymarine or Garmin" (or something like that) you will probably get many hits from all the boating forums (not just Club Sea Ray), with opinions on this topic. You will get so many opinions it will probably be of no help in making a decision. Best thing to do is find a way to try out your candidates. Frankly, I think everything made by the major manufactures is good stuff. Its just up to the personal preferences that only you know.
 
Ok, I am not saying raymarine will go out of business but something to think about when purchasing new expensive equipment. In 2009 Raymarine was on the verge of bankruptcy and was able to get additional funding (debt) somehow, don't know the specifics. There were even talks of garmin purchasing bthem ut that fell through. During this time of course, people were stuck with very little support. Now I don't think they will go out of business but that is always something to be prepared for whether raymarine , garmin or whoever. Look at the financial specifics and see how well the company is doing now and make a determination of your own on longevity.
 
I have Garmin on my boat. The PO took out any factory stuff and replaced it with Garmin. He's told me that he likes their charts as they closely resemble the book charts and apparently others don't? I don't have anything to compare it to but I am happy with the set-up.
 
Merry Christmas :)

my thoughts - for "travel" Radar and Nav - Simrad is currently the best (I'm fitting it at the moment NSS8 + 4G radar + Structure Scan) - if you fish they story might be different.

The new Ray E/C series seems - .. unfinished - I have a C97 and I don't like it. The menu's for things like tracks and "visibility" of tracks are scattered round in different sub/sub/sub menus and the User Interface in general is not very "nice" (IMHO)

I used to be a "Garmin" person - but Garmin is FAR behind C97 (on the 4000/5000 series). The 4/5000 series are VERY slow in comparison to the new units from other manufactures. The 6000/7000 are fine though - but only available with touch in 12" or 15" which I can't fit in my dash. Garmin 18/24 HD radar is a Joke compared to Ray's HD or Simrad 4G. Maps where I am are now better from Navionics than Garmin.

The ONLY advantage Garmin has no-one else has - is Auto Guidance - the ability to "auto route" you from point a to point b - without setting up a lot of waypoints beforehand. So I got Garmin 620 :) for that to keep the wife happy - and as a battery powered backup GPS.

Simrad has also launched the most OPEN Wi-Fi interface for their devices (Simrad Wi-Fi1/Go-Free) - for remote control via i* devices - but ALSO interfaces with programs like iNavX on iPad and others. Garmins Wi-Fi i*Device interface is ONLY for navigation planning and "waypoint/route sync" No remote control. Raymarines has remote control but is very proprietary and is only meant for "Raymarine"

But I'm writing on a complete review of the C97 - and the NSS8 once installed.

Enjoy the Christmas - we are!

/Kasper
The above expressed opinions are mine and are not intended to offend anyone who has "political" interest in any of the brands mentioned.
 
If your going to the boat show Garmin might have their new line up out. I had a 4208 and loved it but the 4000-5000 series are outdated now, I have a ray e120 and hate it, you can't see track lines or waypoints. I use navionics on my Ipad and just got Garmins bluecharts mobile for Ipad and the detail is much better than navionics. I would love to get rid of my ray e120 its horrible to use underway I need touch screen with wifi to upload from home on another device then Bluetooth it to the chartplotter. Some opions to look for. Also look for IPhone, Ipad app compatible or droid etc. very handy
 
Another thing to think about it the information that is used for the display of the charts, Navionics, C-Map, or Garmin proprietary etc. One of the reason I choose Garmin is they use Explorer Charts to display the information for the Bahamas. Explorer Charts are by far the best charts for the Bahamas. Navionics charts are very limiting, C-Map are really good as I believe they use the Explorer Charts as well. Now this may not matter to you but one of the reasons I choose Garmin over Raymarine or any Navionics chart plotter unless is specifically said they use Explorer Charts. Typically, if they use Navionics, they don't have the explorer charts loaded but check with the specific manufacturer if this matters of course.
 
Thank you for all the advice. I am really leaning towards the garmin just because how user friendly they seem to be. I do most of my boating in the north east and this year will be the first year Im attempting a week long voyage with the boat. I want something that i dont need a 10 inch thick manuel to figure it out. The simrad units are very expensive and I really dont need all those sonar attachments.
 
RollerCoastr,
You are coorect, Flir purchased Raymarine, they are moving a portion of there optics group from Boston to Pittsbugh and we are doing the renovation for them. I was told they wanted to get heavily into the Commercial & recreational marine market & and thuoght it would be a good fit with their night vision & infra red technology. Who knows where it might go? Deep pockets though! I ama lso thinking of changing out the old Raymarine electronics soom myself. Currently using Garmin, with back up from Active captain & I Phone apps.

Tony
Crazy Lady
 
Has anyone noticed that most large yatchs use Furuno? These owners have the money to buy anything they want and most chose Furuno. I didn't really notice till someone pointed it out to me. Just for thought. I did like my Ray systems but were not totally touble free.
 
kevin27 said:
Has anyone noticed that most large yatchs use Furuno? These owners have the money to buy anything they want and most chose Furuno. I didn't really notice till someone pointed it out to me. Just for thought. I did like my Ray systems but were not totally touble free.
Click to expand...

Maybe the Furuno equipment comes standard like Raymarine does on Sea Ray? I know Russ had Furuno on his 460 when we ran it back from Toms River NJ to CT. It was horrible to use, Alex had some choice words for it!! We ended up using the iPad to navigate back. It could have just been that equipment but it turned me off of the brand.


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