Simrad vs Garmin

LastCall350

LastCall350

Active Member
Aug 31, 2020
108
Middle TN
Boat Info
1991 Sea Ray 350DA
Engines
Mercruiser 454's
Look at a new chart plotter, have my eyes on the Simrad NSS9 Evo 3. What would the compatible Garmin be? What's the pros & cons?
 
I think the Garmin similar model is the GPSMAP 9x3 series. Or, maybe the 10x2 series.

Have you used the Simrad? Simrad OEMs these to Mercury for the current VesselView 5xx and 702 displays. Turn the units over and they say Simrad on the back. This is just a larger version. I had the VV5xx display on my last boat and hated the Simrad-developed interfaces. The screen was nice but to me the actual operation was a hot mess - not at all intuitive to navigate. Settings were buried and hard to find. I ended up spending lots of time to get the settings right to display engine data and just left it on that main screen. Other data I had output to my dual Garmin 8612 units.
 
b_arrington said:
I think the Garmin similar model is the GPSMAP 9x3 series. Or, maybe the 10x2 series.

Have you used the Simrad? Simrad OEMs these to Mercury for the current VesselView 5xx and 702 displays. Turn the units over and they say Simrad on the back. This is just a larger version. I had the VV5xx display on my last boat and hated the Simrad-developed interfaces. The screen was nice but to me the actual operation was a hot mess - not at all intuitive to navigate. Settings were buried and hard to find. I ended up spending lots of time to get the settings right to display engine data and just left it on that main screen. Other data I had output to my dual Garmin 8612 units.
Click to expand...
I haven't had very much hands on experience with either..friend had the Simrad unit on his carver, I did a 4 day trip with him and used it some while I was at the helm. The unit seemed quality, but for navigating through the settings, etc I can't speak for. I do like the Navionics maps, and correct me if I'm wrong the Garmin comes set up with Navionics instead of C Maps like the Simrad correct? How is the touch screen on the Garmins?
 
I went into west marine and played around with display models for every manufacturer they carried. I found Garmin to have a better user interface than all the others, including Simrad.
 
I have the simrad nss9 evo3, so far so good. I have radar, heading sensor, navionics maps, and depth finder attached/installed. The auto routing provided by Navionics maps and the unit is not usable (20-60 seconds) to me anyway, takes too long to process, whereas my 5 year old iPad calculates the route in seconds. So I use the iPad for routing and such.
 
I have a Simrad EVO9 touch screen on my center console (came with it), and I have a Garmin 7608 touch on my express cruiser. To Brads point, the Simrad is very difficult to operate compared to the Garmin. For straight up navigation there pretty much the same, but for any of the extended screens the Garmin is much easier to access what your looking over the Simrad. Although I don't use the 7608 for navigation, but for the extended screens NMEA engine and digital switching etc. it is so feature rich in the operation of screens as well. The issue with Garmin is that your going to pay for that engineering, but for me it is well worth the cost.
 
continued ... Everyone uses their MFD's in different ways, some solely for navigation, some more for the sonar aspects, radar etc. What matters is how are you going to be using it. Garmin IMO, is the best at navigation and radar. Raymarine is probably the best at sonar, although Garmin has some amazing sonar products.

Sonar has become as costly as Radar. My Simrad came with a 3D transducer and is great for fishing it has a very accurate and fast screen for that. My friends Raymarine is much nicer in all aspects of sonar over the Simrad IMO. I haven't had the chance to play with the live Garmin setup just yet, so I can't speak to that. On my EC I only care about depth and water temp. The Garmin has very customizable NMEA 2000 screens where as the SImrad only has stock screens (at least from what I can see). But again it's going to be functionality vs. cost.
Good luck in your decision, but I would go to a WM and play with the two to help make your decision a bit easier.
 
Todd320 said:
I have the simrad nss9 evo3, so far so good. I have radar, heading sensor, navionics maps, and depth finder attached/installed. The auto routing provided by Navionics maps and the unit is not usable (20-60 seconds) to me anyway, takes too long to process, whereas my 5 year old iPad calculates the route in seconds. So I use the iPad for routing and such.
Click to expand...
How do you get the navionics maps in the Simrad? Is it a card you buy I'm assuming?
 
My main uses for the unit are navigation, depth and water temp. I'm not planning on installing radar, as this boat will never see open water (lake/river) so I don't see a huge advantage for the additional cost IMO. Such a hard decision.
 
The marine world is moving or has moved to NMEA 2000. Some MFD's can interpret and display more / different NMEA 2000 PGN's than others. When I replaced the boat's systems one of the big things was to evaluate the scope of NMEA 2000 compatibility between the manufacturer's and determined Raymarine at the bottom of the stack with Garmin at the top except Simrad seemed to have the unique capability to be deeply configured and probably the reason it is preferred in the commercial world and big water cruisers. Good luck on making a Garmin MFD do something it was not specifically set up to do.... The last thing is documentation; I can say this with authority that Garmin is at the bottom... With all that said I went 100% with Garmin for the navigation and Maretron for the boat's systems. I have been able to get the Mercury Smartcraft to play well with both the Garmin and Maretron.
 
I haven’t looked at the new MFDs in a few years. Has Garmin adopted Navionics charts now that they own them? That was my biggest issue with Garmin as I didn’t like the look of their charts. I like the look of the Navionics Charts better that one of the reasons I went with Raymarine for my upgrade.
 
LastCall350 said:
How do you get the navionics maps in the Simrad? Is it a card you buy I'm assuming?
Click to expand...
It’s a card, expensive though, but I do like the depth data it sends to my iPad in real-time. Agreed on your other post, I would probably not get radar for a lake, at an extra 2 boat bucks.
 
Jeremygavin said:
I haven’t looked at the new MFDs in a few years. Has Garmin adopted Navionics charts now that they own them? That was my biggest issue with Garmin as I didn’t like the look of their charts. I like the look of the Navionics Charts better that one of the reasons I went with Raymarine for my upgrade.
Click to expand...
Yes and no. Garmin now incorporates Navionics data into its charting but the look and feel is pretty much the same. The display has gotten better IMO with the most recent MFDs so one should probably take a look at the current versions of several lines to decide.
 
Jeremygavin said:
I haven’t looked at the new MFDs in a few years. Has Garmin adopted Navionics charts now that they own them? That was my biggest issue with Garmin as I didn’t like the look of their charts. I like the look of the Navionics Charts better that one of the reasons I went with Raymarine for my upgrade.
Click to expand...

It's a little complicated here. There's a bit of an intentional division between Navionics and Garmin. Navionics seems mostly focused on providing mapping for non-Garmin devices plus iPad (etc) apps.

Garmin is mainly using an updated version of their Bluechart mapping (Bluechart G3). But they have brought in a LOT of the Navionics features. Garmin touts it as the "best of Garmin and Navionics". The maps do look and function a bit differently now than in past models (like the 4208 I used to have). I think (but not positive!) you can download and use raster maps as well. At the least, you can download raster maps to the Active Captain app - which is the tool used for updating maps and firmware on current Garmin devices. Frankly I liked the Bluechart maps on my old 4208 so didn't really look at other types. The current Bluechart G3 maps were even better and I was quite pleased with them.

The Bluechart G3 includes a number of additional views like fishing charts, includes the Navionics "live" depth shading. It takes data from your sounder and adds that to the map. It also takes depth data submitted by other boaters. They call this the Active Captain "community" depth shading.
 
LastCall350 said:
My main uses for the unit are navigation, depth and water temp. I'm not planning on installing radar, as this boat will never see open water (lake/river) so I don't see a huge advantage for the additional cost IMO. Such a hard decision.
Click to expand...
I'm not seeing the additional cost for Garmin?

If you want a 9" unit, these seem to the the Simrad NSS9 Evo 3 you mentioned and the Garmin GPSMAP 943xsv. (XSV means includes the depth sounder function).

From West Marine:
  • Simrad NSS9 evo3: $1999.
  • Garmin GPSMAP 943xsv: $1499 This is the latest version. The prior 942 seems to be still available at a lower cost.
The Garmin is all touch screen so the footprint is 2 inches narrower.
 
alnav said:
Yes and no. Garmin now incorporates Navionics data into its charting but the look and feel is pretty much the same. The display has gotten better IMO with the most recent MFDs so one should probably take a look at the current versions of several lines to decide.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. I just upgraded 2 years ago to Raymarine 16” XL displays and are happy with them but I agree Garmin is easier to use so would be nice to know if the charts got more to my liking too.
 
b_arrington said:
It's a little complicated here. There's a bit of an intentional division between Navionics and Garmin. Navionics seems mostly focused on providing mapping for non-Garmin devices plus iPad (etc) apps.

Garmin is mainly using an updated version of their Bluechart mapping (Bluechart G3). But they have brought in a LOT of the Navionics features. Garmin touts it as the "best of Garmin and Navionics". The maps do look and function a bit differently now than in past models (like the 4208 I used to have). I think (but not positive!) you can download and use raster maps as well. At the least, you can download raster maps to the Active Captain app - which is the tool used for updating maps and firmware on current Garmin devices. Frankly I liked the Bluechart maps on my old 4208 so didn't really look at other types. The current Bluechart G3 maps were even better and I was quite pleased with them.

The Bluechart G3 includes a number of additional views like fishing charts, includes the Navionics "live" depth shading. It takes data from your sounder and adds that to the map. It also takes depth data submitted by other boaters. They call this the Active Captain "community" depth shading.
Click to expand...
Good info l, thanks for the post. I never got used to the look of the Bluecharts but if they are updating them then it might be worth looking into when the time comes.
 
LastCall350 said:
Look at a new chart plotter, have my eyes on the Simrad NSS9 Evo 3. What would the compatible Garmin be? What's the pros & cons?
Click to expand...

This is all good info....I am currently shopping for a new chartplotter too, but don't know alot about them. I'm a lake boater and currently have a Lowrance with a 5 inch screen. With my smart craft I have water depth and water temperature. In a new MFD/transducer, I want a bigger screen, water temp and depth and down scan, so I can see where I am dropping my anchor. I recently talked to a local installer, since I will be getting bottom paint this spring. He installs both Garmin and Simrad, but directed me towards the Simrad go series(and they currently have a rebate).
 
b_arrington said:
I'm not seeing the additional cost for Garmin?

If you want a 9" unit, these seem to the the Simrad NSS9 Evo 3 you mentioned and the Garmin GPSMAP 943xsv. (XSV means includes the depth sounder function).

From West Marine:
  • Simrad NSS9 evo3: $1999.
  • Garmin GPSMAP 943xsv: $1499 This is the latest version. The prior 942 seems to be still available at a lower cost.
The Garmin is all touch screen so the footprint is 2 inches narrower.
Click to expand...
I was referring to the additional cost of adding radar with either unit i decide to go with, didn't mean to say Garmin was more expensive than Simrad.
 
After doing a bit of research, I can get the Garmin stuff at a lower cost through my business through one of my wholesalers versus the Simrad units. I am thinking i am going to go with the Garmin GPSMAP 1242xsv, cost on it is a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the cost of the Simrad nss9. Bigger screen, and will give me all the features i "think" i am looking for. Going to do some more research tonight before i pull the trigger tomorrow.
 
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