Garmin New Plotters 2007

[woody001]

Whats all this i hear about Garmin releasing new plotters early 2007, meant to "be so much better than raymarine".
Anyone tried these yet?

I do like Garmin stuff, but i find the interface so poor.

S.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Realistically, Big G's spinmeisters are hardly going to say "so much worse than Raymarine, nor even "just as good as Raymarine".

 

[oceanfroggie]

I have both Garmin and Raymarine. Both excellent, though imho, Garmin's plotters are better but Raymarine's radar is better. Garmin's UI is more intuative, and their PC software for upload/download and route planning is in a class of it's own (ie MapSource). The new 4xxx series is really about their G2 Vision charts which are positioned to compete with Navionics Platinum. Btw, Reason I have both systems is for independent redundancy and backup. Garmin's 2110 and 2106 were 10" and 6" respectively whereas the new 4012 and 4008 are landscape and better sizes for most craft (ie 12" and 8").

 

[Ecosse120]

But have you seen the discounts on the old models /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[woody001]

no...where?

 

[oceanfroggie]

Yes, frankly I'm not yet convinced about the tangible value of 4th generation chart formats such as G2 Vision or Navionics Platinum, in which case the 2010 and 2006 are superb value.

What is the point in having a detailed electronic representation of the sea bed, transcribed from 100 year old paper charts that were never intended for that level of minute accuracy? It’s a recipe for false confidence. IMHO, 3D underwater views such as those now offered by chart vendors are only of use if the source data has come from recent digital sonar surveys, not 100 year old lead line soundings. The aerial photos and Google earth style sat images could be useful entering an unfamiliar harbour or anchorage for the 1st time. Such photo’s tend to be in cruising guides and pilot books. To get back to the original point, I find standard Garmin Bluechart, Navionics Gold and CMAP-NT excellent and a huge improvement over paper only plotting, hence plotters using these formats offer best value for money imho! Best value of the lot is the 276C which is so easy to use and so versatile (ie car, water, portability), must be the navigation product of the last 5 years.