Raymarine or Garmin

volvopaul

volvopaul

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Im about to decide to upgrade the radar and 2 plotters on my boat or not.

Ive always been a Garmin fan but after playing about with one the re draw time panning in and out on scales seems very slow compared to Raymarine.

Im looking at a4kw scanner, 4008 and 4010 display, or for a few hundred more, 2kw scanner, c90w and c120 w, I cant see the point in going as far as E series money.

What would you buy?
 
On the F43 E 120 on the fly, bottom helm didn't bother.
On New Spotty, I was chuffed to see E80 on the upper helm, E120 at lower.
Comar AIS overlaying on both.
I was out in the solent last xmas in a real pea soup fog, visibility perhaps 20ft, navigated on the plotter with radar & AIS overlaying plus I sounded my fog signals.
To be honest I really enjoyed the experience, I know Raymarine and understand the "methodology" works for me.
 
I looked at Garmin, Raymarine and simrad when I updated 2 years ago. Went with Garmin 4000 series because of the ease of use and I prefered the quality and excellent back up they offer. In the end all the kit works well you just make your personal choice. If I was changing now, I would still have the Garmin kit - but perhaps have the touch screens after using a friends 750s that he had put on his sports boat - brilliant peice of kit.
 
The 6000/7000 series have much faster processors, but I prefer the 4000/5000 kit for install size, HOWEVER in a showroom or at boat show stand seems the only place we all focus on panning, whereas on passage at sea we watch our boat moving on a chart with occasional zooming. We switched from Raymarine C series to Garmin a few years ago. Can't fault Raymarine, Garmin user interface just easier to use and prefer HomePort to RayTech or NavPlaner for passage planning on laptop. Garmin about to enter iOS and Android space shortly. Agree the 750 is fantastic kit for mid sized market.
 
I fitted a Raymarine C90 widescreen and radar just after the new widescreen models came out. Not a bad system, but after 3 or 4 months i was getting intermittent loss of GPS. Contacted the dealer and Raymarine and was given the run around by them both. One person from Raymarine "customer support" told me "perhaps Offcom switched some satellites of for the day, i kid you not. Finally sent it back to them, they checked it and said it was performing as it should, on a desk and that they would be sending it back to me. I explained i was formally rejecting it as unfit for purpose under the sale of good act. They eventually agreed to a refund, after much protesting by Raymarine and the dealer. Lost some money on the radome, they wouldn't take that back.

Fitted a Garmin 4010 with HD radar, along with my existing Comar AIS. Had a problem with the radar, due to a faulty cable (i may have damaged that myself, not sure). The dealer and Garmin sorted it without issue, sent me a whole radar package the next day, so i could try the cable and radome independently to see where the fault lay.

I've been very happy with every aspect of the system. Customer support was more than 1st class. Everything does exactly what it should do and it's never missed a beat. Regular software updates available from the Garmin website keep everything up to date, bug free and add new features from time to time.

I'd fit the Garmin kit you mentioned, possibly changing the 4008 for a 5008 on the flybridge, obviously networking the two. I'd also consider fitting a Garmin blackbox fishfinder to the system. Would definitely include AIS if not already fitted.
 
From C series to 5 series.. no doubt the 5 series is, of course, a step up, but I was a bit suprised that redraw wasnt faster than it is.
Dont have room for 7 series.
BTW all those g2visionplatinum+++ chart choice extras..havent found a use for them.I guess the satellite land picure overlay might be useful when you are on a lorry convoy..
 
volvopaul said:
. . . What would you buy?
Click to expand...

I went with Garmin as it has superb customer support and an excellent product.

I did look at Raymarine but decided against it as I carefully read all the press statements and in May 2010, the company was bought by FLIR in the USA.

You have to read the CEO wording 'very, very carefully' and dig below the 'bubble-speak' (oh how I hate people who talk in cliches) of Earl Lewis to understand what might be happening. Suffice to say that they (Raymarine) had to dramatically downsize their operation from the Formula One style office complex to something a little more in keeping with their profit margins. :o

Statement from Earl Lewis here:

The Raymarine Group is headquartered in Portsmouth, United Kingdom and maintains offices in the United States, Australia, Singapore, France, Germany and Italy.

Forward-Looking Statements The statements in this press release by Earl Lewis and the statements regarding the expansion of FLIR's distribution network, ". . . . expansion of Raymarine's product line breadth, anticipated cost savings through integrated operations, sales, marketing, and general and administrative functions, the estimate of one-time charges, and the expectation that the transaction will be neutral to 2010 earnings and accretive in subsequent years, are forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Such statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's and Raymarine's business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including the following:

the possibility that the transaction will not close or that the closing may be delayed, the possibility that the Company will experience difficulties in the integration of the operations, employees, strategies, technologies and products of Raymarine if the transaction does close, the potential inability to realize expected benefits and synergies, changes in demand for the Company's products, product mix; the timing of customer orders and deliveries, the impact of competitive products and pricing, constraints on supplies of critical components, excess or shortage of production capacity, the ability of the Company to manufacture and ship products in the time period required, actual purchases under agreements, and other risks discussed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports.

In addition, such statements could be affected by general industry and market conditions and growth rates, and general domestic and international economic conditions. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release."

I think given the current economic climate, this company (Raymarine) might be left to go to the dogs with all the technical and intellectual property being retained by FLIR. :mad:
 
Last edited:
PaulGooch said:
I fitted a Raymarine C90 widescreen and radar just after the new widescreen models came out. Not a bad system, but after 3 or 4 months i was getting intermittent loss of GPS. Contacted the dealer and Raymarine and was given the run around by them both. One person from Raymarine "customer support" told me "perhaps Offcom switched some satellites of for the day, i kid you not. Finally sent it back to them, they checked it and said it was performing as it should, on a desk and that they would be sending it back to me. I explained i was formally rejecting it as unfit for purpose under the sale of good act. They eventually agreed to a refund, after much protesting by Raymarine and the dealer. Lost some money on the radome, they wouldn't take that back.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised you've never mentioned this before :rolleyes: ;)

Definitely Garmin for me, but the likelyhood is the next boat will come with Raymarine
 
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