Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

[RayRay'sToys]

I couldn't find a recent thread that discussed electronics decisions for my setup. I am just getting back into boating and fishing. I will be fishing off of a 30' center console open fisherman in both the intracoastal waterway as well as deep sea off the coast of South Florida. Hoping to make trips to the Bahamas. The three brands that I have been introduced to include Furuno, Raymarine & Garmin. If I am missing a major brand that should be considered, please advise. It seems that Garmin has been described as the most user friendly and although that would be nice, I consider myself fairly technically savy so that is less important. Garmin seemed to be the only one with touchscreen but please correct me if I am wrong. In terms of each of their Multi Function Displays (MFD) it seemed that Garmin offered the largest screen at 15". Can someone breakdown the pros and cons between these brands as well as any other brands I should be considering?

Thanks.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

I?m currently running Furuno fish finder and Garmin 4208 chart plotter with radar. I have nothing but good things to say about the Garmin unit for ease of use etc. but if I where to start over again tomorrow there would be no doubt I would purchase the new Furuno Navnet3D system. The best fish finder and radars units in the business just got married to one heck of a GPS system.

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[RayRay'sToys]

Re: Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

dingbat: Thanks for responding & the good information. All other comments are welcomed.

 

[andy6374]

Re: Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

Furuno leads the way in terms of ease of use and quality for its fishfinders and Radar. However their chartplotter leaves something to be desired.


Garmin chartplotter are excellent are a very easy to use. I'm a huge fan of the 3000 series. I haven't warmed up the 4000 and 5000 series mainly because they changed the whole menu system but I bet it is very easy to use. However garmin Fishfinder is ok (at best) and even with their HD radar its so so.

Raymarine is just plain difficult to use.

I have a Furuno 620 FF and a Garmin 492 gps. No radar. And I feel I have the best of both worlds in the 5-6" screen market.


If you wanted an all in one unit, I would definitely wait for NavNet 3d.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

For radar go with the Furuno units. They have been around forever and at least 80 percent of the comerical fleet uses Furuno Radar.

Saltwater fish finders in water over 300 feet then Furuno is number one at finding fish. Shallow water I like Lowrance better but get a unit that has at least 500 watts RMS or 4000 Watts PeP for salt water. Also you want a dual frequency unit 50/200 Khz. For water over 100 feet go with a unit that has a high resoultion 480 or more.

 

[RayRay'sToys]

Re: Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

Thanks to all that recently responded. I had heard from other sources that certain manufacturers were better at some things like the above opinion that Furuno is likely best @ Radar & Fish Finder and the other manufacturers are better at other things like Garmin having the best GPS/chartplotter, as suggested above. Is there anything besides financial limitations and/or space on my conssole for electronics, that I couldn't buy two seperate products as suggested above? Intrepid told me that I could easlily fit two 12" screens on my console so as long as I can generate/save the funds necessary, it seems like I should buy Furuno for radar and fish finder and then Garmin for GPS/chartplotter. Is there anything else I need be concerned about if I went this route?

 

[andy6374]

Re: Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

Well the two (garmin and Furuno) cannot be networked together. And with your current setup you would not be able to do a radar/chartplotter overlay, if that is something your interested in. If you want two big 12" screens...wait for NavNet 3d.

 

[NWFisher]

Re: Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

Rayray's,

I have raymarine electronics that integrate chartplotter, fishfinder, radar, and KVH fast heading sensor into a single control head for my 21 foot boat. I purchased, installed, operated and maintained the system for several years. Back then I too had choices between, garmin, raymarine, or furuno. I made a list of my requirements such as features and fit, prioritized their importance then mapped the various manufacturers products and prices to my requirements. Most important to me then and now are the obvious things such as reliability, long life, and ease of use but also a top notch fishfinder and navigation. Comments from different forums and their members were considered but difficult to quantify not knowing their experience, motivation, and skill level. I'm pleased with my decision and it is not difficult to use. Maintenance has been cleaning and installing free software updates to the control head that fixed bugs (none pronounced themselves in my installation) and added significant functionality. Last year when switching from the kicker engine and starting the main engine the control head would report a fishfinder disconnect that I must acknowledge but everything continues properly and I think it's telling me old batteries need attention. Other than that everything worked from day one without fail. I just ordered a ICOM class D DSC VHF to replace my operational non-DSC VHF that will also be integrated.

Think it through and you'll make the right decision for you. You gotta love good old manufacturer competion! The choices are truly remarkable.

NWFisher

 

[getusummm]

Re: Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

I recently purchased the Garmin 4212 package. All I can say about it is good things. My opinion may be somewhat biased as I have no experience with the other brands. From installation to operation it has been a breeze. I kinda skimmed through the manual and just operate it. It is very user friendly. I am somewhat leary of the 5000 series with the touchscreen. I just dont know how that is gonna work out in a fishing boat. The radar seems to work quite well. Especially when run in overlay mode. It overlays the radar image on top of the gps image, so you are looking at both the chart objects, plus the radar objects to back it up. Makes it very nice when coming in from offshore in fog or darkness. I have not used any sonars in the past, so nothing to compare to again, but in my opinion it works well. Garmin does offer a few different transducers, so pick the best one you can afford and I think you will be fine. The xm weather and radio are big pluses also. One additional feature that I am getting as soon as garmin releases it, is the fuel flow sensors. You will be able to monitor fuel usage and level directly from the head unit instead of having to have a gauge unit for fuel flow.

 

[steveausten555]

Re: Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

For fishing finding.. best Radar GPS.. is Furuno NavNet 3d

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[JB]

Re: Which Radar, GPS, Fish Finder (Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, ?)

I have had nothing but good experience with Garmin GPS and Lowrance Sonar, but were I you I would go for the Furuno mentioned above.

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