Raymarine dragonfly vs the "a" series

Nathan R

Seaman
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
68
I am perplexed. Last year I bought a raymarine dragonfly 6 with the navionics gold maps because it seemed to be the best value in its price range ($550). Now this year I see that they have introduced the a68 which has all the same options as the dragonfly (screen size, chirp sonar and downvision, GPS, etc.) plus additional options like networking, WiFi, touch screen, and more. The perplexing part is that the a68 is coming in at $100 less than than the dragonfly. Am I missing something? Is the a68 proving to be a big turd or are they simply trying to get them out into the market?

A68
http://www.raymarine.com/view/?id=5020

Dragonfly
http://www.raymarine.com/view/?id=11198
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,417
Your missing something......

The A68 was recently updated to include WIFi and a number of other features. The A68 being offered at the reduced prices is a discontinued product that don't have these new features
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,417
this one has everything except the WiFi option.
And long term product support......the unit is discontinued.

The clock is ticking on the hardware and software support cycle. No software updates and any savings goes out the window when your only repair option is credit towards a replacement
 

Nathan R

Seaman
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
68
Compared to the dragonfly which will give me what advantage? I am simply looking at the a68 in the aforementioned advertisement and comparing it to my dragonfly 6. Are you saying that the dragonfly 6 is going to have better support down the road?
 

Nathan R

Seaman
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
68
Well I decided that the extra connectivity is important to me so I ordered the a68 in the ad that I linked to. I also pulled the dragonfly out of the boat and listed it on ebay for about the same price as the new a68. With the number of questions I have already received I am sure that it will sell.

There are a number of reasons why I decided to do this. First, I am planning on installing auto pilot steering some time soon. The a68 will as the control panel which will save me the cost of buying an independent control panel when the time comes. Second, the radio in the boat now is strictly am/fm. The a68 has audio output and Bluetooth connectivity so I can play audio from my phone over the boat speakers. Third, it has the ability to interface with the engine and display it right on the screen. I won't be doing this right away because it somewhat complicated and expensive to get everything to talk, but it is an option I would like to pursue someday. Fourth, it's a touch screen. I guess I don't know if that's good or bad yet, but it's cool.

I will post back here after I get it on the water and let you guys know if there are any obvious reasons for it to be so much cheaper than the dragonfly.
 
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