Easy to use GPS Chart Plotters

[Boxertwinjeff]

Hi, I will be up for a larger screen GPS Chartplotter soon, which Brand is more user friendly for dummies, Raymarine or Garmin?, my boat came with a small hand held Garmin only. Cheers.

[Cotemar]

Garmin has always been the easiest chart plotter to use.
No manual ever needed.

[Steadman Uhlich]

I recently watched demonstration videos on both Raymarine and Garmin (find them on Youtube) for their latest chartplotters.

I was struck by this thought: "Garmin makes it look easy."

[Suijin]

OMG Raymarine chart plotters are EVIL when it comes to usability. I race on a few boats with them and pretty much all the owners hate them after they get to fiddle with someone else's plotters. Figuring out basic stuff like waypoints and putting together routes is stupidly harder than it should be.

Garmin all the way. My boat came with two Garmin plotters and I've only had to read the manual once, to figure out how to dim the screen, which is pretty remarkable.

[waterdog]

Sold the old boat with a Garmin plotter. Very easy to use. New boat had a Raymarine plotter (not the latest version). I was so happy when it died. Bought a new Garmin!

[purepleaaure]

Garmin would be my vote

[Sandero]

I find the C80 to have a terrible user interface. I am disinclined to get another raymarine product. I had no idea when I got it. I think now there are better UIs and it's not a touch screen... which I consider not a good idea... but something necessary for smart phones... but why with devices which have more real estate?

[Boxertwinjeff]

So Garmin it is!,.. thanks for all your opinions. Might take a look at those
You Tube vids.

[Dave22q]

My boat has Raymarine electronics. I deal with the route planning issues by using SeaClear II (easier then CPN) to plot a route, converting the waypoint file with GPS Babble, load on a CF card and insert into my a50 platter. Sounds much more complicated then it really is.

[toddedger]

I guess easy to use is more important than what kind of charts will it use

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by Boxertwinjeff

Hi, I will be up for a larger screen GPS Chartplotter soon, which Brand is more user friendly for dummies, Raymarine or Garmin?, my boat came with a small hand held Garmin only. Cheers.

Boxer, there was a glaring ommission from your question.
NAVICO makes B&G, Simrad and Lowrance.
My gear is all Simrad, not price point stuff but not expensive given it's importance.
Raymarine has always marketed itself to the "dealer delivered/consumer market".
If you want oats which haven't been through the horse you need to pay a bit more.
There's a reason why Raymarine have a near monopoly. People (esp new boat dealers) want cheap.
Bought 2 new Raymarine Autohelm tiller pilots. At the time only 2/3's the price of Simrad.
USD $1400 down the gurgler.
Let your next plotter be your LAST plotter.
People also rave about Garmin....why not !!! But Garmin don't do things like rate gyros, afaik
Check that Garmin will allow raster (Cmap) & Navionics Platinum plus because you may like them. My Simrad takes 3 different msd cards.
If you go Garmindo check chart inter changability.

Fwiw.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Sandero

I find the C80 to have a terrible user interface. I am disinclined to get another raymarine product. I had no idea when I got it. I think now there are better UIs and it's not a touch screen... which I consider not a good idea... but something necessary for smart phones... but why with devices which have more real estate?

Same here, C80 under the sprayhood rarely gets turned on, I prefer the little Garmin mounted in front of the wheel. The menu is so much easier to use.

Pete

[Sandero]

As a general comment... I don't race and require lay line graphics which are a cool feature of some new B&G plotters. I was an early adapter of GPS getting one of the first very crude by today's standards GPS from Trimble for something like $6K if you can believe it.

When I got my first MFD (ray C80) with radar I found the interface not intuitive or user friendly. Too many menus to drill down to find commands. I never really warmed up to it. I began to add waypoints for my various trips. Even keying in the name was a PITA... but I did. After a few crashes and losing waypoints I stopped saving them and never ever used a route. Makes no sense for where and how I sail. If I were to sail from say the mooring in Northport to the anchorage in front of Ida Lewis in Newport I have more than enough time to set waypoints. I don't need them to get out of the harbor into the Sound.

What IS useful to me... and this develops over time with use.... are the TRACKS which remain on the screen and which I can follow (or not)... but I at least know those are *safe*. Using the COURSE and HEADING lines is really all I need. I can see if my course is going to take me into thin water, shoals etc... At night or in poor visibility I can use the course and heading lines to use a buoy as a mark to steer to and thread even tricky channels. I use the AP to steer which allows me to turn a dial... like a helm... to the desired heading as I watch the display. If I am beating I can see both tacks and estimate where to make the next tack. It's all very simple and graphic and of course I confirm with my eyes and keep watch for other vessels etc.

I discovered this navigation approach with a Garmin IQ3600... a handheld device with a smaller display than a smart phone. It had Blue Charts and a heading and course line...easy peasy panning and zoom to any area. I would still be using it in the cockpit were it not for getting a B&GT7 (cheap) which as an built in antenna... so it's like a larger display. I don't bother with waypoints on the B&G either.

The old C80 w/ radar is below decks... and I will often program a waypoint. The C80's GPS data is repeated on cockpit *dash* displays over the companionway and on the KVH 103AC compass display. This gives me *numbers* to sail by... course to waypoit, distance to waypoint, time to waypoint as well as SOG, COG, and so forth. A few (too often) system resets wiped out my library of waypoints. No big loss really. Obviously it was a waste of time to create them... because a waypoint is so easy to set... place the cursor and press GO TO cursor. I don't like the C80 interface and will not buy another Ray marine MFD unless they change that. The B&G has a lousy interface... when I upgrade the MFD I will look at Garmin. I am not a fan of lots of integration and definitely not one of GPS driven APs.

To me (my way of sailing) it seems like waypoint libraries and routes are a complete waste of time. Routes seem like something for a power boat who drives from buoy to buoy and usually letting the GPS correct the steering keeping the boat on a perfect rhumb line.... something rare with sailing... though possible in some cases.

Lots of features probably make the software slower and more likely to freeze and lock up.... Who knows?

KISS works for me. I have 8 GPS enabled devices on board including Navionics on the smart phone. I still have paper charts (not updated) and plotting instruments. I find touch screen devices not as user friendly and hard to use if the boat motion is not smooth.

That's it.

[barnakiel]

I prefer Garmins over Raymarine. I find Ray interfaces unnecessarily complex and cluttered.

Other brands are out there too. Walk into a shop play with them.

b.

[1000 islands]

I've used Garmin, Raymarine & Standard Horizon and Garmin is far and away a better product in every way.