Garmin vs Raymarine

[Sonosailor]

Good stuff. Can I have a bit of your knowledge?
I have a small French cat with 1996 radar, 1996 Autohelm heads for wind and speed, and a failing b&w 5" Garmin. Mounting space is a premium. I am considering a Raymarine a65 for the GPS, which can accept data from a new Raymarine radar array, and the wind and speed(last two through some sort of network device). This allows the old Autohelm heads to be removed to allow the a65 to be mounted at the steering station. Is there a Garmin solution similar to this?

[johnboatcat]

I am not positive but I don't think Garmin makes a true networked MFD smaller than 8". Combo units yes, but not a small MFD head like the Raymarine. Ask the folks at getfeetwet com. They know the equipment and configurations inside and out. They always answer my email questions promptly and will do the research if they can't answer immediately.

I have a small cat as well and understand the limited mounting space. I mounted a 4210 on the bulkhead which is 8/9' forward of the helm chair. I can read it clearly and it operates with the inexpensive wireless remote easier than touching it with your fingers. Also good for TV in the cockpit with an added tuner and antenna.

[colemj]

Sure they do - it is called the GI10 or something like that.

Mark

[monte]

We had the E120W and now the e125 Raymarine plotters. Both work really well as Rolf said, maybe not as intuitive as garmin but easy enough. I find ray marines product support pathetic though and zero support for older products, their answer is usually..buy a new one..
We had a intermittent radar problem with our last plotter. I had to pay to have it uninstalled and postage both ways and reinstalled and Raymarine wouldn't even tell us what they fixed. Surely any decent business would foot the bill for faulty product.
Also the installed charts were 2 years old when purchased, when it asked for an update they said bad luck, maybe it was in the suppliers shelf for 2 years...service..what service?
When I inquired why the log kept adding miles at anchor they said it was a software bug and they had no intention of fixing it...result..useless log reads 20000M after 5000M
On the new e125 I asked them about an external alarm so we could hear it inside, nope they've removed that feature but I should buy an additional plotter for inside so I can hear the alarm...

When they are working they work well, the wifi feature is great and amazingly they don't charge for the iPad app, but after sales service...forget about it..

[johnboatcat]

The GPSMAP 741xs is a 7" unit that is a combo with a lot of features. The radar combo may be enough for you. It will attach to the Garmin network and has full functionality (weather overlay etc) when attached to another full MFD. Do not have any idea what unit Mark is talking about above.

[colemj]

I thought you were talking about a 4" networked MFD to display data - the person you responded to was asking about a wind/speed/depth display. Garmin makes the GMI-10 that does this.

If you were talking about a chartplotter, these are not that.

Mark

[johnboatcat]

He is looking for a solution from Garmin that basically can show it all in a small form factor like the Raymarine a65.

[goboatingnow]

There are several Garmin units that are small and can be networked.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Sonosailor]

For those who are interested, I finally chose Raymarine: removed a 1996 tricorder and a 1996 wind instrument, moved the 1996 st6000 Autohelm control head to the right, fitted starboard over the holes, and installed an a75. I ran the Seatalk Backbone to a space in the port shed (space over the port engine for batteries and wet fowlies), installed an ITC-5 (connects and manages transducers) and an AIS transceiver, and carried on with a Spur wire to an i70 inside the salon. I have it 90% working.

Incidently, when I got back to the boat with all the stuff for the above after leaving the boat for the summer in Virgin Gorda, the Standard Horizon GX1500 VHF quit. I found that I could not hook any radio, including a Raymarine to the Raymarine system to get GPS data without a special $300+ wire, so I purchased and installed a Standard Horizon GX1700 with GPS built into the faceplate. I'm happy with that.

Now, about that Xantrex 1000 Watt inverter I just bought from Island Water World last spring, that just failed - WTF is going on now?

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Sonosailor

Now, about that Xantrex 1000 Watt inverter I just bought from Island Water World last spring, that just failed - WTF is going on now?

What's going on? You bought a Xantrex.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by johnboatcat

Garmin's HomePort PC software is now a free download from their website. If you upload your data from an SD card to the software you can then export it in .gpx standard format to use in other systems or simply edit in notepad. I find HomePort fairly simple for trip planning and route creation. The price also makes it an attractive option. You download your plotter maps to an SD card and HomePort will recognise the card and use the same map you see on the plotter for your planing. You must have the card in the SD card reader/slot on the computer to use the map. It does not download to the computer........

That is what I do extensively. It makes it simple to just follow the orange line on the plotter. It also makes it simple to change your route and upload a new one.

Active Captain information shows up in HomePort which makes things even easier for route planning.

[AlexCollier]

So two years on from the last post....

I too am now looking to replace all my 2001 Raymarine installation - chart plotters, Radar, instruments, autopilot.
All still works fine but the chart plotter is just toooo old and slow...
I have a Beneteau Oceanis 461 sail boat and consider myself a cruise- not a racer...

Following the 2106 Newport boat show I am getting quotes for a makevoer for both Garmin and Raymarine. I have excluded B&G/Simrad.

Here is a summary of the comments/recommendations that I have received so far. Any additional insight would be appreciated:

Raymarine and Garmin are essentially price compatible so that issue is not considered here.

Raymarine support has mixed reviews. Was terrible better of late maybe.
Garmin support immediate and no messing about.

Raymarine and Garmin seem to have equivalent quality.

Raymarine - Current installation so can retain anemometer, depth & log/temp transducers
Garmin would require complete replacements.

Raymarine uses proprietary protocol Seatalk NG (which is essentially but not quite NEMA2000) but does offer conversion in and out.
Garmin has fully adopted NEMA2000.

Raymarine uses proprietary cables and connectors.
Garmin uses standard NEMA2000 cables so marine grade cables from vendors like Maretron can be used.

Raymarine chart plotters accept three charts - C-chart, Navionics and Raymarine Lighthouse (I have Navionics on my iPad as a backup and planning and it has been excellent.)
Garmin only use Garmin

Raymarine autopilots have a long legacy of working well (mine still does)
Garmin seems to have mixed reviews in the sailing world...

Raymarine chart plotters provide physical controls plus touch.
Garmin uses touch screens. They do have a large physical control option that does not seem to have good reviews.

Raymarine radar has a long legacy of working well (mine also still works well.)
Garmin is relatively new to the field but no negative reports.


Any additional help in making this key decision would be much appreciate.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by AlexCollier

Raymarine uses proprietary protocol Seatalk NG (which is essentially but not quite NEMA2000) but does offer conversion in and out.
Garmin has fully adopted NEMA2000.

Not quite true.. Seatalk NG is NMEA2000, but Raymarine has proprietary cables. I have completely removed all the proprietary cables and converted them to standard Micro-C cables. My Raymarine autopilot talks just fine with all my B&G gear (standard NMEA2000). Here is Raymarine's official page on it.
SeaTalkNG Networking Cables | Raymarine

That brings up another question. Why not B&G? The Defender B&G Wind, depth, speed, GPS, temp, double Triton displays is one of the best deals around. Even at $1599 its a good deal, but usually go on sale for $200 less.
B&G T41 Triton Speed, Depth, Wind and GPS Pack

Personally I choose B&G (the above kit) and a B&G Zeus2 plotter, but went with Raymarine for Auto Pilot. After tons of research, I believe Raymarine has the best AP on the market. So far, I haven't been disappointed.

Just some food for thought.

[jibstay]

I went through a similar upgrade on my Beneteau 473 last winter.

I chose to stay with Raymarine. I've been happy with the new stuff, especially the XM Weather and the WiFi connection to an iPad.

I did have a problem with my existing wind transducer, but it turned out to be a firmware issue in the ITC-5 adapter. Once the firmware was updated, the wind instrument worked perfectly. I also updated the firmware in the MFD.


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[sck5]

I went to the Caribbean and back with my old boat which had Garmin and also on my new boat which has raymarine. If I were installing new I would pick Garmin but with a raymarine autopilot. No problem getting them to talk to each otherafter you figure out whichcables to use. About the charts thoughh - Do NOT get raymearine if you are going to the Bahamas. Navionics charts are no good there. I ended up transferring waypoints from my paper explorer charts to the raymarine plotter. Otherwise the raymarine plotter is fine though I think the lighthouse charts suck. But the Garmin interface is better and as others have said their customer service is excellent