worth the $$?

[ssanzone]

i am fitting a c&c newport 41 for a year of sailing up and down the west coast before sailing thru the canal, bouncing around the islands and up the east coast to boston.


it is electronics time... i am inclined to get as much out of as few components as possible.


is the furuno MFDBB worth the approx 8k? a Garmin 4210 with the Garmin 18HD Radar is 40% of the MFDBB.

i am stepping the mast and splashing in a few weeks so i will be shopping next week.



other options that really stand out as a great option?

[Dockhead]

You don't need to spend that kind of money to have a fantastic nav/radar system.

The new Raymarine plotters look fantastic and dirt cheap at only $1670 for the the 8" C series one at Defender -- and you get a free i50 instrument to boot! Now that's an incredible bargain. The new Ray digital HD radars are supposed to be very good. The Ray system is wifi capable so you can view and control the plotter from a tablet computer. For many people, this eliminates the need for a second plotter, saving $2k or so.

I bought B&G Zeus plotters which are absolutely fantastic -- I'm tickled pink. They are more expensive than Ray but are very solid and have more sailing features. Two 8" plotters and a 4G radar cost me about $6k from Defender. These are Simrad NSE and NSS clones with added sailing features, for almost the same money. You can even now buy a 7" Zeus touchscreen plotter for around $1000 -- Navico are competing hard with Raymarine and Garmin, which is good for all of us! Another advantage of Navico (Simrad, B&G, Lowrance) plotters is that you can use almost any cartography of your choice -- Navionics, CMap, or those bundles from that German company the name of which escapes my mind.

I have never used Furuno plotters so can't say anything about them. I know that there is a general consensus that the Furuno radars are the best pulse radars you can buy. But I don't think you really need a black box system on a 41' boat. Those are mostly for big power boats where you want a giant separate display on your giant bridge. Do you even have space anywhere for one of the massive displays that go with black box systems? Furuno makes a nice 8" plotter which is only a little more expensive than the Ray or Navico offerings -- something like $2600 at Defender after the $200 rebate which is going on now.

Good luck and let us know what you finally choose. It sure is a great time to be buying marine electronics -- so get so much more for so much less money than just a couple of years ago, it is amazing.

[Hotel L]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

You don't need to spend that kind of money to have a fantastic nav/radar system.

The new Raymarine plotters look fantastic and dirt cheap at only $1670 for the the 8" C series one at Defender -- and you get a free i50 instrument to boot! Now that's an incredible bargain. The new Ray digital HD radars are supposed to be very good. The Ray system is wifi capable so you can view and control the plotter from a tablet computer. For many people, this eliminates the need for a second plotter, saving $2k or so.

I bought B&G Zeus plotters which are absolutely fantastic -- I'm tickled pink. They are more expensive than Ray but are very solid and have more sailing features. Two 8" plotters and a 4G radar cost me about $6k from Defender. These are Simrad NSE and NSS clones with added sailing features, for almost the same money. You can even now buy a 7" Zeus touchscreen plotter for around $1000 -- Navico are competing hard with Raymarine and Garmin, which is good for all of us! Another advantage of Navico (Simrad, B&G, Lowrance) plotters is that you can use almost any cartography of your choice -- Navionics, CMap, or those bundles from that German company the name of which escapes my mind.

I have never used Furuno plotters so can't say anything about them. I know that there is a general consensus that the Furuno radars are the best pulse radars you can buy. But I don't think you really need a black box system on a 41' boat. Those are mostly for big power boats where you want a giant separate display on your giant bridge. Do you even have space anywhere for one of the massive displays that go with black box systems? Furuno makes a nice 8" plotter which is only a little more expensive than the Ray or Navico offerings -- something like $2600 at Defender after the $200 rebate which is going on now.

Good luck and let us know what you finally choose. It sure is a great time to be buying marine electronics -- so get so much more for so much less money than just a couple of years ago, it is amazing.

Wow...kinda like a one stop gear report. Awesome nonemotional rundown dockhead.

[Strait Shooter]

Originally Posted by Hotel L

Wow...kinda like a one stop gear report. Awesome nonemotional rundown dockhead.

+1

thank you Dockhead...........

[ssanzone]

is there a +2 option here? thanks a ton.

i figured there was no need to spend that kind of money but the MFDBB kept coming up at the top of the page while i was trying to weed thru and compare.

i will take a closer look at the ray c-series.

-steve

[gordwedman]

Originally Posted by ssanzone

i am fitting a c&c newport 41 for a year of sailing up and down the west coast before sailing thru the canal, bouncing around the islands and up the east coast to boston.


it is electronics time... i am inclined to get as much out of as few components as possible.


is the furuno MFDBB worth the approx 8k? a Garmin 4210 with the Garmin 18HD Radar is 40% of the MFDBB.

i am stepping the mast and splashing in a few weeks so i will be shopping next week.



other options that really stand out as a great option?

Are you sure that $8k price includes the GPS and radar scanner? On the Furuno USA website theMFDBB is $10,995 WITHOUT those "accesories".
You could put together a Furuno system with 8 inch plotter screen for probably around $5k. Furuno stuff is pretty expensive but generally acknowledged to be of high quality.

[roverhi]

Check the cost of the map chips for any system that you buy??

[roverhi]

You are going pretty far afield. Discovered that Garmin will make custom map chips to cover large areas for the cruiser at supposedly good prices. Might want to check if the other plotter mfgs. do the same.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Check the cost of the map chips for any system that you buy??

Furuno gear bought in USA comes with all USA programmed in. A chip for the whole Caribbean only costs $300.

[goboatingnow]

furuno is one of the most expensive for digital charts.

Dave

[savoir]

Really ? Not shooting from the lip by any chance ?

I just bought a MapMedia chip ( Furuno only ) showing Shetlands to Canaries plus Florida to Venezuela for USD $550. Got a better deal from C Map ?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by savoir

Really ? Not shooting from the lip by any chance ?

I just bought a MapMedia chip ( Furuno only ) showing Shetlands to Canaries plus Florida to Venezuela for USD $550. Got a better deal from C Map ?

World Wide... $100.. and the program to boot...

[savoir]

I sure hope it wasn't one of the ones they sell in the back room of the pub.

Pssst, over here . . . . got a deal for you . . . .