"Inexpensive" Chartplotters - Raymarine, Lowrance, Garmin

[Paltherr]

We are looking to outfit our current Hunter 27 Edge motor-sailor with a chart plotter within the $600 - $750 range ( complete). Mounting will be done creatively due to the set up in the cockpit, and sizes are limited. We sail mainly Lake Erie at this point, but are planning a 3 - 4 week trip to Mackinac Island and the North Channel of Lake Huron this summer. We have read good reviews on the Raymarine Dragonfly, Lowrance Elite 7-HD or Garmin GPSMAP 546s. Most of the reviews though focus on the fish finding abilities ( which we will use mostly for bottom type, and anchoring decisions), but do not focus on the chart plotting parameters. The Garmin uses BlueChart g2 Vision charts, the Raymarine and Lowrance use Navionics charts. We will buy the gold series of these if we purchase the Raymarine or Lowrance. We currently navigate by charts alone, and have taken the ASA Navigation course. We use apps on my smartphone for weather and wind, and NOAA weather reports of course! We plan to keep this boat for about the next 5 years, then will move up to our potential " forever" boat.
Please share with me any thoughts you have on these, or comparable, units and their strengths / weakness as chart plotters.
Thanks! :dance:
Pat

 

[Steve Dion]

Re: "Inexpensive" Chartplotters - Raymarine, Lowrance, Garmi

Check out the Raymarine RC436I ("I" model has internal antenna). You can find them on ebay.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Re: "Inexpensive" Chartplotters - Raymarine, Lowrance, Garmi

Look at the Raymarine, Lowrance, Garmin web sites for models which have been recently discontinued. Models only seem to last two or three years.

I purchased a new, in the box, full warranty Garmin 2006C a year after it was discontinued for about 1/3 the price of when it was new. There were dozens of e-bay vendors to choose from. Where everybody got new ones is anyone's guess. You may find the same thing going on now with a recently discontinued unit.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

I mounted a Garmin 541 on my H260 when I owned one. I was very pleased with the size and performance of the unit. I also used a Garmin Map76 handheld as a backup/anchor monitor, it is easy to check at 3am without leaving your berth.
Our present boat came with a large a Raymarine unit. I don't like the charts as well as the Garmin. I think the Garmin was easier to see in bright sunlight. The Raymarine has a very limited number of waypoints in a route, and a very small number of track points to breadcrumb your days passage compared to even a handheld Garmin.

Enjoy the North Channel, wonderful sailing, Bob

 

[Bob 04 H260]

Here is the map76 anchored out on a bad night, but the anchor held quite well

 

[reworb]

I have a Standard Horizon CP 190i. It has an internal antenna and the built in charts are great. The charts have excellent coastal coverage, you will have to check out the Great Lakes coverage. I bought the unit because it's about the largest I could install at my space challenged helm, any larger and getting around the helm would be difficult. The price on these units is very good, list I think is $549.00 (with built in charts) but as Standard is doing a poor job of promoting them they are available for much less.

It is only NMEA 183 compatable so if you planning to network it you may want to consider something else however there are 3rd party adapters available that allow 183 equipment to talk to 2000 equipment

 

[kito]

I have a Standard Horizon CP 190i. It has an internal antenna and the built in charts are great. The charts have excellent coastal coverage, you will have to check out the Great Lakes coverage. I bought the unit because it's about the largest I could install at my space challenged helm, any larger and getting around the helm would be difficult. The price on these units is very good, list I think is $549.00 (with built in charts) but as Standard is doing a poor job of promoting them they are available for much less.

It is only NMEA 183 compatable so if you planning to network it you may want to consider something else however there are 3rd party adapters available that allow 183 equipment to talk to 2000 equipment

I just bought the CPF190i (with fishfinder) for $470 at Best Buy. They are at a great price now plus I love their 18 months no interest.

 

[Sailor Sue]

Check out the Garmin 640. Comes pre-loaded with all the US and Bahamas charts. You will need to add Canadian charts for the North Channel. The 640 comes with a boat mount and a car mount. You can hard wire it or use the 12 volt plug for power. Also has a battery for short time power supply. It will also display AIS information if you have an AIS compatible VHF (or some other AIS input source). It has a decent size display, and as an added bonus has an automotive mode with all the streets, addresses, restaurants, gas, etc. We found a fully warranted, re-furbished unit.

 

[Head Sail]

Re: "Inexpensive" Chartplotters - Raymarine, Lowrance, Garmi

If you have an iPad or Android tablet you may consider an app like iSailor (several others too). Cell connection not required. Will work on a GPS signal. Cost about $20 specific charts may be extra. We were very happy with it on our trip to the San Juans. There were some difficulty viewing the iPad in bright sunlight but easily moved below deck and gave the first mate some added responsibilty.

 

[steve stark]

Re: "Inexpensive" Chartplotters - Raymarine, Lowrance, Garmi

Pat,
As a long time Garmin fan, I took a chance on a Lowrance HD7 Gen2, mainly because I am so impressed with the "broadband" radar that it supports. While not as user friendly as the Garmin units, I have found the Lowrance to be rugged, accurate, and easily learnable. I am not impressed with inaccuracies I found in the Lowrance "insight" charts, but Navionics Gold is wonderful. Unlearning the Garmin UI scheme was not too difficult and, if you are not baptized on Garmin, you will learn even more readily.

Since the time of my purchase, I have grown more disgusted by all the manufacturer's efforts to differentiate their plotters with touch screens. IMHO, touch screens are a horrible idea in an exposed, rolling cockpit. Couple that with Garmin's incredibly stupid mistake of holding the mem card door closed with a permanent magent, thus screwing up the cockpit compass, and I am convinced that the race for differentiation is being done without proper understanding of sailing customers' needs.

I don't think you will go wrong with any of your choices, but would recommend the Lowrance as a robust unit, especially if you plan on radar in the future.

 

[FastOlson]

Pat,
As a long time Garmin fan, I took a chance on a Lowrance HD7 Gen2, mainly because I am so impressed with the "broadband" radar that it supports. While not as user friendly as the Garmin units, I have found the Lowrance to be rugged, accurate, and easily learnable. I am not impressed with inaccuracies I found in the Lowrance "insight" charts, but Navionics Gold is wonderful. Unlearning the Garmin UI scheme was not too difficult and, if you are not baptized on Garmin, you will learn even more readily.

Since the time of my purchase, I have grown more disgusted by all the manufacturer's efforts to differentiate their plotters with touch screens. IMHO, touch screens are a horrible idea in an exposed, rolling cockpit. Couple that with Garmin's incredibly stupid mistake of holding the mem card door closed with a permanent magent, thus screwing up the cockpit compass, and I am convinced that the race for differentiation is being done without proper understanding of sailing customers' needs.

I don't think you will go wrong with any of your choices, but would recommend the Lowrance as a robust unit, especially if you plan on radar in the future.

Good observations! We replaced an older Garmin plotter last year with a 9" Lowrance. We find the touchscreen much easier to navigate after the confusion of buttons on the old setup. Obviously opinions will vary on this interface stuff.
We have their integrated hi-def radar too. The resolution for finding boats, docks, and whatnot is way better than the older type of radar technology.

Our local dealer let me "check out" several new new units for fit on our binnacle guard. The Simrad (like Garmin and Raymarine) exhibited violent compass interference - they do not belong on a boat, IMHO.

The Lowrance uses a friction catch for its chart door and has zero effect on the steering compass.

So far, so good.

Given that our prior Garmin had firmware problems and hardware QC problems, it's good to have something that works... and is much easier to use.
Of course, if you ask us again in five years, we can give a much more useable review.

LB

 

[BarryL]

Re: "Inexpensive" Chartplotters - Raymarine, Lowrance, Garmi

Hello,

I have had a few Garmin and Lowrance products. IMHO the screen size and resolution are the most important. All the products work well, are accurate, and so the same basic thing. I would much rather have a 7" screen over a 5" screen, and higher resolution (like 640X480) over lower resolution (like 480X 240).

Do you plan on interfacing the plotter to other devices, like an autopilot, wind instrument, VHF or the like? If so, something that supports NMEA2000 (assuming your other devices support it) will be MUCH easier to connect to than NMEA0183.

Lastly, I much prefer a more permanently mounted device, connected to shipboard power, over a portable device that runs on batteries (although I do use a portable device as a backup and something I can take with me on the foredeck, etc.).

Good luck,
Barry

 

[John23883]

Lowrance

I think you get more for your money with the Lowance. One of the things I found when researching, is that the Garmins will only use Garmin software. Now that may have changed, but the Lowrance allows me to use fishing hotspots or Navionics etc. I didn't like the idea of being locked in. My friend just picked up the Lowrance with the Navionics Gold chip included, for an incredible price from West Marine.

 

[Davidasailor26]

I think you get more for your money with the Lowance. One of the things I found when researching, is that the Garmins will only use Garmin software. Now that may have changed, but the Lowrance allows me to use fishing hotspots or Navionics etc. I didn't like the idea of being locked in. My friend just picked up the Lowrance with the Navionics Gold chip included, for an incredible price from West Marine.

I agree. We got a Lowrance Elite 5 DSI from West Marine at the start of the season. Came with a great set of charts and the screen resolution is noticeably better than more expensive Garmin units.

 

[KristinKaye]

I will second the suggestion of Mark_53. Get an Android tablet or iPad with a chartplotter app in it. There's several to choose from on both platforms, depending on what you want for features. A tablet with GPS in it and a chartplotter app uses the same raster or vector charts that chartplotters use. Some apps you have to pay for and use free charts downloaded from NOAA or other sources. Some apps are free and you pay for the charts. Some are totally free all the way. NOAA came out with a beta app last year for Android called MyNOAACharts that uses their downloadable raster charts. I've used it in our Galaxy Tab2 alongside our CP190i and the Tab2 beats the CP190 in ease of use, more screen real estate that can show more detail, CPU power in screen redraws when switching to higher res charts, and you can play movies on it if you get tired of looking at a picture of a little boat moving across the chart.

I would not waste my money on a chartplotter.

 

[Steve Dion]

Re: "Inexpensive" Chartplotters - Raymarine, Lowrance, Garmi

Tablets & Ipads don't work well in the sunlight. They are a good solution for below deck. The chart plotters work outside in bright lite.

 

[KristinKaye]

Tablets & Ipads don't work well in the sunlight. They are a good solution for below deck. The chart plotters work outside in bright lite.

I could not remember if I had ever taken a picture of the mount for it, but I did when I made the mounts. It took me a bit to find it. I made two of these - got one in the cabin at the chart table and the other in the cockpit by the compass. The tablet just slides in the top and there's a hole on the right side to plug in the USB cable to keep it charged.

The tablet is mounted just about vertically in the cockpit with the screen set to auto so it adjusts itself for changing light conditions. There's a smoked lexan visor that goes over the top on snaps to keep glare and water off it if rains. It is every bit as easy to read in bright sunlight as the chartplotter is mounted that way.

 

[Chris Patterson]

Re: "Inexpensive" Chartplotters - Raymarine, Lowrance, Garmi

How would I use this pad to signal my autopilot, and get info from other electronics on the boat?

And do those split screen fish finding units have the option of utilizing the whole screen to plotter?
(Bearing in mind if Moby Dick and Jaws were battling it out under the boat I don't care)?

I ask these things because I might get away from my old Garmin, and I don't see replacing it yet with a telephone toy either..

 

[shemandr]

Re: "Inexpensive" Chartplotters - Raymarine, Lowrance, Garmi

The industry should have moved to Blue Tooth or similar technology a while ago. You should, and I predict you will, be able to have a wireless communication between your pad device and auto pilot and for that matter your masthead anemometer, speed/depth. Why are we still running wires on sailboats?

In retrospect, I've realized my latest chart plotter is nearly ten years old and I haven't shopped newer stuff. So I wasn't aware that there are and have been wireless features for some time and should not have posted this. I do hope the industry will continue to move in a wireless direction and increase interactive technology for whatever devices we will be using.

 

[Chris Patterson]

The industry should have moved to Blue Tooth or similar technology a while ago. You should, and I predict you will, be able to have a wireless communication between your pad device and auto pilot and for that matter your masthead anemometer, speed/depth. Why are we still running wires on sailboats?

Because the marine market seems uninterested in what we really want or need. In the furor of creating pointless and pestiferous new toys for a boat, and the target electronic market seems to be 14 year old girls, we get electronics that are designed for, well, 14 year old mall-girls. Satellite imagery on a plotter? Why not a heads-up display? Hell, try and shoot for waterproof. Yesterdays technology at tomorrows prices is why.
Wireless? Oh Lord, man. Get a grip on yourself. Wireless has been used for over twenty years successfully on computers. Why ever in the world would a cutting edge marine electronics industry step into the twenty first century?