I'm looking at either a Raymarine C-80 or Garmin 3210 for our H33. Any opinions comments or advice would be welcome. I quess it comes down to the cartography Navionics gold or G2. I'm inclined towards the Garmin as it would seem to have a few more features for the buck, various magazines seem to favor the Navionics charts. I haven't had the chance to use either so first hand experiences would help me out. Brad
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Navionics Gold
I use NAVIONICS Gold. This does a great job. I picked this one because it has one chip, NY to SC border. I use a Raymarine RC435i. This has the internal ant so one less wire to run. I've not used the units you mentioned. I think it's all about the software and depends on what other things you plan to have with it.
I use NAVIONICS Gold. This does a great job. I picked this one because it has one chip, NY to SC border. I use a Raymarine RC435i. This has the internal ant so one less wire to run. I've not used the units you mentioned. I think it's all about the software and depends on what other things you plan to have with it.
Couldn't tell you but ...
I just had to pay $300 for a new Raystar 125 GPS sensor! The old one stopped working I'm assuming it was only 5 years old since the boat was commisioned in 2001. Didn't get much use either until I bought the boat which is when it decided to die a few weeks later
anyway, considering those handheld jobs cost the same as just the dang antenna you might want to go portable. Its nice having the charplotter displayed at the helm and at the nav station but a handheld would be just as useful maybe even more if you had to abandon ship. PLUS its a real bitch re-wiring and mounting... if you can, definitely, get something with an internal sensor, but even then, I think you will have to be sure you have a "clear" view of the sky wherever you decide to use it, maybe thats the only advantage to an external sensor...
I just had to pay $300 for a new Raystar 125 GPS sensor! The old one stopped working I'm assuming it was only 5 years old since the boat was commisioned in 2001. Didn't get much use either until I bought the boat which is when it decided to die a few weeks later
anyway, considering those handheld jobs cost the same as just the dang antenna you might want to go portable. Its nice having the charplotter displayed at the helm and at the nav station but a handheld would be just as useful maybe even more if you had to abandon ship. PLUS its a real bitch re-wiring and mounting... if you can, definitely, get something with an internal sensor, but even then, I think you will have to be sure you have a "clear" view of the sky wherever you decide to use it, maybe thats the only advantage to an external sensor...
Have both a Garmin handheld & C80 Raymarine...
but I can not speak to the Garmin 182C... I was tempted to go with Garmin 182C as well because of the interface, customer service, & experience I have had with the existing Garmin but I ultimately went with the Raymarine for three (3) reasons... 1) Ease of integrating in with other instruments/autopilot 2) Navionics Gold charts 3) The option of adding Radar overlay.... once I upgrade my current radar with just the purchase of the Raymarine radome You can see what is involved installing the C80 on our website http://www.sailingseadragon.com Go to "Projects" then "Replacing Instruments" http://www.sailingseadragon.com/Instruments.htm Either way I do not think you will be unhappy with your choice. Good Luck Garner
but I can not speak to the Garmin 182C... I was tempted to go with Garmin 182C as well because of the interface, customer service, & experience I have had with the existing Garmin but I ultimately went with the Raymarine for three (3) reasons... 1) Ease of integrating in with other instruments/autopilot 2) Navionics Gold charts 3) The option of adding Radar overlay.... once I upgrade my current radar with just the purchase of the Raymarine radome You can see what is involved installing the C80 on our website http://www.sailingseadragon.com Go to "Projects" then "Replacing Instruments" http://www.sailingseadragon.com/Instruments.htm Either way I do not think you will be unhappy with your choice. Good Luck Garner
At the Helm
They are both good I had raymarine on my old boat and my new boaat will have the C-80 ,so much info right in front of you right when you will need it at the helm and nice size screen for viewing,the small one's are just that small.
They are both good I had raymarine on my old boat and my new boaat will have the C-80 ,so much info right in front of you right when you will need it at the helm and nice size screen for viewing,the small one's are just that small.
3210 too big for me
I looked at the 3210 and thought it too big to locate at the helm of my Ericson 35. I previously had the 182c and loved it so I bought the 3206 which I love. From new it had some condensation in the screen which would periodically dry out and really was not noticible unless in direct sunlight. I called Garmin and they said no problem. Send it in when you get a chance and we will have it back to you in 7-10 days. I opted to wait until the season was over. I sent it in about 10 days ago and I got it back yesterday. Evidently they had this problem on multiple units so they just gave me a new one. They loaded all my waypoints and routes on it and shipped it out with all new cables, mount, manual and receiver. I basically got a new unit with my info on it. This does not surpise me as their tech support and customer service has always been outstanding. I have heard horror stories about Raymarine. Bad service, rude CS reps and something about flat rate repair fees that are very high. I advise large law firms and banks on what software to buy. They always go for the cheapest or the prettiest and I tell them to go for the ones that have the best support. Buy from someone who stands behind their product. Tim R.
I looked at the 3210 and thought it too big to locate at the helm of my Ericson 35. I previously had the 182c and loved it so I bought the 3206 which I love. From new it had some condensation in the screen which would periodically dry out and really was not noticible unless in direct sunlight. I called Garmin and they said no problem. Send it in when you get a chance and we will have it back to you in 7-10 days. I opted to wait until the season was over. I sent it in about 10 days ago and I got it back yesterday. Evidently they had this problem on multiple units so they just gave me a new one. They loaded all my waypoints and routes on it and shipped it out with all new cables, mount, manual and receiver. I basically got a new unit with my info on it. This does not surpise me as their tech support and customer service has always been outstanding. I have heard horror stories about Raymarine. Bad service, rude CS reps and something about flat rate repair fees that are very high. I advise large law firms and banks on what software to buy. They always go for the cheapest or the prettiest and I tell them to go for the ones that have the best support. Buy from someone who stands behind their product. Tim R.
I have a C-80
I have a C-80 and do not like it at all. Unless you ever plan on adding radar go with the Garmin. The ONLY reason I have the C-80 is because I have radar. The charts are all very similar but I prefer the Garmin charts to all others. I wish Garmin made a radome smaller than 6 feet in diameter.....
I have a C-80 and do not like it at all. Unless you ever plan on adding radar go with the Garmin. The ONLY reason I have the C-80 is because I have radar. The charts are all very similar but I prefer the Garmin charts to all others. I wish Garmin made a radome smaller than 6 feet in diameter.....
I am Garmin all the way.
Brad, I have the Garmin 182C. I have it integrated into our Raymarine radar and instruments. Also, we have the RL70CRC Color Raymarine display with Ray Chart. Depth, Speed and Wind. All are tied in. I use the Garmin to send the GPS info to the Raymarine and I have the chart overlay with the Radar. Nice! I hear that Raymarine has come around with their "C" series but have no 1st hand experience with them. My Garmin has it all over the Raymine. I terms of intuitive and user friendly, graphics, ease of use for integration and sharing the NMEA signal with other devices I think the Garmin has it hands down. We also ran the NMEA signal to the Nav Station below and we set up our laptop with Nav software. We do all of out plotting on the laptop and upload it into the Garmin. The Garmin will run the Raymarine Autopilot and provide the overlay info. The wind instrument will keep the sails set with the autopilot by holding the apparent wind angle consistent. If you are going to integrate, I would check them both out thoroughly. If you just want to open end it, I still would prefer the Garmin. Mike D
Brad, I have the Garmin 182C. I have it integrated into our Raymarine radar and instruments. Also, we have the RL70CRC Color Raymarine display with Ray Chart. Depth, Speed and Wind. All are tied in. I use the Garmin to send the GPS info to the Raymarine and I have the chart overlay with the Radar. Nice! I hear that Raymarine has come around with their "C" series but have no 1st hand experience with them. My Garmin has it all over the Raymine. I terms of intuitive and user friendly, graphics, ease of use for integration and sharing the NMEA signal with other devices I think the Garmin has it hands down. We also ran the NMEA signal to the Nav Station below and we set up our laptop with Nav software. We do all of out plotting on the laptop and upload it into the Garmin. The Garmin will run the Raymarine Autopilot and provide the overlay info. The wind instrument will keep the sails set with the autopilot by holding the apparent wind angle consistent. If you are going to integrate, I would check them both out thoroughly. If you just want to open end it, I still would prefer the Garmin. Mike D
Raymarine Pleasant Surprise
We were long-term Garmin people (182C), and Garmin stuff is great. But when we bought our H38 in Sept 05 it came with a Raymarine C-80 (freebie at Newport Boat Show!), so, in spite of a lot that we had heard, we decided to give the full Raymarine system package a try. So far it has been a very, very pleasant surprise. Operation is easy and software is intuitive, and performance, at least for the first year, has been flawless. We have now used both the Garmin Blue Charts, and the Navionics Gold on the Raymarine, and we found both to be very good; six of one, half dozen of the other. Do you have (or plan to get) Raymarine radar or other Raymarine stuff? We really like the radar-chart overlay and the total systems integration with Raymarine. That might be a factor in your decision. Carl and Jule Dupre s/v Syzygy
We were long-term Garmin people (182C), and Garmin stuff is great. But when we bought our H38 in Sept 05 it came with a Raymarine C-80 (freebie at Newport Boat Show!), so, in spite of a lot that we had heard, we decided to give the full Raymarine system package a try. So far it has been a very, very pleasant surprise. Operation is easy and software is intuitive, and performance, at least for the first year, has been flawless. We have now used both the Garmin Blue Charts, and the Navionics Gold on the Raymarine, and we found both to be very good; six of one, half dozen of the other. Do you have (or plan to get) Raymarine radar or other Raymarine stuff? We really like the radar-chart overlay and the total systems integration with Raymarine. That might be a factor in your decision. Carl and Jule Dupre s/v Syzygy
ray or garmin
before you spend big bucks on either try contacting each company as if you already had spent huge bucks and had a problem. enjoy your garmin.
before you spend big bucks on either try contacting each company as if you already had spent huge bucks and had a problem. enjoy your garmin.
Direct From Navionics...
Hi Brad, I have been a Navionics employee for 6 years. I just happened to stumble upon your blog, so I figured I would shed as much light as I can on the subject. Both the Garmin & Raymarine units have been selling like hotcakes because they are both good products. I honestly don't know all of the technical features of these units so I can't help you there. I can help you with the cartography. Garmin has their G2 maps, which have some nice flashy features, almost-comparable to our Platinum charts. Unfortunately, our Platinum charts do not work with the C-80; if they did there would have been no comparison. You mentioned that the magazines tend to favor Navionics charts. That is not just because we pay them; in fact, most comparison articles are very unbiased and if anyone would have the most money to pay them off, it would be Garmin. The reason they favor us is because when anyone does enough research, they find that we go the extra mile to make sure our content is the best available. The Navionics Gold+ charts which work in the C-80 unit have 3 major differences from Garmin cartography: 1. Tride-And-True Cartography: Navionics charts come directly from the government NOAA charts. Garmin uses a Russian database called Transas, which goes through many hands before it gets to them. I am not going to say that Garmin charts are very innacurate, but since we get our data directly from the source, there is far less chance of error in the chart digitization process. The result: The most reliable data available. 2. Seamlessness: All electronics charts are made up of many small scanned "paper-charts" that are put together like a puzzle. Navionics is the only company that "pastes together" these charts and connects all the contour lines and navaids from one chart to the next so that when you cruise along, you will always get smooth, easy to read detail. Other electronic charts are not fully seamless, leaving gaps in detail and broken depth contours, making it more confusing to read. 3. Clarity: We have developed a very complex system which we call "Intelligent Clarity" in our charts. To explain: The competitions' charts leave every spot sounding, navaid and contour line in every zoom level, so when you zoom out, the picture gets more & more cluttered as the detail pushes closer & closer together. With Navionics, we take out some of the spot sounding and lesser important Navaid detail so that you when you zoom out to get a better view of the area, you can still read all of the detail clearly. When you zoom back in, all of your detail comes back. Aside from all that, our charts are upgradeable & tradeable. Your Navionics chart always has value when you want to get updated data. Please see the following link for more on our trade-in program: http://www.navionics.com/TradeInProgram.asp. There are some very exciting things coming up with our charting, but I can't really say anything right now. All I can say is that in January, our chart coverages will be expanding without raising price, giving even greater value to Navionics charts. Stay tuned to our website, www.navionics.com, for details. I hope I have helped you, rather than confuse the issue further! If you have any question, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-848-5896. Our customer service is excellent and always ready to help. Thank you for your time. Good luck with your decision, and have a Happy Holiday. Sincerely, Aaron
Hi Brad, I have been a Navionics employee for 6 years. I just happened to stumble upon your blog, so I figured I would shed as much light as I can on the subject. Both the Garmin & Raymarine units have been selling like hotcakes because they are both good products. I honestly don't know all of the technical features of these units so I can't help you there. I can help you with the cartography. Garmin has their G2 maps, which have some nice flashy features, almost-comparable to our Platinum charts. Unfortunately, our Platinum charts do not work with the C-80; if they did there would have been no comparison. You mentioned that the magazines tend to favor Navionics charts. That is not just because we pay them; in fact, most comparison articles are very unbiased and if anyone would have the most money to pay them off, it would be Garmin. The reason they favor us is because when anyone does enough research, they find that we go the extra mile to make sure our content is the best available. The Navionics Gold+ charts which work in the C-80 unit have 3 major differences from Garmin cartography: 1. Tride-And-True Cartography: Navionics charts come directly from the government NOAA charts. Garmin uses a Russian database called Transas, which goes through many hands before it gets to them. I am not going to say that Garmin charts are very innacurate, but since we get our data directly from the source, there is far less chance of error in the chart digitization process. The result: The most reliable data available. 2. Seamlessness: All electronics charts are made up of many small scanned "paper-charts" that are put together like a puzzle. Navionics is the only company that "pastes together" these charts and connects all the contour lines and navaids from one chart to the next so that when you cruise along, you will always get smooth, easy to read detail. Other electronic charts are not fully seamless, leaving gaps in detail and broken depth contours, making it more confusing to read. 3. Clarity: We have developed a very complex system which we call "Intelligent Clarity" in our charts. To explain: The competitions' charts leave every spot sounding, navaid and contour line in every zoom level, so when you zoom out, the picture gets more & more cluttered as the detail pushes closer & closer together. With Navionics, we take out some of the spot sounding and lesser important Navaid detail so that you when you zoom out to get a better view of the area, you can still read all of the detail clearly. When you zoom back in, all of your detail comes back. Aside from all that, our charts are upgradeable & tradeable. Your Navionics chart always has value when you want to get updated data. Please see the following link for more on our trade-in program: http://www.navionics.com/TradeInProgram.asp. There are some very exciting things coming up with our charting, but I can't really say anything right now. All I can say is that in January, our chart coverages will be expanding without raising price, giving even greater value to Navionics charts. Stay tuned to our website, www.navionics.com, for details. I hope I have helped you, rather than confuse the issue further! If you have any question, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-848-5896. Our customer service is excellent and always ready to help. Thank you for your time. Good luck with your decision, and have a Happy Holiday. Sincerely, Aaron
sun glaire
I had a C-80 on my last boat and was not pleased with how it performed in direct sunlight. Switched to the E series on the new boat with much better results.
I had a C-80 on my last boat and was not pleased with how it performed in direct sunlight. Switched to the E series on the new boat with much better results.
NOT Garmin
I'll repeat this again. I've heard others make the same statements, but in my opinion, it can't be repeated enough. Stay away from Garmin unless you want to replace your complete unit down the road. Garmin is notorious for upgrading it's hardware line, and discontinuing its software and hardware for the older stuff. Not just built in obsolesence - they all do that - but built in failure with no hope for recovery. All electronics will eventually fail at one point or another, and all software either fails or needs/has to be upgraded. Garmin just makes sure that if its just a few years old, your only choice is to buy a brand new unit, since you now have no way to repair or upgrade the old unit.
I'll repeat this again. I've heard others make the same statements, but in my opinion, it can't be repeated enough. Stay away from Garmin unless you want to replace your complete unit down the road. Garmin is notorious for upgrading it's hardware line, and discontinuing its software and hardware for the older stuff. Not just built in obsolesence - they all do that - but built in failure with no hope for recovery. All electronics will eventually fail at one point or another, and all software either fails or needs/has to be upgraded. Garmin just makes sure that if its just a few years old, your only choice is to buy a brand new unit, since you now have no way to repair or upgrade the old unit.
Garmin Raymarine
I had a Garmin 182 on my previous boat, and have a 498 on the new to me boat. Both have been absolutely flawless. A friend of mine is on his second boat with the Raymarine electronics on it. I really prefer the Garmin over the Ray, as it, at least for me, is more user friendly. Also, some of the new Garmins have all the charts built in, so you don't have to buy all the areas. I just made a trip from NY to Louisiana, and I figured out it would cost almost as much to purchase the areas for the old Garmin, as the new one cost. If you are going to travel much this could be a major consideration.
I had a Garmin 182 on my previous boat, and have a 498 on the new to me boat. Both have been absolutely flawless. A friend of mine is on his second boat with the Raymarine electronics on it. I really prefer the Garmin over the Ray, as it, at least for me, is more user friendly. Also, some of the new Garmins have all the charts built in, so you don't have to buy all the areas. I just made a trip from NY to Louisiana, and I figured out it would cost almost as much to purchase the areas for the old Garmin, as the new one cost. If you are going to travel much this could be a major consideration.
Nice N Easy
I was wondering how the barrel set up went and what the real mast height needed to go under the rr bridge
I was wondering how the barrel set up went and what the real mast height needed to go under the rr bridge
We've had a Garmin 178C with a 32M data card ...
for three seasons now and I'm really happy with it. The non-glare coated color screen helps on those sunny days and the data charts seem dead on with lots of detail. During the first year I happened to scratched the non-glare surface and Garmin covered it under warranty no questions asked. When I tried to load charts from our older PC to the data card it would not work. Garmin sent me three different card readers trying to fix the problem only to find out the vintage version USB PC port did not like the card reader software. After I upgraded to the new USB port everything fell into place. I'm very happy with Garmin and their customer technical support. Our ten year old Garmin 38 still works great, which we will use as a backup if ever necessary. Terry
for three seasons now and I'm really happy with it. The non-glare coated color screen helps on those sunny days and the data charts seem dead on with lots of detail. During the first year I happened to scratched the non-glare surface and Garmin covered it under warranty no questions asked. When I tried to load charts from our older PC to the data card it would not work. Garmin sent me three different card readers trying to fix the problem only to find out the vintage version USB PC port did not like the card reader software. After I upgraded to the new USB port everything fell into place. I'm very happy with Garmin and their customer technical support. Our ten year old Garmin 38 still works great, which we will use as a backup if ever necessary. Terry
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