I'm considering purchasing Garmin's 3206 chartplotter for my boat. I'd eventually like to add radar and possibly the XM weather to it but for now it will just be for chartplotter/gps usage. The price is around $1500. Can anyone provide some feedback on this unit? I'm looking for some opinions or recommendations for alternatives from current owners. thanks, --mike
Garmin 3206 Chartplotter?
- Thread starter mseifert
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This is my last Garmin
I just purchased the GArmin 4208 and although not the unit you are looking at they are similar. I have had the unit for 4 weeks and at this point I wish I had gone with the Raymarine. I bought one of the network packages that included the 4208 display, the weather radar unit , and the sounder. This is a package that garmin put together and it all came in one box. I had just bought a new boat and the transducer was bad so I really needed to get it hooked up before it went in the water and that was in two days after I bought this unit. Not a problem, I spent about 6 hours pulling the wires, carefully routing them back to the pedestal. I got it all hooked up and powered up. The unit came on but it wouldn't find the sounder. I went back checked all my connections and they were right according to the instructions. so I tried again...Nothing! So I called Garmin. I was told that the included cable that came in the box with my 4208 and the instructions showed how to connect the wires was not for use with the 4208 and that I needed to use the network cables. This would be fine but they give you a 6' network cable. Ok a little pissed but not a problem I will just get the cables....I called all around and no place stockes the cables. so I call Garmin back...they have them and will get them out that day and with over night shipping I will have them the next day. That was 10 days ago. I called the yesterday and no they are on back order and should be here in 2 to 3 weeks! Not a good way to run a business. ok enough bitching about that Functionality: This is the third Garmin I have owned and I really liked the last 2. I am not all that impressed with this one. The controls are fairly simple to use. But there are not many things that you as the user can set to your desired choice. you are stuck with the data read outs that came with the unit. you are stuck with the setup for what is displayed that came with the unit. I think that my 172c had a better setup. I do like the size of the screen but Garmin is not the only one to offer that. I have the complete system and it is all installed...if not I think I would take it back and swap it out for the Raymarine. That is only my opinion. I WAS a die hard Garmin fan but barring great changes I think this will be my last Garmin
I just purchased the GArmin 4208 and although not the unit you are looking at they are similar. I have had the unit for 4 weeks and at this point I wish I had gone with the Raymarine. I bought one of the network packages that included the 4208 display, the weather radar unit , and the sounder. This is a package that garmin put together and it all came in one box. I had just bought a new boat and the transducer was bad so I really needed to get it hooked up before it went in the water and that was in two days after I bought this unit. Not a problem, I spent about 6 hours pulling the wires, carefully routing them back to the pedestal. I got it all hooked up and powered up. The unit came on but it wouldn't find the sounder. I went back checked all my connections and they were right according to the instructions. so I tried again...Nothing! So I called Garmin. I was told that the included cable that came in the box with my 4208 and the instructions showed how to connect the wires was not for use with the 4208 and that I needed to use the network cables. This would be fine but they give you a 6' network cable. Ok a little pissed but not a problem I will just get the cables....I called all around and no place stockes the cables. so I call Garmin back...they have them and will get them out that day and with over night shipping I will have them the next day. That was 10 days ago. I called the yesterday and no they are on back order and should be here in 2 to 3 weeks! Not a good way to run a business. ok enough bitching about that Functionality: This is the third Garmin I have owned and I really liked the last 2. I am not all that impressed with this one. The controls are fairly simple to use. But there are not many things that you as the user can set to your desired choice. you are stuck with the data read outs that came with the unit. you are stuck with the setup for what is displayed that came with the unit. I think that my 172c had a better setup. I do like the size of the screen but Garmin is not the only one to offer that. I have the complete system and it is all installed...if not I think I would take it back and swap it out for the Raymarine. That is only my opinion. I WAS a die hard Garmin fan but barring great changes I think this will be my last Garmin
Garmin..
IMHO the older series plotters like the 3206 were the pinnacle products for Garmin and are better and offer more user controllable settings than the newer Madison Avenue type plotters. I personally don't like the move to the new menu system and think Garmin F'd up!! Having said that I owned a Raymaine C-80 and it was nowhere near as easy or user intuitive to use as my Garmin's had been. Finding tide data with Garmin is a couple of key strokes and with the C-80 it seemed like 12+. Also had numerous visits to Nashua, NH for repair of the C-80...
IMHO the older series plotters like the 3206 were the pinnacle products for Garmin and are better and offer more user controllable settings than the newer Madison Avenue type plotters. I personally don't like the move to the new menu system and think Garmin F'd up!! Having said that I owned a Raymaine C-80 and it was nowhere near as easy or user intuitive to use as my Garmin's had been. Finding tide data with Garmin is a couple of key strokes and with the C-80 it seemed like 12+. Also had numerous visits to Nashua, NH for repair of the C-80...
so far so good
Mike, I have Garmin 3006C (yep, the older sibling of your unit). I bought it on closeout for around 600 bucks. It worked great but I had a screen fogging issue and returned it under warranty last fall. Garmin sent me a new (refurbed) unit which arrived within three days (don't know how they did it). One problem, the Lake Michigan Map Source data card was keyed to the serial number of the old unit. I had purposely sent the card along with the old unit hoping the techs would take care of me. Nope, I fired up the unit last Friday and it wouldn't recognize the map. Seeing as it was now the weekend, Garmin tech support was not available. I had to wait until yesterday to finally make contact and fix the problem. I have to say this was somewhat frustrating. I splash the boat today after spending the last couple of weeks mounting our new GMR18 radar on a PYI stern pole and fixing a bunch of crappy wiring on the boat. One example was a long UNFUSED power lead from the battery switch to the DC power panel (a fire waiting to happen). Anyway, as was suggested on this site and contrary to Garmin's manual, I cut the radar wires to make the feed easier, reconnected via a terminal block, and crossed my fingers. Damn, everything fired right up including the hookup to my Uniden 525 DSC VHF radio. This feature is SO COOL. I don't know about the newer units but this setup fits my needs just fine. I'd be happy to let you check it out on my boat. PM me if your interested. Al
Mike, I have Garmin 3006C (yep, the older sibling of your unit). I bought it on closeout for around 600 bucks. It worked great but I had a screen fogging issue and returned it under warranty last fall. Garmin sent me a new (refurbed) unit which arrived within three days (don't know how they did it). One problem, the Lake Michigan Map Source data card was keyed to the serial number of the old unit. I had purposely sent the card along with the old unit hoping the techs would take care of me. Nope, I fired up the unit last Friday and it wouldn't recognize the map. Seeing as it was now the weekend, Garmin tech support was not available. I had to wait until yesterday to finally make contact and fix the problem. I have to say this was somewhat frustrating. I splash the boat today after spending the last couple of weeks mounting our new GMR18 radar on a PYI stern pole and fixing a bunch of crappy wiring on the boat. One example was a long UNFUSED power lead from the battery switch to the DC power panel (a fire waiting to happen). Anyway, as was suggested on this site and contrary to Garmin's manual, I cut the radar wires to make the feed easier, reconnected via a terminal block, and crossed my fingers. Damn, everything fired right up including the hookup to my Uniden 525 DSC VHF radio. This feature is SO COOL. I don't know about the newer units but this setup fits my needs just fine. I'd be happy to let you check it out on my boat. PM me if your interested. Al
I love mine
I have the 3206 with the GMR18. This is a great plotter. I happen to agree with MS that the newer products are not nearly as usefull as these units. If you are buying it new, make sure that it is the latest generation of the product as they had a problem with condensation on the inside of the screen. Not a big deal because they will swap it out for the new unit which does not have this problem. It isn't really that bad either. I used mine for 2 seasons like this. They replaced it the first year(under warranty) and that one also had the issue. By then they realised that they had a problem with production and redesigned it to prevent this problem. They just got all the new units in in April and they sent me another replacement which works perfectly. Both times I backed up my data but they copied it anyway.
I have the 3206 with the GMR18. This is a great plotter. I happen to agree with MS that the newer products are not nearly as usefull as these units. If you are buying it new, make sure that it is the latest generation of the product as they had a problem with condensation on the inside of the screen. Not a big deal because they will swap it out for the new unit which does not have this problem. It isn't really that bad either. I used mine for 2 seasons like this. They replaced it the first year(under warranty) and that one also had the issue. By then they realised that they had a problem with production and redesigned it to prevent this problem. They just got all the new units in in April and they sent me another replacement which works perfectly. Both times I backed up my data but they copied it anyway.
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