Vesper cortex confusion - which one do I order?

[CharmCityBoater]

I’m ready to buy the Vespar cortex. Appears Hodges marine has the best price. With that said there are two listings on their site:

One is $1492
https://www.hodgesmarine.com/ves010-...on-vhf-ai.html

One is $1899
https://www.hodgesmarine.com/ves010-...on-vhf-ai.html

The 2022 Vespar catalog shows 2 part numbers, one is for US and Canada only. The other all other countries. The Hodges website does not list any parts numbers that properly cross reference.

Which one is right? What’s the difference between US and other country versions?

Thanks

Phil

[Avionics_Joe]

Scroll down past features.
The cheaper one is Manufacturer Part Number: 010-02814-00

The more expensive is Manufacturer Part Number: 010-02814-20

I don't know which you should get.

[CharmCityBoater]

Yep. But those part numbers do not appear on the manufacturers website anywhere. I have no idea where they come from so no reference point for what they mean.

200221 is the US version
264221 is the other countries version

The above part numbers are on the manufacturers website. They are not listed on Hodges marine anywhere.

Phil

[shimari]

We own a Cortex. They use to sell a package that came with an additional handset, but I don't see any indication that's the case here.

The difference is remote monitoring in the headings. I initially thought it included a year of remote monitoring, but that's only $160.

Edit....the listing with monitor is less than the one without so it isn't Garmin software locking monitoring. Best guess is the more expensive one includes a wireless handset.

[smac999]

Originally Posted by CharmCityBoater

Which one is right? What’s the difference between US and other country versions?

Thanks

Phil

I'm not sure about the cortex. but I know other brands like b&g sell a euro model. (int vhf channels only) and a world model that will have int, usa, can, and north american weather channels. so in north america you need to buy the world one. since you can choose which band to use I don't now why all the radios wouldn't just come with all of them.

I've had to replace a few radios in boats that were imported from overseas. they had no weather channels or usa or can bands

[antoniofhowe]

The more expensive one has zero stock whereas the cheaper one has tons of stock, maybe the more expensive one is just an invalid website entry.

[CharmCityBoater]

I got a response from Hodges Marine. The part numbers on their website refer to the Garmin part numbers, not Vesper. Here is what they said:

"The SKU 010-02814-00 is the North America model, the SKU 010-02814-20 is the model that works in North America and the rest of the world. The Cortex offers monitoring service so it has a built in cell chip so the new -20 units work in other countries. The functionality is otherwise the same. The -20 is currently out of stock with a 60 day lead time, while the -00 is available now. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Please let us know how you'd like to proceed with the order."

So, the cheaper model is for US / Canada. The other model for everywhere to include US / Canada. It appears the difference is in the SIM card for the cell service for monitoring. I asked specifically if it impacted the VHF channels and was told all VHF, including international ones are available on both models. So, just the SIM card. $400" more for the one that has an international SIM card.

I only plan to sail in the Caribbean. I think the US / Canda model would work for me yes?

Thanks

[PNWSalmon]

Sorry this is off topic, but given that Garmin just discontinued support for older vesper AIS units with no notice, and effective immediately, including the apps that control the products, I’m reluctant to give this company any of my business. Further, I’ve seen too many boats have troubles with the handsets and the VHF voice quality seems to be really bad sometimes.

I get that the feature set may be nice, but I don’t trust Garmin to treat me properly as a customer, hopefully you are eyes wide open on this purchase.

[antoniofhowe]

Where are you getting that they discontinued support? Yes, they discontinued the older product line, one of the main reasons being that the components to build them can no longer be sourced, but I'm not seeing anywhere that you can't still get support. As for the app, they are not removing them from the Google Play and Apple App stores, they are just no longer continuing development on them, which makes sense if they're no longer selling the product meant to use the apps.

[PNWSalmon]

You can read a good write up on panbo https://panbo.com/garmin-shrinks-ves...cortex-remain/

Every good vendor I’ve ever worked with has given notice on the discontinuation of products. This allows proper time for decision making and planning. Garmin did not do this.

The support we need is for the App to keep working. At this point, apple or android could make a change that breaks it and then you have to go back to controlling it via serial (usb) connection via a computer app that also hasn’t been updated in years.

Additionally, the vendors were selling these products up to the day that Garmin cut them loose. Another bad business practice, selling a new product that is at the end of life.

Will they someday do the same thing with Cortex? I don’t like doing business with companies that act this way. There should have been notice of end of life, they should have given an upgrade path to recent purchasers, they should have committed to some period of making sure the Apps work, and they probably could’ve attracted some older customers to upgrade.

[antoniofhowe]

That is the blog post I was referencing.

I don't disagree that they should have handled it better, all I'm saying is that I don't see anywhere that they've discontinued support with no notice, which your original post claims. It gives the impression that if you were to call up Garmin about one of these devices today that they would not be able or willing to provide support.

[CharmCityBoater]

" I’ve seen too many boats have troubles with the handsets and the VHF voice quality seems to be really bad sometimes"

Where did you hear that? I have heard the exact opposite. I know people who have them and the audio is crystal clear and very loud. Do you have any posts / references? I would be interested to hear about bad experiences. Just had trouble finding any.

As far as Garmin is concerned, they are far from a perfect company. With that said they all have their pros and cons. I could go Furuno, Raymarine or B&G and you will find people that both love and hate each one of those brands for various reasons. They all make decent products. Just do your homework and get what works best for your needs.

I am a leader at a very large medical devices company that also has complex software requirements, not unlike these devices. I do understand how tough it can be to manage the lifecycle of these devices, especially while developing a product strategy and making acquisitions at the rate Garmin is. It is not easy. I trust they make the best decisions for their profits balanced with quality, safety and customer satisfaction. Will everyone be happy? No. But you try to do the best you can.

Thanks

[pjShap]

Originally Posted by CharmCityBoater

As far as Garmin is concerned, they are far from a perfect company. <snip...> I trust they make the best decisions for their profits balanced with quality, safety and customer satisfaction.

In my opinion, Garmin, as with most companies, makes the best decisions for their profits. Quality, safety and customer satisfaction are some of the parameters in that equation. Garmin generally has much shorter product support and software updates than I would like. It's not only a question of getting the latest user interface, or features. It sometimes means that functionality disappears due to other equipment's updates. While I have a full set of Garmin instruments, I do not plan to continue purchasing from them.

[PNWSalmon]

Originally Posted by antoniofhowe

That is the blog post I was referencing.

I don't disagree that they should have handled it better, all I'm saying is that I don't see anywhere that they've discontinued support with no notice, which your original post claims. It gives the impression that if you were to call up Garmin about one of these devices today that they would not be able or willing to provide support.

I will clarify, the application, which is the key way that I use the vesper, is no longer supported, meaning that if Apple breaks it, Garmin has said they don’t plan on supporting that.

If the unit breaks, the parts are no longer able to be sourced but garmin may still support me.

If that’s the kind of hairs to be split I’ll give in and agree with you. But I will also add, I wrote directly to garmin when this was announced, asking for clarification, as a customer, and they never responded even with a one word email.

[PNWSalmon]

Originally Posted by CharmCityBoater

" I’ve seen too many boats have troubles with the handsets and the VHF voice quality seems to be really bad sometimes"

Where did you hear that? I have heard the exact opposite. I know people who have them and the audio is crystal clear and very loud. Do you have any posts / references? I would be interested to hear about bad experiences. Just had trouble finding any.

As far as Garmin is concerned, they are far from a perfect company. With that said they all have their pros and cons. I could go Furuno, Raymarine or B&G and you will find people that both love and hate each one of those brands for various reasons. They all make decent products. Just do your homework and get what works best for your needs.

I am a leader at a very large medical devices company that also has complex software requirements, not unlike these devices. I do understand how tough it can be to manage the lifecycle of these devices, especially while developing a product strategy and making acquisitions at the rate Garmin is. It is not easy. I trust they make the best decisions for their profits balanced with quality, safety and customer satisfaction. Will everyone be happy? No. But you try to do the best you can.

Thanks

My source is sitting in an anchorage and my friend on the Cortex, on high power, had had the worst sound. He’s struggled with it. Maybe it’s just him.

I too worked in hardware and software manufacturing and I understand these concerns. My company always had the duty give end of life notice, it’s good for business. I’m certainly not expecting someone to support a piece of equipment until the end of time, but this is a critical bit of safety gear , it’s difficult to suddenly find out it’s obsolete when you’re using it “out here”.