Garmin vs Raymarine

[ridingdog]

I am considering a total electronics refit: Chartplotter, radar, autopilot, wind and depth sounder. I was going to wait until I was ready for my circumnavigation but one unit after another (all Raymarine and over 10 years old) are breaking. My systems are obsolete, although parts are available through eBay and other sites. However, after an overnight from Cape Cod to Camden Maine without an autopilot I think I am ready to take the plunge for new stuff, even if I run the risk of it all being antiquated in 7 years. Buying all these items at once has the advantage of total refit discount.
The question is whether I should consider Raymarine or Garmin. I realize there are other options out there but I have to narrow the field to what I am somewhat familiar. I have found Garmin chartplotters to be more user friendly than Raymarine, but to be fair, I am not familiar with Raymarine innovations this side of 2002. My concern about Garmin is that they are a new comer in areas like autopilots. And, lastly, is there any reason to consider mixing and matching?

[Factor]

Originally Posted by ridingdog

....The question is whether I should consider Raymarine or Garmin. I realize there are other options out there but I have to narrow the field to what I am somewhat familiar. I have found Garmin chartplotters to be more user friendly than Raymarine, but to be fair, I am not familiar with Raymarine innovations this side of 2002

.


I like both - but usually go with Raymarine for fully mounted and GArmin for portable, but I have had sterling service from both.

....And, lastly, is there any reason to consider mixing and matching

Only if you enjoy arguments. No offence to either company or their agents, but every time we have mixed instruments on a boat and there has been any problem , you can bet each supplier attributes the fault to the other, be it ray, garmin simrad etc. You really don need to introduce another drama into your life IMHO.

I suspect that a price quote might help make your mind up, BTW if I can be so bold, make sure you include AIS.

[CharlesFCook]

In my humble opinion the Raymarine chartplotter updates faster then Garmin. Most notable when using a Radar overlay.

Stay away from a touch screen. If you get any water on the screen the touch part stops working till you can dry it off. If things start to get s4itty everything gets wet and that is when you want it to work.

[David M]

Have you considered Furuno? Although more expensive than either, I think it is better. The customer support is outstanding. I have a Furuno Navnet 3D system aboard and have been very happy with it's performance and reliability. It really is professional grade equipment..

[goboatingnow]

The Ray C90W coupled to one of Rays digital radars is a good setup. Raymarines autopilots have a very good track record too.

Dave

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by David M

Have you considered Furuno? Although more expensive than either, I think it is better. The customer support is outstanding. I have a Furuno Navnet 3D system aboard and have been very happy with it's performance and reliability.

There's more expensive and downright outrageous. For example Furunos autopilots are vastly more expensive for little perceived gain.


Dave

[David M]

I have used all three brands. In this case you really do get what you pay for, for more than just the autopilot as well.

[jrd22]

There is a good reason why most commercial vessels use Furuno, not Garmin or Ray.

[Svsilvergirl]

Gonna sound like I work for garmin here. Just put in a garmin740s with the hd 18 radar and a standard horizon gx 2150. The 740s is a dual core processor and is faster at panning and zooming and redrawing , than my iPad or any chart plotter inhale ever seen . The radar is awesome , and the radio gives you AIS .west marine has a $2495.00 combo price for the garmin kit . With a $100.00 rebate , and a $299.00 store coupon , and you get about $120 in store reward certificates if you sign up for gold membership. I bought the blue chart g2 vision card for the west pacific. I know all the salty dogs here will boo the next statement , but the auto guidance is totally awesome. Just search for where you want to go , and it will build a route there on it's own. Just got back from a two week trip in the San Juan islands , and it all worked absolutely perfectly. My friend has a brand new 38foot sea wind catamaran with all the new e series ray marine stuff , and he was so jealous of how well all my garmin stuff worked. Not to mention , my garmin g2 vision map , clearly marked the rock at Spencer spit , that he ran aground on , and cost him about $9,000 and his boat hauled out for two weeks. . My garmin not only built a route from anacortes wa , back to the Columbia bar fir me , but it was able to pull up the bus station for Eric (guy with the catamaran) , so they could take the bus home while their boat gets fixed . I absolutely couldn't be any happier with my garmin purchase. It rocks. Looking forward to adding their autopilot and a few more instruments. When I first looked at the 740s I thought it was too small to use , but after flush mounting it at the helm , it's plenty big , and not obnoxious. So....... There is my two cents worth

[damnfinesailor]

I've used a lot of Raymarine products on charter boats and deliveries as a skipper, but I have Garmin on my own boat. Much more user friendly. Plus, I get things that matter to me, such as tides, sunset/sunrise, moonset/moonrise, that I don't often find on Raymarine.
And Raymarine autopilots simply don't seem to be built to last.
The one time I had to use Raymarine tech support, it was good. The times I've used Garmin tech support, it was good.
I haven't used any other brands out there, and a couple seem to be good - but for my money, I'll stick with Garmin.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by jrd22

There is a good reason why most commercial vessels use Furuno, not Garmin or Ray.

This is an oft quoted remark, but it has really nothing to do with the equipment. In my harbour there a very good simrad agent so many inshore fishermen use it, rather them furuno.

Equally furuno as a Market strategy target small and medium sized commercial users. They do this by supporting fill cost full service agents that look after this base very well. That in the main is what drives these customers not the basic gear itself . On the bigger ships there's a different product breakdown entirely again.

Ray, Garmin and Navico ( simrad, b&g , lowrance) target the leisure Market allmost exclusively. This is a price sensitive Market that in general does not support full service agents. It's a reason Furuno have a small share

Dave

[sck5]

I have a garmin plotter and HD radar. They both worked great on a cruise to the Caribbean and back - the Raymarine autopilot worked fine until halfway through when it started burning up control heads (7001), The raymarine tech in St. Maarten suggested trying the older 6000 series control head instead and it is still working fine. No problem talking to the Garmin equipment although a bit of a pain to set up in the first place.