Need opionions on chartplotters

[ripcurl2785]

Well this week my 5 year old lowrance plotter/sounder took a crap on me. Now its time to start looking for a new unit. Im just not sure which way to go.

I really like the furuno navnet 7 on my uncles boat and i also like the whole raymarine c80 set up. But with money being a factor im limited to around 2000 dollars for the unit. So here im asking for everyones opinion which unit in my price range is the best bang for the buck. Please not we fish about half the year in the chesapeake and the other half out of wachapreague va off shore mostly trolling.

Does anyone here have the new lowrance hds units?? i heard there were alot of problems with these units when they came out and was wondering if they corrected this or if i should shy away from the lowrance units??

Thanks for any help

[scattered_grass]

Always been a Garmin fan per functionality and user friendliness. I hear Furunos are good but not that easy to operate.

[Castiron]

I'll second the Garmin.

[seapower]

Get's the nod from me! After having Garmin's and Lowrance bite the bullet and then could not be repaired because they were no longer "current", make mine Furuno. There will never and I repeat never, be another piece of Lowrance gear on my boat. Furuno's can be repaired and it doesn't take a rocket scienist to use them. If I can use it anyone can. Just my opinion. Frank

[jazzrockskier]

I would vote for Furuno. A lot of inexpensive Chartplotter's are built by a third party in Italy. I have an Interphase, same as a Standard Horizon and others. C-Map is an Italian company, now owned Jeppeson, A Boeing Company. I would stay away from Lowerance, eagle, humminbirdand all those consumer grade bass fishing units. But, then I am an electronics snob

[ripcurl2785]

Any particular models you guys can suggest??

[gcredle]

I usually lurk on here, but I feel like I might know a little bit about Marine Electronics--or at least I feel like I do-so I thought I would chime in on this for my first post.

Garmin/Furuno/Standard Horizon basically are the only games in town I personally would consider. All products can be repaired by the mfg---even some time after the product has been discontinued--and all companies have top notch customer service. Furuno stands heads and shoulders above the rest in this aspect---if you run across a Furuno product from the stone age, chances are, you can send it back to Furuno for a full rebuild/repair---and it will get turned around pretty quickly---lifetime product support (or until they cannot source replacement parts).

Ease of Use---Garmin wins hands down for ease of use. The menu's are very intuitive and make for easy adjustments while underway. Garmin network systems are easy to install. Furuno NavNet II product is easy to use, a little complicated to install in large configurations, but the user interface is not bad. On the other hand, the NavNet 3D product (while its functions are cool) is pretty hard to get a handle on for the casual user---and menu changes while underway take some thought.
Garmin has a great chartplotter built in, easy to use, great detail. Furuno has also has a good plotter, but comes out heads and shoulders above in the sounder/radar category---they make the best sounders/radars on the market--period (even Garmin will admit to that) and are the benchmark most everyone else is judged against. Standard Horizon makes a decent chartplotter that runs off of C-Map technology---good interface with Si-Tex radars if you need multifunction capability---and the processor inside is pretty darn fast. Standard offers a good value in this category as the units usually can be purchased for significantly less than Garmin/Furuno--and are quite reliable.

I see a lot of people purchase a Garmin unit to be used as a dedicated chartplotter, then a stand alone Furuno for the sounder (if space allows)--this is a great combination --but not everyone has the dashboard real estate for multiple stand alone units. Are you looking for a single unit that can handle multiple tasks (Chartplotter/Sounder/Radar/Video) or just a replacement chartplotter??---this makes a difference in the units to be recommended.

[seapower]

So you finally quit lurking and dump a whole lot of good info on us. You can quit lurkin' now, you broke the ice! So when you gonna get on the boat and fish??? I called you last time, no answer! You tryin to tell me something here?
Hey guy's seriously, I've known this guy since...... well I won't embarass him. But he's gotten into this marine electronic's thing pretty good. He's an honest guy and I'd take him at his word.
All right "gcredle" the word's out on ya, don't be a stranger! Tell your bride I said hey. Frank

[scattered_grass]

So you finally quit lurking and dump a whole lot of good info on us. You can quit lurkin' now, you broke the ice! So when you gonna get on the boat and fish??? I called you last time, no answer! You tryin to tell me something here?
Hey guy's seriously, I've known this guy since...... well I won't embarass him. But he's gotten into this marine electronic's thing pretty good. He's an honest guy and I'd take him at his word.
All right "gcredle" the word's out on ya, don't be a stranger! Tell your bride I said hey. Frank

he won't answer my calls either...sent me a text the other day that he had tarpon rolling all around him, called him to ask where he was at and I think I got the ignore button

[clt_capt]

I'm partial to Furuno as well. I've got a 1640 Chartplotter that has been very solid. It took a little getting used to at first, but I can pretty much do what I need to do with my eyes closed now...