I'm about to pull the trigger on replacing a 11 Y.O. Northstar 951 w/ something color and 12". Furuno MF12 is ~3200$, Raymarine E120 is also about 3200$ and it appears everyone is dumping the Ray C120 for 2200$ or less as well as bundling in the sensors and cables a lot cheaper than the E-series.
I have a 1st rate fishfinder ( Furuno 582 CRT) and radar ( Furuno 1761 MK 3) and want the unit initially as a chartplotter as well as for Sirius weather. When my 11Y.O. displays die I will add an 8" screen, radar and fishfinder to complete the set.
Understand I am going from a 5" 320 X 240 display so any 12" 800 X 600 display is lightyears better.
Also understand I do software for a living and have extensive experience with "new" releases of the same old stuff.
technical question - what is the CPU speed and memory size of the C120 vs E120?
Opionion question - what do I give up w. a C120 vs. an E120?
We have a pair of C120's mounted in our Robalo and they have been working great this year. We stayed with these units since we had one C120 on our Mako last year. It has done what we need it to this year.
It would be nice to have the E120's but for the fishing that we do is mostly in the lower Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. The chartplotter works great for us but then again I don't have any exprerience to compair it to other manufacturers or units. For the price we are happy with what we got.
IT Management Consulting, IT Infrastructure Services, Internet
Raymarine has some decent info on their site. I understand the primary difference to be that the E series is designed to accomodate a second station. There also may be some video connectivity differences.
When I purchased my E series there were some upgrades required to use the C series with the Platinum software, not sure if that's still the case and after buying it, not sure the Platinum charts are really worth it unless you tend to travel to new ports frequently. Given the price difference I would go with the C unless there is a need for multiple displays.
All the E Series has over C is a brighter screen, can network, and do video.
The C and E Series have got to be at the end of their lifecycle. They have been out for 5 years. Their radars still plug in via a dedicated radar cable and not via a network cable like the latest radars. Since you do not plan to add radar and sounder right away I would be cautious about investing in a system that might change entirely soon, making parts you might need in a few years to do these upgrades unavailable. This is happening right now with Simrad customers that want to add radars to their CX screens.
The newest series out are the NN3D from Furuno and the 4000 and 5000 Series from Garmin. If you wanted the best >6kW radar now you would need to go with Furuno. Since you are just looking for a chartplotter right now I would take a good look at the Garmin stuff. With Garmin's $ they will no doubt have the best radar and FF by the time you add those options.
I talked to about 3 pro's locally today and the consensus seems to be the same - pure chartplotter - go Garmin; if you want the best complete kit go Furuno NN3.
The pro's were universal in the "stay away from Ray" message.
Interestingly I got a consensus that for my need -older smallish boat starting w/ an NN2 8" screen made the most sense initially. If and when the radar or fishfinder goes then add a 10" screen at whatever discount I'll get a year or two down the road.
Buy FURUNO I hate my Raymarine C series.Bumped my head on the fish box and let a salesman talk me out of furuno .They get a better kick back from raymarine thats why they push the hell out of it.
I have used both the c and E series since they came out. The networkability of the E is the biggest diffrerence plus the screen is brighter since it has video capabilities. The C is plenty bright as well. Scuttlebutt is that the c is being upgraded in some pretty neat ways and will be unveiled at the Miami show. I have found that most of the guys that say stay away from the Raymarine units or blast them have not used them. I make a living with mine and they never cease to do everything I ask them to do. The new HD radar is amazing and the FF can't be beaten in my opinion. I am on the pro staff but in fact, I could probably have any manufacturer's units on board, but I really like the Raymarine units. I have 3 e series and they do the job on my charter boat about 160 days a year.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
