Tom.B
Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2009
- Messages
- 5,839
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Skinny Dippin'
- Vessel Make
- Navigator 4200 Classic
Well, right on queue, my 90's era Raytheon monochrome chartplotter crapped out a) when I most needed it last weekend in the fog b) as soon as I had wrapped up my charging system upgrade project with the hopes of spending a few months WITHOUT a major expenditure. It has a syntax error on boot-up that can't be fixed without sending it back to Raymarine.Been planning on a new one for a while, but had hoped to get it late summer instead of now... Oh well.
I have a few needs and/or preferences and I'd like you guys to help me narrow the choices down.
Thanks for your time guys!!!
Tom-
I have a few needs and/or preferences and I'd like you guys to help me narrow the choices down.
- Skinny Dippin' is (and will be) primarily a coastal cruiser. ICW, rivers like the Neuse, but MAYBE a Florida or Bahamas trip in the next 3-ish years. I don't particularly feel like I need the bestest and mostest awesome plotter on the market. I hardly used the old one. Follow the red and greens with binoculars has worked well so far, but I recognize the future need.
- 10" screen - I was originally looking at 7's (Raymarine e7), but I dunno. It seems too small for a primary plotter.
- Touch Screen - Complaints say it's hard to work in rough seas or not reliable if they get wet, but honestly, neither scenario is extremely likely. We are kinda fair-weather boaters. Cool factor is high, but not a deal breaker either way.
- Charts built in - Not a deal breaker either, but to upgrade when I need over wi-fi to would be nice. How accurate are built-in charts? Will I just need to buy a card in a year or two anyway? Are the higher level features of "gold" cards worth the money? (satt images, etc.)
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth - TBH, I don't know what these can bring to the table. Again, not a deal breaker. It's unlikely I will want to check the radar or fish finder on my phone from 10' away or play Zeppelin thru tiny built-in speakers. You guys will have to clue me in on this.
- Ease of use - Everyone parades Garmin as the easiest to use. This may or may not be true, but does it matter? I don't remember the last time I needed to make any major adjustments to the settings. If Raymarine or Lowrance are better plotter that are more or less "set-it-and-forget-it" units, I'd be more interested in that over less effective, but easy.
- Build in depth sounder - Do you really need this? While I am also in great need of a new depth sounder, do I need a total fishfinder box built into the plotter? Can you integrate it without adding $200 to the price or adding a $200 black box to it?
- Radar - Will add next year, I hope.
- Networking - I fully plan to add an X-10 auto pilot too. Are there any advantages to propitiatory networks or will NMEA 2000 be sufficient?
- Price - Looks like the $2000-$2500 is the target, BUT the Standard Horizon price point is pretty attractive.
- Lowrance HDS-10 Gen2 - ($2300) My concern is that it might be too fishing oriented
- Garmin 4010 or 4210- ($2200) I don't know what it is about Garmin that never sits right with me. I just don't "trust" them and I don't know why.
- Standard Horizon CPN 1010i - ($2000) New model with lots of cool new features. Good price. Great customer service. Loaded with charts.
- Raymarine C125 - ($2100) 12" display (may not have room for one this big). New product with cool new stuff. Not sure what difference is from the new e-series.
- Raymarine e7 or e9 - ($1500-$1800) Smaller and cheaper
- Standard Horizon CP 590 - ($1600) One generation back in technology. 12" display. Cheap!
Thanks for your time guys!!!
Tom-
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