Furuno Navnet VX2 or 3D

[LOOPHOLE]

Just ordered a Parker 2310 and the boat is expected around the end of October 07. I've got a Garmin GPS and Raytheon now Raymarine FF on my other boat. Not really happy with either.

The boat is coming with no Electronics and it's going to be tough to just let it sit til next year when the 3d is supposed to be available.

I'm not looking for a WOW factor just a machine that is reliable and does its job. I've heard and read that the Nav 2 units are great FF units but fall down on the navigation end. Can anyone expand on what the nav vx2 shortfall is?

I plan to trailer the boat on the east and west coasts of FL so navigation will come in handy in unfamiliar waters.

I have to make some decisions regarding electronics pretty soon.

 

[TheOtherLine]

You can get 3D NOW. It's called G2Vision. It's an option on the Garmin 4000 or 5000 series. It's about $250. I just installed the Garmin 4212 and I saw the G2Vison demo. It's awesome. Also has sattelitte images.

The 5000 is touch screen menus, the 4000 series is tab driven.

It's networkable for sonar, radar, XM also but I only use it as a chartplotter.

PS IMHO, I think Garmin makes one of the best chartplotters on the market.

 

[Outta Here]

I'm not looking for a WOW factor just a machine that is reliable and does its job.
.

Sorry to call you on this...you mis-spelled "reliable"...it's spelled FURUNO :wink:

Most of the complaints I hear on Furuno GPS is, well, uh, a shortage of WOW factor. Go to any marina and look at what the commerical boats run.

 

[LOOPHOLE]

I've heard a little dissatisfaction with Navionics in favor of CMAP charts. If I understood the dealer, I had to pick a machine that would use one or the other chart. I saw some threads on THT that suggest that you could change the between the two map charts.

You guys know one way or another?

 

[UnWired]

This is really a good topic. I am going to completely rig our new boat with full electronics, radar, GPS/Chartplotter, Autopilot, fish finder, etc.

Right now, we have a Raymarine C80 package on the other boat, with the digital fish finder, etc. Not really happy with the C80 and I think it has a problem. Nothing like being 20 miles offshore and suddenly your GPS shut off and you can't get it going. I need to send it back to Raymarine for warranty, because it's still new. Luckily we always have a backup handheld color Garmin and that gets us in.

I am not happy with the "user friendly" functions of the Raymarine either. One time, we hit a school of tuna and someone on the boat marked the location using the "MOB" function. Man was that a mistake. Took me a 1/2 hour to figure out how to disable this function just to get back on course.
If someone had to purchase a new package and wanted the radar, GPS and all of your NAV equipment to work through NMEA functions, including the autopilot, what would you suggest? I know, long subject, but we have the entire winter to set it up. Is Furuno, Lowrance, Garmin, (insert brand name here) better than any of the others? It just seemed that the higher end color garmin was awesome, but no radar capability. I like individual units also. Independant radar and gps boxes are definitely worth it in my opinion.

 

[TheOtherLine]

It just seemed that the higher end color garmin was awesome, but no radar capability.

The Garmin 4000 and 5000 series have a radar module and if I remember correctly, it had one of the highest kw in it's price range. You can certainly spend a lot of money on radar.

I also agree that separating functions is a good idea. I finally got my FURUNO 620 fish finder rigged up and I really like it.

 

[Megabyte]

I'm not looking for a WOW factor just a machine that is reliable and does its job.
.

Sorry to call you on this...you mis-spelled "reliable"...it's spelled FURUNO :wink:

I would agree... For radar and sounder... Furuno would be my choice, but not for my plotter.
For a GPS/chartplotter... Garmin would be my choice. Furuno has not caught up to Garmin yet.

Now if you want to talk really good stuff... think MapTech or Northstar.
That stuff is the shiznit...

But for our boats... Garmin and Furuno would be my choice, hands down.

 

[LOOPHOLE]

I played with the garmin demo units at West Marine and I got one to lock up cause it was on all day every day. In fact I've had problems with my garmin Locking up when it got hot in the Florida sun. I had a low end unit, a 162 that by todays standards is woefully outdated, but the lockup did disappoint me. Here in Florida the sun really heats things up. Dashboards and car interiors crack. I suspect the heat was the cause of the lockup.

I'm just not thrilled with the Garmin demo unit that I was playing with locking up in the showroom. That made a lasting impression that reminded me of the 162.

BTW. Other than weather, if you have a chart plotter and you're not going to spend the money on a radar that can pick up birds, whats the deal with radar? Fog in my area is not an issue.

Never had a radar on a boat, doubled up on gps and ff though.

 

[UnWired]

We have a tricky inlet here. Radar can be a life or death piece of electronic gear.
Was leaving port and it was crystal clear going out early AM. Went out tuna fishing for a few hours. On the run back in it was completely fogged in and you couldn't see 100 feet off either side of the boat. The inlet is 1/4 mile wide and choppy. I could see the channel coming in on GPS, but I didn't see the boat off the SB side. The boat was a big trawler and only 300 feet away. Luckily we both had radar and navigating the inlet was more electronic than being able to see.
Just to add to it, 6pm and sunny weather turned the existing fog into this dense mixture that made visibility impossible. I would rather it had been nighttime and fog than middle of the day and glare.
Radar here is priceless. Now, just to find the right one.

 

[LOOPHOLE]

Chris

We don't get the fog down here in Florida that you do in Cali. So Visability is seldom an issue down here Chris but thanks. We've had some smoke from the Everglades when they went up last year but the ocean breeze made the smoke only an inland issue.

I've heard people down here talk about weather systems sneaking up on people. I've been caught in bad weather once. I look at the weather reports pretty closely before I go out and if we're looking at drama I stay home so I'm not likely to make that mistake again, besides we don't have to go too far for Mahi or Snaps ( inside 10mi) so it doesn't sound like I need the radar option down here in sunny Sou FLA.

I may get a auto pilot in addition to the Plotter/FF as my 3rd toy. I think that would be usefull if fishing solo.