Garmin Vs. Raymarine

[johngalt]

Last year I was undergoing the same dilemma as yourself regarding C120 vs 4212 and I asked the same forum and the same questions as yourself . After intensive research and many conversations with owners of both units , I opted to save myself 1200.00 or more and went with the Garmin . I must say that I am very ,very happy with the 4212. It is very easy to use and I added the sounder module this season that is also great. Next up I plan to integrate my Furuno radar into the 4212 . All that is required according to the Garmin techs is a simple readymade for the purpose cord from Garmin . When I queried Raymarine as to this possibility the techs told me that the c120 would only interface with other Raymarine products . Bruce

[thoward]

Chart plotter goes to Garmin hand down. I have a 12kw furuno Navnet unit in the CC and am adding a Garmin Plotter. Raymarine will have a better sounder and radar.

If you need the radar included then Raymarine, if just plotter go Garmin.

[DCMY #92]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the testimonials. It looks like I'll opt for Garmin.

[kwerges]

Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone have any experience between the Garmin 3210C and the 4200 series. 3210C has been discontinued, but there are some unbelievable deals on packages ($1675.00 for the chartplotter display, sounder and XM radio/weather module). As my budget is limited, and I boat in California and Mexico, is the 3210C enough?

[41-Hatteras]

I have the Raymarine 120 and user friendly it's not. The Garmin is more user friendly. My next choice will be Garmin.

[major hattitude]

as a cert. raymarine tech I recomend buying two of everything so you might have a working unit when you send the other unit in for repair.raymarine is not = to furuno or garmin. due to the failure rate I have had with raymarine I no longer sell it.

[captddis]

as a cert. raymarine tech I recomend buying two of everything so you might have a working unit when you send the other unit in for repair.raymarine is not = to furuno or garmin. due to the failure rate I have had with raymarine I no longer sell it.

I have been telling people this for years! But all you hear is RAY RAY RAY.
I have never been on a boat where all the raymarine equip worked.

A few times people insisted that I put this or that Raymarine gadget on, Within a couple years it was always replaced with Furuno, Garmin or Northstar, although I no longer use northstar.

[Sparky1]

Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone have any experience between the Garmin 3210C and the 4200 series. 3210C has been discontinued, but there are some unbelievable deals on packages ($1675.00 for the chartplotter display, sounder and XM radio/weather module). As my budget is limited, and I boat in California and Mexico, is the 3210C enough?

Kent, I'd say the 3210 is more than enough being the happy owner of a 2210 which is basically the same unit. I haven't paid much attention to the new 4200 series, but it seems to me the major difference is the touch screen operation.

As for Raymarine, I distinctly remember Carl Guzman losing all his stored waypoints while we were headed out on his 67CPMY. The factory never could come up with an explanation of how that happened, and needless to say, years of info was lost.

[MikeP]

I know integration is the trendy thing but I REALLY recommend NOT integrating anything unless you have two completely separate integrated systems OR available separate back up for each part of the system. It is no fun losing the device that has all your nav/depth/radar data.

None of these products are more reliable than others; there are horror stories for all of them. They are computers with all the same quirks as computers everywhere. If your home computer fails, who cares, it can't cause you to hit anything...

[ThirdHatt]

Kwerges, the 3210 is a great unit (and identical to the 2210 but with networking capability) but it is nowhere near the unit that the new 4200 series is. I have and use both units regularly on my boats. The 4200 series is NOT touchscreen at all, only the 5200 series is touchscreen and they are much more expensive and not worth it in my opinion. What is the difference between pressing a button or touching a screen to select a function? NOTHING other than the fingerprints all over your screen!

There are so many differences and upgrades from the 3200 to the 4200 series I can't begin to go into them all, but there are much fewer buttons and an even easier menu system on the 4200's that even a 10yr old can navigate. On a budget, I would rather a 4208 with a 2" smaller screen than the 3210 because it is that much better for similar money.