It looks like we might have another 31 for the sandbox! (not to jinx things )
Electronics are pretty meager and I might have to pull a GPS off another boat to bring her home.
So, since I'll basically be starting from scratch and have been out of the loop for years wrt what is the bestest and brightest out there, all recommendations are most welcome!
A couple of things to think about are whether you have a preference for touchscreens vs buttons and what brand of charts you tend to like. If value is important to you, you can find a bunch of deals on a brand new (recently discontinued) Garmin 840xs right now - at or under $450 shipped. I find the 8" screen is plenty large (seems a lot bigger than 7" models for some reason), and I actually prefer the non-touchscreen button interface (which seems is getting harder and harder to find) because I find touchscreens hard to use when the boat is bumping around. I also am used to garmin charts and like to do my route planning on garmin bluechart mobile on my ipad then transfer the routes over to my plotter. I just bought one as a second unit for my boat because the price was so good and have it networked with another garmin unit so that between the two, I can view sonar, charts, engine data, etc., in whatever config I want with plenty of screen real estate.
But if you want to use anything other than Garmin charts, you're out of luck.
Funny I am in the market for a new GPS/combo unit. I had a Garmin 5212. Now that Garmin owns Navionics I am wondering how that will impact current and future Garmins as we move down the road.
I like the 12 inch screen, especially if you are using it for multiple purposesl. I could split the screen and run GPS Charts and Depth and if you have radar, and or radar at the same time. Spit screen is plenty big for GPS Charts and Depth.
However after loosing the system in August, when it decided to take a dump, I am thinking better of one large screen . I need to figure out if I can squeeze two 6 to 8 inch units on the bridge side by side. I figure this way I can run two screens at the same time and if one takes a dump when I am offshore, I still have the other one to come home on.
But this is in the planning stage. Not sure how feasible this is.
By the way, I really like the touch screen because it gives you more screen space.
Rick,
If you have an IPAD which is 3G capable (no service subscription needed) download a free app called "Tranasas Isailor" after that you can select whatever region you are going to be operating in and download the charts for example entire Atlantic Coast is 14.99 dollars. All chart folios are updated whenever in wifi or cellular range. Its a very cheap and easy solution considering most people these days already have an IPAD. I work offshore and even with the GPS and ECDIS units we have available on our bridge Transas Isailor is defintiely the most frequently used. The interface is very easy, and the purchased chart folios are all downloadable for free on any device you own. Having a all in one unit on board is essential for the fish finder and radar capabilities but for the price and ease of use in my opinion nothing tops Transas Isailor. At home on my 38 I have a Furuno Navnet system which is a few years old now but I have nothing but good things to say about the all in one unit, if you have the room definitely go for as big a screen as you can get.
-Brian
Brian Vanderspek
B38 Off Hand BERL1215M82
Sold B31 Fun 'N' Games 315-174-1285
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