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2,010 Posts
Parker 25-
I recently ordered all the electronics for my new boat. Before making my decision, I did all the internet research, ordered all the brochures, went to all the shows, drove the salespeople at the big marine stores (you know who they are, I won't name them-especially since they really are not "up" on the products they sell), read all the reviews and product tests, etc.
After doing this,my choice was between Furuno and Raymarine. JRC dropped out because they did not offer color, and SIMRAD was out of my budget completely!
I then polled a number of my friends who have electronics.They include one current and one former charter boat captain, as well as some party boat captains that I am friendly with or worked for. Several are private boat owners who do all types of fishing.
When it comes to reading test results, comparisons and the like, you will rarely see a bad review since most publications and websites generate revenue by selling advertising. So most can ill afford to give a a negative review at the chance of losing revenue. I would have loved to see reviews on marine electronics done by JD Powers and Associates, but they only review boats. COnsumer Reports has reviewed some marine products, but not as many as you and I would like to see.
Research revealed that Raymarine costs more. Although each manufacturer has different features with "catchy" names, they are all offering basically the same thing. Raymarine came into being only a couple of years ago. The managing partners decided to buy out their interests in the marine technology division of Raytheon and go their own way.You can no longer say that it must be good if they manufacture missile guidance systems for the government, since RAYMARINE does not.
In doing so, they set up higher MSRP's for reasons that are not clear. The major guts of the older Raytheon's were manufactured by JRC, and their basic designs are still in use in the RAYMARINE technology. The tecnology os sending and receiving a radar signal has not changed much over the years. The way that results can be displayed and the ability to interface with other components has become more flexible.
I feel that the RAYMARINE machines are great units, that produce some nice displays, graphics and performance. But, I PERSONALLY, did not see any features that justified the increased $$$ as compared to FURUNO.
FURUNO, on the other hand, was the RADAR unit of choice on all the party and charter boats belonging to the owners I polled. Two of the Private boat owners had Rays. One was an older Raytheon stand alone radar, the other was a RL 70C. They were both happy with the perfomance! But so were all the Furuno owners.
As far as support, which is very important, all the Furuno owners had very few problems and got excellent support including one who had to send his unit back under warranty. He got it back with a defective board replaced in 72 hours ( he had to pay for the express shipping)! I myself have called the tech department 4 times with questions ( I don't own a FURUNO, yet!). Each time I got a HUMAN on the other line, had a short wait only once, and got some real courteous and informative responses each time. I don't think support will be an issue.
At the 2001 NMEA show (National Marine Electronics Association, the standards organization) FURUNO won seven awards. These awards are voted on by the professionals who are engaged in the standard setting, engineering, development and marketing of marine electronics.FURUNO won the BEST IN SHOW for the NAVNET technology, best RECREATIONAL RADAR, best COMMERCIAL RADAR, best SONAR,best RECREATIUONAL FISH FINDER,best COMMERCIAL FISH FINDER and best CONSOLE GMDSS unit. But even more impressive is that these and similar awards were won by FURUNO 9 years in a row!
After digesting the above, I ordered the FURUNO 1833C NAVNAT for my boat.
Just keep in mind that every individual is going to have their inherent likes and dislikes, but it never hurts to keep an open mind to make an informed decision.
Hope this helps. Great fishing this season!
TSLTW
I recently ordered all the electronics for my new boat. Before making my decision, I did all the internet research, ordered all the brochures, went to all the shows, drove the salespeople at the big marine stores (you know who they are, I won't name them-especially since they really are not "up" on the products they sell), read all the reviews and product tests, etc.
After doing this,my choice was between Furuno and Raymarine. JRC dropped out because they did not offer color, and SIMRAD was out of my budget completely!
I then polled a number of my friends who have electronics.They include one current and one former charter boat captain, as well as some party boat captains that I am friendly with or worked for. Several are private boat owners who do all types of fishing.
When it comes to reading test results, comparisons and the like, you will rarely see a bad review since most publications and websites generate revenue by selling advertising. So most can ill afford to give a a negative review at the chance of losing revenue. I would have loved to see reviews on marine electronics done by JD Powers and Associates, but they only review boats. COnsumer Reports has reviewed some marine products, but not as many as you and I would like to see.
Research revealed that Raymarine costs more. Although each manufacturer has different features with "catchy" names, they are all offering basically the same thing. Raymarine came into being only a couple of years ago. The managing partners decided to buy out their interests in the marine technology division of Raytheon and go their own way.You can no longer say that it must be good if they manufacture missile guidance systems for the government, since RAYMARINE does not.
In doing so, they set up higher MSRP's for reasons that are not clear. The major guts of the older Raytheon's were manufactured by JRC, and their basic designs are still in use in the RAYMARINE technology. The tecnology os sending and receiving a radar signal has not changed much over the years. The way that results can be displayed and the ability to interface with other components has become more flexible.
I feel that the RAYMARINE machines are great units, that produce some nice displays, graphics and performance. But, I PERSONALLY, did not see any features that justified the increased $$$ as compared to FURUNO.
FURUNO, on the other hand, was the RADAR unit of choice on all the party and charter boats belonging to the owners I polled. Two of the Private boat owners had Rays. One was an older Raytheon stand alone radar, the other was a RL 70C. They were both happy with the perfomance! But so were all the Furuno owners.
As far as support, which is very important, all the Furuno owners had very few problems and got excellent support including one who had to send his unit back under warranty. He got it back with a defective board replaced in 72 hours ( he had to pay for the express shipping)! I myself have called the tech department 4 times with questions ( I don't own a FURUNO, yet!). Each time I got a HUMAN on the other line, had a short wait only once, and got some real courteous and informative responses each time. I don't think support will be an issue.
At the 2001 NMEA show (National Marine Electronics Association, the standards organization) FURUNO won seven awards. These awards are voted on by the professionals who are engaged in the standard setting, engineering, development and marketing of marine electronics.FURUNO won the BEST IN SHOW for the NAVNET technology, best RECREATIONAL RADAR, best COMMERCIAL RADAR, best SONAR,best RECREATIUONAL FISH FINDER,best COMMERCIAL FISH FINDER and best CONSOLE GMDSS unit. But even more impressive is that these and similar awards were won by FURUNO 9 years in a row!
After digesting the above, I ordered the FURUNO 1833C NAVNAT for my boat.
Just keep in mind that every individual is going to have their inherent likes and dislikes, but it never hurts to keep an open mind to make an informed decision.
Hope this helps. Great fishing this season!
TSLTW
