greenman

hi guys I'm new to the boating world i just bought my first

boat so i'm buying things here and there i just

purchased a garmin 545s but with all this talk


about Furuno i'm thinking if this was a mistake

any feedback from the pro's would be

much appreciated .

thank's in advance

CaptDom

The all in one unit by Garmin is a very good system, very user friendly and superior charting. Most of the A-I-1 units are pretty decent at everything these days, actually.

If it were only a bottom machine, then I would say go for the Furuno definitely, but the other companies are catching up pretty quickly, and most of the brand new stuff for 2008 is uniform at each price point. There are a few certain features that one may have over another, but it boils down to preference at that point.

The only unit I think that bears a bit more look see would be the Humminbird 797 with side imagining, heard some great stuff about it, and is the same price level as the 545s.

I think a few guys on here have the Humminbird, maybe they will chime in.

Otherwise I say your unit is a good starting one with quality sonar and the best user friendly charting out there,so I say no need to switch to the Furuno nav net from the Garmin.

__________________
CAPT. DOM PETRARCA
COASTAL CHARTERS SPORTFISHING
NEWPORT, RI (401)-862-0358
www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com

CaptDom

Welcome, and be sure to enter to the contest for lurkers and Newbies running(see link at top of home page)

__________________
CAPT. DOM PETRARCA
COASTAL CHARTERS SPORTFISHING
NEWPORT, RI (401)-862-0358
www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com

greenman

thank's dom

Zac_S

i agree with Dom.

if for strictly bottom, furuno, but for maps/sonar combo.. garmin is very nice. you will be very happy with that unit.

Zac

__________________
bound to cover just a little more ground

Scup

Greenman,

I work part-time at West Marine. We sell around 20 Garmin units to one of everything else sold by whoever. Garmin seems to own this end of it, and with good reason. In addition, I also spent 37 years evaluating sonar systems for the Navy. I like the Raymarine (formerly Raytheon) digital processing fish finders. Remember, Raytheon did and still does, make sonar systems for navies throughout the world and Raymarine was a spin off of Raytheon. I never evaluated Furuno fish finders because I never was given a chance to. Garmin makes a decent fish finder that should be more than adequate for most fishermen. We sell so few Furuno units we usually do not even stock them but instead order them out according to our customer's wishes. I would believe those of this form that praise Furuno as many are charter boat captains. However, you will not be sorry for your purchase. The unit you purchased has so much capability that I would seriously doubt that you would ever used more than a fraction of what it can do. The biggest headache with most GPS units used to be after you purchased the expensive unit, then you find out it is semi-useless if you do not purchase chips that are needed. Garmin drove a stake into the heart of all their competition when they came out with preloaded software units a few years ago. Garmin seems to go overboard in helping their customers, but they are a bitch when it comes to their competition. Without a doubt, they make the most user friendly units period. If you will note, your unit has a place in it where you can insert a chip. Most do not purchase this chip since it is questionable if it is really needed. Your charts are already built in, what the chip gives you is quite a few extra bells and whistles. For example, if you insert the chip, you will see a small camera symbol at several key locations on your screen. If you click on the camera symbol, you get an aerial picture of the location. In other words, if you are new to an area, you can see what the location looks like in the real world. If you are thinking about all the other things the chip can do for you, drop into any West Marine Store and ask for a demo (do not worry if you did not buy your unit from us.) Another reason for the chip socket is sooner or later your unit will need to be updated. Think of your unit as being fixed in time on the day you purchased it; as time passes your software will become obsolete and should eventually be replaced. There are several ways one can do this but the easiest is to contact Garmin with your model and software version. Garmin will then inform you if there has been an update. If you decide to update your software, Garmin will ask you for a deposit (usually a credit card) and send you a chip with simple instructions on how to install it. Basically you insert the chip, hit a couple of keys as you turn it on and it is done. Then mail back the chip to Garmin so you will not lose your deposit. Again, Garmin makes it very hard for their competition to keep up with them. Lastly, anything electronic, is always at risk for failure even for the best made units. While I normally do not promote extended service contracts as I have really gotten screwed by auto dealerships, if you purchased your unit at West Marine, I would look into the one offered by them as it costs a fraction of what repairs could run you if you ever need them. You do not have to purchase the extended repair contract at the time you purchased the unit as there is a grace period. You paid good money for your unit, and they are not cheap to repair two years down the line. There is little I can do for anyone bringing in electronics that have passed their warrantee date, other than sending the unit in for them and getting them a cost of repair. Lastly, theives know what your unit is worth. GPS units have become number one when it comes to theft (especially car units). You leave it where will become easy pickings, you will probably have it stolen. I hate to say this, but we sell a lot of replacement GPS units because of theft.

ReelCrazySportfishing

Greenman

the way i look at it is you cannot go wrong with a garmin. its a very good unit,easy to use and will hold up.
I have a garmin 182 on my boat. its a older unit but still performan great.

I do also have a humminbird 997C SI. i bought it in the start of the 07 season. It is just a bigger version of the 797 that Capt Dom mentioned.

It is a combo unit but i use it just as a FF. i do all my navagating with the garmin.

the humminbird sidescan does everything they say it does and more.
it makes it very easy and fast to locate where the fish are holding on a reef. you are able with this unit to mark a piece of structure while in the FF mode. so if you see something on the side scan, you are able to move the cursor over to that structure and get the gps numbers for it.
i was very impressed with that feature and use it often.

We do alot of gill netting. this unit has been great in locating bunker that are not showing on the surface. it took all the guess work away on where to drop the net.

The display on the unit looks like these picture

__________________
www.ReelCrazySportfishing.com
Connecticut Charter Fishing
www.fishermansparadisect.com

greenman

thanks guys for the great feedback being that im a newbie it sounds
like this will be the perfect unit for me i don't need nothing to complicated
just a simple gps/fish finder. scup i did purchase the extended repair contract
for $129.00 for two years plus the year they give is well worth it on a $1000.00 unit.
i had a past experience with no ext warranty and it cost me, so again
thanks guys

Scup

Greenman,

Do not think for a minute that the unit you purchased is not top tech. Yes it is simple to use, but that fat instruction manual which came with it goes into the details of the amazing things that it can do. I sort of think of Garmin like I do Microsoft "WORD"; it is very easy to get it up and running. Within minutes of sitting down in front of your computer you can be writing a novel. However, the depth of word is so great, that even if you went to school to learn how to use it, no one can ever really understand all of its unique features. Read your Garmin manual, do not worry if you do not understand everything, just read it to familiarize yourself with all of its features. Then if you wish to do something in the future you know it can be done and you just have to brush up on it. It still surprises me as just when I thought I knew it all, somebody tells me about another feature I did not know about. As far as the features go of the humming bird advance units, it becomes just about impossible for me to keep up with all the high tech stuff coming out. In the past I had to write reports for the Navy for the evaluation of just about every tactical sonar system we have, including side scan sonars. But I retired 7 seven years ago. I no longer go into the field to evaluate sonar systems, much less units designed for the general public. This is where the members of this form can be of great help. Most are not electrical engineers, but you will find that charter boat captains know their stuff because they are out their using the newest of gear. The only advantage I have is in knowing the Frequency Of Repair, (FOR), for various manufacturers since customers bring their defective units in all the time. We have a back room where we keep units marked "Return To Vendor", (RTV). These are the units we have taken back from our customers (we replaced them so our customers would not be put out) that were defective. Eventually we will return the defective units to the manufacturer for credit. Therefore, I have a very good idea of who makes the most reliable stuff and Garmin is pretty good. We get back about the same number of Garmins as any other make, but considering that we sell far more Garmins than any other make, it means there are far more Garmins out there, hence their FOR is dam good. Still, anything electronic can fail. My Garmin lost its nitrogen seal 13 months after I purchased it. It still worked, but one could see the moisture building up on the inside of the display. I was pissed because I did not have the extended service contract. Fortunately, Garmin took care of the problem for me even though they were not obliged to do so, and it did not cost me a dime. I can still remember the Garmin tech rep asking me why I did not purchase the extended service plan as I should have known better. I could not come up with an answer and felt like an idiot, but a happy idiot that I went with Garmin in the first place. The biggest problem I see happening to Garmin units, besides theft, are do to sloppy handling by customers of the connectors. You break a pin off the unit and that's it. You cannot replace the connector because the unit is sealed with a dry nitrogen gas to keep moisture out, it has to be replaced by Garmin. Your extended service contract is really a very good one since it even protects you against fair wear and tear. While it will not help if say your five year old takes a hammer to it, but just about anything else is covered and if you bring it into a West Marine store, they will even send it out for repairs for you. Lastly, you do not have to wait till Spring to play with your GPS unit. It has a built-in simulator mode that will let you use it without satellite coverage in your living room. It is only make believe, but the practice can never hurt unless you spill battery acid on your wife's favorite couch. Use a regulated 12 power supply with the sonar turned off since it then draws almost nothing.