Garmin GPSMAP 4208 or Raymarine E7?

[fbogie]

Any thoughts or opions Thanks Guys

 

[islander]

I have the Garmin 4208 on my boat and really love it. I also have the GDS22 and the GMR404. It all integrates very nicely with the NEMA2000. In the next month I plan on adding the autopilot too. I have AIS through my Standard Horizon GX2150. FWIW I replaced my Furuno with the Garmin. The Garmin tech support is very good. Another plus is the ease of use on the Garmin, very intuitive. The Furuno was very robust in its build. I found the Furuno not nearly as intuitive as Garmin. The Garmin seems to be the new kid on the block in marine. I can't speak to Raymarine.

 

[WoundUpMarine]

i have a garmin 4212 on my whaler, love the unit. super easy to use and shows great pictures. i know its not the same unit but garmin makes very user friendly units. cant really speak on the raymarine either, at least not on any of the newer units.

 

[tunafishhkg]

When it comes to electronics, best bet is to go to a show or to a WM and try for yourself to see and feel what you see

 

[Wharf Rat]

I prefer the e7. It's all relative, however. I find the 4200 series to be too menu driven and clunky, not nearly fast enough redraw, and the e7 can use the Navionics Fish'nChip/Platinum Plus, which I prefer over the G2 and G2Vision. The e7 does come with a very sensitive internal GPS, which gets a fix beneath fiberglass pilothouse enclosures, but the Garmin requires a mini-N2K backbone and mounting of an external antenna. Both units do the job, I just prefer the Lighthouse interface of these new Ray c/e series displays. I had just about given up on Ray completely after their Wide series experiment.

Just a buyer beware:
Being in the service end of the business, I've had headaches dealing with Garmin unit failures and getting any information regarding what was wrong. You have to send it out to Kansas, wait for a refurb replacement, and hope it was just the display. Raymarine at least lets a technician perform an advance warranty replacement, and get a service report on what if any problem was found.

95% of problems are voltage related. Off topic, but just a heads up.

 

[scallywag]

4210 on my boat basicly the same as 4208. I would highly recommend it. Also have gdmr18hd radar integreated with it ,works great. Ain't like the old days running with just TD numbers.

 

[Wharf Rat]

I tLike I said before, it's all a matter of preference, but I really do love the e7. It's smaller than the 4208, but it's also cheaper, and has a $150 rebate. You can also get the e7D version which has a built in depth sounder, which is lightyears better than Garmin's GSD22 if that was an option.

I would go with the e7, but a Navionics Platinum Plus chart chip, take the $150 rebate, and at that point you're basically getting the chip for $50 bucks. If you were interested, the price of the system would break down like this:

e7 -1350
Platinum Chart for your region - $190
If you go for the e7D, the price would be $1500 for the unit, and a transucer ranges frpom 90 for a P48 Fan Beam DT Tansom Mount, $240 for a tilted element flush mount bronze B60, or $335 for a B744V thru-hull, Bronze with fairing block.

Still get a rebate. Or if you have an older Pathfinder series/HSB/DSM Style trandcuer, youcan use a $65 adapter cable to use that ducer.

The e7 is much faster, much eaiser to operate, and the Fish'N'Chip that you get with the Navionics chart is unmatchable when it comes to bathy charts until you start looking at the MaxSea/MapMedia "Fishing Charts". Just my 2 cents.

No offense to anyone here with Garmin, I just think they're best units were the 3210/6/5 series. A button for each function, no unneeded frills, easy to use, and that's what got people into the "Garmin is the most user friendly machine out there." The most user friendly machine is the one that you take to figure out how to use. Except for the Furuno NavNet 1 and VX2 plotters. Those were tough to master, but if you mastered them, they were the best all-around system out there for a while. The plotter end was a bit too slow and clunky, but that radar still is awesome, along with the BB fishfinder modules. End of electronics rant.

- Chris