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Old 06-13-2016, 01:48 PM   #75
BandB
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City: Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
Join Date: Jan 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donsan View Post
Fair enough and thanks for the comments.

What I am having an issue with is getting a good side by side comparison of a complete suite of equipment. Marine equipment just doesn't seem to inspire a "Consumers Report" type evaluation so we rely on "dock talk".
Consumers Report has the very same issues. They can change one minutia of the criteria and it ends up key to the rankings. I tend to use the reviews and ratings by the public and then weigh them. You just consider it all and wade through it. You're not going to see complete suites side by side, but even if you did, it changes tomorrow.

We love our Furuno, but it's now based on what was out there in 2012 with some equipment upgraded. Meanwhile our Garmin is 2015 technology and very impressive. Furuno seems to be lagging a little but their service is excellent. I've heard good and bad about Raymarine. When I used it for a day and previously in school, I was happy with it, but wouldn't be my choice. Nor would Simrad, but I know a builder offering Garmin, Raymarine and Simrad and selling the most Simrad. For ocean going, I choose Transas over anyone else but we use Transas with Furuno radars, Flir night vision, etc.

A huge factor in electronics is the installation and coordination of the total effort. If you don't find the best, most knowledgeable installer of the brand you're choosing, then you run risks. Ask psneeld and others what percentage of the time they've seen install issues vs equipment. Equipment issues are simple. You pull it out, send it back, put the replacement in. It's all the other problems that get complicated.

The question of what I would buy. Well, we did buy a few months ago and our factory choices were Simrad, Raymarine, and Garmin. Complete systems by any of the three but no crossover. We chose Garmin. We're very pleased with it. But that doesn't mean I'd choose them for a boat being purchased six months from now. I currently have no brand loyalty that would make me choose any specific brand next time I have to choose.
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