Chartplotters

[purl]

I'm thinking of purchasing a chartplotter for my 25ft cruiser(used on inland waters)My budget is around $1000 dollars.I'm thinking of Raymarine's RC435.Does anyone have any comments on this unit or recomendations for any other units.Depth sounding is not required.
With so many units out there it's all a bit overwelming so any input is welcomed.
Thanks.........

 

[JB]

Re: Chartplotters

Howdy, purl.

Welcome to iboats.

I know little about the Raymarine unit. I am a big fan of Garmin and suggest that you take a look at their new models at Garmin.com. Most of them can be had at lower than MSRP at iboats.

Good luck.

 

[purl]

Re: Chartplotters

Also something I'm not sure of is screen resolution.With a 6" diagonal display (Raymarine 435) and a resolution of 320 x 240 (1/4 vga) is this resolution good enough?

 

[dingbat]

Re: Chartplotters

Resolution isn't all it's made out to be. Generally speaking the higher the resolution the smaller the details, but there comes a point where the increased resolution becomes counter productive. Especially when using higher resolutions on small screens.

My advise would be to buy the biggest display you can afford. Your eyes are not getting any better and it's hard to see the smaller screens while under way.

You can find some of the large Garmins on closeut for a quite reasonable price.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Chartplotters

I would suggest you find the mapping software you want to use first.
Check to see which software has maps for the lakes you boat on.
Then find a chartplotter that is compatible with the software.
With a $1000 budget, you should be able to choose from quite a few.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Chartplotters

Once you pick your size, 6 inches you said. Then you need to decide how detailed a chart you need. If you want depth reading and contour lines you will need to buy detailed maps. As Roscoe said may make more sence to find the charts you need first then pick a unit that will use that chart.

GPS Chartplotters in the US I would say Garmin is most popular then Lowrance and Eagle then Furuno and Ray marine. If You do not need depth reading and contour lines then I think Lowrance has the best base maps by far. Also both Garmin and Lowrance you can now get with detailed maps built in but need to decide if want inland maps or Costal maps. Resolution is like the difference between HD TV and regular TV. For a GPS not that critical. For deep water depth finders makes a big difference.

On the specific unit RC435 it has 500 waypoints and 20 routes with 50 waypoints per route.

Most if not all Garmins and Lowrance units have have 1000 waypoints and 50 routes with 50 waypoints per route. If you tend to go to the same places all the time that will be enough but if you go somewhere different every day or you will also use the unit in the car then in time may run out of waypoints to use. When I think of RayMarine I think of Radar as that is where they made their name.

One last thing you may want to consider before you buy is if you will later be adding more devices like a depth finder, radar, Vhf radio, Fule flow sensors, ect then you may want to look at their network. If you get the same brand of everything then it is easier to tie them all together. This unit appears to only have NMEA 0183 which is the old standard. You will need to use this interface to tie the GPS to your VHF radio so the DSC button will work. Lowrance and Garmin also use NMEA 0183 but also have other networks to make it eaiser to tie everthing together.

Before you buy make sure to go look at the unit in a store first then look here and elsewhere to get your best price and warranty.

I find GPS and Depthfinder very hard to choose but today very few poor units.