Its time to upgrade my electronics, I currently have the Furuno Navnet I, looked at a few 12" units out there and I really liked the GARMIN 5212, I thought it was really easy to use and the menus are really interactive and intuitive. I also looked at the Navnet Vx2 and the Navnet 3D, I really liked the Garmin, anyone have experience with it??? any suggestions??? thank you in advance.
Garmins smaller units are very good. I have used their new larger units with a 12" display and am NOT impressed. The cpu speed is way too slow and it takes like 20-30 seconds for the next chart page to load if you're cruising along at 25 knots. Furuno Navnet is the way to go on any yacht IMO and is far superior. You can run anything you want to run with the navnet from fishfinder to camera's and once you set it up, you never have to mess with it again. They just work without errors or any issues.
Then maybe the Navnet Vx2 would be the way to go... with the optional 12" screen. This way I save some money and keep my radar array as well, I think it will work with the Navnet Vx2 but I have to check. I am getting the fish finder and also installing 4 cameras, Engine room, Backup/Aft , fly-bridge forward view, and maybe thinking of one under water camera hooked up to the TV J, thank you for your help and insight, much appreciated. there is a big cost involved and I want to make sure I make the right decision.
I've used all of the systems that are out there right now. You really cannot go wrong with the Navnet in any way, shape or form. If you look at all of the yachts on the market under 100ft. I would say from 60-100ft about 50% probably have the Navnet system on them.
we have older Navnet Furunos (5 year old) on the 70 footer i run and they are awful. clumsy interface, lack of C-map chart details, obscure menus, etc... and they occasionally freeze. I realize these are all older units but even back then Garmin was far better. Maybe the latest one caught up with Garmin... I know that when they go, Furuno will not be at the top of my list unless i really see a significant differnece with Garmin. As to making a choice based on popularity while it can be a valid indicator, these decisions are often made or strongly infulenced by builders/electronic installers anyway. I may be too cynical but it doens't mean it's the best choice for the end user.
I agree the NavNet is a great system but just looking at the Garmin Touch screen thought that would be a better technology to go with and also knowing how well their other none marine products are made. I really like the Furuno NavNet Back box that gives me an option for a 15" screen below and I can have the 12" in the fly bridge
The touch screens are a mess. At the end of the day, the screen is sooooo covered with fingerprints, sunscreen and the sandwich goo you ate for lunch. Also in rough seas it's extremely hard to play touch screen while trying not to poke your finger through the screen. I've used the touch screen Garmin and the CPU is wayyyyy too slow as I said earlier. As for the Navnet having interface issues, I have used lots of them and never had an issue. Old ones, new ones it didn't matter. You might want to have an electronics guy take a look at them and possibly update software.
my concern about Furuno, and again i havent' used any recent ones, is that i find it frustrating that a company like furuno puts out something that unser unfriendly as the 2003 vintage navnet / Cmap combo. for instance... There is no way to display marker/buoys numbers on the screen. You need to use the track ball to select the nav aid, then press enter and select from the menu. If you think that using a touch screen is bad in rought water, try using a track ball when the darn thing expect you to be perfectly centered when you press select/enter! another one... when i got on the boat, i found that lit nav aid colors was not displayed, whether red or green, a purple flame was shown. real useful... took me a while to figure it out, the manual was useless, i finally got the answer from C-map. the setting in the chart set up menu is called "Complex Object Icon" and you have to select "single" instead of "multiple" if you want to see a green or red flame to show a lit nav aid. how much more user unfriendly can you get!! Complex Object Icon, Single... pathetic! so far, I havent' been able to figure out how to adjust the time on the display which is not directly connected to the GPS sensor. I dont' care if it displays local time or GMT but i dont' want it to be off by an hour! Teh unit which is connected to the GPS sensor is fine, it gets the time from the GPS, but the other one doens't get the time update thru the net... detail, but anoying. there are a few more quirky things i really dont like on these units... as to getting someone to check why they sometimes freeze, well.. i dont' want to pay a tech hours and hours of labor chasing an intermittent bug. we all know how that works. It happens once in a while so it's not a priority item but it's still a pita to have to shut down and reboot. takes a minute or so... So, even though these units are 5 years old, i find it hard to trust a company whose engineer thought that "complex object icon - single" meant something... Garmin on the other hand usually has cristal clear interface.
You have to remember what all of the units were capable of 5 years ago. Remember the Raymarine C series, even worse. Anyways, the buoys not showing is in the chip, not the unit or its capabilities. Scroll over to the time box with the track ball and hit the enter knob, you should be able to change it that way. If I remember correctly.
