Navman 5607 or which other brand?

[Bonus]

Howdy, I am after advice on which brand of GPS chartplotter to puchase. Is the Navman 5607 any good and what about Raymarine or Garmin or Furuno? I would appreciate any help.
Thanks Russ

[deadbeatloser]

garmins new g2vision chartplotters are so easy to use that you will be surprised, i purchased and am 100% happy.half price on ebay mr boats nsw with full warranty
:D

[revs57]

Hi Russ,

I have a Garmin 172 C - its a cracker, but I think I heard they have replaced them with the 272C now.

I'd buy another 172C in a heartbeat if they were still available and I had a problem with the one I have. They work as you think they should, move easily between screens, information is readily accessible, blue map is excellent and I understand the next G2 version is even better.

I've had both Navman and Furuno gps before. The Garmin is streets ahead in my opinion. And if you went to a higher end unit like the 4008, 4010, or 4012 or similar, you can network in a Random to get radar as well, something I'm contemplating.

cheers

Rhys

[Vindicator]

Gday Russ,

I' got a navman and find it very good to use.The only problem I've found with it is sometimes it will zoom into 50 metres and other times it will only zoom into 300m. I don't know why this is, maybe someone else does.

Cheers
Kezza

[FNQCairns]

I have the Garmin 525/555, it's easy to use, only had one play with it so far on the water and only for a short time but it did do a couple of things a little strange like my heading line tilted off to the left when I was heading straight but probably me still need to fit into it.

Also trying to get back some on screen info like SOG after I tried the full screen option, also no way to customise (that I have found so far) what information is displayed on screen while navigating (very irritating!!!) without heading to a silly function called "numbers" which involves a fair few bad stabs at buttons in rough water to get all the way back to the NAV screen, when I should never need to leave it, great for in a wheelhouse I would imagine but in an open boat!!!

Overall it's good but could easily be the icing on the cake also. Screen is a beaut!

cheers fnq

[Bonus]

FNQ,Does your 525 have an external aerial? Revs I cant find a 272c at this stage, but i am on an american website. Russ

[Bonus]

FNQ, do you have the 525 or 555 garmin? I am getting confused with so many dam garmin units. I will need an external aerial which is an optional extra. The difference between 525 and 555 is maybe the maps that are preloaded. Is this correct ? Russ

[FNQCairns]

FNQ, do you have the 525 or 555 garmin? I am getting confused with so many dam garmin units. I will need an external aerial which is an optional extra. The difference between 525 and 555 is maybe the maps that are preloaded. Is this correct ? Russ

Bonus mine is the 525 which is the international designation, it comes with a VERY simple base map of the world, the 555 is the Aussie unit identical in every way except I understand it comes preloaded with the standard blue chart, to upgrade to the Vision G2 is a costly exercise, possibly too expensive to be worth it IMO unless there are some green zones or the like you mist have that is only on the Vision card etc.

Mine is the internal, garmin internal aerials are simply amazing and will shoot through a tin roof (receive that is) but of coarse an external one would be better if under cover. Mine has the fitting to screw one on.

cheers fnq

[Bonus]

FNQ, I had a look at a 550 garmin today and the 5 inch screen may be a bit small. I would prefer a 6 inch. How do you find the 5 inch? Thanks Russ

[FNQCairns]

Yeah I am not silly!:) a bigger screen is always better!

I found that heading back through a minor bar that when on the way out I played around in to get a line of marks along the deepest channel that I was pretty busy zooming in and out to find and hit the next mark while trying to maintain my cruise speed.

So yeah bigger would be better but it is certainly OK for when out on the open ocean when things are not as tight and fast.

cheers fnq

[grumpysmurf]

Gday Russ,

I' got a navman and find it very good to use.The only problem I've found with it is sometimes it will zoom into 50 metres and other times it will only zoom into 300m. I don't know why this is, maybe someone else does.

Cheers
Kezza

This used to drive me nuts with my Navman 5500 this used to drive me nuts. A whole lot of changing settings finally found the secret. On some Navman units, it is called "Mixing Levels". On others, "Plotter Mode". Basically play around with this (turn it on or off or change levels), and you should be able to zoom to your hearts content.