Garmin 740S or Raymarine(39)s e7D combo(39)s???-gctid351684

[Guest]

Ok folks... I am on the cusp of pulling the trigger on a nav/radar combo unit and I am trying to decide on which one. I'd like to solicit some ideas/comments on experiences with either of these. Both packages seem to be priced evenly with each other and my very tight budget is able to handle either as well....(worked a ton of o/t for this new toy).

The packages I'm considering are as follows:

The Garmin 740s Chartplotter/Sounder with GMR 18HD Radome, no transducer. $2500 (minus taxes)

&

The Raymarine e7D loaded with the US coastal charts &

comes with the Raymarine RD418HD radome, no tranducer. $2800 (minus taxes) boat show discount.

I am a relatively newish boater that wants to take advantage of the salmon fishing & crabbing that the Seattle/Pacific Northwest has to offer. I'm not a "techie" so i want something that is easy for novice's to use so I can focus on the fun part of boating and fishing, and want a decent system that will last me quite a while ....

[Guest]

I have the Garmin 740s w/24HD radar and I think it's a great combo. I find it easy to use with all the features I wanted. I also got a Std Horizon VHF radio with AIS reciever and that is wired into the 740 so I can track commercial traffic (and the big boy yachts) out in the Sound. I highly recommend you get the proper transducer so you can use the sonar function as well. I have the Garmin recommended transducer which gives me better depth readings than my built-in depth guage and a nice picture of the bottom if I am in shallow waters.

You'll also want to get Home Port which is PC based sofware for the Garmin that allows you to create routes right on your home or laptop PC. Last but not least, depending on where you boat, you might want to get the Blue Chart maps which offers more detailed information and adds the auto-route function to the device.

[Guest]

Here are some tests not only Garmin.

http://www.marine-electronics-reviews.com/garmin-740s.html

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2011/08/raymarine_e7_hands_on_1.html

Good reading.Over here the Garmin 740s came out as the best of a large Chart Plotter tests. But Raymarine now has the E7 with the Iphone Ipad connectivity and I don't know if that's a pros for a CB boat?

[Guest]

We just installed the Raymarine E7D with the P79 in-hull transducer. It's a great upgrade from the old stuff we had (Garmin GPSMap 210 and Apelco 450 sounder).

More shortly in the completed projects secton........