Psykldoc
New Member
- Feb 9, 2010
- 4
- Boat Info
- "Psyquatic"
'95 370 DA Sundancer
- Engines
- Twin 8.1 L EFI Horizon Mercs,
w/ V-Drives
This is mostly a review about Garmin, the company, with mention of the 5212 Chartplotter.
Regardless, I think it conveys important information for any boater making a decision about a new chartplotter who is unfamiliar with the company.
I first learned to hate Garmin about 10 years ago when I, as an early adopter of tech stuff, bought a GPS for my car. The maps they had at that point were crappy and inaccurate. I was using it for both business and pleasure, and it was constantly screwing up, either from inaccurate data, or quirky processing. I lost many hours on the phone to the company while lost out in the boonies, or sometimes on multiple calls I had to make over several days after I got home, trying to fix the glitches during the first two years. But hey, I wanted to do my part to advance the science and all, so I would even call them to provide accurate data to the company when the danged thing would screw up, and I had correct information to submit through the use of paper maps and/or trial and error. The final insult came after all that frustration when they came out with an update for the maps, and they actually had the nerve to try to charge me almost as much for them as it would have cost to purchase a whole new unit (assuming that I bought it anywhere other than directly from them). Yes, there was a TINY discount for the update vs. first time purchase of the data, but it was still an outrageous cost, particularly for someone who'd never actually achieved satisfactory performance from the equipment. At that time, I swore that the company would never see another penny of my money.
Fast forward to now: I just purchased a beautiful, used '95 370 DA, which came with a Garmin 5212 Chartplotter already installed. The Garmin 5212 runs EXTREMELY hot, and overheats to the point of shutting itself down within 30 - 60 min, whenever I turn it on. An internet search reveals that I'm not the only one having this issue with this series of Garmin equipment. Of course, when I called Garmin, the technician initially denied any familiarity with any such difficulty, insisting that there must be a low voltage condition. Once I'd confirmed by testing and retesting the voltage repeatedly, I was instructed to add an external fan to blow on the Garmin's cooling fins. I have now installed that fan. It doesn't shut down so quick at this point, but still runs extremely hot, suggesting that something is clearly wrong in there. Garmin's solution: I am "welcome" to send it in to them with a "flat fee" payment of just $620, for which they will happily send me someone elses re-manufactured unit, rather than replacing what is likely a $20 part, and charging me accordingly for the repair. I just don't understand how a company with such horrendously predatory practices of consumer exploitation is allowed to flourish in a competitive market?!?! That being said, my money going to go for a Raymarine A128, which looks to me like a fine next gen of the E125 that initially caught my attention, which I'd planned to pair with a CP100 to utilize the downvision technology. Caveat emptor my friends!
Regardless, I think it conveys important information for any boater making a decision about a new chartplotter who is unfamiliar with the company.
I first learned to hate Garmin about 10 years ago when I, as an early adopter of tech stuff, bought a GPS for my car. The maps they had at that point were crappy and inaccurate. I was using it for both business and pleasure, and it was constantly screwing up, either from inaccurate data, or quirky processing. I lost many hours on the phone to the company while lost out in the boonies, or sometimes on multiple calls I had to make over several days after I got home, trying to fix the glitches during the first two years. But hey, I wanted to do my part to advance the science and all, so I would even call them to provide accurate data to the company when the danged thing would screw up, and I had correct information to submit through the use of paper maps and/or trial and error. The final insult came after all that frustration when they came out with an update for the maps, and they actually had the nerve to try to charge me almost as much for them as it would have cost to purchase a whole new unit (assuming that I bought it anywhere other than directly from them). Yes, there was a TINY discount for the update vs. first time purchase of the data, but it was still an outrageous cost, particularly for someone who'd never actually achieved satisfactory performance from the equipment. At that time, I swore that the company would never see another penny of my money.
Fast forward to now: I just purchased a beautiful, used '95 370 DA, which came with a Garmin 5212 Chartplotter already installed. The Garmin 5212 runs EXTREMELY hot, and overheats to the point of shutting itself down within 30 - 60 min, whenever I turn it on. An internet search reveals that I'm not the only one having this issue with this series of Garmin equipment. Of course, when I called Garmin, the technician initially denied any familiarity with any such difficulty, insisting that there must be a low voltage condition. Once I'd confirmed by testing and retesting the voltage repeatedly, I was instructed to add an external fan to blow on the Garmin's cooling fins. I have now installed that fan. It doesn't shut down so quick at this point, but still runs extremely hot, suggesting that something is clearly wrong in there. Garmin's solution: I am "welcome" to send it in to them with a "flat fee" payment of just $620, for which they will happily send me someone elses re-manufactured unit, rather than replacing what is likely a $20 part, and charging me accordingly for the repair. I just don't understand how a company with such horrendously predatory practices of consumer exploitation is allowed to flourish in a competitive market?!?! That being said, my money going to go for a Raymarine A128, which looks to me like a fine next gen of the E125 that initially caught my attention, which I'd planned to pair with a CP100 to utilize the downvision technology. Caveat emptor my friends!