Albin Owners Group

Starting to look at new electronics for next season so doing my homework early. Any opinions on the Simrad NSS 12 or Furuno Navnet MFD12 would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Bob

Bob, Your post could not have been more timely. I too was planning for an electronics upgrade over the upcoming layup of '12 - '13. Sharing information and learning a little bit should be helpful.

So much for planning as my Simrad CE32 locked up as of last Friday and even a master reset is not doing the trick. The unit is 12 years old and installed new in 2002.

I really have no opinion on the Simrad NSS12 as I have not even given them a look. I can tell you that I'm not too happy with Simrad as they "no longer support" my locked unit because of its age and that the new parent company Navico did not build it. They only support what they’ve built. Even if they did, I was told that they are running a 2 month turnaround on repairs. That's not the customer service that I'm looking for in a new electronics. A buddy “owned” fairly recent North Star gear. Navico also bought North Star and he was told to pound sand as well and buy new gear that they make and then they would be happy to service it. He now owns all Furuno electronics. He loved his North Star gear, but with that type of customer service he also went sour on Navico products.

Over the years I've heard nothing but good regarding Furuno tech. support, field training of authorized reps. and systems repair. It's funny how we usually hear more about the bad than the good. I had been fawning over the 10 inch VX2 for quite a few years, but that is being phased out in favor of the NN3D in 8 and 12 inch screens and the new TZ Touch in 9 & 14 coming on strong. I sure do love how Furuno has loaded these units up with charts including Raster, Vector, 3D and Bathymetric. At first I was thinking MFD 12, but man is that thing huge on the little dash on the 28's helm! That’s just my personal thought. For me the TZ9 might be a reasonable contender for about the same $$$$ as the MFD12. The nice thing with Furuno is that I can tie my Simrad Autopilot into their unit ... that's one relief. I’m in a small private marina with 50 boats and the majority sport Furuno with Raymarine to the distant rear and me as the lonely Simrad guy.

I have just learned that Raymarine has come out with some great units as well in their new touch E Series. These are some pretty powerful units and from reading the specs they use 1/3 the power of the Furuno units. They have a 9 inch unit as well as a 7 and a 12 for about a $ 1,000 less than the comparable Furuno TZ Touch units. The matching HD radar units seem to be comparable to Furuno.
With an inevitable dash redo whichever direction I head I'm seriously considering the Raymarine E7 with its pre-loaded charts as a stop gap for the remainder of this boating season. With a little tweaking, it will fit the existing Simrad cut out in my dash. Currently my Simrad radar is a separate standalone display, and interfaced with the Simrad chart plotter and autopilot. With a little more research and the chips falling in the right spots this may just get me through the remainder of this season before undertaking major reconstructive surgery at the helm at layup. I have a lot to learn about Raymarine SeaTalk and its compatibility with other electronics.

I’m looking to hear more as well.

I second that on Furuno's tech support, it is 2nd to none, and they never abandon thier older models. That's why Furuno gear gets a great price on the used market. I also agree a 12" unit in the dash on the 28TE engine box era (prior to added dash height) is a bit much. The 10.4" is a perfect fit IMO.
Yes, Furuno did away with the 7" VX2, but the 10" is still in thier product line. I have a 7" overhead and a 10" in the dash and love them both. I like having gear that is not on the cutting edge of technology as all the "issues" have been resolved.

I too love my Furuno VH1 with C-Map charts. Whatever unit you decide I would consider the new broadband radar system for the lower power use.

So a combination of "features" led me to my choice. I wanted the Structurescan system and the broadband radar and if you want those you have to get Lowrance or Simrad so that's what I did (Simrad).
I had an issue with a Simrad NSE purchase (it had older maps) and the only way to get it upgraded was to send it in (regular software updates are done via USB port). I opened a ticket with them and had it to them an back in the same week. Unfortunately the map was updated but not with the latest so I had to do it a second time but they did get it right then.
I have been on tech support calls with Simrad a few times and as usual you might get someone who knows their stuff and sometimes not.
I also have the NSS8 and touch screen is nice

mhanna wrote:I also have the NSS8 and touch screen is nice

Almost as nice as my Furuno trackball

After much research and opinion seeking I have pulled the trigger on a new simrad NSE12 as my main screen and utilize the nss7 as a secondary screen. The bonus is the nss7 has the built in sounder and the units interface so I will have the best of both worlds with regular screen and touch screen. Spoke several times with Simrad support, got through with no waiting and they explained all my questions with patience. Found a wealth of info on THT. The boat comes out in two weeks and I will begin the redo of my dash panel. I will list my furuno radar for sale and the garmin GPS as well. Rob good point on the dash size, I have the larger panel so everything will fit. Will post pics when the project begins.