Does anyone own the GPSMAP 740s?

If so, did you go with the BlueChart G2 Vision bundle??
Do you think it makes that much of a difference to validate the additional cost if you did/didn't?

What about the transducer? Standard 50/200 w/o temp/speed?
The 1KW is so danm expensive......if you went that route, are you happ(ier)?

:confused: Too new to this to make an uneducated guess...HELP?
Can anyone share any insight? I've read up on some, but experience (most times) far exceeds manuals and ads that sell the product.

I asked the girl working at WestMarine if she could show me the difference with the 1KW, she said it wasn't set up to show the difference??? (50/200 vs 1KW)

50/200 is the frequency not watts.
1K watt transducer or 600 matt is pretty much the standard off the shelf choice.

PM sent, love mine, bought standard mapping and it's fine as is, mine was bundled with radar and I used existing transducer from old 188C Garmin.

I have the 546 with the BlueChart G2 bundle and love it. I have all Garmin on my boat including a GDL40 which overlays weather on my map in real time. Everything is hooked together using a NMEA2000 Network.

Thanks for all the replies, very helpful stuff.

Piemma, the NMEA2000 network, is that just basically T's and NMEA wires? and your obvious GPS screen/plotter right?

Yup. Everything including the fishfinder, which is a separate unit, are connected with the NMEA wires and T's. They then basically work in conjunction with each other and share information.

Got an email from W est Marine saying they have the 740s on sale Friday only for 750.00.

Simrad baby chirp coming out here soon.

Now I'm torn whether I want to install the B164 sitting here or sell it and upgrade to baby chirp.

Thanks Ross... already picked one up along with the G2 bundle package. Sitting in a box waiting to get installed sometime soon.

Simrad just came out with a whole new system for their black box components. I'm sure they are pricy.

New NSO glass bridge system.
Its disgusting.

Its for the large to superyacht market.
Not baby chirp.

I have been a big simrad fan but I have to say I think raymarine new gear has passed them by. Their chirp unit is better and cheaper. Now they they offer sidescan if simrad does not make a major change in either the price or features I think will see some real pressure, at least at the low end (retail consumer level)

For the life of me I still don't understand why on-board computers are not more popular. With SSD's now available and affordable..that is the way to go...Software is a lot easier to change than hardware...Put un a computer and you could have new software and essentially a new system with the latest technology every couple years if you wanted.

The GPSMAP 740S is on sale today only at westmarine for $750.00 down from a thousand bucks....do not know if that is what U R looking for

Basically they are on-board computers, they just don't run a common operating system and therefore cannot run anything other than custom designed software. You can update the software on most systems through the Mfg's website.

It is not the same...its a closed system, It would be better to separate the computer from the software ala nobeltec. Simrad is not in the computer business.
The user would have a lot more freedom.

It could probably be done, but it would be very expensive. 1st of all you need a really robust display to be viewable in direct sunlight. Second you would need a military grade chassis to take the abuse. Finally you would need multiple computers/displays to get the kind of screen size everyone wants. For example, I'm typing this note on a laptop with a 14 inch display, which is just about the same size as the Garmin 2010 chart plotter I have on the boat.

Routing software is run side by side with black box networks already.
Welcome to B&G circa almost 20 years ago now!

Pretty much most mfg's mid-high end stuff and up will talk to most of the good routing software with no issues (Expedition/Adrena/etc)

And nobeltec is a convoluted pile of crap that makes everything Microsoft look lean and mean.

SSD in a micropc and you don't need a "military grade chassis".

WestMarine has the Garmin 740s for $699
"TODAY'S RED HOT DEAL"

Decent price, if anyones' looking around for one.

Bloocrab what did you end up buying for a boat?

I see that Simrad is having a big sale on their multi-function units.

I ended up going with a "tricked out" StriperSeaSwirl