Garmin 3210c

[23Dusky]

Anybody have this unit that can share some of it's good & bad points?
Seems like Garmin is great as far as the chart plotter goes, but not the best rep for the sounder. I really like the big screen, options, quality, etc., plus the recent price drop. Just torn as to whether I should buy this unit or go with a smaller plotter and a Furuno sounder.

[SEATUX]

Been there, done that, dont waist your money on a (POS) Garmin bottom sounder, go Furuno. Basicly all the transducers are made by Airmar, and the transducer is as important as the bottom unit, opt for a narrow beam and if you can afford it go w/1000 watt thru hull. Not that you need 1000 watt but it gives you multiple elements. (shooting thru the hull will lose up to 40% of you power)
{Garmin is a great GPS tho}

[bgbill]

I have a 3010c with a GSD20 (bottom Finder), and a Furuno 1850 WDF, they are both great machines, the Furuno plotter sucks on the 1850 WDF IMO, but the bottom finder is nice, the Plotter on the Garmin is the best I have used, and the bottom finder is not as good as a Furuno, but it is not a piece of shit either.

[markallan]

Basicly all the transducers are made by Airmar{Garmin is a great GPS tho}


Does this mean if I switch from Furuno to Garmin, I don't have to replace the transducer?

Garmin has some very nice units coming out in the first quarter, some will even have satilte views (not in real time), but thru photos loaded on the chip.

[SEATUX]

You can Probably use the existing transducer, but the wiring (pin numbers) will be different. Airmar can give you the wiring skematic if your ok with cuting and re-terminating. HOWEVER ...just because it will work doesnt mean its the best choice, check w/ airmar whats best for you. Remember, a wide cone shows more of the bottom, (easier to fine a wreck) but a 2' ledge will show up as a slope. A narrow beam shows up small ledges but you have to almost pass right over a wreck to see it. And multiple elements really pay off.
And bgbill, Garmon GPS is about as good as it gets, but the Garmon bottom sounder is still a POS! (Its all relative, Garmon is better than nothing, but when up against Furuno and Raymarine, and many others... its a POS )

[AristaKat]

I just bought a Garmin 3210 compared to my furno 1850 must faster relay time and garmin has a digital sounder that I like and it looks good. Overall new 3210 is much better then Furno and its easy to use . My friend has a ray marine awesome finder but costly and to many bells and whistles

[Steve-o]

If you want a nice combo unit, you might look at Simrad. Their sounders are are top notch, and while Garmin makes nice GPS/plotters, I like using Simrad chartplotters better.

[Capt.Gene]

I had a Furuno 600 on my cat boat and took it off after installing the black box sounder for my Garnin 2010.
I read bottom at 32 knots no problem.
The color screen is easy to see on a very bright day even in an open boat.
The 200KH transducer works well in the depth we dive.
The 10" screen and 4X zoom let me see small bottom contour changes.
Perhaps it would fall short were I trying to draw bottom in 500 feet, but thats not an issue.
I really don't know what rec fisherman/ diver wouldn't be happy with this if the transducer were installed properly.
Ray Odor, Krizman, Paradise Express , myself and a few others here have the same machine. We seem to be able to find anything under the boat.

[23Dusky]

Are you guys using the GSD 22 sounder?

[Steve-o]

I had a Furuno 600 on my cat boat and took it off after installing the black box sounder for my Garnin 2010.
I read bottom at 32 knots no problem.


In case not everyone knows this already, performance at speed has everything to do with transducer installation: location, fairing block, angle, etc.

The sounder is also no better than the transducer it has to work with, so better transducers with more elements, etc will give you better target info. Here, you get what you pay for.

My main gripe with combo units are the number of steps you must go through to adjust something. You can't just turn some knobs to change range and gain and zoom, which bugs me. This is one of the main reasons I prefer separates, but I realize they are not for everyone (space issues, cost, etc).

[AristaKat]

i have gsd22 and its a digital sounder works great

[dugout]

Been there, done that, dont waist your money on a (POS) Garmin bottom sounder, go Furuno. Basicly all the transducers are made by Airmar, and the transducer is as important as the bottom unit, opt for a narrow beam and if you can afford it go w/1000 watt thru hull. Not that you need 1000 watt but it gives you multiple elements. (shooting thru the hull will lose up to 40% of you power)
{Garmin is a great GPS tho}

Furuno, and Simrad, actually manufacture some high quality thru-hull transducers and they are arguably better than the Airmar products. More $$$, too. The loss shooting through a glass hull varies based upon frequency, pulse width, pulse repetition rate, and the thickness / composition of the hull.
40% is a good estimate but it could be 15% to 50%, along with additional performance degrading side effects.

[100days-a-year]

Not one single commercial fisherman,spearfisherman or charterboat I know of has any Garmin bottom machine or radar atho a few do like the chartplotters as they are idiotproof and Garmin has great service,support and turnaround.

Simrad,Furuno and RayMarine are top tier electronics and the array of options they have in radar,charting,steerable sonar etc.. make better sense for a big boat.If beam width differences in 150' or less make it that much more difficult to find wrecks it ain't the equipment that's lacking.

On a small boat without redundant stations 50nm+ offshore I want redundant nav info anyway and at least one machine seperate from radar and sonar.

[SpearDiverTampa]

The 3210c's are really slick units. I actually dropped 2 off to Nitroxshooter and his freind earlier this week. Very user freindly with alot of cool features. They are plotters, fishfinders, radar capable, and can take xm input(both weather and radio). The fishfinders are a little below the Furuno's, but still pretty solid units. Garmin has a really good price on their 3210c bundle right now which includes the plotter, GSD22 sounder, GLD30 XM reciever, and a network port expander. I have them for $2,199.99 on the site.
-Chris