Navman 4100 fish finder

Tim M · 11 April 2006, 18:24

Does anyone have any experaince of this model? Im thinking about getting it as a nice budget depth finder. A friend has told me not to touch it with a barge pole becasue they have a terrible reputation (screen fogging up) but then he is trying to sell me a Garmin so can't be trusted

All I want is something to tell me how much depth there is below me. I like the fact is has an hour meter too. At £93 its a good price too.....

Biggles · 11 April 2006, 19:48

Tim,

Have a look at the Lowrance/Eagle range. Good value for money and very solidly built.

I always thought the Navman range of depth gauges seemed to be a generation of screen technology behind the others. Their again I haven't looked at them for a year.

You can try most depth gauges before you buy by downloading software from the manufacturers site.

Regards Nick R.

Hightower · 11 April 2006, 21:40

Nothing wrong with my Navman 4150 which is the same basicly as the 4100. When I was looking the Garmin units had some issues but might be resolved now.

Eagle and Lowrance both good and there are some hummingbird ones out there that are worth a look as well.

wavelength · 11 April 2006, 22:40

eagle cuda 128-dead cheap, works at fast speeds fine, intuitive controls, shallow water alarm. Not the prettiest kit but can't go wrong for 60 odd quid. We have stopped buyin navman kit.

AndrewH · 12 April 2006, 00:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavelength

eagle cuda 128-dead cheap, works at fast speeds fine, intuitive controls, shallow water alarm.

I'd echo the sentiments about the Cuda 128, its a doddle to use, works well and is cheap as chips

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavelength

We have stopped buyin navman kit.

Just out of interest, why the move away from Navman. Any particular reason??

wavelength · 12 April 2006, 15:24

Quote:

Just out of interest, why the move away from Navman. Any particular reason??

We have 2 navman radios and one of their plotters. After a prob with the waterproof qualities of the plotter which failed due to water ingress behind the control panel membrane (so they tell me) on a showery day, the ensuing and repeated failure of just one navman person in particular to answer e mails has not endeared them to me. To be fair the plotter has been replaced by them but there are minor issues with the replacement that I want addressing/answering and a reply to my e mails would help resolve the matter.
Being in a service industry I believe customer care is everything and we treat people how we would like to be treated. Consequently I shall take our business elsewhere in future.

ollyit · 12 April 2006, 17:14

I have a navman 4200 unit, superb peice of kit! - have a closer look at the pics on my website!

Tim M · 12 April 2006, 20:15

Interesting. I have a Hummingbird dpeth finder in the shed somewhere. As someone said before they are not very pretty. Party why I want the Navman; I think it looks nice. I'm not tooooo worried about the issues with water behind the screen as it'll be removing the unit from the boat when not in use. Maybe I'm being stupid; I have a Navman 7100 radio on my other RIB which does seem to fog up sometimes. However it's easy to use, is reasonably priced, and looks nice (planning on buying another one).

wavelength · 12 April 2006, 23:57

Quote:

not tooooo worried about the issues with water behind the screen as it'll be removing the unit from the boat when not in use.

No experience with the sounder so cannot comment about that instrument-but my plotter either lives on the boat in a nice big dry garage or comes off the boat and indoors. Becuse of posts on here around a year ago I always tried to remove the plotter if it started to rain whilst at sea or covered it with a plastic bag-but ............!!!!