Garmin 4- & 5000, what's in the box?
It’s fabulous that Garmin is now including, or at least plans to eventually include, a NMEA 2000 17x GPS and starter N2K backbone with its 4000 and 5000 Series networked displays (even if it took almost a year to get it all together). But if I were shopping for one of these units today, I’d be darn attentive to exactly what’s in the box. The switch from 0183 to 2000 sensor systems appears to be in transition, and I don’t know how far it’s progressed or what may still be in the supply chain (or if there is any price consequence {nice update: “no price change”}).
For instance, though it could just be a matter of delayed Web page updates, at Garmin.com this morning all the original units like the 4212 still list a NMEA 0183 GPS 17 in the box, while the new 15” and 10” units like the 4210 list the GPS 17x. The “x”, by the way, is meant to signify extra sensitive GPS receiver, so much so that it can even be mounted under “many” fiberglass decks, and includes an optional mount for doing so. But even if the 17x performed only as well as the 17, and even if a GPS was the only sensor I was attaching to the display, I’d still want to do it with NMEA 2000 cabling for its plug’n’play ruggedness and expandability. If you’re in a marine electronics store this week, please check the Garmin 4000 and 5000 boxes and tell us if all the goodies below are listed on the bottom. Thanks!
Ben, you would do ALL of us 4- & 5000 owners a BIG favor if you'd ask your friend Greg DeVries (Garmin’s Marine Sales Manager) HOW they plan to provide their poor suffering existing owners with the new "goodies" from Garmin as part of their customer service and goodwill WITHOUT us having to shell out any more moolah!