Platinum Vs Gold Navionics

[toxicfish]

G'day all,

We've got a Lowrance HDS-5 unit fitted on our new boat, and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the navionics "Platinum" series of maps for the Australian east coast?

Is it worth upgrading from the standard "gold" maps pack to these more expensive "platinum" range?

Any thoughts or input? I think the platinum maps run at a bit over the $650 mark, and I'm wondering if they are worthwhile?

Thanks in advance.

[HAWKSBURY BUOY]

G'day all,

We've got a Lowrance HDS-5 unit fitted on our new boat, and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the navionics "Platinum" series of maps for the Australian east coast?

Is it worth upgrading from the standard "gold" maps pack to these more expensive "platinum" range?

Any thoughts or input? I think the platinum maps run at a bit over the $650 mark, and I'm wondering if they are worthwhile?

Thanks in advance.

Hi matey do you have a card already?? if so are you buying a code to unlock the maps

for the East coast or just going to purchase a full card with all maps unlocked?

Maybe able to help if you want to unlock a certain area on C-map type cards

[WANNAFISH]

I think if u use the platinum on the hds units u will get a real time 3d mapping on ur screen. Meaning you will be able to see the contours of the sea bed or where the potential drop offs.

Edited May 22, 2009 by WANNAFISH

[toxicfish]

Hi matey do you have a card already?? if so are you buying a code to unlock the maps

for the East coast or just going to purchase a full card with all maps unlocked?

Maybe able to help if you want to unlock a certain area on C-map type cards

At the moment we only have the nauticpath charts that came with the unit, these are "ok" but i was thinking of upgrading to navionics, and as yet i don't have the card or maps. Thanks for the help though, i appreciate the offer..

I'm interested in the 3D view that the platinum range would offer, has anyone had any experience in comparing the standard "gold" 2D maps VS their 3D platinum cousins?

[selous]

At the moment we only have the nauticpath charts that came with the unit, these are "ok" but i was thinking of upgrading to navionics, and as yet i don't have the card or maps. Thanks for the help though, i appreciate the offer..

I'm interested in the 3D view that the platinum range would offer, has anyone had any experience in comparing the standard "gold" 2D maps VS their 3D platinum cousins?

Before you do anything you need your software to be updated to HDS version 2.0.30.50 which was released on 15 May. You will need a blank formatted SD card to load the update on - the update is 310mb and available from here:

http://www.lowrance.com.au/en-au/Products/...oftware-Update/

Unless you have run this update, you will not be able to use a Navionics chart.

Now if you are going to use Navionics, go for the Platinum, as it is now the same price as the gold chart ($385) The reason it has been reduced is that a new card is going to be released shortly to take advantage of the advanced features of the HDS series. Doubtless that will be priced around the old price of the Platinum cards - $650 or thereabouts.

So should you go for a platinum now or wait for the new cards? From what I have been told, the new features will be chooky, but not essential and probably of more interest to the cruising yatch types than fishos. I have ordered mine from Bias today - they will order them in but do not stock them in store.

Having said that, you have to ask yourself if it is really worth it for the HDS-5, given the screen size. I have a HDS-5 and a HDS-8 would not have gotten one for the HDS-5 if that was my only chartplotter. I personally think that you will find the screen too small to usefully take advantage of the 3-D Display, satellite photo views etc. The nauticpath chart has plenty of detail for a conventional chart and was free with your unit.

Hope this helps.

These are the new features of the upgraded software package, for those who are interested:

* Support for Navionics cartography up to Platinum+ via first release of Navionics Turboview® viewer

* Tides and Currents feature now available for Nautic Insight™ and Nauticpath™ cards, including full-screen tide and current predictor

* General improvements to user interface responsiveness and key-flow, and enhanced pop-up help

* General improvements to chart zoom and pan redraw speed, including much faster drawing of shaded relief in Lake and Nautic Insight™

* New “Steer” navigation panel with full highway display, compass rose overlay and digital route data presentation

* Numeric entry and waypoint position edit mode now faster to operate

* Improved access to waypoint, route and trail library functions

* Improved import and export of waypoints, routes, and trails

* Added ability to export and import user settings

* Default waypoint names shortened to reduce display clutter with large numbers of waypoints

* Added ability to enable & disable WAAS and select the active GPS antenna to the satellites page

* New fast ping speed display settings for very deep water

* Improvements to sonar bottom tracking in particularly difficult conditions

* Improved presentation when networking sonar between HDS and LCX or LMS products

* Both digital and analog gauges now update faster

* Improved access and set-up of pages with new Pages system menu for access to overlay data and SIRIUS® audio controls

* Repeated pressing of PAGES key now rotates the Pages carousel which retains split screen

* selections for faster access to frequently used functions

* Now possible to configure sensors directly from streamlined overlay data selection menu

* Improved Info page layout options including navigation and tournament layouts including for split screen use

* Now easier to set your local time

* Automatic detection of multiple engine and tank data sources

* New steer-to compass available on info page and as overlay data option

* Trip log data items now available as an overlay data item

* Improvements to fuel management user interface

* Data overlays now display port or starboard label for sensors where appropriate

* Now possible to set independent keel offsets for multiple depth transducers

* New support for chart/radar overlay on all Lowrance charts only (including Nautic and Lake Insight™) with multiple palette choices and full transparency control

* Now supports BR24 Broadband Radar close-in ranges down to 200ft or 50m

* Improved radar update performance

* Chart will now keep the vessel on screen when using the chart/sonar or chart/radar shadow cursor at high boat speeds

* Waypoint arrival radius and course deviation indicator settings now accessible via new Navigation system menu

* Chart boundaries now displayed on Lowrance charting

* Trails settings moved to Chart system menu

* DSC support added over NMEA 2000

* Track-Your-Buddy support added for compatible VHF radios

* Improved handling of NMEA 0183 input from some non-standard devices

* Added full SIRIUS® weather transparency control

* Added SIRIUS® weather history animation up to 12hrs (Lowrance charting only)

* Added SIRIUS® marine zone warnings

* Improvements to SIRIUS® audio channel selection

* Support for new SIRIUS® subscription options

* Now possible to upgrade other head units and network modules via the ethernet

* SIRIUS® connection diagnostics moved to Networking system menu

* Improvements to screen capture function interface including full screen preview

* Ability to copy all sonar logs or screen captures to SD card simultaneously

* Networked settings can now be restored to factory defaults

* Added full support for German, Italian, Norwegian, Danish, Russian, Finnish, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Croatian, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Slovakian and Ukrainian languages

[toxicfish]

Thanks very much for the huge wealth of info, i take your point(s).

Cheers, it is appreciated. I owe you a

[selous]

Well, I've now had a couple of days to see how the Navionics Platinum card looks in the Lowrance HDS units and I'm pretty unimpressed. The Satellite photo overlay is unusable, and the map appears quite blocky and pixellated in parts when viewing the conventional 2D and 3D charts. I contacted Lowrance who suggested I might have a dud Navionics card. I also contacted Navionics who were aware of the issue and basically said that's the way it is with the Lowrance units, possibly due to the colour mapping in the HDS. They said they don't have the same issues with Raymarine, which is of no use to me. The Platinum Plus card is supposed to be "awesome" but isn't coming out until around September. I've half a mind to return the Navionics card and stick with the supplied Nauticpath card. Here are some screenshots of the Platinum Maps

You can see the blockiness and pixelisation on the land mass

Harder to see due to resizing for this post - note the areas of blockiness near Sow & Pigs

Satellite Photo Overlay - It looks much worse if I zoom in - even at this resolution you can see how pixelated it is.

Compare the shots from the platinum card to the supplied Nauticpath charts:

[toxicfish]

Thanks for posting this info Selous! That is very handy, and eye opening indeed.

What a p!ss poor answer from Navionics. If there's a "problem" between the two, you think they would have a better stance than "oh well, thats how it is" especially after all the hype of the recent update.. I was so looking forward to using the 3D view to get a better idea of drop-offs etc, but this looks a little more than disappointing to me.

I wonder what the deal is, the new update was supposed to make them compatible, but it looks more like a band-aid patch than a true compatability upgrade... very disappointing indeed.

It would be interesting to know if the platinum+ range has a more ideal "resolution" for the HDS range, or if it going to be more of the same poop...

[achjimmy]

Selous

I perfer the platuim card to the nautipath even with the pixelation but i guess the platuim cost heaps more. was the nautipath standard or did you have to pay for it?

[a boat]

Hi, thanks for posting mate, should help alot of people, but in my opinion I prefer the platinium card as well. Yes the land is pixelated, but it is to show the undulations of the land.

Just y opinion and if YOU are unhappy take it back and get your money back.

Cheers,

Huey.

[selous]

Selous

I perfer the platuim card to the nautipath even with the pixelation but i guess the platuim cost heaps more. was the nautipath standard or did you have to pay for it?

The Nauticpath card was free with the unit as they wouldn't work with Navionics when initially released. Now the software upgrade has been released I would guess that new stock with the upgraded software installed will be sold without a card.The unit has a very basic factory chart installed which is so basic as to be next to useless.

Cheers

Rob

[selous]

Hi, thanks for posting mate, should help alot of people, but in my opinion I prefer the platinium card as well. Yes the land is pixelated, but it is to show the undulations of the land.

Just y opinion and if YOU are unhappy take it back and get your money back.

Cheers,

Huey.

Hi Huey

I prefer the Platinum card as well, and I am glad I got it for half price given the issues with it. I would have been pretty pissed if I paid $650 for it. I guess what is annoying is that there is next to nothing available on the web in the way of screenshots, detailed reviews or demo units at point of sale where a prospective purchaser can see the chart in operation. The only screenshots I could find on Navionics look very different than the display on my unit

(see http://www.navionics.com/PlatinumFeatures.asp#)

Compare the screenshot of the Contiguous Satellite Photo Overlay on the Navionics page to the display on the HDS - there is no resemblance. Navionics also have a You Tube channel where they talk up their products

e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZfSfMcmfII...re=channel_page

and watching their demonstrations, I would have expected the Platinum chart I purchased to perform similarly. I certainly would not describe the satellite overlay on my unit as hi res, and it looks nothing like the overlay shown in the video. As yet, I have not been able to find the other features touted,such as tidal information, panoramic photos etc.

The point in posting the screenshots etc is so that prospective buyers, like Toxicfish, have enough information to make an informed decision as to whether the Platinum chart is worth the extra $$$. While I will probably hang onto the platinum chart for the information it does give me, I certainly would not recommend anyone outlay money on the Platinum plus chart when it is released without seeing it demonstrated first.

[GregL]

With the 2 mapping systems or views that are shown, can you flip between 2D and 3D or is it one map card, one view?

Greg

[toxicfish]

With the 2 mapping systems or views that are shown, can you flip between 2D and 3D or is it one map card, one view?

Greg

The lowrance unit gives you the choice of 2D or 3D viewing...

[darrend65]

I also have purchased the HDS-5.

I am quite happy with the maps, but I really need want to find out how to import/export waypoints. I have updated to the latest version, which advertises "improved import/export functionality", but after going through every menu on the device I can think of, I'm buggered if I can find any import/export function, nor can I find anywhere on the web instructions to do so.

If anyone can point me in the right direction on how to do this it really would be appreciated.

[toxicfish]

I also have purchased the HDS-5.

I am quite happy with the maps, but I really need want to find out how to import/export waypoints. I have updated to the latest version, which advertises "improved import/export functionality", but after going through every menu on the device I can think of, I'm buggered if I can find any import/export function, nor can I find anywhere on the web instructions to do so.

If anyone can point me in the right direction on how to do this it really would be appreciated.

Are you using nauticpath charts or the navionics?

[darrend65]

Are you using nauticpath charts or the navionics?

Hi Toxicfish

Am using the Nauticpath that came with the device. Could it be that the import/export is only available with Navionics?

[billsmith747]

Thanks to selous for the screen shots in 2009

Just wondering if the platinum cards have been improved on a Lowrance HDS5.

Has the "blockiness" issue been fixed (or is it a function of the display resolution of the HDS5)

Are the platinum charts better on the HDS Gen2 series or just the same as the original HDS units?

Cheers

billsmith747

Edited January 6, 2014 by billsmith747

[adkel53]

Has anyone had experience with the Navionics platinum card in the Elite 7 HDI model from Lowrance? Thinking of upgrading from the Navionics Gold it was supplied with to get a better picture of bottom features, contours etc.

[Benzeenees]

I haven't had a problem with the graphics (using Navionics Platinum on an HDS5), but there is a more serious problem. The depth data is incorrect. I have found (without trying) 2 locations where the depth contours are totally wrong. Navionics say there is nothing they can do about it. The reason I bought the Platinum option was to locate potentially interesting structure. But its not possible to rely on the data, so what good is it? Perhaps the Gold option is equally incorrect?

[antonywardle]

I'd like to know how people have found the Elite 7 HDI. They are going for about $950 with a gold card now

http://www.chsmith.com.au/Products/Lowrance-Elite-7-HDI-Fishfinder-Plotter.html

So as I'm starting to get in to fishing, I thought something like that would be really good

[antonywardle]

 

Ok, its time for me to renew my maps for my Lowrance Elite 9ti.

 

I've had a map of all of Australasia, but when i've been out in my boat, I only need NSW, so i was thinking about changing my subscription to just be NSW. There is also the option of getting the Platinum plus card card. Anyone using this in an Elite and is it worth the extra money?