Garmin G3 Chip

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Whidbey Cruiser

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Fluid Motion Model
R-21 EC
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Pau Hana
I’m a recent new owner of a Cutwater 28. I stopped by the Garmin booth at the Seattle Boat Show yesterday to learn more about the new G3 chip. Turns out it will be available in March. The rep informed me that if I register my new Garmin 7612, that I would receive a free G3 chip. This was contradictory to what I was told when I took delivery of the boat a few months ago. Can anyone verify if this is a free upgrade?

Thank you.
 
In December, I purchased a G2 US and Canada chip for my 5215. Garmin Customer Service told me that I'd need to buy a new G3 chip or download. No free upgrade for me.
 
OK, so what does a G3 chip do for me?
 
the best feature looks to be the 1 foot contour lines in the G3 chip.

I note that the Garmin 8612 chart plotters come with the G3 Chip preinstalled.

Is anyone running a G3 chip on the 5212 chartplotter? I am interested to see if performance is a problem with the aging CPU in the 5212.
 
Is the G3 chip available as an upgrade yet? I know it is coming preinstalled in new units, but I coudn't find any info on Garmins site for an upgrade chip. I could only find G2 chips.
 
According to the Garmin reps I spoke to on Saturday, it won’t be available until sometime in March. Oddly enough, I spoke with two reps and their answers were different on whether th G3 chip would be a free upgrade. Hope a factory rep from Cutwater is able to clarify this question.
 
Whidbey Cruiser":9mgkzwtg said:
According to the Garmin reps I spoke to on Saturday, it won’t be available until sometime in March. Oddly enough, I spoke with two reps and their answers were different on whether th G3 chip would be a free upgrade. Hope a factory rep from Cutwater is able to clarify this question.
Click to expand...
I was under the impression that the free upgraded depended on when you bought/registered your Garmin unit.
 
The information below is from the Garmin site. Note there is a difference between if you recently bought maps vs purchasing a chartplotter that came pre-loaded with G2. I think both of these discount programs are in place so people don't buy a chartplotter or maps today just because a new version is coming out in a few months. I recently purchased the G2 maps so I can get updated maps one time within the first year.


NEW CHART GUARANTEE
DISCOUNTED UPDATE PROGRAM
Customers who purchase new preprogrammed Garmin BlueChart® g2 HD, or g2 Vision® HD microSD™
cards are entitled to 1 free
update
of the newest version of charts. If eligible, customers can update cards using our website. Updated charts will be for the
same (or equivalent2) region as the original purchase.
Customers may update their existing preprogrammed BlueChart g2 HD and g2 Vision HD microSD/SD card for a discounted price1
.
Updated charts will be for the same (or equivalent)
region as the original purchase
 
I don’t believe the free or discount update matters whether you bought the map chip or a preloaded chartplotter. I updated my maps last year and spoke Garmin about this when my chartplotter was 4 years old and had not be updated. The update is free for one year. The other statement talks about the discount program for map chips and chartplotters beyond 1 year old. The discount amount is reduced each year based on how old your chip or preprogrammed chartplotter is. 4 years was over the limit. After exceeding the limit you have to pay full price for the update. And no, the free update does not reset the purchase date.

Curt
 
any feedback on whether upgrading to the G3 is worth it?
 
Cutwater28GG":30bmgy6z said:
any feedback on whether upgrading to the G3 is worth it?
Click to expand...

I tried to upgrade last weekend. We bought our boat new in August of 2018 so, according to the Garmin website, we are eligible for the free one-time upgrade within 12 months. I had registered all of our equipment when we took delivery, however, since the manufacture date of the Garmin equipment was more than 12 months ago, the update system didn't automatically show we were eligible for the free upgrade. I called Garmin support and they manually entered the upgrade eligibility with out any hassle. Everything looked normal on ActiveCaptain and Garmin Express, but when I tried to download the new g3 chart, it would timeout with a download error around the 60% mark each time. I tried different SD cards and laptops with no success. I called Garmin support Monday and they said a lot of people are having issues downloading the g3 upgrade. They've put a note on their support page to that effect now and they are working to resolve it.

So, no data yet on the benefit of the upgrade, but hopefully Garmin fixes the issue soon so we can find out!
 
I tried purchasing it through Garmin Sunday. It opened a window and asked if I wanted to leave my Email address to be notified when it is Available. At the SW Florida Rendezvous in February the Garmin Rep. said it would be available beginning of March. The description of the G3 was all the best of Navionics Chart information combined with Garmin and Active Captain. Plus Auto Guidance. His explanation of the new G3 made me want to purchase it. I use the Navionics App on my iPad and find the charts to be better then my 2018 updated G2 chart. As anyone been able to purchase the G3 yet. I assume it is installed on new 8000 series Garmin units.
 
G3 is suppose to integrate the Navionics maps with the Garmin maps to give you a better map. The G3 maps are also suppose to include autorouting without going to the expense of the upgrade "Vision" maps. Seems to me I read on a different forum that some area's of detail were better, others were worse. I couldn't even get the G3 web pages on the Garmin site to load properly never mind be able to download the G3 maps. I called Garmin and they told me the same thing, that they were having issues with downloads hanging and they are working on it. He made no comment about the issues with the web site. He did tell me that not all of the G2 maps had been converted to the G3 maps and they were rolling out the maps in a controlled fashion to minimize server issues. Sounds like the servers are already overwhelmed. He did say that the overall USA map had been converted but that the east coast detail maps had not been converted to G3 yet. I would like the autorouting, but since I still have a foot of snow on my boat.. I don't think I am going to be an early adopter of G3, I will wait for others to see how they like it.
 
NautiTug: My G3 card is on its way also.
 
Interesting - looking forward to hearing how it looks once you guys receive the chip.

As with all software upgrades, I'm most interested if the extra detail and capability of the charting grinds the CPU in my 5212 to a halt. it doesn't exactly have fast screen redraw as it is once radar, sonar and charting is running.
 
Gavin: In my case since I have 3 Chart plotters I'm hoping any undue computing load on the Chart Plotter's processor and graphics does not present me with any issues.

Can processors in a Garmin Chart plotter be upgraded I wonder ?
 
Dont believe so as its an integrated circuit board. probably running some custom firmware and OS. they want you to shell out $3500 for a new unit :shock:
 
baz":3sru5pdj said:
NautiTug: My G3 card is on its way also.
Click to expand...

Have just discovered that my new R29 CB will come with the latest Garmin software for its Chart plotters - G3 software and that when the boat is delivered to me I will be given a G3 card. 😀 😱

Will be returning my G3 card for refund. 😳
 
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