2007 Furuno GP-1650WF GPS

[Dock 3]

Just bought a 2007 225 Tournament that has the original Furuno GP-1650WF GPS installed. Is there a source for chart cards that can be bought to upgrade the display and information?
Or...am I better off just getting a new GPS. Thanks.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I'm not 100% positive but on the Furuno website it does say that your device does use Furuno/Navionics cartography, which would make me think that you could get a new Navionics chip for new charts to use. That being said, with having a device and technology that's now 16 years old, you might want to just think about upgrading your entire electronics setup. When I bought my boat in October of 2021 it had a 7" Garmin touchscreen unit in it that was from around 2013 or so. I upgraded the map card in it because I bought the boat in Maryland and I live just north of Seattle, but when I did it actually froze the GPS up to where it was no longer usable. Not saying that the same thing will happen, but it always could with a brand new chip on 16 year old technology. If it still works fine, I'd maybe see if you can sell it for anything and put that towards something you'll use and enjoy a lot more. I went with a Garmin 943xsv and really enjoy all of the features that it has on it, including traditional, chirp and sidevu sonar. If you're wanting to stick with what you've got, maybe try calling up Furuno and seeing what they recommend? For less than $2k though, you could get a new GPS, new transducer and maps card with some money leftover. Which, I'm personally not a fan of the Furuno unit like you have where it only has a 6" display and especially with all of the buttons. I prefer a 9"-10" touchscreen display, it's big enough to where you can see it at the back of the boat but isn't really overkill, though it's ultimately your boat and your call. Good luck!

GP1650WF

www.furunousa.com

 

[seasick]

Just bought a 2007 225 Tournament that has the original Furuno GP-1650WF GPS installed. Is there a source for chart cards that can be bought to upgrade the display and information?
Or...am I better off just getting a new GPS. Thanks.

These days marine electronics become 'obsolete' quickly. At 15 years old, your unit may not be a good candidate for new map software.
The processor speed, memory capacity and screen resolution may not be up to the requirements of new map software.

 

[Dock 3]

I'm not 100% positive but on the Furuno website it does say that your device does use Furuno/Navionics cartography, which would make me think that you could get a new Navionics chip for new charts to use. That being said, with having a device and technology that's now 16 years old, you might want to just think about upgrading your entire electronics setup. When I bought my boat in October of 2021 it had a 7" Garmin touchscreen unit in it that was from around 2013 or so. I upgraded the map card in it because I bought the boat in Maryland and I live just north of Seattle, but when I did it actually froze the GPS up to where it was no longer usable. Not saying that the same thing will happen, but it always could with a brand new chip on 16 year old technology. If it still works fine, I'd maybe see if you can sell it for anything and put that towards something you'll use and enjoy a lot more. I went with a Garmin 943xsv and really enjoy all of the features that it has on it, including traditional, chirp and sidevu sonar. If you're wanting to stick with what you've got, maybe try calling up Furuno and seeing what they recommend? For less than $2k though, you could get a new GPS, new transducer and maps card with some money leftover. Which, I'm personally not a fan of the Furuno unit like you have where it only has a 6" display and especially with all of the buttons. I prefer a 9"-10" touchscreen display, it's big enough to where you can see it at the back of the boat but isn't really overkill, though it's ultimately your boat and your call. Good luck!

GP1650WF

www.furunousa.com

Thanks for the feedback-it is a small screen.

 

[coldpizza]

I have a 2004 Furuno 1850, and when I bought the boat it was in New Jersey. I wanted to get the card for Southern California. I bought a used one on ebay for less than $100 and it works great. The 'back up' battery that the unit uses to keep all the user input waypoints went bad. I talked with a good tech at Furuno in Seattle area to let me know what was needed. I shipped the unit to Furuno, the replaced the battery, and returned it to me within 2 weeks. I think it was about $200. That was 2 years ago, and it is still working great. My experience with Furuno was great.
I agree with Mustang; the button 'system' does take some getting-used-to time. If you have the money, upgrade and take advantage of the new tech and screen size! Hope this helps.

 

[Hookup1]

Depends on your use case. If you can use it as-is go for it. Or use it for now and decide what you want. I wouldn't put any money into it though. Better off with new tech.

Chartplotter, depth sounder, transducer types, radar, etc. Garmin EchoMap series of combo units are good value. Garmin GPSMap are more expensive expandable systems type units. I'm a Garmin user but I have heard good things about the Simrad products too.

Figure out what you need and post it. You'll get some good recommendations.