Taking In The Sites

Back in early days of the world wide web I attended a two-day seminar called "Camp Internet." This consisted of a group of marketing- and web-page design gurus who foretold the future of the Internet and what makes for a great website. Most of the speakers agreed that a good website had to be fun, interactive, and contain a "storefront" with lots of jumping things that would entice web surfers to return again and again. But there were a few problems with these prophecies.For one thing, even at today's internet-connection speeds it takes a long time to enter a site where things "jump around" on the screen. And unless you either a) have kids and want to play games, or b) have no life, your strategy in surfing the web is usually the electronic equivalent of a hit-and-run. You are looking for something, and you want it as fast as possible so your hard drive doesn't become electronic roadkill on the "Information Superhighway."

That being the case, I'm happy to report that in my survey of marine-electronics websites, not one of them had a storefront, games, or cartoons that jump around. In fact, most of them were pretty straightforward and business-like, which is exactly what you want when you're in the market for, say, a new radar or autopilot.

There's something else you want from a good marine electronics website, and that is technical support. So to that end I visited eight sites and checked them out for design, usefulness, and interactive features. And then--by posing as a customer--I checked access to each company's tech support, both by e-mail and by phone. Here's how they stacked up.

1. Datamarine/SEA. Web address: http://www.sea-dmi.com.

Datamarine's instruments and SEA's radios are found together in this straightforward website. This site featured the biggest product photos of all the sites I checked (nearly 3/4 screen), and I liked the "New Hot Products" feature on the home page. A check of SEA's new 235 SSB radio revealed a big photo, bullet-point listings of key features, and full product specifications. Though there was no "site navigation bar" to help me find my way around, a "HOME" button was at the bottom of every page so I could at least jump back to the beginning of the site.

Unfortunately, all product descriptions are on one long page which you scroll through, and the Dealer Locator was "under construction." But against that, this site had good links to places like the FCC and Coast Guard, and their tech support was super-fast. I got a return email in just two hours, and I got through to tech support by phone in just 15 seconds!

2. Furuno USA. Web address: http://www.furuno.com.

If you know Furuno, you know they're products are about as serious as it gets, and so is their website. There are just five product category choices on the homepage (radars, navigation, etc) that lead you right into the product descriptions. The site has a nav bar for easy navigation, and NEW products are indicated. Each product gets a photo, description, and bullet points of its key features. But if you want a particular unit's specifications, you have to download a page using Adobe Acrobat reader. Though it's a simple site with nothing but products and an effective dealer locator, it gets the job done. For tech support, I got a reply email in just one hour, and after leaving a message on voice mail, a technician returned my call in three minutes.

3. Garmin International. Web address: http://www.garmin.com.

The Garmin site had a great navigation bar at the bottom, but the mottled brown wallpaper made the text hard to read. Even so, it had some good GPS-related info like a GPS glossary and links to hundreds of boating sites on the web. The product descriptions included a photo, wordy text, and spex, but no bullet points of key product features.

This site covers Garmin's aviation and marine GPS/communications products, and while I got an e-mail response in just two hours (on a Saturday!), it took three minutes, 30 seconds to get through to tech support by phone--but at least it was an (800) number.

4. Magellan Systems. Web address: http://www.magellangps.com.

At the homepage you choose between Outdoor, Wireless, or Marine products, and away you go. The site indicates new products, complete with product photo, screen shots, a full description, bullet points of key features, a specifications page, and the best dealer directory of the group (it found three dealers in my home town!). The "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) section was also helpful, as was the GPS tutorial. But for real tech support, I was dissappointed to learn that there is no way to contact Magellan online. The company says this feature is in the works, but in the meantime, my call to tech support was picked up in just 50 seconds.

5. Raytheon Marine. Web address: http://www.raymarine.com.

This is a huge site, covering the whole of Raytheon--from military and commercial products to light (recreational) marine electronics. For light marine it's actually three sites in one, since the Raytheon, Apelco, and Autohelm product lines each have their own dedicated areas. From a design point of view, the Raytheon and Apelco sites hog up the top 1/2 of your useable screen space with a fixed title/navigation page that does very little, so the on-screen real estate left over for product photos and descriptions was minimal. Against that, the product information--with photos, descriptions, and specifications--was very complete across the board. And while I appreciated the site's unique "Autopilot Selector" (which is supposed to suggest the right pilot for your boat), and "Custom Helm" (which lets you add products to a shopping list), the "Autopilot Selector" gave me no response. However, the site does have a list of complete navigation packages already selected for your boat's size/type, and this will save time if you're buying an all-Raytheon helm. I received a response to my email in less than two hours, and got through to tech support in less than three minutes.

6. Si-Tex. Web address: http://www.si-tex.com. Si-Tex gets right to it, with colorful photos of "New for '98" products shown right on the home page. Click on any product photo for a full description, including key features and specifications, or use the nav bar on the left to peruse the entire Si-Tex family of products. The site has a good dealer locator and a listing of Si-Tex's boat show schedule (for face-to-face meetings with company reps). Unfortunately, I received no email response from tech support after 48 hours, but I did get through to them on the phone in 45 seconds. They later called and subsequent tests showed good e-mail response time.

7. Standard Communications. Web address: http://www.standardcomm.com. Standard's site covers their whole company as well, combining marine radios and instruments with their satellite, wireless data, and land mobile divisions. Product write-ups were descriptions only, with no key features or spex indicated. There was, however, a "Specials" section (no special deals at this time), along with an online warranty registration screen. Against that, its "Recently Asked Questions" section was weak and outdated, and there was no dealer locator, just a list of sales reps which requires another phone call. I received no response to my email, but I got through to tech support in just 12 seconds.

8. Trimble Navigation. Web address: http://www.trimble.com. This site looked more like a news so