by Conrad Meyer, Cuba City, WI

This month, John Deere introduced the new 4640 universal display. The 4640 display incorporates the easy-to-use layout of the 4600 Command Center and the portability of the GreenStar 2630.  With the release of the new 4640 display,  John Deere has moved to a subscription based activation system which is different from the previous approach of a one-time activation purchase.  Now activations for the 4640 are offered in four different configurations shown below:

1-year Autotrac Subscription $850

5-year Autotrac Subscription $4000

1-year Premium Subscription $1700 (Autotrac, Swath Control, Documentation)

5-year Premium Subscription $8000 (Autotrac, Swath Control, Documentation)

The 5-year subscription option is only available at the point of purchase of the new 4640 display. If you choose to go with a one-year subscription, you will not have the option to purchase the five-year subscription down the road.

This price comparison graphic illustrates a customer’s cost of entry for a 4640 Universal Display and a 1-year subscription compared to a similarly activated GS3 2630 display.

The entry price for the 4640 is approximately 1/2 of the GS3 2630.  Over the course of 5 years, a customer who purchased a 4640 display and a 5-year subscription will spend less money than the customer who purchased a GS3 2630 with activations.   Also, in 5 years, there’s certain to be updated technology that will be better suited for the 4640 than the legacy 2630 display.

Why the change to subscription-based activations?  Subscription-based precision ag offerings provide the following benefits:

• Lower cost of entry to get started with display and subscriptions

• Ability to try new applications for a year without having to commit to a permanent software license

• Ability to match the cost of use with the revenue generated in the same fiscal year

• Flexibility in selecting the level and duration of subscription that best fits the needs of the business without the expense of a one-time software license purchase

As previously mentioned, the 4640 display is portable, much like the GreenStar 3 2630 display. One of the things that the 4640 display is capable of over the 2630 display is that the 4640 can be used in conjunction with a Gen 4 extend monitor. This allows you to run the 4640 display with double the screen space.

Gen 4 extend monitor

The 4640 display also has enhanced data capturing abilities making section control and coverage maps more accurate. Setting on/off times is made much easier with the 4640 display. Simply select skip or overlap and enter the distance and speed.  The new operating system on the 4640 functions like a smart phone with swipe and touch integration.

At this time the 4640 display has a few limitations, but John Deere will correct these with upcoming software updates that wwill make the 4640 display even more versatile. Some of the current limitations of the 4640 display are: RowSense in combines, Vision and RowSense in sprayers, Coverage map and A/B line sharing, and Machine sync.  Also, the 4640 display is also not fully compatible with the John Deere Rate Controller 2000 at this time.

Here’s a video from Deere on the features of the new 4640 display.

Sloan Support is written by the product support team at Sloan Implement, a 20 location John Deere dealer in Illinois and Wisconsin.   Learn more at www.sloans.com