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CNET editors' rating:
4.0 stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 104 reviews
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Product summary
CNET Editors' ChoiceJul 05
The good: Strong, accurate receiver; large touch screen; maps preloaded on hard drive; built-in MP3 player.
The bad: Slightly heavy; USB port is version 1.1.
The bottom line: With its big, colorful touch-screen display, its extremely accurate receiver, and its intuitive user interface, the Lowrance iWay 500c takes its rightful place at the head of its class.
Specifications: GPS receiver: 12 channel; Destination: Automotive; Audible assistance: Navigation instructions; See full specs
Price range: $999.99
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 07/22/2005
Included in the box is a suction-cup mounting apparatus and two swivel arms, one short and one long, to accommodate various mounting positions. The suction cup stayed attached to the windshield during a bumpy ride on the beach, but the unit itself looked like it might become airborne due to its weight. We adjusted the mounting arm to allow the iWay to rest on the dashboard, and all was well. Depending on your vehicle's dashboard and windshield configuration, it may not be possible to position the iWay 500c so that it has a clear view of the sky, but Lowrance has that covered; a remote-amplified antenna with a small suction-cup mount is part of the package, so you can keep the iWay 500c close without sacrificing signal strength.
You also get a soft cloth cover to protect the screen when not in use, an AC adapter, a USB cable for transferring music files at home, a 12-volt car adapter with built-in speaker and volume control, and an auxiliary wiring harness for hooking up the iWay 500c to your car stereo system. The included cable attaches to the auxiliary jack on your car stereo head unit, which can be tricky and may require the attention of a professional installer; alternatively, you can purchase an FM modulator for around $40 to play your tunes through the car's radio.
The Lowrance iWay 500c uses a 12-channel parallel receiver with WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) capabilities for enhanced accuracy. A 20GB hard drive holds detailed NavTeq maps of the United States and an extensive points-of-interest (POI) database on a 10GB partition; the remaining 10GB are available to hold MP3 or Ogg Vorbis audio files, which can be uploaded from your PC via the USB port. Unfortunately, the USB port is 1.1, so file transfers can be painfully slow. The iWay 500c's MP3 player has many of the features you would expect from a full-blown MP3 device, including an equalizer, scan and shuffle modes, a file browser, and support for MP3 playlists. It even displays skins, which you can download from Lowrance's Web site, or you can create your own on your PC and transfer them to the iWay.The five function buttons include a Speak/Volume button for adjusting the volume and repeating spoken directions; a Map/Music button for switching between navigation and music screens; a Menu button for accessing the setup screens, the trip calculator, and GPS status screens; and a Find button for searching through the POI database. Here you can also create routes from your address book, as well as find fuel, food, and lodging using the touch-screen icons, and you can search for locations by address via the virtual keyboard. Creating a route is as easy as touching the selected address or POI from a drop-down menu. You also have the option of adding recent destinations and searches to your address book for future route planning and storing up to 1,000 waypoints with custom icons for easy identification. The fifth button is a power switch that also lets you choose between four backlighting modes for optimal viewing in various lighting conditions. We left the screen on the brightest setting and had no trouble reading the display in direct sunlight, and there was no noticeable glare.
The Lowrance iWay 500c's interface is one of the best we've seen in a GPS device. We were impressed by the layout of the iWay's onscreen toolbar and map-mode display. You can view maps in 2D mode in north-up (north is always at the top of the screen) or track-up (the map rotates to show your direction at the top regardless of your heading) orientation. You can also choose the 3D view, which is a slightly elevated aerial view of the map.
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- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 104 reviews
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