- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 26 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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26 out of 26 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"A Very Good Unit, Especially For The Money."
Pros: Highly Visible Screen. Quick Corrections. Internal Battery For Hand-Held
Cons: Always Prefer Larger Roads to Smaller More Direct Roads
Summary: After a very brief encounter with a smallish handheld Garmin, my 54 year old eyes decided I needed a GPS unit which was as bright and as easily readable as possible. The Lowrance iWay500C appealed to me greatly because of not only its features, but its 5? screen size as well. However, I wanted to be able to take my GPS onto commercial airplanes so I could know my route, altitude, airspeed, and know what I was looking at out of the airplane window at any given time. Thusly, an internal power supply was needed. With my need for a bright, easily readable screen, my choices were instantly limited. The Lowrance iWay 350C seemed perfect, especially when compared to other high visibility units with self-contained batteries... all of which seem to cost twice as much as the iWay 350C. The screen is ?only? 3.5?, but it is highly readable.
For me, this is going to be primarily an automotive unit. I recently used it to find stores which were totally unknown to me in a city which is not (yet) my own: San Diego. Without a hitch, the iWay 350C got me to each and every address in various parts of the city and suburbs. I had just bought the unit and was using a rental car, so I did not have it mounted; it was sitting on the seat next to me and I depended soley on the voice prompts. At the time, I realized the voice prompts would only name a road if it had a route number. At one point, it told me to turn left in 200 feet. Well, at about 200 feet, there were two parallel streets exceptionally close together. I took a guess and went past the first to the second. The iWay instantly told me to make a U-turn and turn onto the other street. However, other than noting its quick correcting of my mistake, this situation was not all that important a consideration for two reasons. One of those two reasons is that 95% of the time, the unit will further specify, "Make the NEXT left turn," or something very similar to that. The second reason this was not significant was that when I arrive home and mounted the unit into my car, it became obvious that while the voice prompts do not name streets without route numbers, the screen clearly shows them and their names... it even magnifies the intersection for you at an appropriate time.
The one real criticism I have for the unit is that it seems to abhor taking you on a smaller road if a larger road is nearby. At one point, I was actually on the same road as my target destination in San Diego, yet the unit had me turn off and go onto a highway, which led to another highway, which led to an exit pretty close to the store. Had I simply stayed on the road I was originally on. I would have gotten there sooner. If the either highway had had a traffic back-up (oh N0..NEVER in San Diego!!), it would have cost me even more time. Locally near my home, I notice the unit insists on directing me onto roads with traffic lights rather than onto more direct roads with stop signs (larger roads as opposed to smaller roads). Nevertheless, it WILL get you there in an acceptable manner.
I have noticed quite vividly that when I ignore its directions and take routes I happen to know are better than its suggestions, the iWay plots a new route and quickly makes new suggestions within a half-block or so of when I "missed a turn" or otherwise went in a different direction from its previous suggestion. It is excellent in that way.
So, around your own neighborhood, you most likely know better routes, but the iWay will still do a very credible job. In a place unknown to you, it is a comforting companion.
I have not used the music player yet, and most likely will never do so. I have also not used the iWay to find restaurants, motels, banks, car-repair shops, tourist attractions, etc., but I notice it can do so, and will often also give you the phone number of the establishment as well.
The battery is rated for something like 17 hours. I keep the screen at its brightest setting and the volume of the voice fairly high (you'll start to get old one day too <LOL>
. At these settings, the battery is good for at least 9 hours, but absolutely not for any more than 11 hours. Gee... is that why they give you a cigarette lighter adapter for power!?
The iWay does not come with an AC adapter, but Lowrance suggested that rather than shelling out the big bucks for theirs, I go to a store and buy an after-market AC adapter into which I can plug the 12v car adapter after the after-market AC unit is plugged into the wall. I believe they said to keep it under a 1.7 amp power supply (or very close to that). The lesser expensive ones out there are 1 amp models, and mine works admirably. Radio Shack sells one for $26.95, but while in San Diego, I bought one at a Frye Electronics store for $9.95. Oh? the battery will run down a bit even while turned off? not seriously, but a fresh charge just before a hand-held trip would be advisable.
Finally, instead of having all of that plastic hanging from my windshield or wherever, I simply cleaned an appropriate spot on the top of my dashboard with alcohol and applied two self-sticking Velcro strips to the dash?the same color as the dash. I then applied the mating Velcro piece to the bottom of the iWay, and bingo! Your choice, but black velcro on a black dash or brown velcro on a brown dash isn?t all that conspicuous compared to plastic gizmos mounted in weird places. As far as hand-held operation is concerned, when I first saw the iWay 350C, I thought its weird shape looked awfully awkward for carrying. How wrong I was. The weird shape of the back of the unit is actually an ergonomic ?swell? that makes hand-carrying both pleasurable and sure. It simply does not want to slip out of your hand, and even the company logo back there has a non-slip sort of feel to it. I believe Lowrance should advertise this easy carrying, no-slip design, but I noticed it right away.
I am very happy with my Lowrance iWay 350C. Even though I ?usually? know a better route closer to my home, it is never ?wrong.? When I trust it while away from home, it always gets me to my destination. Finally, one comforting thing: At any time, I can go to the address book and hit HOME, and I know I?m on my way.
- 3 replies to this review
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In your review you mentioned you wanted it to be able to bring to airplanes, have you ever tried it? What was your experience?
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I read in your review that you like it to be able to bring the 350c to commercial airplanes to know where you are, altitude, etc. Have you ever tried this? Can you please tell us what the experience is? I'm planning to bring mine to Hawaii and I was thinking since I'm going over an ocean it won't be much use to know my current position but at least I would be able to know the altitude and velocity.
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I am eagerly awaiting my unit from Newegg.com, where I ordered it for about $375 (came to 400 with shipping and tax - tax man got me since they have offices in NJ where I live.) I couldn't wait for it to get here to read the instruction manual, which Lowrance has on their website as a pdf file.
I noticed that you can tweak route selection to avoid or make maximum use of highways during route selection by use of slider you can drag from "use all highways" to "use no highways" with an intermediate area which I guess blends these two preferences to your liking. Have you tried this yet? And does it still put you on highways even when you choose not to?
Where to buy
Lowrance iWay 350c:
$629.99
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$629.99 | See Site |
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