Lowrance iWay 600c (11/03/2006)

Review:

Review: Unit failed to operate after 30 hours of operation spread over two months. Programming to find destinations is very limited. Try to find West anywhere. After you enter "Wes. . " you get a list that probably doesn't include a town with the two word name starting with West. You will get a list of places that do start with Wes. . but probably not West Concord. My unit spent several hours failing and some of my exasperation may have been that I didn't know it was failing. It just didn't respond like the book promised. I have some experience with electronic navigation systems after 4000 hours in the Boeing 757 and owning several very fine Garmin navigators. I got a bargain on the 600C but it wasn't a bargain--I got fooled.

Review: I have used numerous amounts of GPS out there. Garmin, Lowrance and MAgellan. I think this beats the 500C which i just upgraded from hands down. I dont use it for music just routing. The satellite imagery is choppy in my area, but bigger cities work better just north of me. I believe that the fetures it has are outstanding for a unit, and worth the price for one of the best units out there. Garmin does have a few to match, personally i love having a bigger screen, its not that bulky as some might say. Resting on dash is a good idea to prevent view blocking.

Review:

Review: I know that I speak about the iWay 500c in the following review, but I just don't like Lowrance car GPS's anymore!!

I needed a new GPS after my Lowrance iWay 500c just died on me (it was a gift so I am not crying about the lost that much). Let me tell you DO NOT BUY an iWay 500c. It is a piece of crap! In July, 2007 I bought the TomTom Go 720 for my wife. I wanted a GPS for myself and after having my Lowrance iWay 500c stop working on me I did some shopping for another GPS. I came across the Garmin Nuvi 5000. Wow, this unit has a huge 5.2 inch screen but is so light and thin. If you like Garmin products but want a bigger screen then this is it. It has the latest maps, POI’s, and features already install and ready to go! The routes (directions) are perfect every time unlike the iWay 500c. Go to www.garmin.com and read up on this bad boy. It is worth ever dime that it is selling for. All GPS’s have their pros and cons. NONE OF THEM ARE PERFECT. What I like and dislike about the Garmin Nuvi 5000 and the TomTom Go 720 are the following:
Likes (Garmin Nuvi 5000):
1.) Nice, bright, big screen
2.) Directions are accurate
3.) Speaks the street names often and clearly
4.) Great POI’s database (maybe the best I have seen in a GPS)
5.) MSN DIRECT-Excellent!!!! (Traffic, Move Times, Weather, Local Events, Gas Prices, News, and Stocks-WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
6.) Great looking maps. I think people are jealous when they ride by me and see my GPS or may be they want to steal it-I don’t know
7.) GPS is very light and non-bulky for its size.
Dislikes (Garmin Nuvi 5000):
1.) Routing and re-routing calculations are not as fast as the TomTom Go 720. It needs to be a little faster for my taste, because it can be a little bit slow.

Likes (TomTom Go 720):
1.) FAST routing and re-routing (the fastest I have ever seen in a GPS).
2.) Very easy to pick alternate routs.
3.) Good to some what great directions, but sometimes screwy.
4.) Mapshare

Dislikes (TomTom Go 720):
1.) TERRBLE mount!!! I had to buy a 3rd-party mount because the one that it came with it didn’t hold the GPS well. The GPS kept falling off the windshield.
2.) The screen washes out to much in bright sunlight.
3.) Though the GO 720 speaks the street names, but it doesn’t speak them as often or clearly as the Garmin Nuvi 5000.
4.) The screen could be bigger for my taste.
5.) Traffic capability is expensive and the coverage is not as big as the MSN Direct with Garmin.
6.) No Move Times, Weather, Local Events, Gas Prices, News, and Stocks features like the Garmin Nuvi 5000 with MSN Direct.

So you make your choice, but what ever you do DON’T BUY THE LOWRANCE IWAY 500C!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Review: Someone in my company purchased an iWay 600c for employees to use when traveling. We also have a Garmin StreetPilot C330, which I've used, and which works great.

My first dislike of the Lowrance is that it is big and heavy. Secondly, there is no internal battery, so it has to be plugged into you cigarette lighter at all times. If you have a car where the cigarette lighter is not hot while the ignition is off, that means you have to shut down and power-up the unit each time you turn the car off. One of the downsides I immediately noticed is that the unit takes much longer than the Garmin to calculate the route and generate directions. Sometimes, try as you might, you still might take a turn too soon or too late while using a GPS navigation unit. With the Garmin, if you get off course, it updates with new directions very quickly. With the Lowrance, it seemed to take forever to generate a new set of directions if you happen to get off course. It was so slow, I had to pull over and wait for it to catch up. I also found the verbal prompts very confusing as compared to what is being displayed on the screen. The touch screen was often very unresponsive. There were several times that I was trying to make a selection from a list on the screen, and my touches were not registering. It was sensing my touch, because it would emit a ding each time I touched the screen. But the particular selection I was trying to make simply would not register. I found myself poking the screen hard, numerous times before it would finally recognize my selection. While driving down Connecticut Avenue towards downtown Washington, DC, from the beltway, the unit repeatedly lost satellite reception. The only thing I could figure is that the trees that overhang Connecticut Ave interferred with the unit's view of the satellites, but the number of times it lost reception seemed way too much. I had a tough time seeing the screen in bright sunlight. The one feature I liked was the "Gauges" option on the menu.

This unit was more trouble than it was worth. It's going on the shelf in our equipment room. I'll take the C330 any day over this unit.

Review: I bought a 500C and used it for a month and liked it. Very easy to use, accurate, virtualy instant recalculations on missed turns. The routes it would choose were questionable however, but it would always get you to your destination, relentlessly!
I needed a marine gps for a trip to Lake Powell, and purchased a used 600C on ebay. I updated the software from the lowrance website to the latest. The resolution on the 600C is so much better! Yes, the writing does get smaller, but finer also. Many fields can be adjusted for size. The unit shows much more clearly than the 500C. Contrary to some of the reviews that I have read, you can have multiple waypoints on a route and it will sort for the most efficient route. What else do you want? It has a neat gage screen that looks like your dashboard, the FM modulator sounds great, easy to use without the instructions, versitle.
It would be nice if it was more compact. But regardless, your not going to carry a 5" screen backpacking! The mount is a heavy duty quality unit and the suction has not failed me yet. You do need to rest the unit on the dash as it is heavy. I put a piece of foam rubber under it. I admit that I have not tried the other brands. I am pretty positive that you will not find another screen with the clairity that the 600C has however. Everyone else complains about multiple waypoints which the 600C handles with ease. My search is over. I have a unit that I can use on my boat and truck!!

Review: If you are new to Lowrance’s gps units then you will be impress with the iWay 600c. But if you have own any Lowrance car navigation units before then buyer beware. I am very familiar with the iWay 500c so when I had a chance to get the iWay 600c I jumped on it. What a disappointment between the two. The mapping fonts are much smaller on the iWay 600c. You have such a large screen and can barely see the street names or POI’s. The satellite imagery makes the screen even more clutter then necessary. Finding a radio station that works with the built-in FM modulator is sometimes very difficult. The directions are good, but my friend who owns an iWay 500c said that they are the same as his. I am going to return this gps and see if I can get a used iWay 500c, because it looks like Lowrance doesn’t make the iWay 500c’s anymore.

Review: Sorry C-Net readers I am the first person to give a review on the iWay 600c (Mike 303685), and I was wrong! I should not have given this item such a high rating. I actually miss my iWay 500c and should have never sold it for the iWay 600c. Sometimes you think that the grass is greener on the other side, and in this case it wasn’t. First of all the map detail is much smaller on the iWay 600c in comparison to the iWay 500c. The street names, roads, and POI’s are smaller in screen size thus making it harder to read while navigating. Why Lowrance did this, I do not know. Also I thought that the points-of-interests (POI’s) were more up-to-date, but once again I was wrong. They are the same as the iWay 500c. The satellite imagery did look good in some areas, but later I found out that it was mostly unclear in other areas. There is actually cloud coverage in many of the imagery that makes it hard to see what you are looking at. The one plus with the iWay 600c is that the address searching is better. Is that worth trading up? No, I do not think so! Being so hasty in my decided to get the iWay 600c cost me more money overall, and it was stupid on my part. Now I actually miss the iWay 500c. You can see the map detail much better on the iWay 500c then the iWay 600c. Don’t make the costly mistake like myself-KEEP YOUR iWAY 500C!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Review: I just received my new Lowrance iWay 600c and let me say it’s the best gps I have ever owned. I use to have the iWay 500c, but after seeing that the iWay 600c was coming out I quickly sold my away 500c to buy the iWay 600c and I am glad I did! The Lowrance iWay 600c has to be one of the best portable gps on the market. It blows away the previous model (the iWay 500c) in the following ways:
1.) THE ROUTING IS MUCH BETTER!!!!
2.) The satellite imagery ROCKS!!
3.) The built in FM modulator sounds awesome!
4.) The maps and POI’s are based on the year starting in 2007 (read that point again)-No more out-dated streets, restaurants, gas stations, banks, ect.
5.) The screen is so sharp and clear (the new 680x480 pixels) that sometimes I think that I am looking at a small television.
6.) And if you have a boat then look out-you can use this “bad boy” on the boat and navigate in the water(s).

Don’t get me wrong the iWay 500c was good, but the iWay 600c is better. Lowrance you have out did yourself on this one.