Electronics : Lowrance iFinder Expedition C GPS

Rating: - Nice GPS
This is my second Lowrance unit, this one specifically bought for Geocaching. I've had no issues with it. One thing I would recommend is some kind of screen protector, as it is a glossy plastic and any scratches show up, it's cheap insurance for keeping it looking new.

Battery life is good, used it on a all day Kayaking trip keeping a tracklog, backlight off when I wasn't looking at it. Still has over 50% left after 6 hours of constant use.

GPS signal acquisition is good, holds a lock well. The magnetic compass makes honing in on a location nice at close range where GPS derived heading gets jumpy at low speeds. Color screen is amazing with backlight on. Direct sunlight reading is good without it, but expect to use the backlight a lot if there isn't sunlight to illuminate the screen. It hasn't been a problem, but if your accustomed to B&W screens you'll need the backlight more than you used to.

Overall very happy with it.

---

Rating: - awesome
I have two friends that have the expedition c. This is why I bought mine. I use it for fishing and hunting. Puts me right on the spot I want to be. I would recommend this unit highly. I have been looking for this unit for a long time, and found the best price on Amazon.com.

---

Rating: - 1st GPS
This is the first GPS I own and didn't know what to expect. I didn't realize I would need to spend another $100 to get the actual views that should be on these things from the start. Once I got the added software it was everything I hoped for. So basically I spent $350. Hmmmm, I could have bought a computer for that. Seems pricey. They'll probably be $75 in ten years with all the bells and whistles.

---

Rating: - Nice Unit
First I would like to say that this is my first GPS unit and that I have been researching several different GPS brands and models for about a year and a half. I travel quite frequently to South America and I wanted a unit that I could view (and navigate) major cities and roadways in SA. I also wanted a compass, color screen and overall, an easy to use unit. I was first interested in the Magellan eXplorist series 300 thru 600. The 600 had all of the features that I wanted but when I called for some pre-sales support, they told me that the unit will work in SA but there are just no maps available for the unit. So for $349.99 (MSRP) you can get a 600 with the North American base map installed. To get any sort of detailed maps add another 149.99 for Mapsend. And after reading the horrible reviews about eXplorist series on cnet and Amazon, I decided to check out other units. I then looked at the Garmin eTrex Vista Cx. However, the unit has a small screen and again, numerous reviews complaining about battery issues and accuracy. When I called Garmin for some pre-sales support, I was on hold for 43 minutes and when someone finally took my call, I was disconnected. So I decided to keep searching.

Researching Consumer Reports, I came across Lowrance. The name sounded familiar since we used their equipment onboard naval vessels. After a few weeks, I settled on the iFinder Expedition C.

THE UNIT: The color screen measures approx. 1.75 X 2.25 inches and the image is excellent. Good color, street names, roads, and boundaries show up very well. It is a solid unit and fits well in the hand and it's very easy to navigate thru the screens using just your thumb. Buttons are rubber and easy to push. Uses 2 AA batteries (unlike the eXplorist 600 that uses a special battery...you can get AAs all over the world) and so far my Energizer NiMH rechargeable batteries have been working just fine. It also has a slot for a standard SD memory card (1 GB Max). It is waterproof up to 1 meter in water for 30 minutes (IPX7 Standard). It comes with a 12 volt car adapter and a pretty good, easy to understand manual. It can track up to 16 satellites at one time but I have only seen as many as 9 on my unit at one time. The unit can play MP3s (only with a special adapter cable sold separately).

THE MANUAL: I skimmed the PDF manual before I purchased my unit to be sure of certain features and ease of use (you can learn a lot about a product by reading the manual first!). It seemed fairly easy and basically self explanatory. Reading PDF page 28 gives you a quick and easy reference to get you on the road or trail fast. However, anything other than the basic features, it will take some time to memorize menu locations and options. So if you really want to utilize the full potential of the unit, you will need to read the manual with the unit on hand (If you don't want to utilize the units full potential, don't buy the Expedition). The manual is quite lengthy but well written and highly detailed. At this time, I have not found any typos or wrong information in the manual. It will just require patience reading page after page.

THE SOFTWARE: The unit comes pre-loaded with a basic map of the entire world. What this means is that you can only see US state boundaries, major US freeways and roads, cities, major bodies of water, and country boundaries. Since I wanted some detailed maps of South America, I wanted to purchase the Freedom Map of the world but the service technician who I spoke with over the phone told me that it is not worth the $99.99 investment since the extra details are not quite there yet. I purchased the USA Topo Map Create Series 6 accessory package (includes an SD card, Card Reader, and 6 CD ROMs) for $95.00 from LEI. The SD card is 64MB (58.5 MB after formatting) and the CD ROMs are series 6.3. To my surprise, the USA Topo Map Create 6.3 does come with the entire world. However, only the 48 US states and Hawaii have the detail down to the street level (Alaska only shows major roads and cities). So for the rest of the world, cities, major lakes, major roadways and waterways are present...far better detail than what comes preloaded with the unit. So I am thinking that the Freedom map of the world would have been a waste of money because I am completely satisfied with the detail of South America. The Map Create is extremely easy to work with. I have yet to read the manual about the software and I have loaded quite a bit of maps to my GPS unit. I purchased 2 512 MB and a 1 Gig card and on one 512 MB card I loaded the entire South American continent, Central America, Wisconsin, Illinois, California, Washington, and Florida. Europe takes up only 4 MB of space (But remember, it's the details that take up the space). As far as the mapping software is concerned, you are able to select what details you want to load onto your GPS unit. For example, if you like railroading, you can choose to have all the railroads displayed. You can have all the restaurants or lodging facilities to show. It's up to you. But the more you want the more space it takes up. There are 21 categories (and numerous subcategories) you can select from (Highways, landmarks, elevation, structures, and hunting and marine navaids just to name a few). The state of Colorado takes up 125 MB with all 21 items selected. With 16 items selected it takes up 27 MB. South America takes up 3.86 MB (again, you're not loading all the roads and restaurants either). Map Create 6.3 comes with 6 CDs and you need to install all 6. After the installation, you will need to keep the first CD in the drive each time you open up the program. The LEI card reader was somewhat difficult to install (yes you need the special LEI card reader if you are going to download maps onto SD cards for your unit). My first two attempts trying to get the mapping software to recognize the reader failed. The third time I used the drivers off Lowrance web site and that didn't work either. I then extracted the drivers off of the CD ROM and finally I got it to work. You cannot save any maps from Map Create 6.3 without the card reader and SD card installed. But once the files are on the SD card you can transfer them to a folder on your PC for backup. Once you have downloaded your specialized maps from Map Create to an SD card, all you have to do is install the SD card into your unit, turn the unit on and it loads the maps, with all its details, automatically on boot up. You are only allowed to have a maximum of 5 SD cards. I don't know what you can do if an SD card gets stolen, lost, or destroyed since I have not had that happen to me yet.

Before installing MapCreate, any running anti-virus programs need to be disabled. Even at that, when I installed Map Create, it totally corrupted Norton Anti-Virus. I had to re-install Norton and all its definitions.

ACCURACY:

The unit itself is very accurate. When I'm driving on a freeway, the MPH on my screen is dead on (probably a little more accurate than the cars speedometer). Also, with the zoom at 0.05 miles (the width of the freeway is around ¾") the unit detects when I am changing lanes. When I am walking in the street with the unit, it detects when I walk around parked cars. I am very impressed. However, the maps are not always that accurate. There is a park behind my house and the map shows it over and down two blocks. According to the map on my GPS, I live one street to the west of my actual location. The GPS signal is probably dead on but the map isn't. Sometimes when I am driving down side roads, it shows that I am about 2 or 3 blocks off (but other side roads it is very accurate). But on major highways and even major roads, it lines up well. Now realistically, being a few blocks off probably isn't that bad. It will get you where you need to go and back again.

WHAT I LIKE:

The unit finds satellites very quickly and the unit is very accurate.

Hardware and software are easy to use

Search feature allows you to search an address, a street, or a restaurant.

Battery life is more than acceptable to me

Screen is very crisp

Unit is very sturdy and durable

Lowrance customer service (and pre-sales support) is excellent

WHAT I DON'T LIKE:

I don't like the fact that I have to extract the batteries in order to remove the SD card. It is very annoying, especially during the experimental stage.

The unit does not have a standard headphone jack

There is a rubber flap on the back of the unit that covers the external antenna port. The rubber flap does not seat very well and keeps popping off (I'm sure the carrying case that you can buy separately will solve that problem but the case looks cheap).

I wish that the manual came with a laminated card (or a PDF that you can download) with a brief description of the menu options. Sort of like a quick reference page that you can carry with you instead of bringing the entire manual along. I am in the process of making one but it is taking some time.

You now have my ten cents worth. As far as I can tell, Lowrance is the way to go. Good Luck!

Five Months Later:

Now that I have had my unit for awhile, I would like to add and subtract a few things that I mentioned in my last review.

The unit is still awesome and learning how to use it is fairly simple and I have no regrets about my purchase. There are just a few things I would like to mention that will hopefully help you determine if this is the unit for you.

LEI

LEI is a Lowrance subsidiary that provides software and accessories for products that Lowrance makes. Their web site can be accessed via the Lowrance home page or http://www.lei-extras.com/store/default.asp. Be careful when dealing with LEI. Not that they are shady but the customer service reps do not fully understand the products they sell. I only purchased the USA Topo Map Create Series 6 accessory package from LEI because the price was right and I wanted the latest software version (you can buy the plus package which includes the GPS unit, the software, and the card reader but none of the vendors on Amazon specified the version...and there are several versions). The serial data cable (sold separately) is only to transfer satellite data to a PC or laptop so that mapping software such as Streets and Trips, Delorme, and some National Geographic map software (be sure to check the software standards) can utilize the GPS signals. It will not let you transfer data to and from the MMC card. Also, the unit's faceplate cannot be changed on the Expedition (even though LEI says it can be). If you need more information about accessories, call the Lowrance customer service department (not LEI) since they know what's what.

The unit can play MP3s but they recommend that songs are 128 kbps or less. Specifically, they say that 58 kbps is best. Read section 7 of the manual if you plan on playing a lot of MP3s on this unit. I didn't buy the unit to play MP3s so I am not disappointed.

The annoying warning screen that displays every time the unit boots up cannot be turned off or deleted. This is something that is embedded in the software.

A few nice things that I discovered that does not appear in the manual. The Expedition can display JPGs (not sure about BMPs). Transfer individual JPGs or a folder containing the images to the MMC card. Hit MENU|MENU| BROUSE MMC FILES and then select the image and ENT|VIEW. To view the entire image on the screen, it first must be resized; otherwise you will have to scroll up & down and left & right to see the image.


Also, when on the map page, if you push the exit key 3 or 4 times in a row, an actual speedometer appears on the screen. To go back to the map, hit exit twice.

If you are looking for a good car or bike mount go to www.ram-mount. They have a wide variety of products specifically for the ifinder and priced right.

As far as the MMC cards go, they only allow you to have 5 cards and no more. What I found is that if you re-format or re-image your computer, you will have to re-register your existing SD cards. So, if you lose a card or two, it shouldn't be an issue. Just re-format your computer and your good to go. I did not try deleting MapCreate and re-installing it to see if that would do the trick (so I don't know if it makes a Windows registry entry or not).

I also made a quick reference sheet that could easily be laminated. If you want it or if you have any further questions about the iFinder email me.

---

Rating: - Better than Garmin eTrex Legend Cx
I bought the Garmin eTrex Legend Cx - about 250. I then bought a 1gb microSD card for 60. At this point the base maps are still useless. I wanted to use for driving to the lakes in MN and then use ON the lakes in MN. Garmin makes you buy Navigator NA and MN Lakemaster for about 100 each. HOWEVER, they can not be practically overlaid and necessitate use of either one or the other. That would have put my tab at 510 plus. Something else I learned - When you buy City Navigator North America - you don't get ALL of NA - you pick a state and marry it to your Garmin unit. If you want another state you need to call Garmin and pay them to unlock another state. What a racket. All learned after my eTrex purchase. I feel a bit dumb in not researching more. Fortunately, all was returnable. ENTER: the Lowrance Expedition c. 269 on sale elsewhere plus 69 for the Lakemaster Pro Maps MN, which include all the major lakes AND the road structure - exactly what I wanted. Total of 340 AND the display is larger, it's easier to use (wonderfully written manual), it has greater battery life, it floats with most lithium batteries, it has a compass... I could go on and on.

I'm not a GPS fanatic and I'm sure the eTrex Legend Cx has it's advantages - but none that have surafaced or are likely to have much significance to me. The Garmin syncs through a USB cable and has some techno-geek features that I'd hasten to say few people actually utilize. The Lowrance also comes with a 12v power adaptor - very nice for car or boat. And with the 170 I saved I can get my Uniden Atlantis 250 Two-Way radio!