Hand held GPS

[senco 1]

My Lowrance H20 no longer locks into the satellites. Should I get it fixed or buy a new one? Only use it for ice fishing. Is there a better one that will last longer?

[Northlander]

Im not sure they will fix the H2O's any more. Best to get a new up to date one in my opinion.

[Pedro77]

Have you tried performing a hard reset? That helped my h2o lock onto satellites a lot faster. It would take ten minutes or so on mine before I did a hard reset.

[Jmnhunter]

if you do start looking stay the enduras are junk, I would look at garmins

[schweady]

My Lowrance H20 no longer locks into the satellites. Should I get it fixed or buy a new one? Only use it for ice fishing. Is there a better one that will last longer?

Join the rapidly growing crowd. It seems that the majority of iFinder series gps unit owners (H20, Hunt, Expedition, etc) are reporting the same -- most of them in just the past year or two. I would love to see a list of folks with these otherwise terrific units, the date they bought them, and then the date that they quit locking in. Seems like every forum here has somebody telling about theirs performing flawlessly for a good 5-6 years and then suddenly beginning to flake out on them.

Mine was an ExpeditionC, purchased in January 2006. Worked great until major power problems. First, tried a replacement cord, then solved it by sending unit in for free replacement in October 2006. For the next 3-4 years, I thought it was the absolute cats. Summer 2010 it would start teasing me with perfect operation for 1/2 hour or so and then 'Position Lost.' Hard reset, soft reset... no effect. Sometimes, connecting to 12v power source seemed to help, but then same result a day or so later when out in the field. Lowrance seems to have washed their hands of this discontinued series, offering repair for a ridiculously high cost.

Oh, there are guys out there who will reply, "Mine is working great." Sadly, I can predict that their day is coming. Soon.

The up side: I am really enjoying my far more capable Garmin 62st and LakeMaster chip.

[senco 1]

Thanks guys! Sounds like I should buy a Garmin. Why give Lowrance anymore of my money!

[Jmnhunter]

and if your interested in getting a Lakemaster chip for the garmin, you better do so ASAP, as LakeMaster is no longer creating anymore maps for Garmin or lowrance for that matter, so once ice fishing season hits, the supply may dwindle!

[JbuZZo]

I bought an Endura (Out & Back) in March of this year. I have the 2011 LOW and Minnesota chips, no issues...reliable satellite lock. the unit is around $200.00. You get what you pay for...if you want a $500.00 unit, you'll get more features. But from a performance standpoint, I'm satisfied w/ what I purchased.

[Kirsch]

Garmin 60CSx, 62S, or Oregon 450 would be my 3 recommendations. They all have their strengths so PM if you need specific detail on any of them.

[senco 1]

Will my lakemaster chip that I used in my Lowrance work in a garmin?

[fatcat45]

get a garmin and the chip won't work..

[scott b]

My H2O works great! (Knock on wood) Lake master chip is needed badly though because with out it, it tries to tell me I'm in the middle of I-94 when I'm on the river (and not under the bridge either). In Wayzata Bay the train tracks are in the lake! The unit is a joke, but with the chip It's the schiznit. I bought it when they were cool, and for what I use it for, it serves it's purpose more than well. Hate to admit that I'd be lost without it. Money well spent. Can't wait for the "Next best thing on the market"