Lowrance iFinder H20 C

[hanson]

I went and did it!

The color versions of Lowrance's iFinder handheld GPS's (Hunt & H20) finally hit the market.

Got my order in for a H20 C with Lakemaster's Minnesota chip!! I'm going to have to order up a Lake of the Woods chip as well but the price tag was getting a little steep. Baby steps...

I've been waiting for this day for awhile now!

Come on Mr. UPS Man! Can't wait to give this thing a shot!

[tashit]

Where did you order it from? Yesterday I saw that Tiger GPS had them on their HSOforum for a good price. I am going to be jealous of you until I order mine!

[schweady]

Do the Lakemaster lake maps look different when the chip is used in the color model? i.e. depths in different colors, etc. or is it just a matter of a blue contour line rather than a black contour line?

[flyfish]

Lakemaster shows dufferent shades of blue. I have the 3500C and you can really see the difference. I also have the H2O wish it were color.

ENJOY

[norteastern]

Congrats on your purchase Hanson!! I just picked up the regular H2O with the Lakemaster chip in it. Was driving around in the Chisago area around the lakes and like how the lake depths show up on the map while going by them. I am pretty impressed with it. Couldn't budget the color H2O but maybe next year I will be able to upgrade to it.

[Bushwacker]

I am on the verge of buying one of the Lowrance units. I have the Lowrance LMS332C for my boat, and the color makes a huge difference on the sonar. What is the advantage of color on a handheld GPS? I am going back and forth as to which unit I am going to buy. What does everyone think?

[Big Pine Walleye]

Congrats Hanson! This is a great GPS--I am thinking about ordering the same one, but I am not sure if I can afford the one in color---Thanks for the heads up in the Tiger GPS HSOforum Ta[PoorWordUsage]--they do have some good deals, so I may be able to get that color one after all!

[LocalGuide]

There is a big difference from color and monochrome.

I owned a Global Map 4400M(?)(Monochrome) GPS unit until I had to return it for getting moisture under the screen and they didnt have another. Well I needed it for an up coming tournament. So I got a Global Map 3500C (Color).

There was a huge difference. After using the color unit I would never go back to monochrome.

I am waiting this year to get a H2O color yet. And then take the lakemaster chip I use in the boat and put that one in it! Should be an awesome set-up.

[walldoggie]

the Question i have about these units is you can buy the plus version which has map create and a few extras, now my question is what differenc does the map create versus no map create do is it worth the extra 70 bucks or so. i guess i dont really understand the diff. any help would be appreciated. I have decided on the color one just trying to figure the rest out

[croixeyes]

Localguide..

You said there was a big difference between color and monochrome.What are the differences you noticed?I currently have the H2o monochrome version and have no problem reading the contour lines on it.Suppose I would have to see the color version to see the difference.Seems to me a color graph would make a bigger difference.

[schweady]

Here's another puzzler: If 7 out of the 10 lakes I fish the most are not in the list of the 250+ contoured lakes on the lakemaster chip, is the chip worth it? On those lakes, would it just be showing me where I was in relation to a shoreline feature and I would have to do my own projection of contours from a paper map? For these lakes, does the pc software of the plus version give me any more info than the chip?

[croixeyes]

Schweady.....

The chip is as current on contour info as there is for the lakes that they list.If your lakes arent on the list of lakes they still show up on the map but without contours.The lakes that dont have contours are still on the chip, but if you have your own contour maps of those lakes then a regular gps is gonna be enough to get by.

[federline]

I hoping to pull the trigger on one of these this season. The fact that you did so Hanson makes me feel at ease - you have good taste in gear. Let us know what you think. When I bought my Lowrance x67c, I did passed up the m68c hoping for this product development.

FYI - I just got a tip 2 days ago at Cabelas that there will be a better lake chip out in Feb 2006. My memory is shakey, but I think he said MN, WI, & ND on one chip for $149? Does that make sense?

Keep us informed!

[hanson]

Federline-

Thanks for the compliment. I do like to think I have good taste in gear. I'm very picky about how I spend my money and like to purchase the best stuff I can afford.

I believe it was "dockehr" who leaked a tidbit online about Lowrance developing the color iFinder models. This was a good half year ago I believe. Ever since I heard that, I've been patiently waiting to see if it would happen. I was ready to buy a Garmin 76 in color earlier this year but really liked the fact the Lowrances take the MMC chips as well as the Lakemaster maps. I thought if I could get that Lowrance H20 in color, that would be the sweet way to go.

To be honest with you, I was just about ready to go with the black & white H20 because of the awesome deals right now. They are practically giving them away. But I figured I wouldn't be happy unless I had the color because that is what I REALLY, REALLY wanted.

I'll be giving this unit a good workout on Winnibigoshish for the I.C.E. Series weekend, hopefully some on Minnetonka, and then I have to get the Lakemaster Lake of the Woods chip for it as well.

[bigdog]

Have to say thanks for the tip on the Tiger GPS site. I was all set to order an H2O from Reeds when I got their sale flyer yesterday. Glad I checked here first. Got the H2O for what Reeds was charging for the Pro.

[dockehr]

Hanson, waiting for the iFinder H2Oc reminds me of the old days of "vaporware". Announcements of new software that really were not ready for distribution. I was with Adam Arnold (Reed's of Baxter/Brainerd) yesterday and I hope to have the iFinder Huntc by Wednesday. I'll be hunting quail in Arizona's high desert country in a week and half and as I already have the Lowrance Topo chip for that area, I'm really looking forward to using it. I'll give a report if I do receive it before leaving for the west.

Sources at Reed's have stated that the Huntc's are being shipped first. Higher price point?? Who knows. I'll be especially interested in battery life. It's not that much of an issue if you're close to your ATV, snowmobile, or vehicle as you can plug in to a cigarette adaptor. However, when you're 2-3 miles from your vehicle in the middle of a low mountain range, that's not the time to run out of battery power. Well, I always carry fresh spares.

Bushwacker, the main advantage of a color handheld is the ease of seeing your track(s) and/or routes. Furthermore, you can use the ability to assign different colors to different trails (routes) to enhance its usefulness. If the backlight of the color Lowrance handhelds is as good as that found on Garmin's GPSMap76c, they'll have a winner.

dockehr

Dr. Roland E. Kehr, Jr.

[hoggs222]

I checked on the H20 Color & the battery life is supposed to be the same as the B&W model (12 hours). We'll see. All that I know is I'm going to sell my B&W H20 & my Global Nav 200 so I don't have to take a hit on the difference. I bought my B&W iH20 in late September & used it 2 times!

[iffwalleyes]

Yep Hanson those babies look Sweet... I ordered the Ifinder Hunt C a couple weeks ago myself should arrive on my doorstep this week sometime I would think. I liked some of the other options the hunt version gave me. I ordered mine with the Lake of The Woods chip. So I guess if we get out together we should have things covered. We will have to met up and head out across the big pond this winter sometime.

[Bushwacker]

You talked me into it. I now want the H20 C. I am heading out 12/10 on a week long trip to LOW and need to have the GPS by then. Will the H20 C be out by then? What is everyone's estimates on shipping dates. This week or is it still up in the air?

[hanson]

Bushwacker-

I ordered from Lakemaster (Support a sponsor plus I get the MN chip at the same time). They sent me an e-mail today saying they expect their first shipment this week and then will send them out. I really need mine by the 15th of December.

[iffwalleyes]

Bushwacker I would order it as soon as possible. I am sure these will be very popular. I also got the same email as Hanson saying we should see them around a week from know.

[hanson]

Lakemaster shipped my H20 C today!

Can't wait!

[walldoggie]

congrats you are soon to be a proud poppa. I am jealous and cant wait to get mine.

[schweady]

Congrats, hanson!

Perhaps you'll be too busy getting to know your new baby, but here goes:

1) Does the Lakemaster chip improve the shoreline detail on ALL Minnesota lakes, or just the ones listed as having the depth contour lines?

2) Is there a way to make the Map Data Lat/Lon Grid show the UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator projection) numbers rather than the degrees and minutes numbers? I got hooked on using UTM numbers for my waypoints while using USGS topographic charts in the Boundary Waters.

Thanks, schweady

[hanson]

Schweady-

Figured I better respond. I'm so freaking excited right now, I can't contain myself. 2 day shipping via UPS from Lakemaster and I'm holding my new H20 C right now.

I figured I was going to read the manual and figure out how to use this bad boy but ditched that idea. I had to pop the Lakemaster MN MMC card into the H20 to see what this was all about.

(For the record, I'm upgrading from a very basic Garmin Etrex with no mapping)

I'm absolutely speechless right now and quite shocked at the amount of info they can cram onto one of those MMC chips.

Anyway-

1- Color Yes the color was absolutely worth it. The screen is very bright, contrast is awesome, and it is very easy viewing on the eyes.

2- Detail The Lakemaster chip is the way to go. The base map in the unit shows the major highways, cities, and lakes but thats about it. With the Lakemaster chip in, every single lake, creek, pond, road, boat launch, rest stop, etc is on there as well as labeled. Scroll over the little blue dot on the lake and its name pops up.

Schweady- The Lakemaster chip does smooth the contours on the other lakes as well. Heck, the shoreline contour of the lake is much smoother and detailed with the chip. The shape of the lake is almost a joke without the chip. I'll keep fooling around to see if I can answer your other question.

3- Lake Maps I'm not quite sure what to say here. I've bought enough Lakemaster paper maps (LOW, Winni, Mille Lacs, Devils Lake, Medicine Lake, Minnetonka) to pay for the MN chip already. Not only do I get those lakes, I get all the other currently surveyed lakes as well. Absolutely unreal!

The H20 C with Lakemaster Software is without question (and I haven't even used it yet except for the half hour of farting around tonight) the best piece of fishing equipment I'm going to purchase this winter.

Lake Minnetonka, Medicine Lk., Mille Lacs, Winnibigoshish, Burntside, Lake Calhoun & Harriet are all lakes I will be fishing this winter that have the Lakemaster surveyed contours on the chip.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out a spot to mount this baby in my GMC Sierra so I can use it on the highway as well.