Lowarance Gps........Crap

[Saw557]

I recently bought a Lowrance Expedition-C after my Garmin summit quit working. I nought the Expedition-C mainly because everyone told me color was eaiser to see and I wanted to be able to use the lake master chips. Well the color is nice BUT you have to use the the back light all the time no matter how you adjust the contrast or brightness and it eats batteries. It also takes forever to lock in on satelites and even when or if it locks in the accuracy is no where near what my Garmin would do. All in all I am not impressed with the Lowrance. Anyone else have these problems or do I have a lemon????? wish I had my Garmin back

Scott

[hanson]

Who is this "everyone" that fed you that bad info?

You can probably research every post I've ever made about my H20c and they all say about the same thing.

#1- I love the GPS

#2- Color is very, very hard to see in sunlight

#3- Battery life is very poor

#4- Map chip compatibility is an awesome feature

Thats what I think of the color Lowrance handhelds.

I don't think these units were ever designed to be used without the backlight on. It would be like shutting the light off in your computer screen. Because of this, the batteries really get sucked down. If you think battery life is bad now, try it out in the winter, you'll lose a few more hours.

As far as locking into satellites, mine is very good. I would say less than 30 seconds in most conditions. Every now and then, I'll be somewhere when I fire it up and it won't lock for a long time. I'm not sure why but once in a blue moon, it really grinds away trying to acquire satellites.

Accuracy of my unit is pretty darn unbelievable as well.

[Surface Tension]

Saw, With 16 channels accuracy is great. I'm impressed with how fast my H20c locks on, usually within 30 seconds.

I have noticed it wouldn't lock on right away and I had to go into the menu and select acquire sat or position, not sure which one. Next time that happens to you try that.

I use my power cord(had to buy a cord for my Garmin) and have replaced the batteries twice since I bought the unit last Spring. I'll use the back light sparingly when I can't use the power cord or I turn the unit off when I don't need it. If I'm not using the power cord it means I'm traveling on foot and I use a compass after getting my heading off the GPS. I also use rechargeable batteries in all my outdoor toys so battery replacement isn't really an issue for me.

[SomethingFishy*]

I have the same unit with no complaints, most situations it's a bout 30 seconds to find the satellite. Battery life is good enough, I mainly use the power cord with the ATV, only "problem" i've had is on really rocky terrain my power cord will rattle loose from the ATV, but that isn't lowrances fault.

[Northlander]

My H2OC is a great l;ittle unit. Yes it eats up batteries, can be hard to read in direct sunlight and you have to have the backlight on most of the time but I have had no problems with it booting up and finding satelites. Its as accurate as I can expect it to be. All in all I like my Lowrance hand helds. The being able to put a chip in and go is great for me. Downloading dump on and off the computer is way to time consuming for me.

[eurolarva]

If you shut the unit off in say Ely then turn it on again in say Minnepolis it will take the unit a lot longer to aquire then if you turn it off while you fish for a couple of hours then turn it back on. I have the H20 and without the color you do not need back light and the batteries last at least 10 hours and visibility is not an issue even in bright light.

[schweady]

I'll agree with most the above concerns, but still love my ExpeditionC. I have both the LakeMaster MN and Navionics North chips. Excellent for their specific purposes.

My big disappointment has been the power cord. I called Lowrance (about 1-1/2 hrs on hold, usually) and they finally agreed to send a replacement cord. That one is also unreliable. Seems like the physical connection is flakey (which I have told Lowrance is the stupidest design possible) and it blips in and out. Once, it even said "External Power" for hours on the second page, and was actually sucking the batteries. Fresh when I started, disconnected power cord and the "low battery" warning came on. Took the batteries out and tried again with the cord and it ran for a while but then blipped out. Lowrance says the unit needs to be sent in. A salesman at Cabela's told me to get another (3rd) cord... He says that Lowrance "knows" that they are a problem. Anyone else having similar difficulties with their power cables?

[cliffy]

I had troubles with my power cord from my H2O. I took it apart and found where the wire had broken from the circuit thingy. I got out my old solder (sp?) iron and had it fixed in a minute. Very easy fix.

[iffwalleyes]

I don't mean to say anything bad about lowrance but I sure have had my trouble with my hunt C. I would think it is pretty much the same as the H2O C. But I am on my my third one of these and I am amazed how slow it is to aquire position. The first was slow but the best one till I broke the screen. So I bought a replacement from lowrance that one never did aquire position then I got the one I have now and it was really good till about the last couple months and now it sometime will take two hours to gain position. I have no idea why but that is what it is doing. I have a buddy with one to this weekend we turned his and mine on mine over 5 minutes to gain position and his less than 30 seconds just like it should. Go figure I guess I will be talking to Lowrance again. I still think Lowrance has the best products but there is something going on with the receiver in the Hunt C.

[schweady]

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I had troubles with my power cord from my H2O. I took it apart and found where the wire had broken from the circuit thingy. I got out my old solder (sp?) iron and had it fixed in a minute. Very easy fix.

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Nice tip, cliffy, but not this time. Took them both apart already and all connections solid.

My guess is the problem lies somewhere in the amateurish connection design where the cord "clips" to the unit.

[Saw557]

well I 'll be on the phone with lowrance soon......I had mine on today for over 2hrs in my and never locked on. Tried it stationary in the backyard with a clear sky for 20 minutes same thing. Right now I think it's the biggest piece of @#*& ther is I would NEVER recomend one to anybody.....are you listening Lowrance. I've also been on hold with them for aver a half hour trying to get map create to work what a joke. Hopefully their customer service will be better. Sur wish I my Garmin hadn't quit on me

[Northlander]

Take it back and get a Garmin then. Then you will be back to spending hours at the computer downloading stuff to your unit etc. I think you got a lemon so treat it as such.

All electronics have lemons. My h2o wouldnt lock on and I brought it back and decided to go color and Im glad I did. My H2OC has worked great.

Lowrance is making the best units at this time, either hand held or for boats. Hopefully Garmin will catch up and provide the competition they once did. Its great for us buyers.

[burl]

I have the h20 and am very happy with it.I also had problems with the power cord,called lowrance and the had a new one to me next day.All the times i have had to call for help they have been very helpfull.I have a 334 there right now that does not power up.I dont like buying items that dont work out but relize the more complex equipment gets the more problems they could have.Throw in the fact that every body wants cheaper products and all of the offshore manufacturing the of componets were lucky anything last more than a few months.Burl.

[Blackduck]

I am sending back my "Second" Expedition C. First one wouldn't stay on when plugged in with the power cord. I sent that one in and they sent it back to me and stated it was fixed. Plugged it in (with new power cord and all) Unit would blink and not even power up. I phoned them again and they told me to send it back in. I informed that I have lost confidence in the unit and would like a new one or a refund. New Expedition C sent to me. This one worked great for 3 months. Other day it just lost signal for some reason and started to Aquire and Lose signal over and over. I would have little purple dots for a trail. Tried everything I could think of, and with a call to Lowrance I am going to send this unit in as well. Went on a fishing trip in June without the Expedition, and as luck would have it I am leaving on a hunting trip on the 29th, and probably will be without it again.

These things are not cheap! I really like the Expedition C a lot better than my Garmin GPS 72, but seems kinda funny that I always have my 72 along "Just In Case". I think it is trying to tell me something.

I am wanting to use this unit, but have no confidence in it any more. I like everything about it except the reliability. As far as the color option, I use it with an alternate power source almost 100% of the time, so the backlight is nice to use all the time.

[Saw557]

Well I finaly got a chance to do some checking. Called the place I bought it and they wouldn't do a out right exchange with me because I've had the unit longer than a month....6weeks if you're counting. They told me call Lowrance and get an RA # and then they would exchange...fair enough so after a 1/2 hr on hold with Lowrance what a crock and a bit of a run around I get a RA so I guess I'll be exchanging it tommorow. I still think having to use the back light all the time is bogus what's so hard about making the contrast better so you don't need the light????? Hopefully the new unit will be better but reading some of the replies to my post aren't very enouraging sound like Lowrance has some quality issues but then again you really can't expect much for $300 now days can you. I still woundn't recommend this unit to anybody but I am stuck with it now.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Hmmm, now I'm starting to reconsider buying that H2Oc. When you say that the screen is hard to see in sunlight, is it different than, say, a 334 or X67c? I haven't had problems with those screens in sunlight and I assumed the screen woulb be the same. And what kind of actual battery life are you getting? 5 hours? 8 hours?

[hanson]

Ryan-

Let me know if you want to take a look at mine. You fishing the hoovers this Saturday?

The only time that I've really had a problem in bright sunlight is on the ice in the middle of winter, bluebird sky, high sun, and a lake covered with snow. Lets just say its bright out there under those conditions.

[Ralph Wiggum]

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You fishing the hoovers this Saturday?

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Unfortunately, no. I'll be out of town until the evening.

[PierBridge]

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You fishing the hoovers this Saturday?

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Unfortunately, no. I'll be out of town until the evening.

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Welcome back...

what the heck is a hoover......lol

[Hookmaster]

Ralph,

I posted this before but will post again. I originally bought a H2OC. In low light or at night the screen is awesome. In bright light it is a piece of dump. The screen on the larger Lowrance units must be dirrent or really draw some amps to be able to see them in the bright sun. A buddy at work had the H2O and I did a side-by-side comparison between the H2O and H2OC. The H2O was much better in bright sunlight, either direct (sun hitting the screen) or indirect (sun hitting the back of the unit). I use my handheld in the boat so it must be seen in bright sunlight. I returned the H2OC for an H2O and haven't looked back.

[Saw557]

I returned my unit today and the new is night and day from the old one. It locked on the Satelites in less then a minute and never lost them even while the unit was on the front seat of the truck. EPE was 25-50 feet the entire time I drove home. I think the display is somewhat better but I still am disapointed I have use the back light all the time. Hopefully it'll continue to work

[Ya Hey Der]

I bought the Expedition C and had the hardest time seeing the screen without the backlight on. I sent it back to Lowrance for them to look at and when I got it back, it was still the same. So, I concluded that I will have to have the backlight on all the time (not too big of a deal when I am in the car and to make sure I have xtra batteries when I am away from the car).

On another note, I haven't had alot of time to play with the Expedition C so I was wondering if it can display turn by turn directions? I thought I saw one of the Garmin units displaying this.

Thanks!

YHD

[PierBridge]

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On another note, I haven't had alot of time to play with the Expedition C so I was wondering if it can display turn by turn directions?

Thanks!

YHD

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Nope........sorry.

[quijibo]

I have an ExpeditionC since Feb(?) and haven'y had any power or lock on problems. I am disappointed with the display though. It's even worse with polarized lenses. I will have to say that their customer service is great. I e-mailed them that I had scratched my display to the point that I could hardly read it and they overnighted me a new one. Wow. Too bad that the new one(or two, or three) couldn't read my Lakemater chip. They just kept sending me new ones until we thought to replace the chip. Funny thing was that the chip worked fine in everything else. I went to Cabelas and tried it on GPS's and GPS/sonars and it worked fine, it just wouldn't work on Expeditions anymore.

I do have another gripe tough. I bought the TOPO/create software with the card reader thinking that I would be able to look at and edit my trails and waypoints on my computer, especially my Lakemaster chip. No dice. Not only can you not look at the Lake info on anything but a GPS, you can't really combine anything either. If you wanted to find a few fishing spots that look promising, you would have to download them to a chip,remove the batteries, put them into the GPS, go to the spot, remove the batteries, change chips, then you can look at the lake contour info. The Topo/create doesn't actually have any more topo info than the Lakemaster chip either. I also tried to use Topo to check out hunting and fishing areas in Colorado. That's when I really felt cheated. Not only does it have less info than the state site, it is harder to use and it doesn't have any topo information for the hunting areas. It has it for everywhere around the hunting areas. It also doesn't have any lake info.

The H20C/Epedition C won't do turn by turn directions.

[Saw557]

So.....you can't get any of the maps or trails you save to come up on the computer screen? I've been trying to get that info my self but can't figure out how. I was told you could print maps on your PC from trails you saved on the chip but I can't figure it out any help??????? seems kinda dumb if you can't do that. I wanted to get the Topo series but maybe I'll save my $$$$