H2OC

[JigginIsLife]

Im looking at getting one of these but have never used one before. would this be considered a decent starter gps or is there another one around this price range. Any info would be excellent. thanks

[Kyle Sandberg]

Taht is a great unit to start out with. You don't need the color but its a bonous. Get the lakemaster chip to go along with it. Another great tool to have.

[gowhenyoucan]

Lowrance are easy to operate, affordable, FLOAT(your H2OC), and accept navionics lake chips. What's not to love!

[L_Cappo]

i have the h20c and love it.very easy to use.no back and forth with page everything is just 1 touch.its worth every penny.

[jwhjr]

I'm happy with mine as well.

[anyfishwilldo]

I highly recomend it. I love my H2OC, and wouldn't trade it for a more expensive unit.

[CadCruzer]

I have a H2oc, and I do love it. But one thing to consider is how are you going to power the unit. The color uses batteries alot faster than the black & white, so a 12v power cord is almost a necessity for a long day of fishing, or bring lots of warm batteries.

[L_Cappo]

both the color and the non color last about the same 18hrs with the batteries

[Bulldoggr]

I love mine, keep mine in my truck plugged into my Cigerette lighter. I prefer the lake master chips. I also have navionic as well for the areas that lake master doesn't cover.

It's a great resource for Driving as well/

I really like the POI's. helped me find certain business when I needed to.

[JigginIsLife]

So i have heard that the color screen uses more battery and some say it doesent?? kinda confused with that, and do you have any suggestions on where to buy the lake master chips, or is anyplace going to have them for ~100 bucks, do they ever go on sale??

[LMITOUT]

They do like their batteries, but I try to keep it plugged in whenever it's possible to do so. At least they only use two AA batteries compared to my first hand held GPS, a Global Map 100, which took four AA batteries and probably burned through them faster!

You can look around at all the typical outdoor outlet stores and find the LakeMaster chip. It works great with the H2O! I bought mine bundled with the H2Oc with no shipping/no tax from an internet dealer out of state.

[dlskills]

the chips dont go on sale till they are outdated that i have seen! my thought is for what it is it sure is easy to run and like the other gent in the truck its great! my question is this i have the 2006 lakemaster chip so what is the consensous lakemaster or navionics for lowrance gps's?

thanks for any info

dwight

[caseymcq]

If you are looking at getting a H2Oc check out Tiger GPS, they have about the best price I have seen. I have also seen them at L&M Fleet for $219.

They do seem to eat batteries. One way to mitigate that battery life issue is to buy litium batteries. They are spendy but they definitely last longer.

As far as the chip question goes, it depends on what you want out of the chip.

If all you are looking for is lake maps, Navionics might be the way to go. It has way more lakes than LakeMaster (including lakes in other states) and has the same level of detail of lake maps as LM. It is more expensive though. One of the huge advantages that Navionics has over LakeMaster, IMO, is that they offer a trade-in program where they will give you money towards the purchase of a newer version. LakeMaster doesn't offer anything.

Lake Master is great for having other info. Roads and city streets is one of the big ones. It will show features like National Forest Land, state parks, swamps. It is cheaper and you can zoom in further using a LM chip.

Go online to each of their websites and see if they have the lakes you fish. That may help you decide.

I have both chips (an '06 Navionics and '07 LakeMaster). I have LCX 15mt's in my boat and the LakeMaster chip works in those units. I have an H2Oc and I use both Navi and LM in that. I like both of the chips.

[LMITOUT]

I believe the LakeMaster chips will zoom in further.

[MuleShack]

get the color if it is in your budget.

If you use it with a wheeler or a sled, you can plug it into aux outlet so battery life is not a concern while out fishing.

also is a good tool to help you find the route to the lake too. (with the lakemaster chip)

I also taught the wife how to use it yesterday as well.

[L_Cappo]

from what i hear yes the LakeMaster chips will zoom in further.i love my 2008 edition lake of the woods chip.