Customer Reviews

Lowrance 112-362 iWay 500C Portable GPS Navigator and MP3 Player

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This unit does everything I expect it to do and does so effortlessly straight out of the box. You don't have to load maps or install software, it's all pre-loaded (If you have a pre-August '05 unit, you can update your v 1.3 to v 1.4 software from the web site [didn't work on my 3 yr. old dell] or request a CD [worked great]). As you read other reviews pay attention to the review date, this one has been updated on 5/10/08 and my unit has served me well for 3 years now. Many of the "issues" were corrected with v 1.4 (slow re-routing, slow initial position acquisition, lack of "qwerty" keyboard, out of date POI files, etc)the update was made late August '05.. The iWay is a high tech product your mom can learn to use in 10 minutes- well, from you, probably not the manual- even if her VCR is still flashing "12:00".

I like the fact that the iWay is waterproof (submersible 3 feet for 1/2 of an hour) because mine will spend some time on motorcycle handlebars in questionable fog city weather. The iWay seems extremely well made and rugged. It's kind of military specification in feel, if you know what I mean. It's surprisingly heavy for its size and definitely a "form-follows-function" product rather than a "stylized" one.

Beware of 2 things: 1)the unit is heavy enough to cause the suction cup mount to fail if you don't rest the weight of the unit on your dash board. The suction cup windshield mount should be used to hold it in position, NOT to support the full weight. 1) It draws a lot of current (the heat sink on the back runs quite hot) if your cigarette lighter/accessory outlet stays active when your engine is off (pay attention here BMW motorcycle riders) make sure that you shut your iWay off when you leave the vehicle or you'll risk having a dead battery.

The iWay has a default "safety mode" that prevents you from making entries while you're moving- I guess it figures that you've got your hands full driving whilst drinking a latte and talking on your cell phone - that's probably for the best. You can defeat that function and put it in "passenger mode" but it will still warn you not to make entries on the move each time you power up.

The "find address" function works very well once you realize that this is only an educated guess at where, within say 50 feet, the actual numerical address is located. You will be on the right street and it will tell you which side it's on.

I bought mine "1-click" through Amazon's partner "GPS for YOU". I ordered it mid-morning on a Wednesday and it was delivered by DHL the following morning! Over a week ahead of the estimated delivery date and I didn't request overnight delivery! After sale customer service has been very responsive.

Three first day disappointments-

1) My unit was missing the rubberized flexible RAM dashboard mount referenced in the Amazon description. I called Lowrance (pronounced "low-rantz", by the way) and was informed that it's no longer included with the unit but available as an accessory for $40. The handlebar mounts are $30 in black or $70 in chrome.

2) I thought that my unit was defective because it didn't register my touch-pad key entries made on the left or bottom edges of the screen. It turns out that there's a set-up procedure to teach it exactly where the keys are (it pays to read the manual). The set-up takes less than a minute.

3) iTunes files aren't mp3 so you can't just transfer your music library directly to the iWay without converting to mp3. I imagine that this can be done, but I bet it's not going to be pretty

Comments on a 1 star iWay review-

I read a recent review wishing it generated multiple alternative routes. My preference is for turn-by-turn directions to the shortest route available. I believe the route automatically selected is the fastest and, therefore probably, best available. If I'm familiar enough with the roads to know a better route, I won't be needing the iWay's directions; if I'm not familiar with the roads I won't know which alternative to choose. For me an alternative routes function would be more of a confusing rather than clarifying feature. You can override the automatic selection by choosing to maximize or minimize use of interstates and toll roads or avoid cross traffic turns. If you get "off route", the route recalculation is rapid (v 1.4 is extremely fast). If you get off route early in the trip you'll be instructed to execute a "u-turn", later, or on a highway, an entirely new route will be calculated. Each route I've seen has been totally acceptable.

The other reviewer prefers the built in unit in their Honda Accord. Well, it isn't portable and it costs $2,000 instead of $350. The same reviewer wished for flash memory rather than the 20 gig. hard drive for reliability's sake. The only product I've ever returned to Amazon was an SD memory card enabled GPS navigation device, because of reliability problems, so that coin has two sides. I and, I imagine, other iWay reviewers here have owned or used other GPS units, so I feel the comment that we would be think that any GPS device "is the best thing that's ever happened to mankind" is a bit condescending.

Another comment concerned Lowrance probably reselling the defective unit to somebody else. I understand giving a bad review to a defective product; however... it's unfair to comment on the ethics of the company just because you got a one-off lemon. My bet is a defective unit is tossed on the scrap heap rather than being resold to maintain a good reputation. Why would you, as a manufacturer, risk bad word-of-mouth for a few hundred bucks?

And, lastly, a brief comment on another GPS-

I recently rented a car from Hertz with "Never Lost" installed. It's a Magellan RoadMate. It worked OK I did get to and from my destination, but I much prefer the iWay because of; 1) the touch screen keyboard input, 2) much larger screen, 3) 3D view and 4) for me, more understandable audible directions (that last bit may be because I'm used to my iWay).

I remain well pleased with my iWay after many months of use. It has saved me time and reduced the stress in my life.

The iWay 500c is an incredible GPS that will rate at the top and at a lower price than anything with comparable features. You can read the specs yourself, what follows are my impressions of the unit.

The package includes 2 separate RAM-Mounts (one dash board and one windshield). I am new to RAM-Mounts and am very impressed with these excellent brackets. Additional RAM-mounts are available at a very reasonable price if you need them.

Also included are 3 power cords 1) automotive cigarette lighter, 2) a battery connection cable, 3) a 120v cable/cigarette female for indoor use. An external amplifying antenna is also included.

The screen is large and easy to read in all light conditions. There are 4 levels of back lighting. The touch screen and buttons work well and the interface is intuitive. The auto-zoom works great too.

The road selection software is good, but could use a little tweaking. My only complaint is that the "slider bar" to select more or less interstate seems to be basically an on-off switch. I would prefer to see a mixture of interstate and back roads at some intermediate setting. The good news is that Lowrance has already updated the software, which is easily downloadable and installed from the Internet. Hopefully they will continue to improve the road selection algorithm.

When I purchased the unit, I wondered how well the voice commands would work with the built in MP3 player. It turns out that they work better than expected. There are several setting for the voice commands and they will temporarily silence the music for instructions just as I had hoped.

Besides everything else that I mentioned one of the best things that I like about the iWay 500c is that it is waterproof to 1 meter of water for 30 minutes! This is perfect for motorcycle touring, which is my primary intended use. Of course with all of the mounting hardware and power cords, this unit is easily moved to my automobile.

This is a perfect GPS for motorcycling touring. I normally use a computer based GPS in the car, but I will switch to the Lowrance because it is incredibly easy to read and use, boots up in a matter of seconds (unlike my PC), and is very portable. In my research on GPS's the iWay 500c is a best value.

Finally, I have found the answer to our new vehicle purchase. We recently bought a new Ford Excusrion with all of the bells and whistles.... almost, anyway. As Ford doesn't have a decent Nav system available, and we didnt want to give up the in-dash 6 CD changer and steering wheel audio controls, we decided to go aftermarket on the nav. I came across this unit in Las Vegas and bought it, as it offered the turn-by-turn instructions and 3D mapping I was looking for. After a 6 hour drive back home, I am completely sold on the model. The unit is built very ruggedized, and looks as if it can take a lot of punishment. The navigation performed flawlessly and found a new route quickly after I decided I didn't want to go the way it told me to. The kit contains several mounting options.... a real plus! On the dash of the Excursion, the large 5" screen fits right in, without being obtrusive. I am looking into some mounting options, however. I will also be installing a seperate under-dash audio system for the nav, as I don't want to parallel the audio in with the XM modulator. Very nice unit. I hope that it holds up all the same years from now.

This little piece of gadgetry is absolutely wonderful. The large screen is the perfect size and is very clear and easy to read with a glance. It navigates great, you can switch from track up to north up to 3D view with a simple touch of the touch screen. It finds addresses and waypoints easily. It comes with all of the accessories made for it, including the external antennae. This fact makes it extremely adaptable and friendly. The voice directions are clear and correct. The price is great, especially if you shop around a bit. With its 10GB of MP3 I don't really use my 6 disc changer any more!

What I like: large color screen that can be read at a glance, lots of accessories, accuracy, Price. Certainly the best for the money.

What could be better: If the music player loaded wma as well as the MP3 and Ogg it now takes. If it had MGRS. If you could download waypoints from you computer so that you didn't have to add them individually.

This is a fantastic GPS unit - I bought it around the beginning of August and liked it then. Though it was feature packed at the time, it was missing a few "would be nice to have" functions of say the Garmin Streetpilot line.

However, at the end of August, Lowrance released their latest software update (v1.4) and WOW! Not only did they completely revamp (and vastly increase the size of) their POI database, not only did they add "breadcrumb" functionality, not only did they add an "advanced" menu mode, not only did they speed up their routing algorithm, but they also added the most-missed things from the Streetpilots like "route VIAs" and a multi-address autosort capability (sometimes called the "traveling salesman" function - allows you to enter multiple addresses / destinations and it auto-sorts them into the most efficent order and routes you between them).

I didn't see mention of it elsewhere in the reviews, but this unit is also VERY customizable - you have a lot of control over what data is displayed on the main navigation screen, and there are numerious fields to pick from - you can even show the voltage level of the DC power input!


Cons: Not many; the screen does show fingerprints - I plan to use a screen protector to address this. I have seen one or two crashes w/ the 1.4 software, but it hasn't been nearly enough to be annoying (besides, it auto-reboots and picks up right where it left off - even playing the same song!), and I'm sure it will be addressed in the next update regardless.

I can't believe all the good reviews. I've had mine for 4 months. I had never used GPS system before and didn't do the comparing and research to buy, as it was a gift. I can say I love having a GPS! Other than that, I am very unhappy with this unit!

I have a problem with the unit getting into a mode where it flips displays modes extremely fast and is useless from then on. It seems to be from being overheated. And I have only used it during the winter/spring season so far. On our first sunny day in some time, it started doing this within a minute of powering up. In cooler/cloudy weather, it starts doing this after 15-30 minutes. It even does it when I turn it on indoors. It also has a problem with occasionally recycling power for no apparent reason. I also have a problem (which I saw someone else write about also) that the display will be very dim when first powered on and take up to 15 minutes to display more brightly.

Other issues include that it sometimes get stuck trying to find its position and has to be turned off/on to get it to work again. And it sometimes give very quirky routes between points.

So I am finally sending it in for warranty work - let's hope it really gets fixed or replaced. They did say this is a problem they are aware of and the units does need repair work. I can report on the length/quality of service after this.

I had huge problems getting through to their customer service. Their 800 number was being every time I tried to call - different days, different times. I reported the unit problem through their online system and never got a response. Finally through some struck of luck, I got through to their customer service number and held 20 minutes and finally talked to a person there and got my return authorized.

I had my iWay for seven months and loved the software and the size of the screen. The weight of the unit was a bit of a problem when taking it in and out when staying in motels; however, I new it was heavy when I got it so dealt with that issue without much grumbling. The problem that finally caused me to send the unit back to Lowrance was the power cord. I found the multiple pin connection difficult to connect and disconnect constantly while removing it from my vehicle. I also did not like the speaker placement at the end of the power cord, which required my placing the speaker way down in front of the gear shift lever. All in all, these were not fatal issues for me until my second power cord went bad and I spent over an hour on hold during three seperate calls to customer service to attempt to obtain a third power cord.
To Lowrance's credit, they were very fast to respond and the customer service folks were very kind and patient with my frustration regarding the long wait times.
I finally decided to send the unit back, due to my unpleasant experience with long wait times and the failure of two power cords, for a refund and received a refund check less than two weeks after I sent the unit back.
If you don't mind the weight of the unit, the big screen is a plus and the software is great.
I think using a more durable connection and better placement of the speakers would make this GPS a four or five star unit.

I have had my Lowrance 500C for a couple of weeks. I purchased it for use on a motorcycle. Last week I traveled over 800 miles to Daytona for Bike Week. The 500C surpassed all my expectations. Even in birght sunlight the screen was easy to see. I find the 3D mode best for highway use and the regular map mode best for city travel.

The map detail much better than I expected. The ability to just type in an address and tell it to take you there is fantastic. It's hard to follow a map while driving a car. It's nearly impossible and extremely dangerous while on a motorcycle. The Lowrance 500C has increased the safety factor of traveling on my motorcycle.

Amazon.com did not have the lowest price on this product, but the lower priced supplier had not been rated or reviewed and I know Amazon.com's reputation. Service from Amazon.com was everything I expected. Billed correctly, delivered in 2 days, and everything was as advertized.

Features are great. Screen size is nice and large, easy to respond to touch and to view. Color is rich.

My issues are with the reliability and consistency of the software performance. Frequently, when booting up it can't find the satellites and gets hung up "searching for position". This occurs even though I am driving and changing directions and positions, so it's not a temporary signal block.

To fix, I power off and power back up in a reboot mode.
Not a big deal, except the unit now returns to "factory settings' and you have to reset any customized items.

Occasionally, when powering up, the screen stays blank for several minutes or it takes unusually long to load the software.

If you are a heavy user, this all could be quite annoying

I purchased this unit a few days ago and so far I am really impressed with it. It does everything that it said it would do and does it in a way that a non-tech person like me can understand. I did some test runs and I did not get a wrong turn once. Even when I deliberately went off course it redirected me within a second or two to get me back on track. It truly is a plug and use item with very little setup or reading of instructions to do.