Customer Reviews

Lowrance iFinder Expedition C Plus Waterproof Hiking GPS

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading about GPS receivers in Outdoor Photography magazine (March 2006 issue) and doing a lot of research, I thought at first I wanted a Brunton MNS because it uses new USGS type topo maps. It turned out though that Lowrance makes the Brunton model which is obvious when you see that it's almost identical to the Lowrance iFinder Expedition C except the Lowrance has a color screen and is cheaper.
The Lowrance GPS receiver also includes a built-in compass which isn't mentioned in the User Manual. Satellite acquisition is fast even inside my house!
The learning curve is a bit steep if you've never used a GPS receiver before but the Easy mode isn't too bad.
Battery life according to some reviews is somewhat less than other receivers.

Caution: after using lithium batteries my receiver stopped getting GPS signals and had to be replaced by Lowrance. I checked the voltage on the new Energizer lithium batteries and it was 1.75V. This could have been what killed the receiver. Lowrance customer service was very fast in replacing the receiver.

The 6 CD MapCreate topo maps of the US (included in the Plus model) and card reader are a great deal considering they would cost about $250 extra from Brunton. The maps themselves aren't really identical to USGS quadrangle maps; they show contour lines at 50' intervals in the mountains but not all the other exact details such as buildings, fence lines,etc. The receiver claims to be waterproof and seems durable.

Overall I'm very satisfied with it.

The Lowrance iFINDER Expedition C is the best GPS for the dollar it has all the latest features. I have tried them all it it works great. Here are some key items:
1. 16 satellite lock on with WASS. I will be the first to say it gets a lock fast and keeps it in all environments.
2. Has bermotic pressure readings in all environments and will give you a heads up if the weather is about to change good for hiking and outdoors.
3. Has a compass for back up info also it can be displayed over the GPS map for navigation.
4. With mapcreate USA and a 1gb SD card I was able to keep high detailed map of the eastern USA for my trip from NE Ohio to Orlando Florida and I was never lost! The software is easy to use also remember due to license agreements with mapcreate you can only have 5 SD cards so make sure you buy big SD cards when you are ready.
5. The GPS is waterproof Lowrance is in the business to make GPS devices for professionals and civil personnel weather it is flying, boating, car, or outdoors they have a high standard of excellence and with the product I bought I can say that this is a ver high quality device that will save my but weather driving or hiking or riding my motorcycle in the middle of nowhere.
I recommend this GPS over all others and trust I did my homework before I put down $400.00. But if you want the best of the best then buy Lowrance!

After reading reviews of many similar products what sold me on this model was the fact that it came with MapCreate on 6 CD's. The contour maps are very nice indeed but don't expect to find trails for your State and County parks. If you pick up a trail map when you enter a park it can be used in conjunction with the GPS and whatever points of interest (POI) are on the map to provide you with everything you need. In town, the maps are also loaded with POI's for lots of businesses and restaurants. Downloading the portion of the US Topo map that you need is a snap, the technique is just like using your mouse to crop a portion of a photograph. The map portion I downloaded is about 120 miles by 60 miles and it only uses about 30MB of memory. The unit comes with a 64 MB card but I am using it with a 512MB SD/MMC card which will give me far more memory capacity than I will ever need. As another reviewer noted, the learning curve with the 134 page manual is quite steep, it took me about a day and a half to learn how to use most of the bells and whistles. The satellite acquisition is very fast and stable, even when the unit is indoors or in a car. I am very satisfied with this GPS unit and am building up my own set of waypoints as I use it in different parks. I am using it with rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride batteries and so far no problems.

Not an expert on GPS by ANY means... as this is our first. But, we use it for traveling & geocaching & although it's off a little now & then, & the map software/roads are WAY out of date for "latest edition"... overall, we are satisfied with the unit. Had devil of a time trying to get the program & card reader to work with Vista (*&#^*&%#*&@%$*&^), but their customer service (who was also confused by the prob) did manage to get us lined out & running fine in a reasonable amount of time. Loads up & ready to go very quickly about 98% of the time, & not much slower on/in bad days/areas. Very impressed with the battery life on this one (not using rechargables). Have used it in steady rain several times & no probs, though we haven't tried testing it submerged. May have too many features for most new users, but they're easily understandable & easy to navigate through. Awesome value, would highly recommend for anyone. At the price, we feel we made an great choice for us!

...Had more time to review item & experiment. Still LOVE the GPS!! BUT... IF YOU HAVE VISTA... DO NOT BUY THIS PACKAGE... UNLESS you want to wait another week or so for LEI to send you the Vista compatible version of Map-Create which is now available. Ad formerly listed sold with "latest version of Map-Create 7" (& was, but NOT fully compatible w/Vista & will encounter a multitude of problems trying to use). Glad to see the ad has changed... just wanted to send a heads-up to others considering purchase. GPS is outstanding & worth it... the older Map-Create is NOT, if you have Vista!