"MikeSoja" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 22:33:36 -0400, Keenan & Julie
posted:
in article ,
at wrote on 6/22/05 7:42 PM:
I bought my first GPS about a 9 months ago. The two major brands are
Garmin and Magellan. However, after a lot of research, I purchased a
Lowrance iFinder H20. It can be found for about $150.00 and ex Gramin
and Magellan users that I talked too, swear by Lowrance. It's quick to
find it's position, works well under heavy tree and cloud cover, has
god battery life (10 to 12 hours on 2 AA batts), reasonably good built
in maps with exceptional maps and charts available as an additional
purchase. The buttons are a little confusing at first but can be
learned without too much trouble.
The thing I most don't like about it (Lowrance claimes it's a benefit)
is the way you load maps from the mapping software. The memory chip
must be removed from under the batteries and placed in a USB card
reader. Lowrance claims that if it was done through a serial cable it
would take way too long due to the huge amout of detail.
The H20model claims to be waterproof, but the most I have tested it is
to use it in the rain. It got wet and kept on working.
Whoaaa...10-12 hours of battery life?
My Garmin chews up batteries at an unbelievable pace. The Energizer Bunny
goes to sleep pretty quick with it, I don't think I've ever had the
batteries last more than 8 hours.
My Garmin Rino 110 gets around 12 hours on its three AA batteries.
The manual says it should go for 41 hours on GPS only, but that's
somewhat irrationally optimistic, as I see it.
My 110 was a gift, and it turns out it does what I need it to
(making "tracks" for mapping my paddling excursions on the
computer), but if I were to be looking to purchase one again I'd
look at something else. The map is extremely lo-res to the point of
being useless. It's not particularly quick in finding itself in a
new location. It does poorly in the woods. The screen menu
selectors are hard to read in just about any light. And when one
saves a track (in order to clear the 'Active Log') not all the
original data is saved. Time is dropped, so one cannot later
recalculate speed. The only way around it is to off-load the
'Active Log' track data after every trip.
Other than that, it's fantastic.
Mike Soja
Mine only takes 2 batteries, that's why I was so impressed with the other
guy's 2 battery model lasting so long.