Ifinder H2o Color And Ifinder Hunt Color!

[Hoary]

Lowrance has announced iFinder H2O Color and iFinder Hunt Color:

 

http://www.lowrance.com/Outdoor/Products/iFINDERH2OC.asp

 

http://www.lowrance.com/Outdoor/Products/iFINDERHuntC.asp

 

I'm glad they've chosen right units to be color.

[Hoary]

tigergps website:

 

iFinder H2O Color $218.21

iFinder H2O Color Plus $299.32

 

iFinder Hunt Color $303.32

iFinder Hunt Color Plus $390.24

 

and Page Computers sells iFinder H2O now for only $128.17

Edited October 28, 2005 by Hoary

[+IVxIV]

That is just freakin AWESOME news! Thanks Lowrance for coming thru with COLOR!!

 

From the current roster of handheld GPSr's on Lowrances website, it looks like the Phd Color didn't make the cut.. but the iFinder Hunt C has aquired enough additional attributes (barometer, compass, MP3/audio in) to essentially BE a iFinder PhDc from those respects. Also interesting they appear to have dropped the iFinder Pro model... Not surprising, as the iFinder H2O is basically an iFinder Pro with extra waterproofing.. sounds OK

 

Interesting too though,, it appears the various models have noticably different screen attributes

 

The Hunt C has 240x160 2.62" TFT color display, but the H2O C has an even bigger 320x240 2.83" TFT color display. I wonder why they didn't standardize this.. anyway, I can't WAIT to see the H2O C screen in person.,. that is amazingly high definition & tight resolution, in FULL color! Not the 16 color of the Explorist series. I would speculate the Lowrance color models are at least as good if not better resolution than the Garmin 60's. In fact the H2O C has a resolution even better than a Quest2

 

All that remains now is to see if Lowrance is going to pull one more rabbit out of their hat & bring the iWay autorouting models back in to circulation lol

[+user13371]

... Hunt C has 240x160 2.62" TFT color display, but the H2O C has an even bigger 320x240 2.83" TFT color display. I wonder why they didn't standardize this...

I'm wondering if they DID standardize on one, but one of the spec sheets is in error. It wouldn't make sense for them to use two different screens on units with otherwise identical form factors. And it REALLY wouldn't make sense for them to use a lower resolution screen on a supposedly higher-end model.

 

Whatever the resolution is, I hope they upped the processing power for the display. With twice as many pixels, and with color instead of greyscale, you'll need it.

 

And as an aside, you can all thank me for these new models. I just bought an H2O a couple of months ago, which clinched the deal for them to bring out the newer/betgter line

Edited October 30, 2005 by lee_rimar

[+Indotguy]

And as an aside, you can all thank me for these new models.  I just bought an H2O a couple of months ago, which clinched the deal for them to bring out the newer/betgter line

THANK YOU Lee!!!

[+briansnat]

...and Page Computers sells iFinder H2O now for only $128.17

 

Wow, now thats a bargain.

[+fishDog]

I am unfamiliar with the Lowrance line of GPS. I am also interested in purchasing a new GPS and have been looking at the Magellan 600, The XL, and the Garmin 60cs… I use the GPS for travel and caching. I currently have a Sport trac Pro. Do the Lowrance gps’s have the ability to download caches or waypoints form the computer without taking out the SD card and using the card reader? From what I read on the web site it looks like a very nice unit!!

[Hoary]

Do the Lowrance gps’s have the ability to download caches or waypoints form the computer without taking out the SD card and using the card reader?  From what I read on the web site it looks like a very nice unit!!

No, you have to take SD card out of the GPSr. But it's still a very nice unit!

[+fishDog]

So using the unit for Geocaching, in order to download the waypoints into the gps, I would need to take out the Sd card, download the information and then put it back in the gps? Would the Lowrance unit allow me to change the icon or customize the information? I quess I am asking because, I would like my next GPS to work well with caching, and also work well on the road and in the field hunting.

[Hoary]

So using the unit for Geocaching, in order to download the waypoints into the gps, I would need to take out the Sd card, download the information and then put it back in the gps?

 

Yes, that's correct.

 

Would the Lowrance unit allow me to change the icon or customize the information?

 

Yes, it would. It has a set of 42 icons you can choose from and you can change the name.

 

I quess I am asking because,  I would like my next GPS to work well with caching, and also work well on the road and in the field hunting.

 

Lowrance units well known for good reception even under the tree canopy. No auto-routing, however.

Edited November 2, 2005 by Hoary

[+IVxIV]

Do the Lowrance gps’s have the ability to download caches or waypoints form the computer without taking out the SD card and using the card reader?  From what I read on the web site it looks like a very nice unit!!

No, you have to take SD card out of the GPSr. But it's still a very nice unit!

I really don't find having to remove the memory card behind the batteries to interface with PC to be much of a problem,.,. Because I am taking out the batteries *anyway* to either recharge or replace them, popping out the SD card at that time is an easy no-brainer

[+megamapper]

The track storage in these units is to DIE FOR!

 

Comparison: Magellan Meridian Gold $251 cdn - Lowrance PhD $280 cdn

 

I was looking at a friends Meridian Gold, and from what I can tell, the unit will only store one track as one contiguous segment. If you power off the GPS, drive to another city, power it on, you'll end up with a line from where the track ended to the new current location. You can't have a track that consists of various smaller segments. Not to mention only 2000 track points kinda suck.

 

On my unit, (100 tracks max) one track can consist of hundreds of smaller track segments, each with their own start and endpoint. Nowadays, I'm working with tracks that consist of 5,000-10,000 points, each with upwards of 200 track segments.

 

I've managed to use a grand total of 5 out of the 100 available tracks. LOL!

And I'm pushing 10,000 - 20,000 track points!

 

The way each track displays is customizable, so I like to have a main roads track, a spur track (roads that dead end), and a trails track. I have mine customized like this: When I'm driving, solid blinking lines are main roads. Large pieces blinking lines are spurs. Small dotted blinky lines are trails.

 

In this way, it makes navigating a snap, as I can simply glance down and see which way I need to turn. Many of the roads that I'm on do not show up on any of the map upgrades. So I use tracks to 'update' my topo maps. They also look really coowel in google earth.

 

I picked up a 1GB SD stick, so my GPS also doubles as my iPOD, so I listen to my MP3 music on it as well. But 1 GB is pretty small by todays standards! Oh well, what do you expect for a cdn$280.00 GPS + cdn$120.00 SD ramstick?

 

Regards,

---- Robb ----

Edited November 3, 2005 by megamapper

[+hogrod]

... Hunt C has 240x160 2.62" TFT color display, but the H2O C has an even bigger 320x240 2.83" TFT color display. I wonder why they didn't standardize this...

I'm wondering if they DID standardize on one, but one of the spec sheets is in error. It wouldn't make sense for them to use two different screens on units with otherwise identical form factors. And it REALLY wouldn't make sense for them to use a lower resolution screen on a supposedly higher-end model.

 

also notice that the batery life is longer on the higher end model, and considering that it has the electronic compass this seems strange..... but if these units do have differant screen sizes, i could see the one with smaller screen getting better battery life.