Opinion On Lowrance Ifinder Go

[tmsgps]

I want to know your opinion on Lowrance Ifinder Go, If you use it geocaching how does it perform and is it a worthwhile investment for a novice? is there any software conflicts and is it easy to use.

 

Thanks

tmsgps

[lynnbg]

I want to know your opinion on Lowrance Ifinder Go, If you use it geocaching how does it perform and is it a worthwhile investment for a novice? is there any software conflicts and is it easy to use.

 

Thanks

tmsgps

 

I have a ifinder pro and had a regular i finder and I think they are great. No problems yet

[+Airmapper]

I've heard they are good units, hold satellite locks well, and also have many nice features. My experience is limited to i-Finder Pro type units, which I am very satisfied with.

 

It has been reported that they have a "toy" feel, being lightweight and having a plastic case. One factor about the GO is that they do not directly accept waypoint (i.e. Geocache) transfer from a PC. You will have to manually enter them by hand. If you plan to do a lot of caching, this could get tiresome, but otherwise, I'll say it is a good unit.

[+user13371]

...One factor about the GO is that they do not directly accept waypoint (i.e. Geocache) transfer from a PC.

For the umpity-teenth time, the iFinder Go series does accept waypoint uploads using standard NMEA sentences. Look here.

 

Lowrance doesn't provide a neat, packaged way to do it though - you have to buy the cable separately and use a third-party software like GPSUtility to make it work.

[tmsgps]

...One factor about the GO is that they do not directly accept waypoint (i.e. Geocache) transfer from a PC.

For the umpity-teenth time, the iFinder Go series does accept waypoint uploads using standard NMEA sentences. Look here.

 

Lowrance doesn't provide a neat, packaged way to do it though - you have to buy the cable separately and use a third-party software like GPSUtility to make it work.

 

please let me know where to get the cable and the software for this item.

[+miles58]

 

please let me know where to get the cable and the software for this item.

 

You get them on ebay where you get *everything*.

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

...One factor about the GO is that they do not directly accept waypoint (i.e. Geocache) transfer from a PC.

For the umpity-teenth time, the iFinder Go series does accept waypoint uploads using standard NMEA sentences. Look here.

 

Lowrance doesn't provide a neat, packaged way to do it though - you have to buy the cable separately and use a third-party software like GPSUtility to make it work.

 

please let me know where to get the cable and the software for this item.

 

This is still a pain and is why some people shy away from it even though it is the least expensive GPS you can buy new from a store or web vendor. The other reason is that you can't attach an external antenna to it (except for a "re-radiating" antenna).

 

But reception is so good on this unit that you really don't need an external antenna. I have an IFinder GO and I love it for caching! For a unit that you can sometimes get as little as $65 new, you get WAAS capability as well. Believe it or not, at the cache I found today, it said I was 1 ft. from the cache when I found it with an EPE of 29 ft. (this was with WAAS though).

 

I think it is an awesome unit for the money! If you look up this unit in Epinions.com you should see a recent review I did on it for more details. Good luck and enjoy!

[+user13371]

...please let me know where to get the cable and the software for this item.

Answered already: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=112236. Edited April 2, 2006 by lee_rimar

[+GPSOkie]

It should be a great starter unit. I had a Go2 and my only complaint was the screen size. However, if you are younger than I and have a decent pair of eyes, it should be no problem.

 

I'm a big fan of Lowrance units and I use an H2O currently.

[+Steel City Seekers]

I've really been looking at these Lowrance Go units, too, to add some additional units in the family. I have my Pocket PC, which lifts all the weights with its bluetooth SirfIII gps unit. Detailed maps, gpx files, autoroute, etc. there. Don't need a whole lot of features in the additional GPS.

 

We have an eXplorist 100, and it has been great for us. Put in the coords. and hand it to the kids (never hand a Pocket PC to the kids!!!!!), and off they go. It does an impressive job of holding a fix.

 

However, I'm impressed with the Lowrance prices, and I'm thinking that a base map might be kind of nice for another unit. I don't mind entering coords as we only do a couple caches in a days time.

 

I've been wondering about two things. First, the accuracy. I've read and searched here and found that many people are pretty happy with the accuracy of the Lowrance units. But, then, I searched for Lowrance GO reviews and found the following:

 

http://www.todayscacher.com/2006/mar/reviews2.asp

 

I don't think it is too old of a unit yet, so there aren't many reviews, but this one doesn't seem to indicate that the GO2 is so great vs. the Garmins and Magellans. Saving everyone the time of having to read it, it says that you have to wait and let the Lowrance settle down for several minutes for it to be accurate. It also states that the Lowrance GO put people a hundred feet from the location. Any thoughts on this?

 

Also, I wonder what the difference is between the basemaps in the GO and the GO2. It's 32 vs. 64 MB of memory, so I'd think the GO2 would have much more detail, but I can't find anything on the differences. Does anybody know? Are the interstates and highways the same? We don't need too much detail on oceanographic details.

 

Sorry for the long post and the basic questions. I've searched long and hard and can't find too many details on the accuracy of the GO units specifically and the details of the basemaps.

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

 

Also, I wonder what the difference is between the basemaps in the GO and the GO2. It's 32 vs. 64 MB of memory, so I'd think the GO2 would have much more detail, but I can't find anything on the differences. Does anybody know? Are the interstates and highways the same? We don't need too much detail on oceanographic details.

 

 

The main difference is coastline details and I believe the GO2 shows more lakes than the GO. But both are the same in terms of highways, cities, etc.

 

As for the accuracy, I really can't say, I haven't had any problems at all, but I know that a lot of the reviews that complain about that, as well as about the unit starting to "lock up" frequently after a few months of use, had the old software/firmware. Supposedly the new software/firmware takes care of it. As some of those complaints did note, however, because of the sort of lack of download availability, those that had the old "wares" had to send their units back to Lowrance to be upgraded. So that could be reason to get another unit if you can afford one, although firmware upgrades are not necessarily a common thing.

 

Looking at the review you pointed out, I think briansnat got it right. He is a very experienced major contributor to these forums and Geocaching in general and has owned, used and tested many many units. If you look at his review carefully as well as other forum posts where he comments on the IFinder GO, he does not really think this unit is bad, especially given its price, he is just warning that someone who caches more than maybe once or twice a week is going to want easier computer connectivity, probably a larger screen, maybe street and/or topo maps, and the kind of performance that something on the level of the much more expensive Garmin "X" units give you. He is extremely high on one of the next-level units that provides some of these things, the Lowrance IFinder H20, and if I ever upgrade this unit because I do caching more often, I would definitely consider that one.

 

But if you are an occasional cacher and/or are on a budget and don't need computer connectivity, I really wouldn't worry too much about getting this, to compare to other "entry level" units (in this case the Garmin Etrex Yellow and the Magellan Explorist 100), its accuracy is on a par, its reception is better, it has a base map which the other two don't and it still costs less. I don't believe the other two can take a regular external antenna either.

Edited April 2, 2006 by hairymon

[+Steel City Seekers]

Very good. I am aware of briansnat's reputation and that is why I put a great deal of weight on his review. It's hard to search for individual posts here because each word in the search phrase has to have at least four letters, so you can search on lowrance and/or ifinder, but not go or go2. Obviuosly, there are lots of relevant results for lowrance ifinder that are not specifically applicable to the GO units.

 

Thanks for the reply, Hairymon; the information is very useful. Even though I will continue to rely on my PDA for navigation and we are in the occasional cacher category, your comments are making me think it might be worth it to take a hard look at the H2O.

 

Edit: Oops, scratch that -- looked at the prices and features for the H20. A nice unit for sure, but much more than we need. Again, however, thanks for the info. There are some pretty good deals out there for the GO and GO2 units right now.

Edited April 2, 2006 by Steel City Seekers

[+miles58]

 

Edit: Oops, scratch that -- looked at the prices and features for the H20. A nice unit for sure, but much more than we need. Again, however, thanks for the info. There are some pretty good deals out there for the GO and GO2 units right now.

 

Oh? How about if you get everything the H2O has, voice autorouting, Mapcreate 6.3, a SD chip, a Chip reader all for under $150???

[+miles58]

doubled

Edited April 2, 2006 by miles58

[+Steel City Seekers]

 

Oh? How about if you get everything the H2O has, voice autorouting, Mapcreate 6.3, a SD chip, a Chip reader all for under $150???

 

I'm not sure what you're saying here. What I saw, and what I based that comment on, was a price I saw on Amazon I think that was over $200 for the receiver alone. Are you saying that the H2O can be purchased with maps for $150? Also, I didn't think any of the handheld receivers did voice routing.

[+miles58]

 

I'm not sure what you're saying here. What I saw, and what I based that comment on, was a price I saw on Amazon I think that was over $200 for the receiver alone. Are you saying that the H2O can be purchased with maps for $150? Also, I didn't think any of the handheld receivers did voice routing.

 

Check ebay for an iWay 100 m. It can do everything the H2O does, and then some. And... you can buy a new one last time I checked for <150 bucks. It's discontinued now, and what's left in distribution will be gone soon, but you can't get close to the features for more than twice the money. Buy a comparable gargellan and you get the problems you see in these forums. You don't see those problems associated with Lowrances now do you?