Lowrance Or Garmin

[Land Man]

I have a horror story to share, thanks to the folks at Magellan. This past December, I purchased an eXplorist 400 from my local Costco. With rebates, my 400 cost me about $220 and that included the mapping software; a good deal, or so I thought. My troubles began when I attempted to install the software.

 

My CD/DVD drive kept spitting out the disk, and the computer couldn’t recognize the disk. I even swapped out another drive. Finally, after several days, I was able to install the software. For about five months, all was well.

 

Last week, I needed to reinstall the software onto a new hard drive. I had the same difficulties as before. I checked Magellan’s website, and I discovered that they admit to distributing faulty software; I was in luck, I thought. I emailed their tech support to request a new set of disks; they tried to convince me to make some modifications to Win XP so that I could install their faulty software. I decided to call tech support and requested a new set of disks. I had another reason to call, the zoom in button on my 400 wasn’t responding.

 

I called Magellan tech support, and talked with a man who spoke English slightly better than I speak Hindi. He wanted me to fax my receipt to him, and he would send me a new set of disks. I don’t have access to a fax machine, and I requested that I snail mail or email a copy to him; he refused either. With regards to the 400, he told me that it would be a three week turn-around at the repair depot. At this point I was utterly nauseated.

 

I packed my troubles in a plastic bag, and with receipt in hand I went back to my local Costco. Without a word, they refunded my money. Now, I’m looking for a new GPS device. I’m considering purchasing a Lowrance iFINDER Expedition C. For about $330 I can get the Plus kit. My questions are, How is the quality of Lowrance’s products? How does Lowrance compare to Garmin? There seems to be a lot of Garmins out there. Is that due to product quality or marketing? - Thanks

[+weakfish]

If Magellan's service lost you, from my experience with the Lowrance on my boat (don't own any of their handhelds) they'll lose you almost as fast.

 

Sending out doa refurbs for warranty service, numerous dead units, transducers that fail in 18 months, I'm done with them as soon as they stop sending replacement units for my now discontinued GPS/Sonar unit...

 

Have had ZERO problems with Garmin.

You end up paying a little more for mapping, but it's worth it.

[+oldsoldier]

I dont think ANYONE has had a bad CS situation with Garmin.

[Land Man]

Well hopefully, I won't have a need to send either into CS. The question is, how do either of these hold up? If Lowrance's CS is as bad as Magellan's, it won't really matter if Lowrance's products don't need repairs.

[+Train_Man]

I dont think ANYONE has had a bad CS situation with Garmin.

 

I hope you mean the CS and not the CSx because right now the CSx is a horrible device to buy. I have one only because I hadn't read any forums before I bought it. There are TONS of software glitches on it and it has been getting worse signal since the last updage. I'm just going to wait out the updates because it seems like it will be a good unit. I wouldn't recommend the 60__X or 76__X series right now.

[Land Man]

I think that we were refering to Customer Support. Does anyone else have any experiences with Customer Support, and device quality?

[+Airmapper]

If Magellan's service lost you, from my experience with the Lowrance on my boat (don't own any of their handhelds) they'll lose you almost as fast.............

 

I have had good experiences with customer service at Lowrance. I had problems with my AirMap, and although it took some time, I finally got the problem straightened out, and have been going good since. I'll admit they have problems, they can be slow, but keep dealing with them and I believe they will do you right.

 

I say this partly because Lowrance could have denied me help if they wanted, my unit had a problem right on the warranty expiring, but they never said a word about warranty, just took care of my unit and sent me a new one. This happened a few times, as it was a software problem, but the techs were friendly, and were willing to work with me.

 

As far as the Lowrance units, they are very accurate and packed with features. The internal antennas are some of the best out there, the screens are large, and the mapping is top notch with it's competitors. In the event you do get a "dud" unit, Lowrance will probably just have you send it to them, and give you a new one. Their turn-around is about 2 weeks.

[kyleausfeld]

i have an expedition c and think it is great. lowrance does have some horrible service, and almost no technical info like garmin provides. i was looking at the garmin 60csx before i got my lowrance. i had them side-by-side and used both of them for about 2 hours at a local gander mountain. the only differences i could really notice is that garmin offers auto routing, a special geocaching software, less pixels, and more money. i dont know if their software is any better than mapcreate 6.3. i have never used or seen it being used. for me, on my limited budget, the lowrance wins.

[+briansnat]

I hope you mean the CS and not the CSx because right now the CSx is a horrible device to buy.

 

Then why are so many people so happy with their 60CSXs?

 

 

Anyway, for the OP. If you want autorouting you pretty much have to go with Garmin. If autorouting is not important to you, but money is a concern, you can't beat Lowrance. They make really good uints and pack a lot of features in for the money.

 

I have no experiences with Lowrance's customer service, but I can tell you Garmin's is top notch. They stand behind their product and will often replace or repair units even if they are out of warranty or damage was caused by the customer and not because if a defect.

[+geobc]

I hope you mean the CS and not the CSx because right now the CSx is a horrible device to buy. I have one only because I hadn't read any forums before I bought it. There are TONS of software glitches on it and it has been getting worse signal since the last updage. I'm just going to wait out the updates because it seems like it will be a good unit. I wouldn't recommend the 60__X or 76__X series right now.

Just one data point here but...

 

I am running the latest firmware on my 60CSx and have had no problems with getting a signal and retaining it. Used it all weekend while hiking under a moderate canopy, as well as on the dash of my wife's van and never once lost signal.

 

The 60CSx is definitely performing better than my 76C did re: signal acquisition. The electronic compass is too finicky for my tastes, though.

 

GeoBC

Edited May 22, 2006 by geobc

[SandyGarrity]

because right now the CSx is a horrible device to buy.

 

Not my experance. A fix in about 5 seconds +/- 3meters (+/- 10 feet) and does exactly what is says on the tin.

 

Auto routes me to the mountain and confirms my map and compass work every time.

[WR8Y]

When I got my Lowrance Expedition Color (with the TOPO mapping as a PLUS package) I couldn't program the SD card.

 

I called tech support and the guy said that it could either be the SD card or the reader. He suggested I try reinstalling the drivers - I did but that didn't help. I called back and he said, "it's probably the reader, I'll send you one."

 

Two days later, the package arrived, and it worked right away.

 

I never had to fax a receipt or anything like that - he just asked for the serial number from under the battery cover.

 

I'v had mine for two months now - I'm totally pleased.

[Sagiru]

I had an experience just like WR8Y's... which doesn't say much for the LEI cardreader Lowrance uses. But, I did get another mucho pronto after a short conversation with the Tech support guy, who was very pleasant. And, I've loved the H2O C. Great unit, great screen, great accuracy.

 

Jonathan

 

When I got my Lowrance Expedition Color (with the TOPO mapping as a PLUS package) I couldn't program the SD card.

 

I called tech support and the guy said that it could either be the SD card or the reader. He suggested I try reinstalling the drivers - I did but that didn't help. I called back and he said, "it's probably the reader, I'll send you one."

 

Two days later, the package arrived, and it worked right away.

 

I never had to fax a receipt or anything like that - he just asked for the serial number from under the battery cover.

 

I'v had mine for two months now - I'm totally pleased.

[+Miragee]

Another friend had a similarly-horrible experience with Magellan customer service, so he bought the Garmin GPS Map60CSx, with which he is very happy.

 

Garmin's customer service is fantastic.

 

My friend has a GPS Map60CS. It had been used very hard and showed all those signs of wear -- dings, dents, and scratches on the screen. She sent it in because the lettering was coming off a couple of the buttons and they sent her a brand new unit.

 

I have the Vista C. The rubber was coming loose around the outside so I got an RMA and sent it in. Even though the GPSr worked perfectly, they sent me, within a week turnaround, a new unit . . .

[NewZealand]

... because right now the CSx is a horrible device to buy. I have one only because I hadn't read any forums before I bought it. There are TONS of software glitches on it and it has been getting worse signal since the last updage.

For me the CSX is the best GPS device I ever owned, by far, and I'm very happy with it.

[+Renegade Knight]

Garmins only major flaw is that they tend to release products before all the bugs are worked out of the firmware. They eventually get it right but the process takes time.

 

Overall my impression based on the forums is that Magellan and Garmin both had top notch Customer Service. I have to admit that in your shoes I'd be every bit as annoyed. I've just had a similar problem with Symantec software. They want me to send in my oringial CD and orignal reciept when the problem is theirs. I dropped Symantec and all Norton Utility Products as a result.

[Greenbastard]

I dropped Symantec and all Norton Utility Products as a result.

 

i bet your system runs a lot quicker now!

[Land Man]

I too had a tech support problem with Symantec. I recall using Norton Utils back in the days of DOS. Now, I wouldn't touch them. Until 3 years ago, I was employed in the IT world on a Help Desk. I was able to resolve any problem with my company's products; I had ownership of resolving the customer's problem. I had a vested interest in making the customer happy. It was my company, my company's product line, and my career. Now my job has been off shored to a country where the call answering service has no interest in the customers satisfaction. It seems that all they can do is to read from a script.

 

That's the fault of the manufactures. It's simply a matter of spending the least amount of money for tech support.

[+budd-rdc]

Garmins only major flaw is that they tend to release products before all the bugs are worked out of the firmware. They eventually get it right but the process takes time.

 

Overall my impression based on the forums is that Magellan and Garmin both had top notch Customer Service. I have to admit that in your shoes I'd be every bit as annoyed. I've just had a similar problem with Symantec software. They want me to send in my oringial CD and orignal reciept when the problem is theirs. I dropped Symantec and all Norton Utility Products as a result.

 

I prefer the "falling edge of technology" over the so-called "leading or bleeding edge" for this very reason. The Garmin GPSMap 60c and 60cs have been around for a while, so I recommend purchasing one of those, especially since the prices have gone down on them recently. Let the more adventurous beta test the Garmin "X" series and you can upgrade to those later.

 

I've heard that the newer Lowrance units use the same SiRF-Star III chip that makes the Garmin "X" series sparkle, but I could not find anything authoritative on this with Google. Anyone want to comment on this?

[+birddog14]

I dont think ANYONE has had a bad CS situation with Garmin.

 

I hope you mean the CS and not the CSx because right now the CSx is a horrible device to buy. I have one only because I hadn't read any forums before I bought it. There are TONS of software glitches on it and it has been getting worse signal since the last updage. I'm just going to wait out the updates because it seems like it will be a good unit. I wouldn't recommend the 60__X or 76__X series right now.

 

my 60CSx is my 5th Garmin.........it has worked great for me and I have had not problems out of it....I have even thought about selling my 60C

[+Airmapper]

I've heard that the newer Lowrance units use the same SiRF-Star III chip that makes the Garmin "X" series sparkle, but I could not find anything authoritative on this with Google. Anyone want to comment on this?

 

That seems to be a mysterious claim. I've not used the units, but have gleaned enough from the forums that is appears the units act like they have SIRF, locking on extremely fast and holding a lock like nobody's business, to the point they run neck and neck with the Garmin X units.

 

I believe some people have E-mailed Lowrance to ask if it's SIRF, but they will not confirm that it is. I wonder if it's not a similar technology, but not produced by SIRF, maybe Lowrance's own chipset made to accomplish the same result???

 

Either way it seems Lowrance has neither denied or confirmed that SIRF is on the units in a public manner (Like GPS description pages) as far as I've seen. If someone does find some proof, maybe they will give us a link.

[+hogrod]

I've heard that the newer Lowrance units use the same SiRF-Star III chip that makes the Garmin "X" series sparkle, but I could not find anything authoritative on this with Google. Anyone want to comment on this?

Either way it seems Lowrance has neither denied or confirmed that SIRF is on the units in a public manner (Like GPS description pages) as far as I've seen. If someone does find some proof, maybe they will give us a link.

 

check out the yahoo group page for ifinders, it seems that there was something on there about these units having the sirfIII chip.

[+budd-rdc]

I found this press release dating all the way back to February 2002 on SiRF's web site (PDF):

 

SiRF/Lowrance Alliance Press Release

 

There's a cache at the SiRF headquarters in San Jose, and I ran into the owner who works there. He glanced at my iFinder GO and said it uses a SiRF-Star IIe. There have been claims that it might even be using the SiRF-Star III (16 channel receiver), but the only reference I've seen was a brief mention by lee rimar in another thread. I've seen it lock on to 13 satellites + WAAS, btw.

[+synergicity]

I have an offer to make. If 5 of you send me $50, I will open my Expedition up and take pictures of the chipset and post it on flickr. It will satisfy everyone's curiosity and provide me a level of insurance in case I break the thing.

 

Paypal will be fine.

[WR8Y]

How's 50 cents from 500 of us?

[QuigleyJones]

For $330 I would say buy a garmin 76C(S)x for around $415 and then get a $100 rebate.

quality and customer support is an A+

 

And shop around for the best price

http://www.tigergps.com/garmingpsmap76cx.html

http://www.pcnation.com/web/details.asp?af...308&item=6G0190

[CO-Zman]

How's 50 cents from 500 of us?

 

Guess no one bit off on the 2Gb SD card for him...he's back on the prowl again