Lowrance Endura Sierra first impressions

[wahoowad]

OK, finally received my long awaited Endura Sierra. Here are a few first impressions. I am withholding a lot of impressions so as not to appear like I am bashing the product, but here are a few. Also note I am not a big geocacher so won't be exploring a lot of those options right away. Instead I intend to use this on my small boats for fishing and general outdoor use like exploring rural areas, hiking, etc.

 

- I like the form factor. Size, layout, etc. is appealing to me. Seems a tad heavy but not a concern to me.

 

- Screen is practically unreadable without backlighting. I am simply keeping the backlighting on and will just burn up rechargeable batteries for now.

 

- If you move the cursor from your current location to an area of interest, then attempt to zoom in, the zoom drills down to where you are not where you want to look at on the map. It appears to zoom at whatever is centered on the middle of the screen, not your cursor. So you have to use the touchscreen to put your area of interest into the center, then zoom down. I hope this gets fixed fast.

 

- moving the cursor is slow, and it often continues to move and overshoots after you have released the direction arrow.

 

- It says it has preloaded "Imagery" but I don't see any imagery when I change to this menu selection for mapping. All I see is a reduced detail non-image map. I am confused as to what I should see. User manual is of no help here.

 

- Accuterra maps - where is my hill shading? I live near mountains and don't see much detail. I'm not seeing anything special. 100 feet contour interval is less than my free downloaded Garmin map on my eTrex Venture.

 

Much more but this is a start. Next to nothing in terms of support / help on the Lowrance website so the user community is going to have to drive a lot on this one.

[+merlot]

Interested in the Sierra. Tagging on another question. Manual states Sierra will only support turn by turn with an optional TBT Accessory Card. Can't find any information on this card?

 

Manual also states address function is available with accessory mapping cards. I would like to assume this is the same card as TBT Accessory Card but the manual stated plural cards???

 

With all of the memory available to the unit it would have been nice to save the card slot for other uses instead of just an auto routing card. Maybe the gps needed two slot cards.

[+Colonial Cats]

OK, finally received my long awaited Endura Sierra. Here are a few first impressions. I am withholding a lot of impressions so as not to appear like I am bashing the product, but here are a few. Also note I am not a big geocacher so won't be exploring a lot of those options right away. Instead I intend to use this on my small boats for fishing and general outdoor use like exploring rural areas, hiking, etc.

 

- I like the form factor. Size, layout, etc. is appealing to me. Seems a tad heavy but not a concern to me.

 

- Screen is practically unreadable without backlighting. I am simply keeping the backlighting on and will just burn up rechargeable batteries for now.

 

- If you move the cursor from your current location to an area of interest, then attempt to zoom in, the zoom drills down to where you are not where you want to look at on the map. It appears to zoom at whatever is centered on the middle of the screen, not your cursor. So you have to use the touchscreen to put your area of interest into the center, then zoom down. I hope this gets fixed fast.

 

- moving the cursor is slow, and it often continues to move and overshoots after you have released the direction arrow.

 

- It says it has preloaded "Imagery" but I don't see any imagery when I change to this menu selection for mapping. All I see is a reduced detail non-image map. I am confused as to what I should see. User manual is of no help here.

 

- Accuterra maps - where is my hill shading? I live near mountains and don't see much detail. I'm not seeing anything special. 100 feet contour interval is less than my free downloaded Garmin map on my eTrex Venture.

 

Much more but this is a start. Next to nothing in terms of support / help on the Lowrance website so the user community is going to have to drive a lot on this one.

 

I have the same impressions. I believe that there is something wrong with the Accuterra maps. I will be contacting Lowrance to figure out the problem. I must say that it downloaded gpx files very well. The description and log entry fonts are small but still readable.

[+Indotguy]

OK, finally received my long awaited Endura Sierra. Here are a few first impressions. I am withholding a lot of impressions so as not to appear like I am bashing the product, but here are a few. Also note I am not a big geocacher so won't be exploring a lot of those options right away. Instead I intend to use this on my small boats for fishing and general outdoor use like exploring rural areas, hiking, etc.

 

- I like the form factor. Size, layout, etc. is appealing to me. Seems a tad heavy but not a concern to me.

 

- Screen is practically unreadable without backlighting. I am simply keeping the backlighting on and will just burn up rechargeable batteries for now.

 

- If you move the cursor from your current location to an area of interest, then attempt to zoom in, the zoom drills down to where you are not where you want to look at on the map. It appears to zoom at whatever is centered on the middle of the screen, not your cursor. So you have to use the touchscreen to put your area of interest into the center, then zoom down. I hope this gets fixed fast.

 

- moving the cursor is slow, and it often continues to move and overshoots after you have released the direction arrow.

 

- It says it has preloaded "Imagery" but I don't see any imagery when I change to this menu selection for mapping. All I see is a reduced detail non-image map. I am confused as to what I should see. User manual is of no help here.

 

- Accuterra maps - where is my hill shading? I live near mountains and don't see much detail. I'm not seeing anything special. 100 feet contour interval is less than my free downloaded Garmin map on my eTrex Venture.

 

Much more but this is a start. Next to nothing in terms of support / help on the Lowrance website so the user community is going to have to drive a lot on this one.

 

I had noticed in the online manual that the topo map contour interval for this unit was listed as 100 feet. I was a little surprised considering the unit is described as being preloaded with "Premium outdoor content". The Topo maps on the MapCreate software have a more detailed contour interval than this. I am a bit disappointed with what I'm seeing so far.

[wahoowad]

Another thing I noticed today. Sometimes the unit stops updating my position. I noticed this at least twice today. Once I recall I had been looking through other menu items, then returned to the map to see how close I was getting to a waypoint I was approaching. The little triangle cursor just sat in the same place even as I moved about 150 feet. I was on the water and had wide open view of the sky. WTF? After awhile I looked down and noticed it had started working right again.

 

I'm finding the basemap (is the basemap the AccuTerra map?) is frequently inaccurate or lacks detail. It is like the basemap you get with a far cheaper gps unit. I bought the high end model and thought I would get top of the line mapping. The free topo map on my eTrex is far more accurate.

[+Colonial Cats]

OK, finally received my long awaited Endura Sierra. Here are a few first impressions. I am withholding a lot of impressions so as not to appear like I am bashing the product, but here are a few. Also note I am not a big geocacher so won't be exploring a lot of those options right away. Instead I intend to use this on my small boats for fishing and general outdoor use like exploring rural areas, hiking, etc.

 

- I like the form factor. Size, layout, etc. is appealing to me. Seems a tad heavy but not a concern to me.

 

- Screen is practically unreadable without backlighting. I am simply keeping the backlighting on and will just burn up rechargeable batteries for now.

 

- If you move the cursor from your current location to an area of interest, then attempt to zoom in, the zoom drills down to where you are not where you want to look at on the map. It appears to zoom at whatever is centered on the middle of the screen, not your cursor. So you have to use the touchscreen to put your area of interest into the center, then zoom down. I hope this gets fixed fast.

 

- moving the cursor is slow, and it often continues to move and overshoots after you have released the direction arrow.

 

- It says it has preloaded "Imagery" but I don't see any imagery when I change to this menu selection for mapping. All I see is a reduced detail non-image map. I am confused as to what I should see. User manual is of no help here.

 

- Accuterra maps - where is my hill shading? I live near mountains and don't see much detail. I'm not seeing anything special. 100 feet contour interval is less than my free downloaded Garmin map on my eTrex Venture.

 

Much more but this is a start. Next to nothing in terms of support / help on the Lowrance website so the user community is going to have to drive a lot on this one.

 

I have the same impressions. I believe that there is something wrong with the Accuterra maps. I will be contacting Lowrance to figure out the problem. I must say that it downloaded gpx files very well. The description and log entry fonts are small but still readable.

 

I talked to a Lowrance tech today. There is nothing wrong with the mapping. I had expected more from the map then what it provides. Although it does provide great detail for a base map, it is still a base map. There isn't much detail until you zoom in. Once you zoom in, there is a good degree of detail. You do not get the imagery until you get way out. It looks pretty, but not of much use. If you want the imagery, you would need to get a GPX map from other sources. I am still happy with the Sierra; it's just that the mapping isn't what I expected.

 

Another problem is that accessories are not available yet. The Lowrance tech did not know when these would become available. Apparently, the XOG car DC power cable works with the Endura models.

 

One picky compliant I have is that the Sierra did not come with a lanyard. However, it did come with a screen protector.

 

I haven't done anything with it yet except to play around with the menus and options. I'll be doing a few geocaches tomorrow and see how it performs.

[wahoowad]

You do not get the imagery until you get way out. It looks pretty, but not of much use. If you want the imagery, you would need to get a GPX map from other sources.

 

I thought GPX was a file format that only let you share waypoint and trail information between units that support the gpx file format. Does it also support transferring maps? Right now I am feeling very lost as to how to obtain any improved mapping or imagery for this device. I thought it came with "premium" content.

 

I agree the imagery looks neat when you are zoomed way, way out, but just not usable. Not even sure why they would deliver it that way.

[+Colonial Cats]

I found a geocache today using the Sierra. It did the job well. One minor complaint is that the screen does not like direct sunlight. I hear that is not unusual for touch-screens. I also loaded some pictures and an mp3 file onto my 8GB Micro SDHC card. These worked out well. The mp3 file played well using a headset I already owned. I left a voice note on one of the geocache pages that are loaded. The voice note came out much clearer than on my Lowrance Expedition C. All in all, I have a favorable impression.

[+Colonial Cats]

There seems to be a problem with some of the units including mine. The Navigation Settings screen is frozen so that the settings cannot be changed. Because of this, with my GPSr, navigation to geocaches wants to freeze when you go off road. The Lowrance tech said that they now know of the Navigation Settings screen problem and the engineers are now addressing it. We should have a download fix in a week or two.

 

I also asked about cable accessories. He did not know exactly when they will be available, but said that typically they become available 2 to 3 months after product introduction.

 

This will be a good machine once they get the bugs out.

[wahoowad]

What steps are you doing such that you get this Nav Screen problem? If I am not navigating then my Nav Options menu is greyed out , which seems proper to me (I'm not navigating). But if I pick a waypoint and tell it to GoTo that spot, I can pull up the Navigation menu and choose some of the options.

 

What I can't do either way is choose anything from the Nav Settings submenu. All these remain greyed out, but that too seems correct since all those settings seem (to me) to be for turn-by-turn navigation.

 

I used my unit some this weekend and am liking it better. I'm starting to use the touchscreen more and the unit seems more responsive doing so. I have sent several support items in to Lowrance via email and have not heard back.

 

I'm still getting these periodic freezes where the unit stops updating. Then it resumes after awhile. Also see some screen freezes and I am wondering if they are related, possibly due to loss of signal? I'm seeing it both inside and outside.

 

The MP3 player rocks even though my voicenotes are too quiet.

[+Colonial Cats]

What I can't do either way is choose anything from the Nav Settings submenu. All these remain greyed out, but that too seems correct since all those settings seem (to me) to be for turn-by-turn navigation.

 

I'm still getting these periodic freezes where the unit stops updating. Then it resumes after awhile. Also see some screen freezes and I am wondering if they are related, possibly due to loss of signal? I'm seeing it both inside and outside.

 

The MP3 player rocks even though my voicenotes are too quiet.

I believe that my problem arrises because the Navigation Settings remain grayed out. Does your unit freeze up once you leave the roadway? That's when mine does. I believe that once the navigation settings are unfrozen, this problem may go away.

[wahoowad]

I believe that my problem arrises because the Navigation Settings remain grayed out. Does your unit freeze up once you leave the roadway? That's when mine does. I believe that once the navigation settings are unfrozen, this problem may go away.

 

Maybe we are doing different things, or maybe mine isn't doing what your's is doing. I was offroad yesterday (waaaaaaay offroad) and I used it to navigate to a distant waypoint. It didn't freeze (other than the occaisional little freezes I get) but I still can not access anything on the "Nav Settings" menu. It lists items like Navigation Mode, Mode of Transport, ROuting Efficiency, Ferries, Highways/Motorways, Tolls which is why I expect it to remain greyed out until I buy that extra roadway navigation piece. Should these submens/settings be available for geocaching and land nav?

[+Terp 00]

Is anyone using software to transfer pocket queries to your endura? And if so what works well?

[wahoowad]

Spent the weekend at a state park hiking, geocaching, exploring, etc. My frustration grows with each thing I try do with this Sierra. I've had a "blue screen of death" where it said it had to reboot, repeated system freezes, course arrows that continually jump all over, a state park that I cannot find using the map or POI search, and I just remain frustrated at the lack of mapping this supposed premiun unit doesn't have. A Lowrance product manager sent me an initial response to my questions about the mapping, which was basically to perform a reset, but then has ignored my request for a follow-up when I sent him comparison screenshots of their marketing images compared to what actually comes on the unit. I'm assuming this means he has no response so I'm going to return the unit and buy a Garmin.