Lowrance iWay 350c
Dec
28
2005
A reader at gpspassion has posted thoughts about the Lowrance iWay 350 GPS navigation system. Overall thoughts were positive, however a couple of quirks were noted.
The FM transmitter signal was said to be a little weak. But a bigger problem seemed to be the Find Address feature where you can’t enter partial names when selecting street names. You can do this for city names, but apparently it doesn’t work for street names. This can make GPS navigating more time consuming and almost impossible if you can’t figure out the correct spelling.
url coordinates.
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I own an iWay 350c and I can tell you that finding partial street addresses is possible; in fact I do it all the time. The POI database is very extensive and the maps are really up to date.
This is a very straightforward unit, and yet it offers a full range of customizations for the technically inclined. A winner at $400 street price!
Thanks for the comments, Carolos. I suspected that finding partial street addresses would be possible… I can’t imaging this would have been left out.
Carlos,
I tried to enter partial street names in the POI and it doesn’t work. Any feedback would be great. Other than that great little GPS system for the money
Allan, I don’t have a unit in front of me to test myself, however the product manual seems to suggest that partial matches are possible. (Pages 49-54).
I tried every way in the book to bring up partial street names and no luck. I e-mailed Lowrance and asked them for some help on this issue, and I am waiting on an answer. It does have the functionality to search for partial names for POIs, for instance if you pun in Thai, it will bring up all the restaurants or anything else with the name Thai in it, but again, not partial street names. To bad because this is a great little unit. As for the FM transmitter signal, no problem at all, sound is very crisp and clear on my radio.
Thanks for the follow-up, Allan. Be sure to let us know when you get a response from Lowrance.
Here are a few ways to find Restaurants.
Find, Restaurants, choose catagory, select a Restaurant from the list and ‘go to’ to get a GPS mapped route to it.
(or)
Find, Find2, Search all POIs By Name, Thai, select the Restaurant you want, ‘go to’.
The word “thai” must be part of the business name.
Remember, the database may not have every single Restaurant in the United States listed in it’s database. I am not sure where that data is drawn from. But it sure has a heck of a lot in there!
Also see my review on this page:
http://www.gpsreview.net/lowrance-iway-350c-gps/
I think you have to use at least one real word in the search.
For instance… Find, Address
(The help right there on the screen tells you how to use the search)
For instance, if the address is 1234 Washington Street, the important data is “Washington” because the other data is not really that descriptive.
So you search for the word “Washington” in the street name box.
I just did a search for the word 200 “lake” and I got
1. Lake Ct
2. Lake Point Dr.
I did another search for 200 “Lakeview” and only got Lakeview Dr (below). Notice Lakeview Dr did not show up above for the search “lake”.
1. Lakeview Dr
So, I don’t think partial streets work. You need to type the street name as a complete word like the iWay help screen indicates.
As I stated before, partial streets names do not work. You don’t need to put in Av, St, Court, it will bring all the street names up for what ever street name you put in. Example, if you put in the street name Lakeview, it will bring up Lakeview Av, Lakeview Court, Lakeview Street. But, if you do not know how to spell the street name, then you have a problem. I guess I will have to carry a Road Atlas just in case I don’t know how to spell a street name.
Thanks for the input, Al. That would be a severe limitation. Around where I’m from many of the street names are Native American terms and we can’t pronounce them, let alone spell them!
If it is of any help, I found another way to map to a destination. (I know this does not solve partial names, but just an FYI)
From map mode, you can drag the map around with your finger. The 350c has all long/lat info in it’s database for the entire map. So, if you know where you want to go, you can drag/zoom to the location. Then click on the little flag/info in upper right. There you get the long/lat. Just click GOTO, or add it to your address book.
This has helped me where city/street combinatiions were not in the NAVTEQ database correctly.
I can say i got this unit just befor christmas and while it is cool (like any other gps) and for the price its nice BUT it is not intutive, looking for partial addresses is dificult and partial store or food or air port name WONT be found i was looking under Other POI in the airport category and tryed to find O’hare airport but because I did not type CHICAGO O’hare it did not find it, try looking for wal-mart depending on how you type it depends on which ones it gives you, if you type walmart wal mart or wal-mart. another major flaw is their is no back button so when you look under shopping for a mall and nothing comes up you can’t just back up to another category, you have to exit out too the map go to menu then to find again and then just search under ALL POI and find out they put it under OTHER POI. and while they boast taht it has a 4 GB hard drive with mp3 and picture view it’s usless because you don’t need that much space for the maps and you cant access it to load music or pics on it. I am thinking of returning it and trying the tom tom or the garmin 330 or 340 .
by the way I had to go back like 7 times befor i could read that stupid security code
Greg another way to do searches for some things is just type in the town and select find on map and the search for what ever it is and click find by and near cursor , or errow which ever it says. I searched and searched for a resturaunt a couple towns over called the stage stop and it wouldn’t find it (this is also how I found O’Hare in my above post) si I finaly had it go to the town and just did a search for all the resturaunts and bingo they have it listed as Wilmot stage stop (wilmot is the town name) as with O’Hare intl air port I had to go to Chicago on the map (because I am 35 miles away it did not show up in search from my house) and just look under airports and hey their it is Chicago O’Hare.
I do have to say a great feature of this machine is being able to set the key board to querty like a computer or typewriter instead of the default abc’
This is the e-mail I sent Lowrance in regards to finding partial street names. Below it is their reply.
Question:
Reply:
Thanks for providing that clarification, Allan. That certainly will make navigating to unfamiliar street names difficult.
Can anyone tell me if there is a AC power cable for the iway 350 ?
If yes can you tell me where I can purchase one.?
Thanks
Hi Allan,
The only place I have seen something like this is at the following URL:
http://www.gps4fun.com/low_iway_350.php
Scroll down to the bottom where it lists accessories for the iWay 350c.
I think the company is LEI if you look on lowrance under the iway 5oo for part i think they give the phone number. or calll lowrance customer service and ask. I think it is like $20 and is the only extra accessory they have. too bad they dont put the volts on the side so you can just go to radio shack.
As always thanks for the additional info, Bryon!
I just picked up the iway 350c and without cracking the manual was able to start using nearly all of its features… It grabs a sat link quickly and easily and you’re on your way.
The only issue I’m having is in regards to connecting it to my PCs. I have a new VIAO and a Thinkpad – both of them see the device as an ‘unrecognized USB device’.
No drivers exist for the 350c as I aware of. Any ideas anyone?
I had the same problem when I had my Lowrance if I remember right you have to make sure that you do not have it in standby mode it has to beable too turn completley off not just sleep, then connect to pc and turn it back on and then your machine should find it. if not call lowrance I never had to hold for more than a couple minutes when i called.
also I hear lowrance may be merging with a yahting company but Garmin also made a bid on them so maybe they merge with Garmin and get the intuitive text and then it would be an almost perfect GPS I know I wish my garmin 330c did half the stuff the Iway did.
I have had an ac to 12v portable power supply from Radio Shack for several years. Just plug the portable power supply into a wall outlet and then plug your 12VDC power cord into it. Now you have a universal 12v dc supply that can be used with any number of car adapters for around $26.00.
Check it out here.
I just purchased the iway 350 and started using it right out of the box…Everyhting was great until it shut down for no reason.I turned it back on and 5 min later it shut down again.I remember somebody saying that this happened to them also,so they reset the unit and it worked fine.I tried that and its been a day and it hasnt shut down.I did notice that the unit was running hoy…Has anyone had this similiar problem.Also do they make a external antenna fot the 350c? I searched but to no avail.
I haven’t seen any external antennas which say they are designed for the 350c. I can’t remember… does it even have an external antenna jack? If so then you can probably use a generic antenna. If not you are probably out of luck. I know there is an external antenna option of the iWay 500c.
I finally got my hands on the Lowrance iWay 350c last week. So of course the first thing I did was to try and see if I could find an address while entering a partial street name. It worked for me.
After going to the find address screen I entered the state, the street number, and the first four letters of the street name. The first word in the street name has nine letters. The correct address was found.
What I found interesting was that I didn’t enter a city. The search listed addresses which matched my partial street name and where the street number was valid for that street in that city. This could certainly be handy when dealing with suburbs and you don’t know exactly which town the address might be in.
Where partial street name searches didn’t seem to work well was when I didn’t know how to spell at least the first few characters of the street name. Then it became very difficult to locate the address. This is where other systems might have an advantage where you type in the street name and as you type each character a list of possible matches is displayed. So long as you at least have the first two characters correct you will probably be able to find the address and at least scroll through the alphabetical list of nearby matches.
I am thinking of purchasing the i350c and have a question before I pull the trigger. I can’t seem to find any documenetion on getting updates for the preloaded maps and POIs. Does Lowrance publish updated maps? and POIs? If not, can they be updated? I see on their website an update for the 500 but not the 350.
Thanks for your input.
Matt – The maps are upgradable, however as you saw now update maps have been made available for the iWay 350c by Lowrance.
Excuse me for asking a question that has already been asked but the answer was not clear to me. Can the IWAY maps and POI be updated? Are the files for the IWAY 500 compatible with the IWAY 350? and lastly is there a way to upload a series of address to the address book in the IWAY 350?
The Lowrance iWay 350c has been designed so that maps can be upgraded. However Lowrance has not released any updated maps for the iWay 350c.
The updated software for the 500 will not work with the 350c.
I can’t remember for certain if there was a “POI loader” type program for the 350c. However scanning through the product manual quickly I didn’t see any reference to the ability to do that.
I can’t find any references to waypoints being enabled on iWay350. Is there any way with iWay350 to set a prefered route to the final destination? Including stop-overs that may not be on the shortest route (like visiting on the way POIs that may not be in original database of te unit).
Thanks,
Go to page 29 of the owners manual.
It works I have a trip of 6 legs made up for the end of the month
Am interested in mounting the 1Way 350 on a motorcycle. How water resistance is this unit? Would vibration from the motorcycle pose a problem?
Thanks,
Chris
Chris, do you already have the Lowrance iWay 350c? If not I would suggest looking into either the TomTom RIDER or the Garmin StreetPilot 2820, both of which are designed for motorcycle use.
Lowrance doesn’t make any claims that the iWay 350c is water resistant. Since the iWay 350c’s memory is hard drive based, I would be concerned that it might not take the vibrations well. Other hard drive based GPS receivers built specifically for motorcycles likely take vibration absorption into consideration when designing how the hard drive is mounted internally.
I too am curious about using one on a M/C. the hard drive is my biggest concern. I did get a reply from Lowrance that:
A) The unit is waterproof (how, with the open SD slot I am not sure)
B) It will accept a 4 gig SD card
I have heard that the i500c is bike friendly but have no people to say it is not, but I don’t really want anything that big size or $$ and would like a GPS and MP3, but don’t want to spend the 811.00 for the 2730 when I don’t really want XM radio with the 350c a slow as 355 I may try it. Any thoughts or experience with a 350c on a M/C
In response to the question posted by John on April 14th, 2006. I have owned an IWay 350 since early January and used it extensively. I’ve had it shut down about a dozen times, always when it is operating in the sun and has gotten hot. Taking it out of the sun and allowing it to cool seems to be the best solution. It will come back on once it has cooled. I have tried resetting it, but that is only a very temporary solution until it cools and is not necessary for it to restart.
Also of note, the FM transmitter works well if it is not competing for a signal. I live in a large city so there are very few open frequencies. When traveling cross country, the signal is clean and strong unless you drive through an area with an FM station on the same frequency.
I just bought the 350c. I was using Garmin V and what a different!
I was very worry initially because it took the unit 30 mins to first locate its new position. Afterwhich, the capturing signal time is about 2~3 mins.
Can someone help me on the following:
(1) How to display Time of Arrival on the Overlay while navigating? This is to stop the “Are we there yet?” question.
(2) How to set so that during daytime, it will automatically display “daytime” mode and display “nighttime” mode when it is night time.
Many thanks.
Andrew –
1. I can’t remember if this is an option or not on the Lowrance iWay 350c. (I don’t have a unit right now to test.) But if it is I would expect it to be in the “Overlay Data Setup” section. (p. 29 of the PDF user manual.
2. I don’t think this is a function of the iWay 350c. You can manually change the brightness, however I don’t remember a night mode on the 350c.
Thanks for replying GPS Review.
1. I tried all options in the Overlay Data Setup screen but was not able to find the “Arrival Time”. I had it on Garmin and find it very useful while travelling. Please help.
2. In the Interface Options, you can choose “night mode” and it looks great in the dark. Since GPS can calculate sun rise and sunset, it can automatically turns day or night modes. Honda’s GPS has that option.
Andrew -
1. Just because you had it on the Garmin doesn’t mean Lowrance has the same feature on the iWay 350c. I don’t think that feature is there.
2. Again, not all GPS receivers have the same features. I don’t think the iWay 350c includes that feature.
Goto Options->Overlay Data Setup->Add Here->Navigation->Route Data
The first option is Arrival Time.
Thanks, Matt!
Matt – THANKS A MILLION! I am now a happy 350c owner.
Just got the 350C and it just as expected (GREAT), however the low battery flag comes up on start up and then low battery flashes in the upper right corner all the time.
Have left it plugged in over the weekend but still low battery.
Is it something I am not doing right?
Joe, how were you recharging your battery, plugged into the cigarette lighter or do you have an AC adapter?
You may not be getting power if your ignition is off if your charging it in your car.The red light should go on on the unit everytime its plugged in whether it by the car or ac.Also if you have the unit in the standby mode and it is not plugged in the battery will drain.
Sorry Guys
I have a 120V to Cigarette lighter in the house and red light is on the Cigarette Plug.
Joe, if the power source is confirmed to be working then it sounds like you might need to talk with Lowrance about a hardware issue with your iWay 350c.
Thanks all, will e-mail Lowrance customer service.
Again thanks
Joe
I have a 1 gig SD card installed in my i Way 350c. I have loaded music files to the card but when I do an audio search nothing shows up. When the card is remove from the unit the preloaded samples are present. When I look in browse music files with card in place I see the files but they wont load and play. Any one have any help? Tnx, in advance.
Jim – You say you loaded music files. I assume they were MP3 encoded music files and not another format like files from the iTunes music store or other audio types?
Nope, Windows Media Player library. I assume this is why it doesn’t work.
I think that is correct, Jim. I think the only format supported is MP3.
I am having the same issues with the Battery as the Joe Mota, Joe did you get a response from Lowrance?
Below find the replies received from the customer service department – I am awaiting the return authorization.
When I plug in the SD card not only can I not read files, pics ect. from it, the samples stored on the hard drive are unavailable. This happens even when there is nothing stored on the card. There is a beep when the card is inserted or removed.It worked fine on a Garmin iq3600. Any suggestions?
TNX IN ADVANCE.
Jim – Sounds like you might need to contact Lowrance about a possible repair/replacement for your iWay 350c.
Just came back from a long trip. I like to report that the iWay 350c performance was overall good. The major problem that I encountered was that it periodically suddenly mistaken me driving on the road that was parallel to the highway while I was already on the highway for quite some time.
This problem usually happened when the GPS was being used for more than an hour. It is not the heat problem because it happened in the night too. At worst, my position was displayed as far as 1 km away…So, the GPS kept on recalculating and prompting new useless instructions. The only way to solve this problem was to restart the unit and let it relocates itself again.
Beside being weak in positioning accurately and quickly, iWay 350c is best in overlay display details, night display and still easily readable in bright sunlight.
I recently purchased i350c. Works great when it get the signal, but does not get the signal in Manhattan or where there are trees and also takes 4-6 minutes to find it. Is there any fix?
Dhiraj – The GPS chipset in the iWay 350 c is a 16 channel receiver. GPS receivers which have fewer channels will not (generally) be able to receive as good of a signal and take a longer time to acquire a signal.
GPS receivers are typically 12, 16, or 20 channel receivers so the Lowrance iWay 350c is in the middle of the pack in receiver quality. I don’t think there will be anything you can do to improve the signal quality short of using an external antenna. (I can’t recall if there is an external antenna available for the iWay 350c.
Being surrounded by tall buildings (like Manhatten), under dense foliage, or in deep canyons are often troublespots for GPS receivers. Many of the newer GPS receivers with 20 channel receivers perform much better in these “fringe” areas.
[...] Lowrance is now offering a $50 rebate on the iWay 350c and a $100 rebate on the iWay 500c. “Street” prices on the 350c are currently about $400 bringing the total price down to about $350 while street prices on the 500c are currently about $585 bringing the total price down to about $485. [...]
I have a quick question: I unpugged my IWAY 350 from my windshield and took it in a hotel with me (for security reasons). The next day I put my IWAY back on the windshield and plugged it in and my screen doesn’t have my menu options anymore. The only thing remaining on the screen is what looks like the map but it is zoomed in really far. I have tried touching the screen and it just moves a horizontal and vertical line to intersect where my finger touches. Does anyone know how I can get the menu back on the screen? I am helpless without my IWAY!
Amelia – That doesn’t sound good. I would suggest contacting Lowrance support regarding your iWay 350c.
How long should the battery in my i350 hold a charge when not in use? I can fully charge the unit and after a couple of days it’s completely dead. Is this normal? Tnx.
Jim, the battery should hold a charge much, much longer than that when not in use. Unfortunately I’d suggest you also call Lowrance about your iWay 350c.
Jim,
If the unit is in the standby mode(default) it will continue to run when no power is getting to it thus draining your battery with 1 day.Yot need to change this setting.
Good point, John. I forgot about that setting on the iWay.
Jim,
Let me know if that tip worked out for you.
Great service from lowrance. I called about my 350, got a ra #- mailed the unit- and within 10 days had a new one shipped back with all the addresses and routes reprogrammed into the new unit.
I’ve had the iWay 350c for about a month and have found that the maps are pretty up to date but the Points of Interest (POI’s) are not. Is there an update available for the POI’s for this model or is there any way to access the internal hard drive data and add or remove POI data?
Steve – Lowrance has not released any updates for the iWay 350c. I wouldn’t expect them to at this point since the newer models have been announced. You could manually add your own items to the address book.
[...] Lowrance has released a software update for the Lowrance iWay 350c. The current version is now 1.2. You can verify the version of software you have in your iWay by selecting the ‘menu’ icon on the display, then ‘Options’, go to the third tab, ‘Page 3′, select ‘Device Information’, and look under the ‘iWay 350c’ line. [...]
Where can I find info on the newer models? I googled and searched at Lowrance’s website and came up empty. Any ideas on when it will be out and how much?
I’ve been mulling over buying the 350c but suspected that newer models with better features will be out soon.
Ron, the new models are the iWay 250c and the 600c.
I’m just curious to see if anyone has actually received their rebate (as mentioned in comment 60 above)for purchasing iWay 350c or 500c. When I checked the status of my rebate submission online, it (conveniently) indicated that I had not included the bar code, so my rebate was invalid. Of course I sent the bar code, and there was only one on the box, so it had to be the right one. I made copies before sending everything, but does anyone else have any experience with this?
Steve, did you try calling 800-706-5733?
I just loaded the 1.2 update version for 350C and loving it! Here is some changes that I observed
(1) It is slightly faster in getting its location.
(2) Now it will say ‘3 KM’ instead of just ‘3′.
(3) The 3-D, North up, or True direction options are an icon on its own.
(4) Address input is not as good as Garmin but it will automatic display the possible addresses once enough information is keyed in.
(5) More languages option.
But it still has accuracy problem…still thinking that I was on the road that was parallel to the one that I was driving. Just have to live with it.
Andrew,
I DIDNNT THINK THERE WAS A UPGRADE FOR THE 350.hOW DID YOU GET IT?
GPS Review,
I called the 800 number initially and was only able to receive an automated response system which indicated that my submission was invalid. However, today I was able to actually speak with a person who supposedly fixed the problem so that I will receive my rebate. Thanks for your help!
John,
If you follow the links in Comment 71 above, they will lead you to the 1.2 update.
Thanks for that info…Now where do you get the usb cord for the 350?
John, the USB cable comes with the 350c.
Never got one with mine.Ill have 2 check around …Thanks
John,
The USB cable is the same like most digital camera USB cable. If you cannot find your 350C cable, you can get it in radio shack or some even avaliable at Dollar shops. Remember to fully charge your 350C and have a 512MB SD ready before doing the upgrade.
I would like to play the “geocacheing” game. How do I enter the co-ordinates into the iway350c?
a street in my neighborhood has been closed and built over. My iway350c tries to send me down that street all the time. How can I delete or hide that street from the iway350c?
Does anyone know which memory card can be used with the iway350c?
Glenn – I don’t think you can enter coordinates directly. I’ve heard from some people that you can create a POI near the cache, then edit the POI and change the coordinates, then use straight line navigation. However I haven’t tried this myself so I don’t know if it works.
You cannot modify any of the underlying mapping data (street names locations, etc).
Jim – the iWay 350c uses SD cards. Probably 1GB or less would work best.
A determining factor in purchasing the iway350c was that it had a battery. My feeble mind led me to believe that you could walk about with the unit and find a geocache. I love all the things that the iway350c does and I have navigated to some complicated addresses in large cities that I have never been to before. Should I purchase another cheaper GPS that accepts co-ordinate input to Play “Geocache”?
You could do that, yes, but it wouldn’t be much fun. You would need to navigate by watching the lat/long display and comparing that with the lat/long of the cache and then figuring out (in your head) which way you want to go.
For a GPS suitable for entry level geocaching, check out the eTrex which you can pick up for about $80-$95 from most places.
I own a iWAy350. One of the issues I am facing is that sometimes, after powering ON the systems takes ages to find its current position. When I go to the GPS status, no or few bars are visible. It takes a while before finding its position. Is there any solution for this?
Manny, are you in nearly the same spot when you turn on the GPS as you were when you turned off the GPS? If you move a considerable distance from its last known position it will take longer to acquire a signal.
Other thoughts. Is the battery fully charged and has it held a charge since the last time it was turned on when it has trouble finding a signal?
Do you frequently turn the GPS on in the same spot? Maybe there is something in that spot that is causing small interference with the GPS reception.
You mention it takes “ages”. How long (in minutes) does it typically take?
Manny,
See my message (76). I have been using the new software update for a month now. The GPS locates its location very much faster and sometime I was surprised at the short time that it needed for locating itself.
Update the software and I am sure you will be a happier user.
All,
Thanks for your responses. To the questions asked -
01. The problem happens in different locations. I happens, even if I switch it back ON at the same location I have switched OFF (my driveway).
02. Taking ages can be as long as 45 minutes.
03. I will try and upgrading the software and see if that helps.
Thanks,
Manny
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the great conversations that are happening here! Since this page is getting long with comments (and some of the other pages have over 200 comments on them) I’ve decided to try something new.
We are now offering GPS Forums where you can start your own threads, reply to others, and have a slightly more unmoderated, free flowing discussion than these comments allow.
You will need to register for the forums to participate although hopefully it will be painless.
Here is a link where you can find the Lowrance iWay forum where you can continue to discuss the iWay 350c.
The only people who will know about the forums (for now) are people that read this and another comment. Therefore the amount of posts will be very small at first. It is a test, and if things go well I’ll make a full announcement and encourage more participation in the forums. Please contact us with any questions or concerns.
ok so right out of the box it didn’t work. i dunno if this is an isolated thing, but the first time i calculated a route it gave me a route that took 1400 miles to go what usually takes me 40 miles…ya a difference of over a thousand miles….told me it would take me days to go what usually takes me less than an hour…after that it just stops working all together and now iv got a blank screen with an arrow on it..it doesnt give me any menus or maps…just a black arrow…next ill move on to the battery life…doesnt come with a wall charger and there is no way to change the batteries…i thought built in batteries would be better but i have never been able to hold a charge more than 40 min…even though it says the battery life is up to 15 hours….next the mounting bracket always falls off my window when im driving which makes for a very safe drive, while your fumbleing around trying to pull the device out from under your feet on the freeway…oh and u have to buy your own memory card..not to much nice to say about it..kind of a waste of money…
MY 350C IS A GREAT UNIT. HOWEVER IT LOOSES SIGNAL FREQUENTLY. IF I RESTART IT THAT DOESNT HELP, BUT IF I SHUT IT OFF FOR 5 MIN IT USUALLY FINDS A SIGNAL AGAIN BUT SOON LOOSES IT AGAIN. THE 5 MIN SHUTOFF WORKS AGAIN BUT HOW OFTEN CAN YOU DO THIS AND CALL THE UNIT DEPENDABLE? OTHERWISE IT IS A GREAT UNIT- MP3 PLAYER AND PIX VIEWER.
I had this iway350c for a few months, charged it last night, turned it on today and it keeps referencing by base location in Tulsa, OK not Peoria, AZ? How do you reset the base location and time zone?
I gave up on my 350c. It has great software that allows you to customize what you want to see but it kept getting its location wrong. I concluded that it is the fault of the 350C’s receiver chip that is responsible for locating and computing the satellites. Look for SiRFstarIII receiver in your next GPS and it will locates itself in less than 15 seconds. I just bought my 6th GPS, a Magellan 4250, it is cheaper than 350C and boy, it is so intelligent and faultless. Is there anyone want to buy my 350C? $50 any taker?
Just wondering if you still have the gps by any chance?
Shannon, I’ve got an iWay 350c I haven’t used in a year or more… Is there something you need?
I have a 350 c. Actually I’m on my fourth one and it is going back for service. My first one locked up right after the warrantee was up. It cost me $200 to have them send me a replacement. This one turned itself off constently. Back again for replacement. This time no cost because it failed within 6 months. The third unit also repeatedly turned itself off and often could not load software. Back for replacement. Fourth unit is going back today. Screen frozen up. All relacement units had different serial numbers so I assume they were new. There is something wrong with the general quality of this product. I will never purchase a Lowrance product again. I have had Garmin products before and they are great. I must be an idiot for switching to this. Going back to Garmin.
Originally thrilled with my 350c, I too am disgusted with it’s shabby performance. It is only reliable about half the time, before it’s positional fix drifts, causing the unit to constantly attempt to regenerate a useless new route and directions. This often happens during a critical part of the trip, then you have no way of knowning which exit to take or highway to get on. My wife tried to throw it out the window on our last trip but I stopped her for obvious safety reasons. I went to the Lowrance website and noticed they don’t even make this model anymore. What a piece of junk, I will NEVER buy a Lowrance product again. My next one will probably be a Garmin or TomTom.
Here is an update to posting No. 98 above. Got a new unit back. Used it one time and it worked. Turned it on the second time and the unit will not start up. All I get is the first screen with the Lowrance name on it then the unit turns off in about 10 seconds. Back again to the factory. This is junk. Don’t buy.
The software version I have is 1.5. Is there really no way to get map updates without spending $75 plus shipping? I hate to give up the unit I finally understand, but there have been a lot of new addresses and roads built since summer of 06.
on my forth unit and it is bad now, It keeps locking up and turning itself off, I would not buy a lowrance product again if they were a penny.
by a garmin i had a lowrance 350 no map updates recalating takes forever. I got a garmin nuvi 350 you can buy the map updates at [snip] really easy just going to local [snip]. Plus if you got out dated maps when you buy it they will allow you to update the maps to current for free one time. i bought the lowrance when it first came there the crummiest company there is for gps. the 350c is a major waste of money. Get a garmin nuvi 350 with the sirf 3 anntena or watever gps you buy get a sirf3 anntena built in it and you will never lose your signal. trust me i’m a truck driver who uses the 350 all day it never loses signal and recalutes in just few secs. one thing not to buy is a garmin 7200 it has older style antenna and will lose singal alot most of the newer garmins have a sirf 3 anntenna plus garmin already has 2009 maps out tell me someone else that does a map update every year. i have at the garmin nuvi 350 for 2 years no problems.
I disagree that the SiRFstarIII chipset is the only way to go. It is now quite a few years old and competitors have largely caught up and in some cases surpassed them while SiRF hasn’t released a successor that really “wowed” everyone like the SiRFstarIII did. Don’t get me wrong, the SiRFstarIII is great, but I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a GPS that had a different chip as there are other really good chips out there to.
As to map updates, keep in mind that it is currently 2008, so the Garmin map they call “2009″ is a bit of a misnomer and is built on a release from 2007. Also most of the other GPS manufacturers do offer yearly map updates so Garmin is not alone in that regard. In fact TomTom releases map updates every quarter.
yea tim your probaly right i just had bad luck with lowrance 350c and i bought a garmin 7200 after i bought a garmin nuvi 350 i don’t know what the garmin 7200 uses but its junk it loses signal all the time sirf 3 never does your probaly right about newer antennas out there with the bad luck i had i’m just afraid to use anything but sirf 3 right now. like thats in garmin nuvi 350 i been useing forever. anyone ever use navigon 2100 i see them dirt cheap any idea what type antenna they have? i been thinking of buying a few as christmas gifts.
never buy a navagon all they do is crash every 5 minutes and take 20 minutes to calculate
I gave up on this product a long time ago. I timed it – to get a satellite signal in my front yard (no trees – lots of open sky), it took 22 minutes. When it did get a signal, it turned out to be 2 blocks to the north and a block to the east in the housing track I live in. As soon as I went into my car, lost signal and never found the signal again. A 3.5 hour trip from LA to Palm Springs never got a signal. Always thought it needed an external antenna, but my model (350c) did not come with an outlet for such. Got a Garmin nuvi for Xmas – it works wonderfully straight out of the box! I am going to try and reformat the drive and use it as an external hard drive. IT IS NOT GOOD FOR ANYTHING ELSE.
I am currently using my iWay350 only as a MP3 player. The GPS part does not work.