Product Description: Portable color GPS+WAAS navigation system shows you the way to any destination across town, or across the U.S. Pick your destination with the touch-screen display and the iWAY 500C automatically displays the best route, and gives you turn-by-turn directions with voice and visual guidance. Substantial 20GByte internal hard drive, with 10GBytes allocated to built-in, high detail mapping and 10GBytes reserved for MP3 music storage to be used with the built-in MP3 player!
Amazon.com Product Description: The fully loaded Lowrance iWay 500C Automotive GPS+WASS Receiver with MP3 Player not only gets you where you need to go, but it also lets you relax along the way with your favorite digital music files. Simply pick a destination via the easy-to-use touchscreen display, choose your favorite tune, and you're on you way. The iWay 500C will automatically display the best route and give you turn-by-turn directions with voice and visual guidance while you listen to your music. And being WAAS-enabled means that the iWay 500C is accurate within three meters, making it a great fit for scavenger hunts as well as road trips.
On-screen visual cues guide you through a route. View larger image.
3-D display mode. View larger image.
Access 10 GB of MP3s through the music screens. View larger image.
The Lowrance iWay 500C features a touchscreen, GPS navigation, MP3 music, and more in a single device.
When it comes to navigation, the iWay 500C features both street address searching and best auto-routing choices that help you to choose the most efficient route. With these options, you can choose which toll road or interstates to choose or avoid, and you can find a route that avoids left-hand turns. The unit's mega-memory storage gives you access to up to 1,000 waypoints. The hard drive also holds a ton of other information as well, including a preloaded Navteq turn-by-turn database with maps of the entire continental U.S. and Canada. With the internal USB port, you can update the maps with your PC, ensuring that you have the most up-to-date information available.
With so many advanced GPS features and an easy-to-use interface, it's easy to see why the iWay 500C was the recipient of PC Magazine Editor's Choice Award and Laptop Editor's Award in 2005. But the iWay goes a step further by making sure that when you are relying on it to make your way, you'll never have to compromise on road safety. In addition to its voice guidance feature, the iWay 500C sports a Safety Passenger mode that allows a passenger to use the GPS features while the car is in motion. An easy-to-read five-inch diagonal display features a super-bright, backlit screen and sleek blue LED backlit keypad. These features combine to offer superb readability even under bright, sunlit conditions.
The iWay 500C is also designed to help you enjoy your time on the road. You can enjoy up to 10 GB of digital music files, or 5,000 compressed MP3s (depending on method of compression) on the device, which includes such music functions as browse files, play lists, repeat, shuffle, scan, and equalizer. Among the accessories that are included with the iWay 500C are a speaker/cigarette power adapter with volume control and 0.125-inch stereo jack, a hardwire adapter with 0.125-inch stereo jack for wiring into car's stereo system, and a suction-cup mounting bracket for windshield applications. The compact unit measures 6.1 by 4.5 by 2.15 inches (W x H x D) and carries a one-year warranty.
What's in the Box iWay 500C GPS/MP3 player, cigarette lighter adapter with volume control and 0.125-inch stereo jack, hardwire adapter with 0.125-inch stereo jack, suction cup mounting bracket, USB cable, 110-volt AC to 12-volt DC power adapter, protective cover, touchscreen cleaning cloth, user's manual.
Great GPS System - Amazing Accuracy A friend let me borrow his last fall for a trip through Vermont and New Hampshire. I was amazed at the roads this baby picked up. I mean, out of the way, top of the mountain, dirt roads. And with a touch of a button, you tell it to take you back to the main highway and you're off. I recommend this GPS system 1000%
Lowrance iWAY 500c - Extreme Dissapointment I purchased the Lowrance iWAY 500c as a birthday present for my directionally challenged wife. Her mother has a Garmin Nuvi that my wife had been using and loving while on vacation in Florida. I purchased the Lowrance after looking at reviews on CNET, which rated the unit as the second best on the market and above the Garmin.
After receiving the unit, I have been extremely dissapointed. While the screen is very easy to read, the touch screen user interface is not nearly as intuitive as the Garmin. What is even more disspointing is that the unit often struggles to find our location. It takes between 45 seconds up to 3 minutes to find itself after being turned on. The Points of Interest catalog is very dissapointing and largely inferior to that of the Garmin. Additionally, the unit often instructs us to make turns that do not make sense. For example, in route towards our home via a major thoroughfare, the Lowrance instructs us to turn onto a side street that is full of stop signs and ultimately loops back to the main thoroughfare. The only thing that CNET sited as less than ideal was the massive size of the unit. I was willing to deal with that to take advantage of the many reported positives. I now regret that decision since there do not appear to be any positives about this device.
In fairness, I haven't contacted Lowrance yet to discuss the problems. My recommendation to others would be to head toward Garmin or another device over this unit. What a dissapointment
SUCKS I hate this GPS. It got me lost in the boonies more than once, it takes forever to get satellite signal, maps are extremely hard to read while driving, having to use the stylus is really inconvenient. My suggestion is get a more user-friendly GPS that you can easily navigate at red-lights or short stops. I have a Mio c310 it was really cheap and easy to use...literally take it out of the box and get going. This thing is something else.
This GPS is a mixed blessing I have used my iWay 500C for the last two years and believe that I have gotten pretty good use out of it, but there have been some serious issues:
1. I bought this unit because it was waterproof and rugged (I mounted it on my motorcycle as well as used it in my car). However, the iWay overheats on a regular basis. During the summer in the car, it frequently warns of shut down, even though the temperature in the car is not excessive (air-conditioned).
2. The navigation database has some peculiar route anomalies and often chooses a less than optimum path. For example, I live about 15 miles from a main highway in rural Missouri and the iWay insists on a route to said highway that is over 3 miles longer. Even though secondary roads are paved and in good condition, their database appears to be treating some of these roads as no better than dirt tracks.
3. The software update process from 1.3 to 1.4 took over two hours and the unit worked worse and had more database issues after I performed the update.
I have decided to sell the iWay and have bought a Tom Tom One, which costs less than a third and works a whole lot better.
not a good unit Our unit died just before the warranty was up, I sent it back ($50 because of weight and insurance). They sent me a refurbished one, didn't work. I sent it back (on their dime). They sent me another refurbished one; it stopped working after two hours. I sent it back; they sent me a new 600C. This one works for now, but I don't expect it to last the full year. I thought Lowrance made quality products, but after this experience, I believe there quality has suffered a devastating blow. I would not recommend there products anymore.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
