Lowrance iWay 600c

[SVCarolena]

Does anyone have any experience they can share regarding the Lowrance iWay 600c GPS? I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive portable GPS to use in the cockpit. Most of my sailing is on the Potomac and Chesapeake. I see that Sailnet has a special going on now and I like the idea of supporting them for hosting this great forum. But before I pull the trigger, I'd like to know if it is better to go with a straight marine GPS, rather than a dual purpose (i.e., roads and marine). I've searched the forum with no luck, and there are few reviews on the internet that focus on the marine function. Thanks in advance.

[sailingdog]

Lowrance isn't known for making a good terrestrial navigation GPS IMHO. If you're going to get a Lowrance, get a marine only unit... if you want a dual purpose (both car and boat) get a Garmin.

[BarryL]

Hello,

I like Lowrance products. I have had two marine combo chartplotter / sonar units and I liked them both (the first one went with the boat when I sold it).

I don't have any experience with the Iway. I thought about getting one in the spring when I was in the market, but I decided to get a marine only unit (LMS 337C DF) instead because the Iway does not support data in / out and I wanted to connect me DSC VHF to it.

So if you want to send / receive data (NMEA 0183 or 2000) the Iway is out.

If you want a unit for vehicle use it should work well. It also has interesting entertainment options like MP3 playback. If all you plan on using it for is marine use, there are better options. Note the Iway does not run on batteries, so you will need to provide a power cable.

If you want an inexpensive marine unit, the M68 C S map is less than $400 and does sonar as well. You can get a battery pack to make it portable. The Ifinder H20 is cheaper and more portable, but has a smaller screen.

Most Garmin portable units (at least the units with screens larger than 2") are over $500.

IMHO, the bigger the screen the better, and color is better than monochrome. I have a Garmin Etrex Legend mapping hand held and it works great but the screen is too small to be useful as a chartplotter. But, in all reality, but my use (short cruises in well known areas, lots of day sails) it is enough. I do like the 5" high res screen of the Lowrance unit a lot.

Barry

[deniseO30]

I have a Lowrance H20 model it does land (highways and roads) if I remove the naticpath mini-disc. See if the one you want does work with nauticpath $99 gets you charts for the whole coast of u s a !