Any experience with Lowrance's internal GPS?

[joshimoto son]

Okay!!! I give up!!! They got me.
I have been bashing Lowrance ever since my units have started to develope problems a few years ago.
I swore that I was going to switch over to Garmin if it killed me.
Well... I'm going to have to eat my words.
Lowrance is coming out with equal technology for less, Plus!
Navionics have increased their coverage on their chips AND... decreased their price.
Garmin has lowered their price, but NOT ENOUGH.

So I'll get to my question.

Has anybody had any experience with Lowrance's internal GPS units.
Does the internal GPS units connect and stay connected like the external units.
I've norrowed my selections down, this is one of my last desicions I need to make before
I purchase.
Also, Cabelas has free shipping when you purchase from them.

I also think Federation members get discounts, I haven't read up on it, but would the discount apply if I were to buy from Cabelas?


Thanks,

Josh

[McCarter]

I think you have to order directly from lowrance to get the federation member discount.  Dont quote me on that tho.  I dont remember the womans name that you are supposed to call, but i will do some digging and see if i can come up with it.

PoorBoy himself

[McCarter]

Found it.  Hope this helps.

Heather Williams
LEI Extras ? Lowrance B.A.S.S. Federation Product Sales Rep
Federation Lowrance/Eagle product purchases under promotional program
e-mail: hwilliams@lowrance.com
Phone: 800.324.0045, Ext #8313
Fax: 918.234.1710

PoorBoy himself

[joshimoto son]

Thanks brotha from another motha!
I'll be sure to call.

[djkimmel]

I haven't tried or seen one of the new internal models yet, but I really like the idea. I have to give a big ol' THANKS out to PoorBoy because I'm grabbing up one of the 480 combo packs he talked about (at least I hear it is coming). That will have to do it for me for this year.

[fishon1219]

I dont have the lowrance model , But I do own a Eagle Cuda with the built in GPS. I have had it for 2 seasons and so far I have not noticed any variations in the waypoints at all. The first season I sat on top of a stump on kent lake and saved the way point, this past season it put me on top of the same stump so it is working for me. I put this unit on the bow of my boat and I dont know how I got by with out it all these years. If you do any walleye jiging in the river it is one of the best tools you can buy. If you make a drift and hook one, save that spot because there are always more than one in the same little cluster. Drift back over the same spot and you will catch another. With this tool I was able to catch my limit several times this past season in just 5 passes. The price was also right on this unit. Under $200, in fact I seen them in a catalog not to long ago for $149.

[joshimoto son]

Fishon1219,

How fast does it connect to the satelites?
I know the new units with external antenna is almost instant.

Thanks for the info in regars to accuracy.

[fishon1219]

It connects in less than 30 seconds depending on were I used it last. If I stay in the greater detroit area ( Oakland, wayne, Washtanaw countys) it is real fast. I did turn it on in Indiana after using it around st.clair and it took about 3 minuets to find itself, otherwise it is fast enough.

[joshimoto son]

Thanks for the info. I will be getting one unit for sure this spring, maybe two!
I'll be sure to give a report once I get a chance to use it.

[djmaclf]

If I flush mount the IGPS will I loose any single?

[blakstr1]

Anybody know off hand what the standard Lowrance discount is to Federation members?  Looking to make an upgrade...

[djkimmel]

I think it is dependent on the model you are interested in. I haven't called it in years, but everyone I have talked to has been happy with the price in the past.

[blakstr1]

I'll have to give her a call...looking to get a new color GPS/Sonar for the console...then I will spend the extra $50 to hook up the temp sensors for the livewell...

[joshimoto son]

I talked to the guy from Lowrance at the show this past weekend.
He said that the internal GPS is just as strong and connects just as
fast as the external ones.

Now I am trying to figure out the best system for my boat.
either the Lowrance.net system   or...
If I'm just going to buy two seperate Sonar/GPS untis and mount them
individually.

the Guy at the booth.... I think his last name was "Fulton"
didn't know much about the network and how the units actually interacted.

i.e. if I bought one combo for the counsel can I network it to be able to
see the map on a sonar unit on the front?

Well, I've got a lot of money to save up between now and April.
I'm getting ready to write another post and tell ya why.

I think that I have enough knowledge now to be able to call up Lowrance
and talk with them without going cross-eyed.

Remeber Cabela's has the free shipping going on.

[MBell]

Lakemaster will be coming out with their mmc card for Michigan soon.  With an ifinder you can get yourself the best contour map on gps for under $300 and that includes the ifinder!  You can't beat that, the screen is a little smaller but it's portable. 
-Matt 

[djkimmel]

I will be interested in seeing the Lakemaster product. I have several of their computer maps and use them quite a bit.

As far as displaying pictures to multiple units from one transducer, the documentation at Lowrance says you can't do that because the bandwidth required to do that is too much for the LowranceNET cables. You can display other sensor readiings and digital depth only.

I'm sure this will evolve quite a bit and probably pretty fast in the next few years.

[5alive]

My tournament partner used a Eagle Cuda on the front this year and I was totally impressed. It was very accurate and never had to wait to find the satellites. It also has the WAS, I have never liked the Lowrance product until this feature was added, look for more internal antennas on my boat for sure.

[blakstr1]

Anybody know off hand what the standard Lowrance discount is to Federation members?? Looking to make an upgrade...

Well over the past couple weeks I have been e-mailing and ordering items through Heather @ LEI and just wanted to report how happy I've been dealing with them, our Michigan Bass Federation discount is awesome, varies per product but some items were actually around 45% off!!  I ordered a few items yesterday via e-mail and they showed up through FedEx today!  She has been tons of help, can't wait to have my GPS installation project done..should be very soon.

[djmaclf]

I looked at getting the 334c with the internal, however I was told by Lowrance the internal word not work correctly if I flush mounted it.  I ended up getting the 332c for the front flush mount and the 25c for the console.  So far they are working great!

[joshimoto son]

I bought the 334c, I really like it. I did flush mount it in my dash.
I have found at times when I'm under a lot of trees, such as in a cut, I will lose my signal.


It was really easy to install and has great resolution.

joshimoto son