Lowrance 000-0125-03 iWay 250C 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator and MP3 Player

We enjoyed the convenience of traveling with our Roadmate 500. When you arrive in a new city somewhere, you are tired and unfamiliar and no matter how much you love each other, getting lost on the way to the hotel is good for some cranky exchange.

The 500 is obsolete as far as European maps are concerned so with an upcoming 3 weeks in Italy, it was time to see how far the new portables have come. My Lexus GX is disappointing and ridiculously expensive for what you get. It is non-intuitive (IMHO) and you cannot change anything underway requiring pulling over in spots equally as dangerous as Toyota/Lexus feels changing while moving is.

It came down to Garmin's sexy and capable NUVI 360 and the fishfinder Lowrance company's iWay 250C. I tried both side-by-side to see how they performed. You cannot go wrong with either one and I found the differences negligible for my needs. Navteq maps are superior to anything else in the USA and Tele Atlas are the benchmark for Europe. Lowrance did that right among other things. NUVI uses Navteq which is apparently very good in Europe as well but Tele Atlas is reprted to be better there.

Both are intuitive out of the box. The NUVI is sleek and slightly smaller and both are about the same weight. The NUVI resolution is superior and the voice street names are great. Lowrance will name some streets and the others are clearly annouced as "Left turn in 400 feet" or whatever. The NUVI sports Bluetooth capability with your compatible phone but the volume is not suffient to make it useable even in a nice quiet Lexus or equivelant so that is wasted on me. The MP3 capability is of little interest to us but we may learn more and find it uselful. NUVI will play your MP3's while navigating which the 250C will not, I don't care.

As far as POI's, the 250C found more for me but it was a relatively small sample so don't make a decision because of this. I found the real resosn for owning either one is the navigation. It is hard to justify paying twice the price for same maps and a slightly inferior voice capability. The auto version of the mapping on the Lowrance is so cool as it knows to give you the grander picture when you have some distance before the next turn and kindly switches to an expanded view when necessary.

The mount on the NUVI is excellant and so is the Lowrance. Both have enroute travel power cords and both have supplementry maps on cards wherever you want to go. I will keep the Lowrance and return the NUVI, the price is just not worth the difference, at least to me, although your mileage may vary...

Purchased this and was very impressed by the touch screen and the ease of use. However, after using it for a couple of days, I'll tell you the things that I found lacking:

1. It knows when you stop the car and will power off automatically. However, it won't power on automatically. You have to unplug, turn on the power, then plug back in. Not so fun after repeating the process several times.

2. The "warm-up" time after it boots up is quite long and I consistently found it took 5-10 minutes to find my current position.

3. Using the turn-by-turn instructions can be challenging at times because the distance is off by about 100 feet. For example, it will tell you to take a left turn in 300 feet. It is actually 200 feet so you get a little confused at first but you get used to it.

4. If you want to cancel your destination, that button is buried in the options page and even when you arrive at your destination, it doesn't always register so as you're driving away, you'll have to listen to it tell you to go back to where you came from. Cancelling the navigation is a pain while you're driving by the way so don't try it unless you want to have a head-on collision with oncoming traffic.

Positive features are that the points of interest are abundant and it saved me much time driving around looking for an ATM or gas station. The "Gauge" page is also pretty cool as it will tell you your current speed and estimated time until destination.

This is a great product , the only bad thing that i didn't like about was that it's just a pain to cancel your route destination, and you don't see the streets name while your driving. It feels like you are driving in the desert.


There were a few challenges getting set-up, but overall we have been pleased. We have used it primarily for navigation, but plan on using the MP3 player.

The GPS Navigation System was a very helpful tool when we were traveling out of state. It also was very helpful to have the voice feature because sometime it was not possible to look at the GPS and be safe driving.

I've owned Lowrance aviation gps units, so I already knew they build high quality units, with lots of features, at prices much lower than Garmin units. Lowrance is definitely not a no name nav sysgem, as they pretty own the marine matket..
Mostly same concluson for the 250c, Works great out of the box, using default settings, all US maps on a SD card, don't have to select or load map for current position. They cut costs on the GPS engine, as it is not a WAAS unit, regardless of what documentation says, and don't know what chip set they used. But lock on time was quite fast, and position seemed accurate. May not be most sensitive receiver, but more than adequate. Driving in DC burbs, was seeing 5-6 sats, while a very sensitive gps I have often shows 7-8 sats. So can't report how the 250 performs in an urban jungle, with lots of sky blockage. Unit itself is quite slim in thickness, with a 3.5 inch color touchscreen.

Route calculations DC to LA address, took the unit 2 minutes to calculate, I think very good for a 2600 mile trip, though the way it got to the San Fernando valley was a little odd, coming slightly from North. A short local route took 20 seconds. Uses an unusual sliding bar preference scale for advoid highways, toll roads, instead of just check boxes, but I like it, because it actually lets you set the preference bias on how it will calc a route, and than tweek it and tune to what you want, rather than just a yes/no. Instructions say it trys to advoid
freeways for short trips, but I found that to be variable. Sliders were set to mid points on scale.

Sound clear and loud, but name to voice option only has it call the name of some major roads/highways, otherwise is just says turn next right, which is better than a computer voice calling out a street name you can't understand. The name calls it does make almost sound prerecorded, and maybe they are.

Only small negative, sometime the voice prompts get ahead of itself. For example, take next right onto highway, and as you start to make turn, you hear, take next right again. It is telling you to take first offramp in 2 miles, but you might think there is a trick bear right entrance to highway right on you. But a quick look at the map screen shows you and the route. It only occurs ocassionally, and it might be possible to tune that with voice option promps. My other software will say, turn right, follwed by bear right, for those situations of two instructions very close together.

Mounting bracket is quite nice, but since I don't like to put sucker on windscreen, I used the option of the adhensive disk to top of dash, and then attach suction cup to that. Much nicer, just don't expect to get that disk off without leaving marks.

Overall an excellent unit, very easy to select destination address with smart lookup, and pick POIs. No PC downloading, since entire US/Canada is preloaded on SD card. I believe the equivalent garmin unit would be twice the price.

I have found that my GPS comes in handy to travel to my grandson's hockey games, as well as other traveling. It was one of the best purchases if have made.

I bought this for my daughter for xmas. I researched many before desiding on this one. I think it does a great job navigating and has some cool features my daughter loves. Like being able to put pictures on it. Couldn't be happier with purchase and neither could my daughter.

I was going to return this GPS, because it got us lost twice on our trip. If you pretty much know where you are going, then this is a good gps. I wouldn't blindly rely on it though. It did give us bad directions a few times, but I already had mapquest directions, so I knew not to use the route it was giving me. If I were going to purchase another one, I would buy a more expensive model by another company.

I have not had much experience with automotive gps, but the Lowrance brand is great for marine. The 250c loaded up great and I had no setup difficulties with it. The one odd thing was that it was preset on locked mode, so that if you were moving and it locked on to the sats, you could not access anything, so you have to unlock it if you are a single driver and i find i can use it safely when at a stop light or slowing. One thing about the ui is when you load a new route it asks you what you want to do with the old one, and that takes a second. Also on startup is slow to find and lock on to satellites, it will usually read 3-5 within 60 seconds, but takes about 2 or 3 minutes more to acquire. The accuracy is usually within 200 feet and i have gotten used to double checking the next directions at a safe time.

I was not able to connect it to the computer, but playing mp3s or putting photos on it is not necessary to me since i have a printer and a radio. The power cable is perfect to plug in from anywhere on your dash. On my car I did have some difficulty mounting it as everywhere was a curve and legally I cannot put it on the windshield. I ended up finding a spot down near my radio, but i turned up the volume so it could be useful.

The only thing more I could have wanted was the FM interrupter thing, so that when listening to the radio it could interrupt, instead of having to be more attentive. Other than some of the minor things, its a great gps and is perfect for any traveling your gonna do.

This navigational system is useless. I have never gotten so lost before in my life. It tells you to take next left, when indeed it is in about 3 lefts, vise versa with rights. Gave to my daughter and she constantly called me lost and upset so I tried it myself. It literally took me about 9 miles out of my way to get to a local establishment. Tried changing the preferences and it was worse. Checked the manual, tried everything, if you put it on preferences for no toll roads/highways it takes you in circles down back roads till your dizzy. If you program it on tolls/highways it will take you miles out of your way to locate a toll road and then back again. If you program to the middle of the preference line it does not know where the heck you are and keeps searching. Stay away! This one is a waste of money.

I recently purchased this item from Amazon after an extensive search and a ton of comparison shopping. I'd have to say that I'm amazed at how easy it was to figure out the basic functions. I was able to take the unit out of the box, mount it to my windshield using the very convienent suction-mount that was included, and find directions to a nearby atm machine, a fast food restaraunt, and then back home. This whole ordeal took about 2 minutes. The color screen is beautiful, the menus are understandable, and there is a TON of data on the included 2 gig card.

This was one of only a few units in the price range that supports turn-by-turn directions on land, and "direct to" navigation on water. I've bought the Fishing HotSpots maps to use on the water this Spring, and I can't wait to stick this thing on my boat and see how the direct navigation mode works.

Only drawback (and why the Iway's are cheaper than Garmins) is the accuracy on your current location. I'd say it gets you within 50 feet of your driveway/parking lot/whatever destination. That's close, but it does think I'm home when I'm sitting in front of my neighbors house. My freind's Garmin Nuvi is more like 5 feet accurate. For half the cost of a similar Garmin, I can figure out those last 50 feet on my own.

I've used the MP3 player and it is functional, but nothing special. I don't care though, that's not why I bought it.

This is a great little GPS. It's versitile but still simple emough to be easy-to-use. Highly recommended.


I've been using the 250c for about 2 months now and overall I'm happy with it. Generally it gives directions that will get you where you are going, but sometimes it is not the most direct route (for routes I know).

The only real problem I've had is how long it sometimes takes to locate the satelite and find its initial position. Once it locks on, it stays on pretty well and if you lose it briefly(go through a tunnel) it will re-locate itself pretty quickly.

At less than $200 it is quite the deal for a basic GPS.

I did a lot of research including the Magellan, Garmin, Etc and was a bit nervous about buying the right one!! I am Active Duty Military and use all of my spare time/leave traveling with my Wife and Kids in our 5th Wheel and did not have a huge budget to work with. I bought the iWay 250C based on other reviews and the low price. I have been using for at least 30 days and can tell you it operates as advertised. I bought the extra high gain antenna and have not had to use it yet. The system usually acquires the satellite within 30 seconds to a minute and has not lost the signal yet (in the Mountains of Montana). I did not even have to read the manual to learn how to use it. The on screen menus walk you through it with ease. As far as accuracy, we have not been lost once and puts you within 0 to 10 feet of your destination. I highly reccommend people save some money for other things and buy this system!!! I have no need in the Ipod function, but when not using the GPS I simply replace the card with one with pictures of my family, nice option!!

I bought a lowrance 250c after a good deal online. So far its been a unit that has worked for me. One has to understand that this does not use the latest technology in terms of acquiring a signal so everytime you power down then power up, it may take as long as 2-3 minutes before the satellites find your location. Once it is acquired, the signal has so far kept on point (as long as you don't power off again). This is a little more than a minor annoyance for me because I am an impatient person and do not like to sit in a car waiting until a signal is acquired. This unit has also been pretty accurate in my travel, but I've noticed that one road was displayed as "times blvd" while the real road is "rice blvd". The maps and points of interests (POIs) are up-to-date, I believe they are the 2006 version. I went ahead and bought a 4 GB SD card 150x speed to allow for extra memory for MP3s and I heard the 150x speed actually makes the Lowrance faster (in acquiring a signal or calculating routes, I don't know, hopefully both). So far here are some pros and cons of this unit.

Pros:
- A huge memory of POIs. I was amazed at finding a hole-in-the-wall chinese restuarant I go to (some internet maps don't even show it in their database)
- Inexpensive compared to similar models of other brands
- Long battery life (6-8 hours for me)
- Good voice navigation (with exception-see below "Cons")
- Comes with a nice mounting interface (sticker also included) and power charger
- Can play MP3s and navigate at same time (unit will pause MP3s when giving directions, then automatically continue playing MP3s)
- Accuracy to location is pretty good (less than 100 feet for me)
- Updated preloaded maps from 2006
- Once signal is acquired, the signal remains fixed on vehicle continuously
- Compact size, one may be able to pocket or put in a small purse
- Very customizable display, you can show speed of car and distance/time left to destination if you want)
- Automatic power-down and off function.

Cons:
- Takes at least 2 minutes to acquire a signal. Too long compared to other models (less than 30 seconds for Garmin Nuvi). It could definently be longer if overcast or raining. It will be a pain for those who travel constantly as a job (e.g. Fed-Ex guy), because u can't afford to wait until signal is acquired again (i suggest don't power off the unit at all to keep the signal).
- In daytime, the sunlight causes glare on the screen and is not very readable. Worse if you wear sunglasses, I had to rely solely on the voice commands.
- Small capacity for MP3s (40MB) on the packaged 2GB SD Card, people who wants to use dual functions simultaneously (MP3s and navigation) must buy a 4GB SD Card
- No text to speech function. If I can't read screen, I would prefer that the voice says the street name instead of calling out "take right in 500 feet"
- A few POIs are incorrect, experienced a time where a restuarant was at the right side of the street while voice commanded me to take a left instead.
- If you use picture mode, the pictures are very slow to load.
- Does not give you alternate routes (route fo shortest time). I noticed that it gave me a route that would definently take 20 minutes longer if I decided to take it. I believe it calculates routes skewed to taking the main roads and highways instead of smaller obscure ones.

Overall, I'm satisfied with this 250C unit. I could have definently afforded to buy a Garmin Nuvi for twice more, but didn't think I needed to. I also thought about the Mio, but aside from a fast acquired signal, I heard too many bad things about it including awful maps and directions. Now if my job required me to travel everyday, then yes, spend the cash and get the Garmin Nuvi.

Graphics aren't bad, maps are fairly accurate and the same goes for the turn-by-turn instuctions. There are, however, a LOT of flies in the ointment:

First and foremost - very week ability to detect satellites. The unit loses contact frequently and takes an inordinate amount of time to relocate them. The slightest hint of clouds make this process take even longer.

Second, VERY puny CPU. It's calculations are excutiatingly slow. So if you try to get the unit to set a route that's longer than, say, 75 miles you may be done with a big chunk of the trip before the GPS actually completes the calculation. And, of course, once the original calculation is completed, your current position is no longer the position the calculation is based on, and the process of recalculation starts all over again... Very frustrating, unless you are on a relatively short trip.

Third, it does have a built-in mp3 player but it might as well not have it. The sound is pretty bad. And if, heaven forbid, you try to play music while it's in the process of making ANY calculation whatsoever, the sound gets worse and the calculation gets much slower.

All in all, it's better than no GPS but the price differential between this and the better units (I have an older Garmin StreetPilot unit with which I'm very happy) is not enough to justify the purchase.

For the price it does a great job. There's not a lot of poi that I look for , but if you put in an address it gets you there. I used it from NY to SC and around Columbia and it has done a really good job. If I had $800 to spend then that would be a different opinion. Best bang for the buck.

I purchased my first GPS unit, this Lowrance iWay 250C, a month ago, and have used it 5 times. We took a 5 hour drive to Chicago, and this unit got us all the way to our destination with no problems. In fact, road construction caused our planned exit to be closed. After we passed the closed exit, the unit immediately gave us a new route to our hotel.
Once at the hotel, we were able to carry the unit with us to find our favorite restaurants and visitor attractions. We would sometimes lose the signal to the satellite, when we were walking between tall buildings. As soon as we came to an intersection, the unit would re-acquire the signal, and send us on our way.
It is very user-friendly. My wife even caught onto it, and programmed our destinations into the unit without ever referring to the user's guide. We never had to use the paper maps we brought with us.
I'd absolutely recommend this to anyone who is considering a first-time purchase of a GPS.

Pros:
Cost -- I could have spent twice as much for a better unit but this meets my needs just fine.
Size -- Small size fits fine over one of my A/C vents. Much better than using the included suction window/dashboard mount.
Memory -- I purchased a low cost 2GB SD memory - works just fine as a backup.
Antenna -- This GPS has a connector for an external antenna. I purchased an external active antenna (not the expensive Lowrance brand). It significantly improved the reception and permits mounting of the unit anywhere in the auto.
Performance -- Not the latest technology but OK for my use and its lower cost.
Mapping accuracy -- So far, I have found the road maps to be accurate. However, some POIs were not.
Routing -- In general, it has good routing.

Cons:
Display -- Forget about using the display in bright sunlight.
Street ID -- Displays the name of the road you're driving on TWICE. But does not display the names of cross streets.
Street names -- Voice commands do NOT mention street names, only route numbers.
Heading -- For some reason it can display your bearing, but will NOT display you're heading.
Dated technology -- Older technology means less receiver sensitivity, longer satellite accusation time, slower route processing, etc.


I have read previous reviews about this unit. However, I have mixed feelings about the issues with the signal acquiring time too slow, and puny CPU when calculating routes. Well, I purchased the unit for my wife's car, because the built in NAV for my car is very useful. We use my wife's car whenever we go for a long distance trip with the kids. So, I thought a portable NAV should be feasible in term of costing. I purchased the unit a little over a week ago, and I'll tell you it works like a charm. The nice thing about this unit is it got the latest map and build version when arrived. I took the little iWay out for a test against my in car NAV, and it works beautifully. Acquiring signal within minutes (less than 2). What I found interesting was the auto re-route function. After setting the destinations for both NAVs, and proceed as instructed. I purposely take a wrong turn to see how the auto re-route wok, and to my amazement, the little iWay quickly auto re-route a few seconds before my in car NAV does! The auto re-route was fast and pretty accurate. I was amazed. I also did a little test on how fast the routes generation work by entering my parent's home address, which is in Montreal Canada. And I'll tell you, the route generations only took less than a minute (say about 30 seconds). Quite fast for a little guy. One other function that I found most often used when on travel is the Find function (iWay) or the Quick Stop (my in car NAV). This function will find the nearest restaurants, rest stops, ATM, GAS, and etc. Very useful feature and a must have. Overall, this little Gem iWay 250c is a Champ. Works great out of the box, easy to use Graphical interface, pretty darn accurate, great price and features for the money. I highly recommend this product to everyone. If you have an issue with your signal acquisition than you must have gotten a defected product. Return and exchange for a new one.

It takes very long for the product to connect to the satellites. So, you have to wait sometimes 8 minutes before it starts navigating. I returned it in one week of use.

This is my 3rd (and least expensive) automobile GPS. It is by far the best. On a recent trip a reunion group was given written directions to a classmate's home in a gated, remote location. Many lost their way. I entered the address, ignored the written instructions, and was led flawlessly through complex turns to the location. The touch-screen operation (no push buttons!) is a real plus and the programmable SD card data storage promises a long up-to-date life. The screen size is a bit small, but bright and easily readable, even for a senior citizen.

I live in a Small town in Texas. I was amazed how accurate and updated the maps are. This Navigation System is easy to use and easy to setup. I love the touchscreen. The voice is loud and very clear. I have been using it for a few weeks now, and I havn't come accross ANY negative things to say about it.

I first bought a Garmin (not from this seller), and I returned it because too many items were missing with the shippment. Now that I look back, it was a blessing. The screen was too small, and it wasn't a touchscreen. So when you had to type anything, you had to use a Scroll wheel, that took forever to use. Also, it required batteries, not even rechargable.

I read reviews that satalite acquasition was long. Sometimes it was less then a minute for me, but I would start driving anyways, and it would still lock on. So no time sitting idle was lost.

When you stop the car, all the points of interest automaticaly pop up. When your driving a long ways before the next waypoint, all the little streets, exits and entrances are filtered out so it doesn't clutter the screen. They will turn back on, when it is necessary for them to be shown. I was amazed how smart this unit is.

The iWay 250 is a GOOD buy. It exceeded my expectations.



I picked up this GPS because I had trips coming up to Atlanta and Chicago. I had always heard that Atlanta is difficult to navigate because there are a million streets named "Peachtree" so I wanted something to help me get around, especially since I had never been there. Thanks to the iWay, I got around just fine. Chicago will be another test at the end of this month.

I would suggest that anyone purchasing this GPS practice with it around their home town just to get a feel for how it works or how you need to work with it.

One quirk I found was that while the GPS would alert me to a turn well ahead of time, the countdown to the turn is a bit off. I would be at the crossroads in the turn lane and the system would show that I had 20 feet remaining until I needed to turn. It may be that it meant that I had 20 feet to complete the turn. Anyway, I just needed to make the mental adjustment.

Another thing I noticed is that the maps on the SD chip are a couple of years old, so things might be a little off if an area has gone through a lot of recent construction. They have re-done the roads near my parents house and it wasn't accurate on the system, however the system did figure out a way for me to get there. Also, since restaurants come and go that search may not be completely accurate either. For other, more established sites like hotels, museums, hospitals, stadiums/arenas, malls, etc., you should be fine. I did check the Lowrance web site to see if they had any updated maps, but it doesn't look like it.

My only real complaint is that it takes a while to "boot", so you may want to turn on the GPS in your car 10 - 15 minutes before you go anywhere just so it is ready when you are. Also, it appears to lose signal when in a long tunnel.

I gave it a 4 out of 5 because I do think you get a lot for the price. If price doesn't matter to you, I'm sure there are better systems.

Must to wait for a long time for pre-position, very slowly calculation and re-calculation, etc.. I returned this item through couple days and buy new one Garmin Nuvi 350 - this is great item, I really like it, probably best one on the market.

I purchased the Lowrance 250C about a month again and I couldn't be happier. I was very pleased with the spread that I received the GPS and it was packed great.
I've been waiting awhile to give a review because I wanted to put it through it paces. I think I've done that now since I've used it on my trip from Tennesse to California. Not only did it handle the interstate driving and navigating well, but it has been simply FANTASTIC in LOS ANGELES! ...and that's one hard town to navigate in. The Lowrance is fast to generate a new route; however, it is a bit slow to acquire an initial signal. If you're running in and out of the car I'd suggest leaving it on battery while your out of the car.

As an example of the accuracy, we went to the Queen Mary while in Long Beach. I was in the parking lot getting ready to leave and needed to find the best way to the interstate. I noticed as I was leaving the 'parking lot' that it showed me exactly where I was at ...and where not talking 'roads'. These were parking lot 'lanes'.

I'll put my money down anytime on any Lowrance that holds to the quality of this unit. If all the Lowrance units are this good, I wouldn't even waste my time looking at Garmin or others. This has done it all and with almost no failures of any time. ....and $190 !!!! YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED AND I'D BUY IT WITHOUT HESITATION.

I can't say enough good things about it. Right on Lowrance!!!


The product was easy to set up and has been as good as advertised. Am very satisfied with its performance.

Purchased this untit after returning another brand. Maping is eeamless in the US and Canada. I found that the voice instructions sometimes get confused at unusual intersections, circles, etc. but the map directions were accurate. I took a trip from NH to Prince Edward Island and it did a great job directing me right to our motel on PEI. Only problem was that many streets and towns on this small island were not in the searchable database, but all roads even the most remote were mapped. never experienced the delays noted elsewhere

Must to wait for a long time for pre-position, very slowly calculation and re-calculation, etc.. I returned this item through couple days and buy new one Garmin Nuvi 350 - this is great item, I really like it, probably best one on the market.

I purchased the Lowrance 250C about a month again and I couldn't be happier. I was very pleased with the spread that I received the GPS and it was packed great.
I've been waiting awhile to give a review because I wanted to put it through it paces. I think I've done that now since I've used it on my trip from Tennesse to California. Not only did it handle the interstate driving and navigating well, but it has been simply FANTASTIC in LOS ANGELES! ...and that's one hard town to navigate in. The Lowrance is fast to generate a new route; however, it is a bit slow to acquire an initial signal. If you're running in and out of the car I'd suggest leaving it on battery while your out of the car.

As an example of the accuracy, we went to the Queen Mary while in Long Beach. I was in the parking lot getting ready to leave and needed to find the best way to the interstate. I noticed as I was leaving the 'parking lot' that it showed me exactly where I was at ...and where not talking 'roads'. These were parking lot 'lanes'.

I'll put my money down anytime on any Lowrance that holds to the quality of this unit. If all the Lowrance units are this good, I wouldn't even waste my time looking at Garmin or others. This has done it all and with almost no failures of any time. ....and $190 !!!! YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED AND I'D BUY IT WITHOUT HESITATION.

I can't say enough good things about it. Right on Lowrance!!!

I picked up this GPS because I had trips coming up to Atlanta and Chicago. I had always heard that Atlanta is difficult to navigate because there are a million streets named "Peachtree" so I wanted something to help me get around, especially since I had never been there. Thanks to the iWay, I got around just fine. Chicago will be another test at the end of this month.

I would suggest that anyone purchasing this GPS practice with it around their home town just to get a feel for how it works or how you need to work with it.

One quirk I found was that while the GPS would alert me to a turn well ahead of time, the countdown to the turn is a bit off. I would be at the crossroads in the turn lane and the system would show that I had 20 feet remaining until I needed to turn. It may be that it meant that I had 20 feet to complete the turn. Anyway, I just needed to make the mental adjustment.

Another thing I noticed is that the maps on the SD chip are a couple of years old, so things might be a little off if an area has gone through a lot of recent construction. They have re-done the roads near my parents house and it wasn't accurate on the system, however the system did figure out a way for me to get there. Also, since restaurants come and go that search may not be completely accurate either. For other, more established sites like hotels, museums, hospitals, stadiums/arenas, malls, etc., you should be fine. I did check the Lowrance web site to see if they had any updated maps, but it doesn't look like it.

My only real complaint is that it takes a while to "boot", so you may want to turn on the GPS in your car 10 - 15 minutes before you go anywhere just so it is ready when you are. Also, it appears to lose signal when in a long tunnel.

I gave it a 4 out of 5 because I do think you get a lot for the price. If price doesn't matter to you, I'm sure there are better systems.

I live in a Small town in Texas. I was amazed how accurate and updated the maps are. This Navigation System is easy to use and easy to setup. I love the touchscreen. The voice is loud and very clear. I have been using it for a few weeks now, and I havn't come accross ANY negative things to say about it.

I first bought a Garmin (not from this seller), and I returned it because too many items were missing with the shippment. Now that I look back, it was a blessing. The screen was too small, and it wasn't a touchscreen. So when you had to type anything, you had to use a Scroll wheel, that took forever to use. Also, it required batteries, not even rechargable.

I read reviews that satalite acquasition was long. Sometimes it was less then a minute for me, but I would start driving anyways, and it would still lock on. So no time sitting idle was lost.

When you stop the car, all the points of interest automaticaly pop up. When your driving a long ways before the next waypoint, all the little streets, exits and entrances are filtered out so it doesn't clutter the screen. They will turn back on, when it is necessary for them to be shown. I was amazed how smart this unit is.

The iWay 250 is a GOOD buy. It exceeded my expectations.



It takes very long for the product to connect to the satellites. So, you have to wait sometimes 8 minutes before it starts navigating. I returned it in one week of use.

This is my 3rd (and least expensive) automobile GPS. It is by far the best. On a recent trip a reunion group was given written directions to a classmate's home in a gated, remote location. Many lost their way. I entered the address, ignored the written instructions, and was led flawlessly through complex turns to the location. The touch-screen operation (no push buttons!) is a real plus and the programmable SD card data storage promises a long up-to-date life. The screen size is a bit small, but bright and easily readable, even for a senior citizen.

I have read previous reviews about this unit. However, I have mixed feelings about the issues with the signal acquiring time too slow, and puny CPU when calculating routes. Well, I purchased the unit for my wife's car, because the built in NAV for my car is very useful. We use my wife's car whenever we go for a long distance trip with the kids. So, I thought a portable NAV should be feasible in term of costing. I purchased the unit a little over a week ago, and I'll tell you it works like a charm. The nice thing about this unit is it got the latest map and build version when arrived. I took the little iWay out for a test against my in car NAV, and it works beautifully. Acquiring signal within minutes (less than 2). What I found interesting was the auto re-route function. After setting the destinations for both NAVs, and proceed as instructed. I purposely take a wrong turn to see how the auto re-route wok, and to my amazement, the little iWay quickly auto re-route a few seconds before my in car NAV does! The auto re-route was fast and pretty accurate. I was amazed. I also did a little test on how fast the routes generation work by entering my parent's home address, which is in Montreal Canada. And I'll tell you, the route generations only took less than a minute (say about 30 seconds). Quite fast for a little guy. One other function that I found most often used when on travel is the Find function (iWay) or the Quick Stop (my in car NAV). This function will find the nearest restaurants, rest stops, ATM, GAS, and etc. Very useful feature and a must have. Overall, this little Gem iWay 250c is a Champ. Works great out of the box, easy to use Graphical interface, pretty darn accurate, great price and features for the money. I highly recommend this product to everyone. If you have an issue with your signal acquisition than you must have gotten a defected product. Return and exchange for a new one.

Pros:
Cost -- I could have spent twice as much for a better unit but this meets my needs just fine.
Size -- Small size fits fine over one of my A/C vents. Much better than using the included suction window/dashboard mount.
Memory -- I purchased a low cost 2GB SD memory - works just fine as a backup.
Antenna -- This GPS has a connector for an external antenna. I purchased an external active antenna (not the expensive Lowrance brand). It significantly improved the reception and permits mounting of the unit anywhere in the auto.
Performance -- Not the latest technology but OK for my use and its lower cost.
Mapping accuracy -- So far, I have found the road maps to be accurate. However, some POIs were not.
Routing -- In general, it has good routing.

Cons:
Display -- Forget about using the display in bright sunlight.
Street ID -- Displays the name of the road you're driving on TWICE. But does not display the names of cross streets.
Street names -- Voice commands do NOT mention street names, only route numbers.
Heading -- For some reason it can display your bearing, but will NOT display you're heading.
Dated technology -- Older technology means less receiver sensitivity, longer satellite accusation time, slower route processing, etc.


Bought this unit at a Wholesale Distributor for $169.00, got more than I think I paid for. Unit comes fully charged which is wonderful, when you want to play with your new toy. I did not have any problems with the slow Satellite Acquisition here in Phoenix. Although the Unit does not speak the street names, this may not be so bad for barely unpronouncable street names anyway. The only small issue I have is that the maps seem slightly outdated, however contacted Customer Service any they said they update the software now and again and to check their website periodically. To get all the details on the specs of the unit see other reviews but I can tell to you for less than $200 this unit is a steal.

I just purchased this product and couldn't be happier! I actually had to return the item because the first one I received was defective (called Lowrance tech support and verified that in a matter of minutes when couldn't aquire any satelites), but Amazon made that process painless by shipping out a new one the day I called them about it and sending me a prepaid return label to return the defective one. I received my new item in two days and it works great!! A lot of the other reviews mention problems with signal, but I live in the BOOOONNNIIEESS and have never lost signal once it is aquired (which never takes over two minutes or so). Even on the cloudiest day, this unit stays locked. I even sat it in the floorboard of the truck to see what would happen and it stayed locked. So...to all the naysayers I would state that this unit is well worth the money and has so far performed as well as the in car unit I used recently in a rental car during a trip to Germany. Great little unit.

This unit was truly not worth the purchase. It took long periods for satellite conction to become effective. The planned routes were quite absurd and did not get me to my destination. The worst part of having this unit was that although a particular address was entered, the unit overrode my destination and landed me elsewhere. My experience with other brands has been much better. I do not recommend buying this unit.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. The unit works great once you are able to get a signal. However, it takes a long time to acquire a good signal and after it does, if it does, it often looses it again while you are on the road. This means this product is worth nothing. Why? Because you cannot rely on it. If you loose signal and miss an exit you will have to wait until it acquires signal again so that it gets you back in track to your destination (hopefully it gets the signal back soon enough). Sometimes I can drive 25 miles home and it does not acquire a signal at all. AGAIN, DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. I gave it too long a chance and now I am stuck with it...

I purchased the iWay 250C GPS and could not be happier. The flexibility of this device is outstanding for the price. If you want to have a GPS to help you find your way around a new city or even find plaes lose to home that you had been missing - this is for you!!
Buy one you'll love it.

For the price it does a great job. There's not a lot of poi that I look for , but if you put in an address it gets you there. I used it from NY to SC and around Columbia and it has done a really good job. If I had $800 to spend then that would be a different opinion. Best bang for the buck.

I purchased my first GPS unit, this Lowrance iWay 250C, a month ago, and have used it 5 times. We took a 5 hour drive to Chicago, and this unit got us all the way to our destination with no problems. In fact, road construction caused our planned exit to be closed. After we passed the closed exit, the unit immediately gave us a new route to our hotel.
Once at the hotel, we were able to carry the unit with us to find our favorite restaurants and visitor attractions. We would sometimes lose the signal to the satellite, when we were walking between tall buildings. As soon as we came to an intersection, the unit would re-acquire the signal, and send us on our way.
It is very user-friendly. My wife even caught onto it, and programmed our destinations into the unit without ever referring to the user's guide. We never had to use the paper maps we brought with us.
I'd absolutely recommend this to anyone who is considering a first-time purchase of a GPS.

Graphics aren't bad, maps are fairly accurate and the same goes for the turn-by-turn instuctions. There are, however, a LOT of flies in the ointment:

First and foremost - very week ability to detect satellites. The unit loses contact frequently and takes an inordinate amount of time to relocate them. The slightest hint of clouds make this process take even longer.

Second, VERY puny CPU. It's calculations are excutiatingly slow. So if you try to get the unit to set a route that's longer than, say, 75 miles you may be done with a big chunk of the trip before the GPS actually completes the calculation. And, of course, once the original calculation is completed, your current position is no longer the position the calculation is based on, and the process of recalculation starts all over again... Very frustrating, unless you are on a relatively short trip.

Third, it does have a built-in mp3 player but it might as well not have it. The sound is pretty bad. And if, heaven forbid, you try to play music while it's in the process of making ANY calculation whatsoever, the sound gets worse and the calculation gets much slower.

All in all, it's better than no GPS but the price differential between this and the better units (I have an older Garmin StreetPilot unit with which I'm very happy) is not enough to justify the purchase.

I did a lot of research including the Magellan, Garmin, Etc and was a bit nervous about buying the right one!! I am Active Duty Military and use all of my spare time/leave traveling with my Wife and Kids in our 5th Wheel and did not have a huge budget to work with. I bought the iWay 250C based on other reviews and the low price. I have been using for at least 30 days and can tell you it operates as advertised. I bought the extra high gain antenna and have not had to use it yet. The system usually acquires the satellite within 30 seconds to a minute and has not lost the signal yet (in the Mountains of Montana). I did not even have to read the manual to learn how to use it. The on screen menus walk you through it with ease. As far as accuracy, we have not been lost once and puts you within 0 to 10 feet of your destination. I highly reccommend people save some money for other things and buy this system!!! I have no need in the Ipod function, but when not using the GPS I simply replace the card with one with pictures of my family, nice option!!

I bought a lowrance 250c after a good deal online. So far its been a unit that has worked for me. One has to understand that this does not use the latest technology in terms of acquiring a signal so everytime you power down then power up, it may take as long as 2-3 minutes before the satellites find your location. Once it is acquired, the signal has so far kept on point (as long as you don't power off again). This is a little more than a minor annoyance for me because I am an impatient person and do not like to sit in a car waiting until a signal is acquired. This unit has also been pretty accurate in my travel, but I've noticed that one road was displayed as "times blvd" while the real road is "rice blvd". The maps and points of interests (POIs) are up-to-date, I believe they are the 2006 version. I went ahead and bought a 4 GB SD card 150x speed to allow for extra memory for MP3s and I heard the 150x speed actually makes the Lowrance faster (in acquiring a signal or calculating routes, I don't know, hopefully both). So far here are some pros and cons of this unit.

Pros:
- A huge memory of POIs. I was amazed at finding a hole-in-the-wall chinese restuarant I go to (some internet maps don't even show it in their database)
- Inexpensive compared to similar models of other brands
- Long battery life (6-8 hours for me)
- Good voice navigation (with exception-see below "Cons")
- Comes with a nice mounting interface (sticker also included) and power charger
- Can play MP3s and navigate at same time (unit will pause MP3s when giving directions, then automatically continue playing MP3s)
- Accuracy to location is pretty good (less than 100 feet for me)
- Updated preloaded maps from 2006
- Once signal is acquired, the signal remains fixed on vehicle continuously
- Compact size, one may be able to pocket or put in a small purse
- Very customizable display, you can show speed of car and distance/time left to destination if you want)
- Automatic power-down and off function.

Cons:
- Takes at least 2 minutes to acquire a signal. Too long compared to other models (less than 30 seconds for Garmin Nuvi). It could definently be longer if overcast or raining. It will be a pain for those who travel constantly as a job (e.g. Fed-Ex guy), because u can't afford to wait until signal is acquired again (i suggest don't power off the unit at all to keep the signal).
- In daytime, the sunlight causes glare on the screen and is not very readable. Worse if you wear sunglasses, I had to rely solely on the voice commands.
- Small capacity for MP3s (40MB) on the packaged 2GB SD Card, people who wants to use dual functions simultaneously (MP3s and navigation) must buy a 4GB SD Card
- No text to speech function. If I can't read screen, I would prefer that the voice says the street name instead of calling out "take right in 500 feet"
- A few POIs are incorrect, experienced a time where a restuarant was at the right side of the street while voice commanded me to take a left instead.
- If you use picture mode, the pictures are very slow to load.
- Does not give you alternate routes (route fo shortest time). I noticed that it gave me a route that would definently take 20 minutes longer if I decided to take it. I believe it calculates routes skewed to taking the main roads and highways instead of smaller obscure ones.

Overall, I'm satisfied with this 250C unit. I could have definently afforded to buy a Garmin Nuvi for twice more, but didn't think I needed to. I also thought about the Mio, but aside from a fast acquired signal, I heard too many bad things about it including awful maps and directions. Now if my job required me to travel everyday, then yes, spend the cash and get the Garmin Nuvi.

This navigational system is useless. I have never gotten so lost before in my life. It tells you to take next left, when indeed it is in about 3 lefts, vise versa with rights. Gave to my daughter and she constantly called me lost and upset so I tried it myself. It literally took me about 9 miles out of my way to get to a local establishment. Tried changing the preferences and it was worse. Checked the manual, tried everything, if you put it on preferences for no toll roads/highways it takes you in circles down back roads till your dizzy. If you program it on tolls/highways it will take you miles out of your way to locate a toll road and then back again. If you program to the middle of the preference line it does not know where the heck you are and keeps searching. Stay away! This one is a waste of money.

I recently purchased this item from Amazon after an extensive search and a ton of comparison shopping. I'd have to say that I'm amazed at how easy it was to figure out the basic functions. I was able to take the unit out of the box, mount it to my windshield using the very convienent suction-mount that was included, and find directions to a nearby atm machine, a fast food restaraunt, and then back home. This whole ordeal took about 2 minutes. The color screen is beautiful, the menus are understandable, and there is a TON of data on the included 2 gig card.

This was one of only a few units in the price range that supports turn-by-turn directions on land, and "direct to" navigation on water. I've bought the Fishing HotSpots maps to use on the water this Spring, and I can't wait to stick this thing on my boat and see how the direct navigation mode works.

Only drawback (and why the Iway's are cheaper than Garmins) is the accuracy on your current location. I'd say it gets you within 50 feet of your driveway/parking lot/whatever destination. That's close, but it does think I'm home when I'm sitting in front of my neighbors house. My freind's Garmin Nuvi is more like 5 feet accurate. For half the cost of a similar Garmin, I can figure out those last 50 feet on my own.

I've used the MP3 player and it is functional, but nothing special. I don't care though, that's not why I bought it.

This is a great little GPS. It's versitile but still simple emough to be easy-to-use. Highly recommended.


I've been using the 250c for about 2 months now and overall I'm happy with it. Generally it gives directions that will get you where you are going, but sometimes it is not the most direct route (for routes I know).

The only real problem I've had is how long it sometimes takes to locate the satelite and find its initial position. Once it locks on, it stays on pretty well and if you lose it briefly(go through a tunnel) it will re-locate itself pretty quickly.

At less than $200 it is quite the deal for a basic GPS.

I have not had much experience with automotive gps, but the Lowrance brand is great for marine. The 250c loaded up great and I had no setup difficulties with it. The one odd thing was that it was preset on locked mode, so that if you were moving and it locked on to the sats, you could not access anything, so you have to unlock it if you are a single driver and i find i can use it safely when at a stop light or slowing. One thing about the ui is when you load a new route it asks you what you want to do with the old one, and that takes a second. Also on startup is slow to find and lock on to satellites, it will usually read 3-5 within 60 seconds, but takes about 2 or 3 minutes more to acquire. The accuracy is usually within 200 feet and i have gotten used to double checking the next directions at a safe time.

I was not able to connect it to the computer, but playing mp3s or putting photos on it is not necessary to me since i have a printer and a radio. The power cable is perfect to plug in from anywhere on your dash. On my car I did have some difficulty mounting it as everywhere was a curve and legally I cannot put it on the windshield. I ended up finding a spot down near my radio, but i turned up the volume so it could be useful.

The only thing more I could have wanted was the FM interrupter thing, so that when listening to the radio it could interrupt, instead of having to be more attentive. Other than some of the minor things, its a great gps and is perfect for any traveling your gonna do.

I was going to return this GPS, because it got us lost twice on our trip. If you pretty much know where you are going, then this is a good gps. I wouldn't blindly rely on it though. It did give us bad directions a few times, but I already had mapquest directions, so I knew not to use the route it was giving me. If I were going to purchase another one, I would buy a more expensive model by another company.

I bought this for my daughter for xmas. I researched many before desiding on this one. I think it does a great job navigating and has some cool features my daughter loves. Like being able to put pictures on it. Couldn't be happier with purchase and neither could my daughter.

I have found that my GPS comes in handy to travel to my grandson's hockey games, as well as other traveling. It was one of the best purchases if have made.

I've owned Lowrance aviation gps units, so I already knew they build high quality units, with lots of features, at prices much lower than Garmin units. Lowrance is definitely not a no name nav sysgem, as they pretty own the marine matket..
Mostly same concluson for the 250c, Works great out of the box, using default settings, all US maps on a SD card, don't have to select or load map for current position. They cut costs on the GPS engine, as it is not a WAAS unit, regardless of what documentation says, and don't know what chip set they used. But lock on time was quite fast, and position seemed accurate. May not be most sensitive receiver, but more than adequate. Driving in DC burbs, was seeing 5-6 sats, while a very sensitive gps I have often shows 7-8 sats. So can't report how the 250 performs in an urban jungle, with lots of sky blockage. Unit itself is quite slim in thickness, with a 3.5 inch color touchscreen.

Route calculations DC to LA address, took the unit 2 minutes to calculate, I think very good for a 2600 mile trip, though the way it got to the San Fernando valley was a little odd, coming slightly from North. A short local route took 20 seconds. Uses an unusual sliding bar preference scale for advoid highways, toll roads, instead of just check boxes, but I like it, because it actually lets you set the preference bias on how it will calc a route, and than tweek it and tune to what you want, rather than just a yes/no. Instructions say it trys to advoid
freeways for short trips, but I found that to be variable. Sliders were set to mid points on scale.

Sound clear and loud, but name to voice option only has it call the name of some major roads/highways, otherwise is just says turn next right, which is better than a computer voice calling out a street name you can't understand. The name calls it does make almost sound prerecorded, and maybe they are.

Only small negative, sometime the voice prompts get ahead of itself. For example, take next right onto highway, and as you start to make turn, you hear, take next right again. It is telling you to take first offramp in 2 miles, but you might think there is a trick bear right entrance to highway right on you. But a quick look at the map screen shows you and the route. It only occurs ocassionally, and it might be possible to tune that with voice option promps. My other software will say, turn right, follwed by bear right, for those situations of two instructions very close together.

Mounting bracket is quite nice, but since I don't like to put sucker on windscreen, I used the option of the adhensive disk to top of dash, and then attach suction cup to that. Much nicer, just don't expect to get that disk off without leaving marks.

Overall an excellent unit, very easy to select destination address with smart lookup, and pick POIs. No PC downloading, since entire US/Canada is preloaded on SD card. I believe the equivalent garmin unit would be twice the price.

There were a few challenges getting set-up, but overall we have been pleased. We have used it primarily for navigation, but plan on using the MP3 player.

The GPS Navigation System was a very helpful tool when we were traveling out of state. It also was very helpful to have the voice feature because sometime it was not possible to look at the GPS and be safe driving.

This is a great product , the only bad thing that i didn't like about was that it's just a pain to cancel your route destination, and you don't see the streets name while your driving. It feels like you are driving in the desert.


Purchased this and was very impressed by the touch screen and the ease of use. However, after using it for a couple of days, I'll tell you the things that I found lacking:

1. It knows when you stop the car and will power off automatically. However, it won't power on automatically. You have to unplug, turn on the power, then plug back in. Not so fun after repeating the process several times.

2. The "warm-up" time after it boots up is quite long and I consistently found it took 5-10 minutes to find my current position.

3. Using the turn-by-turn instructions can be challenging at times because the distance is off by about 100 feet. For example, it will tell you to take a left turn in 300 feet. It is actually 200 feet so you get a little confused at first but you get used to it.

4. If you want to cancel your destination, that button is buried in the options page and even when you arrive at your destination, it doesn't always register so as you're driving away, you'll have to listen to it tell you to go back to where you came from. Cancelling the navigation is a pain while you're driving by the way so don't try it unless you want to have a head-on collision with oncoming traffic.

Positive features are that the points of interest are abundant and it saved me much time driving around looking for an ATM or gas station. The "Gauge" page is also pretty cool as it will tell you your current speed and estimated time until destination.

We enjoyed the convenience of traveling with our Roadmate 500. When you arrive in a new city somewhere, you are tired and unfamiliar and no matter how much you love each other, getting lost on the way to the hotel is good for some cranky exchange.

The 500 is obsolete as far as European maps are concerned so with an upcoming 3 weeks in Italy, it was time to see how far the new portables have come. My Lexus GX is disappointing and ridiculously expensive for what you get. It is non-intuitive (IMHO) and you cannot change anything underway requiring pulling over in spots equally as dangerous as Toyota/Lexus feels changing while moving is.

It came down to Garmin's sexy and capable NUVI 360 and the fishfinder Lowrance company's iWay 250C. I tried both side-by-side to see how they performed. You cannot go wrong with either one and I found the differences negligible for my needs. Navteq maps are superior to anything else in the USA and Tele Atlas are the benchmark for Europe. Lowrance did that right among other things. NUVI uses Navteq which is apparently very good in Europe as well but Tele Atlas is reprted to be better there.

Both are intuitive out of the box. The NUVI is sleek and slightly smaller and both are about the same weight. The NUVI resolution is superior and the voice street names are great. Lowrance will name some streets and the others are clearly annouced as "Left turn in 400 feet" or whatever. The NUVI sports Bluetooth capability with your compatible phone but the volume is not suffient to make it useable even in a nice quiet Lexus or equivelant so that is wasted on me. The MP3 capability is of little interest to us but we may learn more and find it uselful. NUVI will play your MP3's while navigating which the 250C will not, I don't care.

As far as POI's, the 250C found more for me but it was a relatively small sample so don't make a decision because of this. I found the real resosn for owning either one is the navigation. It is hard to justify paying twice the price for same maps and a slightly inferior voice capability. The auto version of the mapping on the Lowrance is so cool as it knows to give you the grander picture when you have some distance before the next turn and kindly switches to an expanded view when necessary.

The mount on the NUVI is excellant and so is the Lowrance. Both have enroute travel power cords and both have supplementry maps on cards wherever you want to go. I will keep the Lowrance and return the NUVI, the price is just not worth the difference, at least to me, although your mileage may vary...