Lowrance iWAY 350C Compact Automotive GPS System

Lowrance iWay 350c

iWAY 350C Compact Automotive GPS System Review, by Tracey Capen March 27, 2006

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• Reviewed by: ss20

  Strengths: 1. Low cost2. Reasonable performance3. MP3 player and FM transmitter built-in

  Weaknesses: 1. Loss of GPS signal may cause unit hang up2. Not logical routine selection (must select "detour" or "cancel" all routes to use new destination)3. Old map database

  Overall: I got this unit for 6 months now. It works reasonably well most of the time. If unit is powered up the first time, it takes at least 5 minutes to acquire GPS signal: a bit long. User interface is about average: I can use it without reading the user manual. But the routine logic is a bit illogical and confusing. Problems encountered: 1. Unit can't stand heat inside the parked car (put it away when not used) 2. Unit hangs up after losing GPS signal during heavy rain: must cycle power to reset it. That is not good while driving in fast traffic and in unfamiliar places. So have your %0.50 paper map back up jt

• Reviewed by: paismm

  Strengths: Quick,very effective and smart. Good buy for money. Has a lot of features which others have at a higher price. Works well , Very satisfied.

  Weaknesses: Does not come with a standard AC adaptor for home charging.

  Overall: I love my Iway350C . I recommend it strongly. Its maps are very recent Q1- 2006. Its features though initially confusing can be very easy to handle once you get a feel of it.

• Reviewed by: yohowo

  Strengths: mp3 player.

  Weaknesses: It doesn'y work after a month.

  Overall: I and my friends bought two of this. After one month, both screens are whole white, and show "out of memory" or "skin file lost". The USB doesn't not work, so we cannot update any software or screen. The map is old(2003). I needed it to drove from NY to CA. But the customer service responsed my mail 10 days after I filled the form on their web. Even worse, now body pick up the customer service phone(I made calls for three days). It a bad experience to buy this product.

• Reviewed by: airman733

  Strengths: touch screen, fm broadcast to car radio built in, SD memory slot, MP3 player with adequate storage, fades music when giving direction update.

  Weaknesses: battery or charging system, unit on the slow side when finding its initial location.

  Overall: The Lowrance iWay 350c worked normally for 3 or 4 days. It started failing to hold a charge during its first road trip?not at all what I expected. It worked fine when plugged in; however, I bumped the plug in a downtown unfamiliar city and it went immediately dead. Plugged it back in and it took several anxious blocks before it recovered. I realized that the charging system had failed and it was not good at recovery following a power off.I sent the unit back to the factory for repair. Their response to my problem and the ship, repair, return cycle was much better than I expected. The service reps were busy; however, they both answered my email in two days and answered my following phone call in 15 minutes.I received the return repaired unit last evening. Today, as before, the battery will not hold a charge and it will operate only when plugged in. In other words, the replacement unit has the same exact flaw as the original unit, or the unit was returned without repair, either reason unsatisfactory.Considering that I have read other comments about battery and charging issues, I would avoid the purchasing the iWay 350C. It looked like a great value for a casual navigation user; however, it has had no value so far. I enjoyed 3 days of use out of the first 3 weeks of ownership and it will probably be in shipping for an additional two weeks. Hopefully it will be in satisfactory working condition upon its second visit to the factory.

• Reviewed by: nefstath

  Strengths: Great features

  Weaknesses: Quallity

  Overall: The features and price of this GPS unit will have you thinking it is too good to be true. And for the most part, it is. There is no GPS unit in the market that offers this combination of features for this price; which is exactly why I bought one of those myself. For the three days that it worked, it was excellent. Clear FM transmitter, good MP3 player, long lasting battery, and good enough navigation. On the 4th day it started experiencing a problem seen in many reviews: the unit kept misplacing my car by about 200 yards, thinking I was driving parallel to the highway (but not on it), so it kept giving me instructions on how to get on the highway I was already on......at every, single exit. This became very annoying, very quickly. I turned the unit off and gave it a break. The next day when I powered the unit up, it could not find a single satellite to log on to. This went on for about 2 days, at which point I decided to return it for a refund before it was too late. It turns out this problem was not unique to my unit. If you are going to buy this unit I would suggest you buy it from a store that has a good return policy. I will wait for the next version of it before I give Lowrance another chance.