Lowrance iWay 500c

[flyingreg]

I saw this in PC Magazine. It received there coveted Editor's Choice Award. The unit has a 20GB hard drive with a partition set at 10GB so you can load 10GB of MP3 files in addition to having 10GB for maps! No longer will you need a separate music player. Lowrance even thought of a motorcycle mount as an option. The unit has a 256 color screen @ 320 megapixels, 5 inch screen, 1000 waypoints and on and on the list goes. The price really isn't bad either. I found them as low as about $636.

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1817854,00.asp

for some reason the above link will not copy as a complete link, so you will have to copy and paste the link into your browser window.

 

http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?refer=cnet.com&id=1003365698

 

Happy shopping!

[Rags]

Is the 20GB internal hard drive; flash or rotary.

 

If it's a rotary hard drive, it might be problematic on a bike.

[sgendler]

Hard drives work OK on motorcycles, so long as they aren't mounted too firmly to a hard surface. An MP3 player on a RAM arm will work fine, while an mp3 player that is hard mounted to a RAM shelf will usually exhibit some problems. I've used hard drive mp3 players on motorcycles for 5 years now without any problems (one I learned that I couldn't hard mount it to surfaces). I'd have to see the handlebar mount accessory to be sure, but I'm sure it could be made to work.

 

--sam

[Tom V]

I have used the IWay on my LT for 4-5 months and over 7000 miles---no problems. I also use it in several cars. Great unit.

 

Rode in HEAVY rain today---unit performed perfect.

[flyingreg]

I have used the IWay on my LT for 4-5 months and over 7000 miles---no problems. I also use it in several cars. Great unit.

 

Rode in HEAVY rain today---unit performed perfect.

The unit is waterproof to industry standards. The hard drive is rotary, but as stated this isn't a problem if properly mounted. The mount is a type of ball mount, similar to a RAM mount, I believe. I wouldn't mind trying one, but have a new 2610 for the next couple of years.

[Rags]

Regarding a soft mount pad: I bought an inexpensive place mat at Bed Bath & Beyond, that had a stiff waterproof topside and about 1/8" sponge rubber under.

 

Contact cement to my ram mount platform (for V1). Material doesn't flap at speed and has anti shock value (stiff upper water resistant & saves foam rubber from UV)

 

I sure would like to see a pic of a unit mounted on a ram mount

[CraCol]

I have used the IWay on my LT for 4-5 months and over 7000 miles---no problems. I also use it in several cars. Great unit.

 

How's the mapping software, compared to Garmins?

[Tom V]

I have a Garmin Streetpilot 3 that went to my son when I got the IWay.

 

Since I never did routing or mapping on the computer (and then put it into the Garmin)--I do not miss the option of downloading routes to the GPS (IWay does not support computer to GPS routing).

 

I really like the ability to customize the screen info (position and size of info as well as Which info!) on the IWAY. Very advanced and easy to use.

 

In actual use---the IWay gives good directions and updates options and 'off route' info much quicker than my Garmin. I understand that the latest Garmin (2610) also uses a much quicker processor.

 

Overall, the Iway is much friendlier to use for me---touch screen, Bigger Screen, great detail (or adjust detail out!), user selectable screen layout, easy to 'waypoint', easier to find addresses, whole USA on the unit, plus MP3 music (this is just a bonus--mostly I just use the GPS function).

 

Hope this answers your question!

[CraCol]

Hope this answers your question!

 

Sure does, thanks..

[Rags]

Spoke to Lowrence today & was told the update was due Sept or October.

 

I also went to Best Buy to touch & feel the unit. Man is it heavy. I would think the mount has to be short - cause the vibration & load would be substantial. It's booked at 2lbs +, it feels heavier.

[CraCol]

What is the update due to address?

[KMG_365]

I have used the IWay on my LT for 4-5 months and over 7000 miles---no problems.

 

I would be VERY leery of mounting any hard-drive/micro-drive unit on a boxer twin. The Garmin 2620 is basically a 2610 with a pre-loded microdrive instead of a compact flash card and I've known of at least 4-5 folks who've had the 2620's drives fatally crash on their boxers (on various mounting systems), while none of the K-bikes (LT's and GT/RS's) users ever reported any problems that I ever remember reading about.

 

The screen protector on my 2610 seemed to just rot completely away over the last 80,000 miles and now I've got a bad spot in the touch screen that makes the unit think I've touched the screen (in the same place every time) and won't go out of edit-mode. The problem is intermittant enough to be annoying (although some carefully applied percussive maintenance helps snap it out of its trance), but Garmin wants $225.00 flat-rate as a minimum just to fix anything at all with it!

 

I'll be checking out the iWay really hard! Anyone know if they provide Mac software?

[KMG_365]

Lowrance's official site.

[jeffemac]

I bought my IWay 500C last March in prep for a cross country trip. I attached it to my '96 R1100 RT on the handlebar mounts via the RAM mount. I really loved this unit when it worked...unfortunately that wasn't very often. I tried 3 separate units and 2 power cables and the results were the same. The unit would freeze and wouldn't come on unless you stopped the bike. I got mighty tired looking at the IWay 500C Logo that appears during the start up mode. When the unit would freeze it would bring up the logo, wait a few seconds, the unit would flash, and then the logo would reappear. If you stopped (or slowed to <20 mph) the unit would actually restart.

 

I agree that the hard drive units don't function well on twins. Hopefully the new Garmin 2720's new solid state technology has eliminated the problem experienced with their 2620 hard drive unit. In talking with their tech support staff, they were aware of the vibration issues with the hard drive and resolved this with the solid state unit. Hopefully that's true because my new unit is on its way...

 

Send me an email if you want to discuss the problems I experienced offline.