Is the Lowrance H2O C as bad as the reviews

I have had my H2O C for at least 3 years.  It is mainly in my pickup, but is mounted to my snow-mobile/ATV for ice fishing.  I believe it does work w/ ND Trax, but am not familiar with the software.  I will be this fall, that looks to be a great chip.  When I worked in fishing retail (3 years) I can't remember one being returned.

Umm, I think it's one of the best GPS systems on the market. I have the Expedition C which is essentially the same system but just has a few more features. I absolutely love the unit and it is easy to upgrade and navigate. I have played with most everybrand and for years Lowrance had everybody beat with this unit for years.

I've had my unit for 3 years now and still is going strong. The only gripe is the color is somewhat hard to see in the sunlight so I turn my light on but put it on the lowest setting to save batteries. As for the NDTRAX I can't see why it wouldn't work. Tim Sandstrom has previewed the chip in his unit I believe and has had no problems. The handhelds also operate on the same format as the large Sonar/GPS units therefore all your information can be utilized between yours and everybody else's unit. The NDTRAX works with the lowrance Sonar/GPS so it should work in their handheld.  Hope this helps.

3 years and not a single problem with mine.

I like my Expedition C as well.  As stated, it is basically the same thing as the H20.  And yes, the NDTrax map will work just fine in the H20.  One advantage of the Expedition is it is the fastest of the units.  Speed does help with screen refreshing.

I love my H20c. No issues at all. Best GPS I've owned.

I have nothing but good things to say about the Lowrance handheld GPS units.  I still use the old IFinder Pro which I've had since 2003.  It has never failed me yet.  The only gripe is that Navionics is slow in it but she still runs it with the updated software.  I should purchase a new one in color but have my LMS-334 in my pickup now for traveling.  For ease of use, you can't beat them. 

I also have an expedition C with the NDTRAX chip in it. Excellent  gps and an excellent chip!!

I have NDTrax on a Lowrance Ifinder Hunt.  Basically the same unit as the H20 with more hunting options than fishing options.

Works fine as far as I can tell.



My Hunt (not the color version) failed on me a couple months after I bought it in 2005.  As always with any hunting equipment failure it was right when I needed it the most, the opening weekend of elk season.  It lost its ability to read the memory card so I was working with what was basically a $75 unit instead of a $300 unit for the two days it took to get my elk.

Took it back in to Scheels and they sent it away for me.  In about 3 weeks I received a new unit that has performed just fine ever since.  Well, except I don't like their less than intuitive menu system.  That takes some getting used to. 

I have had an h20 c for about a 2 and a half years and it works alright.  It was my first gps purchase and I'm pretty happy with it.  It works really well for ice fishing and in the boat when run off of batteries.  I wire a power outlet into our boat to plug in the cigarette power plug for the unit and it seems to run for about an hour and it just shuts off.  It's very frustrating and I've tried a few times to get support from Lowrance and they just kept sending me new cigarette power plugs.  They all seemed to do the same thing.  That's the only complaint I have about mine. For those of you that have it wired into a power source, how do you have it rigged?  Any help would be appreciated as batteries are quite expensive.

I have one that is over three years old, my dad handed it down to me he needed something with a bigger screen, so I'm not sure how long he had it before  I got it. I use it in my boat and ice fishing all the time. I plan on getting NDTrax this fall. no problems with it so far

Thanks for the confidence boost.  I still have an old Magellan that's never failed, but obsolete to the new technology.  I just needed a confidence boost and will probably look more at the expedition C.
Thanks again.

ive got an H20 for sale, the non color model if your interested.
Used it for a few months ice fishing and hunting, and really enjoyed it. I just upgraded to a lowrance HDS-5 sonar fish finder with the GPS and chartplotter, so that will become my new unit.
Shoot me a reasonable offer, located in Garrison ND

There is a new H2O model due out in the fall. Lets hope the GPS receiver is more capable.

For my money, Garmin is top dog in the GPS market in handheld units and on the road, and on the water. There GPS accuracy is unequiled in the industry.

Not quite sure on the accuracy.  I work in the industry and until a person starts spending the big dollars a person's accuracy is going to be 5 to 30 feet depending on how the satellites are being received.  WAAS is pretty darn good and most units have it now a days.  I use to test out some units for my work (engineering survey type units).  Many would advertise the warm fuzzy number of "I will get you sub meter accuracy".  Yeah, once out of maybe 30 shots.  The average is what people need to look at and with the handhelds us "civilians" can afford you are probably looking at around 10 to 15 feet (that's on average).  Still, that's pretty darn good for 100 to 300 dollar units!  At work, we purchased a 700 dollar Trimble Juno SB because it is very compact and has photo capabilities and it is doesn't get a guy much better as far as accuracy (probably within 6 to 9 feet).  Our GeoXT gets a guy pretty darn good shots for being "non-survey" at around 2 to 4 feet.  Survey grade, now we are talking centimeter accuracy.  Crazy how technology can get you within even millimeters.  For fishing and hunting, anything better than around 6 - 10 feet isn't going to really matter too much.

Anyway, the advantages in today's "civilian" handhelds are mostly user functionality and things of that nature.  Accuracy is going to be about exactly the same with all of them.  All things considered.

Just and FYI for everyone concerned about accuracy of "civilian" handhelds.  Out of curiosity I might have to take my Expedition out to one of our survey control points and collect around ten shots.  Then download them or recored them in my ArcMap software and see how close the shots are.  Something to do for the heck of it one night.  Could do a scouting trip for whitetails and swing into a control point.  Will report once I do it...

Oh and to answer the question on satellites locking.  I have never had a problem.  If I did, I would be totally honest.  Out ice fishing my handheld goes with me as I drill holes and through my coats it still stays locked on.  In the pickup cab it also stays locked on unless you start sitting it in the back seat or something but even then it sometimes stays locked on.  Once bucked off satellites it doesn't take more than a few seconds for it to lock on.  Impressive really for civillian units but I think most of them out there today (all makes) are pretty good now.

Personally, I have been a big Garmin fan for years. If I was going out and only could use one GPS it would probably be a Garmin. They have been using SiRf antennas for many years and it was the first time I ever saw somebody go into their basement of their house and stick it under a matress and get a lock. The first time I saw that I was pretty impressed. However, Lowrances have come a long ways I duplicated it with a cheap Lowrance XOG the other day and that is an automotive unit.

Overall, as Tim said, the accuracy is pretty much identical. The map you may be using may be better from one unit to the next but + or -9 feet is about what most people will tell you to expect from any standard over the counter GPS.  Lots of the GPS units now even show accuracy and many times on my Garmins and Lowrances they hover around 20-30 feet. It doesn't mean you are not closer than that but that is what they are saying is potential error. As said over and over, unless you are putting down fertilizer or a farming application with GPS or some type of survey work, for hunting, fishing, hiking, etc, +- 9 feet is plenty. Go to a sporting goods store and take a few units outside, turn them on so they get a lock as it can take awhile the first time and go back into the store. If it can hold a lock that is pretty good and will be OK for most hunting and fishing applications. Garmin was king of the GPS market for a long time, but Lowrance made mapping cheaper and more popular. The good news is which ever way you go, NDTRAX will work on both. . Sorry had to get a plug in there.

I'm looking for 100% in the field use that I can rely on to basically get home out of whatever adventure or scouting trip I lead myself into and back to a spot that looked promising.

My interest in the NDTRAX is the capablilty of combing it with a paper map while hunting the badlands in ND so I know who's land I may be on, approaching or if it even pays for me to stop and glass something in the field.  It's jut a double check method and then hopefully will be used to mark a downed animal for an easy return in the night or next day while packing out.  My Magellan can do this just fine, but I really want to use the NDTRAX this fall mule deer hunting as a time saving device.

CLS,

I kid you not, the last couple years when I used my custom maps which are not as good as NDTrax, my hunting trips were much more relaxing.  With a plat book in hand I knew exactly who's land I was on.  It was just so reassuring.  No doubting I was reading the map wrong, or the quarter line was actually a section line, knowing the fence line was actually a grazing section and not an ownership boundary, etc.  It was especially nice when out in the backcountry walking around knowing you were walking on grasslands, PLOTS, State, private land, etc.  It will be the greatest thing you add to your hunting equipment.