GPS from Lowrance Automotive (iWAY 500c)

After years of discussion, we decided that my lack of sense of physical
direction could be helped by having an in-car GPS navigation system.
This is supposedly a birthday present but I am not sure if it is for
me (the Birthday Girl) or for my husband John who is tired of giving
directions over the cell phone when I get lost.

• Katy: “Can you please help me, I’m lost!”
• John: “So, where are you?”
• Katy: “In the car!”

John went to Fry’s and picked out
the
Lowrance Automotive iWAY 500c last weekend. Since this is an
expensive gadget ($760), Fry’s has a good return-it-if-you-don’t-like-it-within-a-week
policy. We have been driving around and testing the iWAY for several days now
and are not particularly happy with it.

What Works

• It shows you where you are on a clear, understandable map
• Big choices (like Power and Find) are side buttons but smaller
  choices are on the touch screen

• There are 3 levels of screen brightness
• It plugs into the lighter socket – no special wiring required
• Good graphics, good contrast, very visible
• The back is stuck to the windshield with a suction cup – it does not slide around
• Vocal directions are clear and come with enough time to respond

What Doesn’t Work

• Programming it is very time consuming
• It frequently does not recognize common streets – you have to give it the
  exact street name in its database and it often still does not work. For example,
  if you type in “St Francis Drive” it searches for just “Francis” and cannot find
  the one you mean but if you type in “Saint Francis”, it says there is no such street.

• It sometimes directs you down the wrong way of one-way streets or to drive
  up freeway offramps

• The maps are not current – it says my office building is in the San Francisco Bay
• Interactions take time and are distracting – kind of like having a cat loose in
  the car

• Sometimes it gives directions when you have not asked it to
• Typing is slow on the touch screen – especially when you have to type in
  several variations of the street name – and it often requires several pokes to
  make it display a letter

• No autocomplete for commonly typed words and names – we have been typing in
  “Palo Alto” several times a day

We are going back to Fry’s to trade it in for another GPS this afternoon
to see if there is a better choice.

See
“GPS from Thales Nagivation (Magellan RoadMate 300)” blog entry for more