Customer Reviews:
 Buyers remorse too! April 6, 2008
5 out of 11 found this review helpful
I purchased this GPS as it had marine maps for us to use along with roads. In first 2 uses I was given blatant wrong directions that resulted in trying to turn into guardrail, going south on a north bound highway and a few others. Bad product for vehicle use. Maybe all the money was spent on marine/hiking stuff but not good for cars.
 Lowrance XOG Finds My POI March 29, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I bought the Lowrance XOG about a month ago. The main reason I chose this model is because of the SD memory card slot, which I wanted for topographical info. Eventually I'll buy the topo memory card, but until then, I'm happy with the XOG as is. In use, the unit brings me to my destination every time. The only gripe I have concerns the battery life, which lasts 3-4 hours. It's no problem to just leave it plugged in to an accessory outlet, so it's a minor gripe. Also, the suction cup mount is very well made and sturdy. It has 2 pivot points which adjusts nicely.
 Buyer's Remorse January 8, 2008
14 out of 18 found this review helpful
Choice was between Magellan Crossover and XOG. Bought XOG Because of other reviews and Lowrance good marine reputation. MP3 player does work while navigating, but file handling and screen interface is totally unusable, and, as you would expect, the small speaker is poor. Headphones work OK. Contrary to other reviewers, I find the NOT WAAS CAPABLE gps chip slow, inaccurate, and constantly wandering compared to my six year old Magellan 315 handheld. The unit has a wide assortment of options, routes, and preferences which appear to work as advertised, but are very tiresome to access due to multiple pages of options and menus. My unit will not reliably access the after market charts and Sat images downloaded from the Lowrance site @$5 apiece. (A nightmare in itself of failed attempts) The unit appears to only read the SD card if it is inserted while the unit is powered on, and cursor in area of the map, then it seems not to read any other chart on the card. I'm still working on this. Auto navigation seems fine and about the same as any low end gps without true voice directions. So far I am very disappointed.
 For Offroading Nothing Else Comes Close January 5, 2008
30 out of 30 found this review helpful
I've waited to buy GPS for my vehicle because I wanted something that would provide good auto-nav for trip AND be useable on 4x4 trails and fire roads. The Lowrance XOG is, for under $250 street price, a super value. For those wanting a auto-nav vehicle GPS to use offroad, its optional maps make it the only game in town (unlike the competition who's detailed mapps are still vaporware).
I won't say much about the normal auto-nav beyond the onboard maps being accurate, a large base of points-of-interest, and easy to use. Voice commands are clear and the interface isn't complicated. Its "normal" use is probably par for units in its price range.
The BIG deal for the XOG is the ability to use optional maps from Lowrance's MapCreate software, and 1:100,000 BLM maps, close-up detail 1:25,000 USGS Topographic Quad maps (scanned), and even satellite photo images; all from Lowrance MapSelect webpage, and even Lowrance fishing maps of lakes for boat use. It overlays the road data over the option maps and you can turn them on/off with the menu. Its notable that Lowrance has a long and solid history in marine electronics.
The optional maps are loaded on a SD card (not supplied). Though at $5/map, they could get expensive for large areas, but two or three will cover a lot of trail country. I've used the USGS maps and they cover roughly 6x6 miles (in great topo and landmark detail). Anyone who has used USGS topo maps will instantly recognize the quality of the higher resolution details. Though they're scanned images, they don't look it. Satellite images are smaller area. The XOG records your track, which can be downloaded, and you can designate trip routes. I also found Lowrance support to be very good (and domestic). It also plays mp3s through its speaker (not exactly hi-fi) and will diplay jpeg pictures if they're loaded on a SD card.
Downside: for out-of-vehicle use, the battery is only good for 2-3 hours, though there are external AA battery packs; visiblity in bright sun is marginal (but par with similar touchscreen units), and the operating instructions though adequate and clear could provide more info.
Great downloadable maps, good ruggedized device December 27, 2007
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
I gather from the online forums that people buy this device for its amazing map selection, either through the manufacturer's software, website or third-party mapping software (all sold separately... starting at $5 for a few square miles online). I've purchased satellite overlays and USGS topographical overlays for the XOG's standard maps, and am very pleased with both. Maps for fishing/hunting/four wheeling are also available. These mapping choices really make the XOG stand out.
Also, the device itself is quite tough: It's splash proof and appears to be able to take a fall. On the downside, it's screen isn't super-bright, or as beautiful (pixels/colors) as similarly priced units. And the battery life is under three hours.
My neighborhood in Washington DC has narrow streets, tall buildings and foliage. Unfortunately, the XOG struggles with these... taking a long time to locate itself (initial triangulation on both "warm starts" and "cold starts") and frequently incorrectly guessing which block I'm on, and even what direction I'm moving.
However, outside of my dense urban neighborhood, the XOG reception improves considerably and it works spotlessly in the suburbs.
Other well executed features include voice directions, quick re-routing, auto-zooming, saving/uploading of tracks/journeys and what I'll call numbers/letters-to-speech (the XOG does read numbered/lettered street names and exit numbers, but does not do text-to-speech).
In general, I am very pleased with the devise.
|
