Lowrance H20?

For those with the H20, how does it stack up? Looking into a new handheld, it caught my eye. Any troubles with acquiring sat’s.? Accurate? Battery life?

BIRDDOG

I just picked one up. Loads very quickly and I prefer the black and grey for use with mapping. In bright conditions the detail and contour lines show better. IMO anyway.. I know alot of guys like the color model.

I have an H2O and like it a lot. I’ve mostly used it hunting and ice fishing but have used it a little bit in open water too. The screen is kind of small but that’s a handheld for you.

I also have a Garmin GPS V that that I got a few years ago for about $400 — compare that to about $150 for the H2O with it’s ability to take a map chip, and that’s a heck of a lot of gps. With its internal antenna it can be a bit slower to lock onto the satellites, but it’s not bad at all, even when hunting in the woods.

I have no complaints with mine, and personally am glad I didn’t go with the color screen. Good luck.

I’m thinking this is the gps I want, 169 bucks, can’t go wrong especially with the mapping ability. I’d also go with black and grey, a extra c-note for color, nah…don’t need it to look pretty, just functional! I tinkered with it for about an hour, seemed easy to use, pretty straight forward. My main concern is acquiring sat’s in the woods as the wife would be using it deer season to find different stands, I know my Garmin 72 is TERRIBLE when it comes to that. Hoping the h20 is better?

BIRDDOG

Spring for the color you wont regret it.

If you do have problems with it in the woods, you can spend that c-note on an external antenna for it.

I’m selling mine and a navionics premium chip if you’re interested. $190 bucks and you can have them both. You’d pay about $285 for these 2 items new

I have aquired satilites in my basement with mine before. I’ve never had any complaints about it. It’s a great unit for the price!!!! You should buy Matt’s, that is a great deal!!

I have the H2O C. It is the slowest aquiring gps I have ever used. Eats batteries like nobodies business. ANd the 12v powercord is terrible the slightest move of the cord and it disconnects.

For the price I think there are better units.

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I have the H2O C. It is the slowest aquiring gps I have ever used. Eats batteries like nobodies business.

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Another reason for the black/grey.

I run my H2O C on the bow of my boat and never lose power, as far as battries I run Lithiums and havent changed a set yet this summer.

Lithiums are much better..

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I have the H2O C. It is the slowest aquiring gps I have ever used. Eats batteries like nobodies business. ANd the 12v powercord is terrible the slightest move of the cord and it disconnects.

For the price I think there are better units.

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I understand your concerns Joe…..the power cable design is a joke to say the least……I wish Garmin who’s hand held GPS’s blow away Lowrances in both quality and reliability had anything remotely close to the I-Finder for price or Map chip compatibility but they don’t.

I agree bridge.

Lithium huh.

So if I walked around in the woods for lets say 5 or 6 hours with the GPS on and tracking the Lithium batteries would not be dead or close to it? I have a hard time
with that.

I bet it would say low batteries and the back light would only come on for a second then shut off.

I have tried:
Energizer
Duracell
Rayovac
Maxell alkaline ace
Universal Electronics HD
Panisonic HD
All have gone down after 5 or 6 hours. To the point were the H20C will shut off after a minute or 2.

But, I am willing to try just about anything so tomorrow I will buy some lithium batteries and give it a shot.

I will call it the “H2O C Battery Trials”

Any brand in particular you all prefer??

Does the color model have the power save feature? Also I assume the 12 V power cord is the same. I just popped mine in and theres a small tab that keeps the cord in place. Fits very snug and almost hard to remove it..

I have to agree that they go through batteries. Then I started using Energizer e2 lithium Extreme High Power batteries. They come in the black, blue, and grey package. They are very expensive but are worth every penny in my opinion. They advertise that they last up to 7x longer in digital cameras. I use them in my camera too and I figured if they are good enough for my camera then they are good enought for my GPS. I buy them in bulk at Sam’s Club and keep extras in the truck and boat. I keep close track of my battery inventory in my boat and truck, it never fails that batteries go dead at the worst possible time.

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Does the color model have the power save feature? Also I assume the 12 V power cord is the same. I just popped mine in and theres a small tab that keeps the cord in place. Fits very snug and almost hard to remove it..

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It does not have a powersave feature.

Not sure it if the cord is the same. It does have a tab but is pretty worthless. The cord is not snug at all. It wiggles front to back very easy.

Which is enough to go from connected to disconnected.

The grey unit I just got has a power save feature and the power cord fits like a lock. Maybe they changed the unit but you would figure the color would be the same..

I’m not sure what you guys are talking about in terms of the power cord fitting loosely. The model I have has a snap in plug and that baby will never come undone.

It’s the same power cord on all models, it’s the same power cord that has failed me “twice now” and others numerous times, it’s the same power cord you all will be calling Lowrance for and after waiting 30 to 90 minutes on hold to get a new one you will still have to argue with them to get it.

It’s pretty simple unplug your units and look at the contact pin design……I’m getting another one this week because the cord design will fail and has no chance to hold up on my Snowmobile the entire winter….

Thanks I feel better now…….

I’ll glue it in before I call that ridiculous understaffed phone number.

Made the purchase, had lots of gift cards that had to be spent by the end of the year, and have many chips, otherwise Matt’s is a good deal!! Ended up getting the color. Playing with the plug, at least on this one it’s tight and actually a little tough to remove, can’t just pull it out without pressing the tab. Now, you do have to push pretty hard to get it locked in, if not locked it does pull out very easily. Having Lowrance Graphs, the menu’s are real easy, basically the same thing. I’ll be looking into lithium batteries! I can’t say that any GPS I’ve had is easy on batteries, they have ALL seemed to eat them up. Guess it’s just part of the gig.

Thanks for the info and heads up, looking forward to using the chips in this unit. Anyone want a garmin 72?

BIRDDOG

Pier where are you getting your extra cords? I was thinking the same thing on the snow mobile. I have a ram mount for it now. I used to just put it in my pocket.

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Pier where are you getting your extra cords? I was thinking the same thing on the snow mobile. I have a ram mount for it now. I used to just put it in my pocket.

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Got both of mine from Lowrance, I think they sell them for $20 also.

Even if you have it snapped in corectly you are still at the mercy of the two tiny spring loaded contac pins, which bend, break, and stick.

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Does the color model have the power save feature? Also ..

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It does not have a powersave feature.

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Menu -> Menu -> GPS Setup -> Power Saving…

This is with the non color H2O. I’d think the color unit has it also.

I think it turns off WASS and updates your position less frequently, not sure how much battery life it would save though.

I love mine. I have owned 6 different GPS’s and this by far is the best one I own. Get the color model. You won’t regret it. Well worth the extra money. No complaints at all from me. Go for it, you won’t be disapointed.

The Color does not have the powersave option.

I did put some Energizer E2 lithium batteries in.

Here is the price comparison for the Energizer batteries.
$10.89 for 4 lithium batteries
$10.99 for 24 Regular AA’s

The lithium claim to last 7 times longer which would equate to 28 regular AA’s which makes the lithium a better deal.

So to be conservative assume lithium lasts 6 times longer and the value is equal between these 2 packs.

I am in the process of testing to see if they actually last that much longer.