Comparing Lowrance Handheld GPS with the other Handhelds GPS Units
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Handheld GPS units have a special purpose compared to the higher costing GPS devices for people that drive on the road. They can either be used for outdoor purposes like hiking, camping, and any form of outdoor exploration. Industrial purposes can also be applied if you are into land surveying or constructing. Their screens aren't as big as the ones that are used in cars, but their portability makes them more flexible and most of the top brands stay accurate by utilizing multiple GPS satellites to obtain proper location information in the form of coordinates which can be very useful for tracking hikers and mountain climbers.
General Overview of the Different Handheld GPS Units
The portable handheld GPS market is larger than ever with so many different brands fighting for the number one spot in reliability and technology. Some of the dominant contenders include Garmin and Magellan, but Lowrance is also showing some signs of staying in the handheld game by introducing new Lowrance handheld GPS models and still offering affordable handhelds for the budget seekers. Other companies like Bushnell are also trying to push their technologies forward in hopes of getting any market share.
On the other side of the market, PDA companies are also outfitting some of their mobile devices with GPS capabilities to rival the standalone GPS devices. These devices are powered by special GPS software that take advantage of the hardware they support. Garmin and TomTom make these software solutions primarily for smartphones.
Lowrance Vs Garmin Devices
Garmin is one of the leading GPS makers right now and one of the reasons why is because they have a large selection of Garman handheld devices with some of them affordable while others having top-of-the-line quality. This large selection can be good for some people while bad for others that want to decide quickly. Lowrance makes the selection simpler by offering just 7 mainstream handheld GPS devices to choose from led by the new Sierra, Safari and Out&Back models. The iFINDER models serve as the more affordable models and there are still older models that might be available in other stores.
The Endura Sierra which is their current flagship product isn't as feature rich as the similarly priced Garmin Oregon models, but the basemaps are advanced and contains all of the necessary roads and points of interests. The interface is great for explorers that do not want a device that is full of extras, but would rather have one that performs the core features with faster speeds.
Lowrance Vs Magellan Devices
Magellan's Triton series are very popular amongst explorers due to their rugged design, good graphics, and excellent software. Their best models have the same screen size as the Lowrance Handheld GPS devices, and they have a little bit more with some of the Triton models having digital camera features. What the Lowrance models do excel in is their good use of the touch screen interface and the special physical buttons that serve as hotkeys that lead to its main functions.
Lowrance Vs Bushnell Devices
Bushnell doesn't have the popularity spotlight that Magellan and Garmin share, but Bushnell is innovating with new technologies with their ONIX400 model claiming to be the first handheld GPS device that mixes satellite photography with weather provided by Sirius XM and other navigational aids. It isn't as stable as the Lowrance devices that it competes against and the basemap doesn't provide as much data. Because the maps are also expensive as well, it is best to go for the Bushnell devices if the XM features are really needed.
Lowrance Vs PDA Devices
Most of the PDA devices these days have larger full color touchscreen displays that are capable of displaying more detailed map data. Although the right GPS software can transform these devices into fully-functional GPS devices, handheld use is limited because the software caters to more to drivers unlike any of the Lowrance models available. In terms of handheld usage, all you can do is plan simple walk routes and figure out your current location. If those basic features are okay, then you can greatly benefit from the versatility of the PDA devices and since they are outfitted with more useful features than even the most heavily equipped handheld GPS units.
Lowrance Vs Cellular Phone Devices
The interesting thing about these GPS software applications is that they can work on certain mobile phone devices. As long as the mobile phone device has a touchscreen, the device can literally match the GPS features that other PDA devices have. The shape of some cell phones resemble the handheld design of the Lowrance models so some explorers may benefit from a phone since it doubles as a communication device. None of the Lowrance handheld units have any Bluetooth features making it impossible to sync with mobile devices. Only consider getting a dedicated handheld GPS receiver like the iFINDER only if better processing power is absolutely needed as certain Lowrance models have dual processing features making the screen updates much faster than the cellular phones.