Click to View

The iWay 500C from Lowrance Electronics is a Global Positioning System-based (GPS) navigation system that also functions as an in-car digital music player. It recently won the Best New Mobile Electronics Entertainment Product for 2005 award at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show, among other awards.

Yet the device is portable in the sense that it doesn't weigh a ton. And you can't actually work with it when you're on foot because the only battery the iWay 500c uses is the one in your car: it mounts on the dashboard and plugs into a cigarette lighter or vehicle power supply.

So why would you want an iWay 500C when you could have a truly portable multi-purpose device like the recently reviewed iQue M5 Pocket PC from Garmin.

The iQue M5, like the Lowrance product, provides audible turn-by-turn and on-screen map-based navigation. But you can also use the iQue M5's navigation system when you're walking, and the device does all the other things Pocket PCs do. The Lowrance product is even a little more expensive, $800 versus $700, than the Garmin iQue M5.

As it turns out, there are real advantages to the iWay 500C.

But first, a GPS Short Course: A GPS receiver gathers pulsed signals from as many of the two dozen or so GPS satellites orbiting the earth as it can lock in. Using triangulation—by measuring and comparing the travel time of individual signals—the receiver calculates its position, and it's accurate to within twenty yards or so.

When iWay's The Right Way
For one thing, it works right out of the box—no maps or navigation software to install and set up, and no GPS setup. It's not just a one-time install you avoid either.

With PDA-based GPS navigation systems like the iQue M5, you must install base maps for all of North America and then download detailed maps as you need them. With the iWay 500C, all the detailed maps—ten gigabytes of mapping information—are loaded all the time.

The navigation software also has more ease-of-use and convenience features than most GPS navigation systems.

Display
Another plus: the iWay 500C has a bigger, brighter touch screen (5 inches diagonal), than any PDA and it is 320 horizontal x 240 vertical pixel high resolution display is oriented correctly for mapping. The larger screen means maps are bigger, so more easily viewable. Also, additional textual information can fit on the screen and the touch screen is bigger, so the iWay’s is easier to hit.

Construction
While it may not be a critical consideration for casual or occasional users of GPS navigation systems, heavy users—people who drive for a living—will appreciate that the iWay 500C is much more robust than any Pocket PC. It is solidly constructed, and completely sealed to protect against corrosion.

The iWay measures 6.1 x 4.5 x 2.15 inches and weighs about 2 lbs. Inside the unit is a 20GB portable hard drive; 10GB for maps and 10GB for storing digital music.

Five buttons along the right side of the display toggle between map and music modes, power the device on and off and give access to the iWay's main menus, Find menus and speaker volume adjustment.

Installation
The iWay 500C comes with a power cable that plugs into the car cigarette lighter. That cable also has a walky-talky-size speaker for playing the spoken directions from the iWay software.

You plug the other end into the iWay unit, making a very solid and completely sealed connection. When setting up the unit or downloading music in the house, you can plug the cigarette lighter end of the power cable into the included AC adapter.

It's also possible to more permanently install the unit in your car using a provided two-piece cable that plugs into the iWay power socket in place of the cigarette lighter cable. One strand at the other end connects directly to the car's power supply behind the stereo unit, while the other strand connects to the stereo's auxiliary line input. We were unable to test this set-up method.

The iWay 500C comes with a car mounting kit that uses a suction cup to anchor the unit to the windshield. We found this apparatus so adjustable, it's hard to imagine a vehicle that could not accommodate the unit.


iWay's Suction Cup Mount

While the mounting instructions show an alternative weighted base that sits on the dashboard, this was not included in the test product we received. It took less than ten minutes to assemble and install the suction cup apparatus and the iWay device in our test vehicle, a 1997 Honda Civic.

Music
Installing the unit to play music was a little more problematic.

The speaker on the cigarette lighter power cable is adequate for listening to spoken directions from the iWay navigation software, but sounds like a bad transistor radio when playing music. Most car stereos in newer models have auxiliary line input jacks that let you connect the iWay unit directly.

It may also be possible for a car stereo installer to improvise a direct connection even with older models like our Civic. The alternative is to use an FM radio or cassette adapter. Both of these are available for under $30 from Radio Shack.

They feature a cable with a mini stereo jack that plugs into the headphone socket on the iWay unit. In the case of the FM transmitter, you tune your car radio to an unused or little used frequency, to which the device then transmits the music it's playing.


One of iWay's Audio Player Skins

You hear it on your car stereo as if you were listening to a radio station. With the cassette device, you plug the cassette-shaped adapter into the car tape player. Neither produces as good sound as a direct connection, Lowrance warns.

We were unable to try either connection method, but did test sound quality from the iWay 500C by listening on audiophile headphones.

Sound Verdict
The sound is not as good as an iPod or the best Pocket PCs, but probably good enough for in-car use. The audio application also only supports MP3 or Ogg Vorbis format music files, which is unfortunate since many users only have Microsoft WMA or Apple AAC format files.

While playing music with the iWay is a nice add-on, the real deal is the navigation functions, and they are excellent.

Navigation
As with all GPS systems, it takes a few minutes to lock on to enough satellites to ensure accurate positioning. The iWay 500C also incorporates a WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) receiver.

WAAS is a supplemental satellite navigation system designed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It boosts GPS accuracy to within about 20 feet.

The main mapping/navigation display by default shows your current position and, if you're moving, tracks it with a black arrow that moves along the streets on the map as you drive along the real streets. There are three different display modes.

By default, north is always at the top of the screen. One alternative, useful when navigating, keeps the direction in which you're traveling always at the top of the screen—the map re-orients itself when you turn a corner. It's hard to see how the third mode, 3D, could actually be useful for navigating.


3D View

The most impressive aspect of the iWay 500C is the Find menu, accessible by clicking one of the keys on the side of the device. It gives access to all the different ways the product provides to find - and then navigate to - destinations.


Keypad

You can use the on-screen keyboard to key in an address or two streets that intersect. You can look up a destination in an address book or a list of recent destinations.

Most notably, you can find gas stations, hotels, restaurants and other points of interest, either by keying in a name or asking the iWay 500C to show you the nearest destinations in that category.

In our testing, the lists were quite comprehensive—although, inevitably, some of the listings were out of date. Hotels and restaurants that had gone under or changed hands still appeared in the iWay database.

Directions
Once you've keyed in or selected a destination, you can click the Go To button and the iWay 500C automatically calculates the supposedly optimum route, generates a list of directions and starts feeding you audio instructions - "Go South on State St.," "Turn left in .7 miles," and so on.

In our testing, the directions and visual mapping were extremely accurate and helpful. When you're sitting at an intersection, the black arrow on the map representing your position is at the same intersection.


Right Turn Visual Cue

The routes the device calculates are not always the best, however. If you're very familiar with an area, you will often know better routes, but the iWay will still get you there. If you miss a turn or make a wrong turn, the system automatically recalculates the route and leads you back to the original route.


Display Shows Your Car on a Ramp
Leading to an Interstate Highway.

Conclusion
All in all, this is a very impressive product. If you're in the car everyday, the iWay 500C makes a lot of sense. If you only occasionally need GPS navigation, something like the Garmin iQue M5 is probably a better option. Or you could just go to MapQuest and print out a map before you leave.