All-Around Great, Compact, All-Purpose GPS!
Pros:
Does everything, large library of maps.
Cons:
Wish for a 4.3 inch screen, longer battery life.
The Bottom Line:
A great all-around, all-purpose GPS with a ton of features, and if you're a little techy and can spend a litle time to tweak it, it can do even more!
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I've owned this GPS for about 3 months now and absolutely love - it does all that it's advertised to do, and has a ton of features. However, if you want something you can plug in and forget about, this might not be your GPS.
First off, I bought this after a bad experience with the Magellan Crossover. I need a GPS I can use in the car and boat, and the Crossover is a failure due to the lack of marine maps available for it. The XOG does everything that the Crossover failed to do - there is a ton of marine maps available for it, from either Lowrance or Navionics, all on SD card. So, it's a full-featured in-car GPS and a mini-marine chartplotter in your boat. Plus, it can be used as a handheld GPS as well.
First, the car features: If you're familiar with any of Lowrance's car GPS (like the 250 or 350), then you'll know the XOG. It uses a similar interface and menu system. Once of my favorite Lowrance features is the ability to chose what data is displayed on the screen, and even this size and position of that display. It comes with a large POI database built-in that's easy to access and seems pretty complete. The voice-guidance system works great, with clear instructions and a nifty 'turn-preview' feature that lets you know what will happen at your next turn. The screen is bright and easy to read in all but the worst glare conditions. This unit does not have a night mode, but you can adjust the brightness of the screen manually. Becuase so many features of this unit are user-configurable, it's probably not the best for someone who's not into electronics or doesn't want to take the time to set-up it to their liking.
Lowrance set-up a new website for the XOG called mapselect.com. It allows you to select areas of the US and then download satellite photos, topo maps, or BLM maps to your XOG. I tried this feature and it works great. I have satellite maps of the area around my house installed and when I move into those area, the photos are displayed with the streets overlayed and labels. Very cool! You purchase the maps and photos in squares that are $5 each. If you need a large area, this can get expensive fast.
As for it's marine chartplotter features, the XOG can display marine charts on SD card from Lowrance and Navioncs, but not the newest Platinum maps, which have some 3D features. So, a pretty extensive library of lake and ocean maps are available. The charts are displayed nicely and you can record tracks, etc. I haven't used all of the marine functions yet, but so far, it's an A+.
Overall, the XOG is a great unit that can do a lot of stuff and has a ton on features for it's $249 price. The case is small, perhaps 1/2 inch thick, with a black and grey plastic case that has been pretty durable so far. The screen is 3.5 inches. I bought an aftermarket cradle for it from RAM that is way better than the OEM cradle included with the GPS.
