Lowrance 140-26 HDS-5 5-Inch Baja offroad GPS Chartplotter
- SolarMAX plus Display. It’s Sunlight viewable, so it’s brighter, and clearer, with wide angle viewing.
- Great for over-sized in car navigation like in off-road vehicles.
- High-Definition GPS and mapping. Super sensative 16-channel internal GPS antenna with faster time-to-signal lock and precision position.
- Advanced networking & expandablitiy
- Expanded two-year warranty
Lowrance 140-26 HDS-5 5-Inch Baja offroad GPS Chartplotter
List Price: $ 599.00
Price: $ 599.00
Even better than the old one.,
I purchased this to replace a Baja 540c that had been stolen from my truck while it was parked at the Serra Madre Villa LA Metro Rail parking garag. I had been using the 540c to great success and it worked fine for me for many years. My primary use for this is chasing desert races in California and Mexico which is where a product like this excels. THIS IS NOT A GPS FOR CITY DRIVING. If you need turn by turn directions or street maps there are many other quality products that do this better. I had become aware of the Lowrance HD models a while back and they intrigued me but I already had a great unit and didn’t need to spend money replacing it. I was somewhat concerned about having the GPS antenna internal to the unit but that does not seem to be a problem. The first time I used this I zip tied it to my friend’s Bronco center console and it worked well there not great but good enough. Before spending the extra money on the external antenna I wanted to try it where I was going to mount it on the dash of my F150. Once I installed it in my truck and tried it out my fears about the internal antenna went away. It acquired quick and never lost connection when mounted in my windshield. If you plan on mounting this in a metal dash or deeper in the vehicle then the external antenna would be a good idea. I have seen them installed this way with out the antenna and they don’t work very well. This seems to be a good size for my uses it is big enough to see but not so big that it dominates the cab. On the dash it barley blocks my view of the road ahead. I like having it up on the dash so I don’t have to move my eyes far from the road when checking it. The HDS5 is much faster than the 540c. Even with lots of data being displayed there is no lag or hesitation when moving about the screen. The OS is improved over the last one and works much better. To me it looks like they are preparing the OS to work with touch screens. It is very different from the old OS and I had to read the manual to figure it out but once I learned the new features and functions it is a great improvement. It now looks and works like it was designed recently instead of 2 decades ago which I guess is true. Installation takes some work but is not impossible. This will depend largely on how and where you want to install it. My installation used the provided bracket bolted to the top of my dash. This required the removal of the radio. You can simply wire a 12v power plug on to it and set it down in the cup holder or cut a hole in your dash and recess it. It all depends on your skill and what you want the end result to be. There are no “installation kits” so any install will have to be custom.
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|What I expected,
I installed the Lowrance Baja in my 2010 Rubicon. It is a big unit but I knew that going in . I mounted it on the dash above the radio removing the top of the dash and bolting the unit down on the top molded plastic piece, with the supplied mount. I had to fool around with it some to get it steady since it is heavy but now its pretty solid and doesn’t move even on rough terrain….This is not a turn by turn “”where’s the next Starbucks kind of GPS””. The base map that comes pre loaded will probably disappoint most people unless your using it for creating racing tracks through known terrain…but if you get a copy of mapcreate 7 off Ebay or used you can add a decent topo map that works well. The big screen and water resistances is the big selling point for me. This is not a simple piece of equipment to use and you’ll need to read the manual to familiarize yourself with all the features. The internal antenna works fine for me and I acquire position in around a minute usually.
The major point is realize this is not like other automotive GPS units its built for specific functions. I wish they had better maps for the unit and hope they will come out with some but I like it now and would buy it again.
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|NO SOFTWARE AVAILABLE,
Received unit Base MAP HAS NO detail on it. Called Lowrance They have no software or sd/mmc cards available for this unit. Junk instructions for install and use as it is for hds5m not for the gps. Very poor support from Lowrance. I must now return to seller and pay a 15% restocking fee.
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