SD or MMC cards for Lowrance Unit

[cbearw]

Hi all: I am anticipating getting the Map Create topo maps as part of the accessory bundle (with the card reader etc) fairly soon for my Lowrance I-Finder Hunt. The manual says I can use an MMC or SD card in the unit. It doesn't suggest which is better. Was wondering if it really mattered which one I used. Are there pros and cones to either one or will they function the same? I have been told I can purchase these at any stationary or electronic store and that my unit will take up to a one GB card. Any help with regard as to what kind to buy would be greatly appreciated.............Thanxs...........Tom

[DanP]

wish I could help you on that one. I have only used the Lakemaster card for far and have not had a reason to change at this time. I do know in the office I use MMC for camera's. Best I can say is buy name brand - I picked up some bulk cards for a great price but 3 weeks into using them had problems with all three cards. Store was great and gave me a credit and I purchased known names with rebates. Cards can allways go bad but I hate to put the odds against me for $20.00 to $30.00 bucks. If you have time to watch for rebates the diff can be less than that.

I'll have my h20c back out this weekend for another scout outing and more geocaching. Still learning but so far a great unit.

dan

[cbearw]

Thanks Dan. Could you suggest a few name brands to look for? BTW good luck with your scout outing and geocashing. Yeah I like my I-Finder too. The more you get to know it the more it grows on you. ........Tom:)

[DanP]

I have had good luck with the following - for cards / backups / ect in the
electronic world - memorex / verbatim / scan disk / kingston & lexor - all
are easy to find here. If you have a computer store in your area stop in
and see what they have. I would stay away from the bulk package stuff.

Have you tried to email support for lowrance - may be able to get a reply
for their recommendation outside of the manual - Also on size of cards, I don't know if it applies to GPS units, it can take a 1GB card but does it effect the performance of the unit when searching through the large card or would two 512's be better. Some of the guys making topo maps and using the cards may be able to give you some feed back on that or a 2nd question for support.

good luck
dan

[hitechman]

SanDisk and Lexor exclusively and never had a problem. A firend of mine uses Hitachi and likes them.

I would definitely reccommend AGAINST using an off brand--they work in some units, but not in others. Even with a lifetime warranty, what good are they if you lose all of your information and get a new free one to replace the defective one?

Steve

PS Dan - - -I have every size card (for my GPSr's) from 32 mb to 1 gb and I NOT seen any difference in speed (Garmin reccommends nothing bigger than 512 mb). On some of these threads others have stated that they see no difference in speed as well in the bigger capacity cards.

[sfw1960]

When I first purchased my LMS332c I had trouble flashing the firmware to update the O/S software...after trying several brands and a call to Lowrance I was informed they use & recommend Sandisk. As long as you don't need to update your operating system software - I think almost any brand would work. They did mention to me that Lexar media had issues with firmware updates.

Robert

[cbearw]

Thanks guys for your feedback. I will make sure to buy a brand name card. We have Walmart here in BC and Staples so I will check out their brands. At Walmart they have only SD cards and at the moment I cannot remember the brand. It sounds like most of the guys here on the forum seem to be using SD cards rather than MMC cards. I'll try to research the matter a bit more as far as what the differences are and how each would perform in my unit.
Dan, I have tried e-mailing Lowrance a couple of times but never got a response. I can get through by phone but only after a 10 to 15 min wait. From the other responses here I suspect card size may not be an issue but I will double check with Lowrance when I call and also what brand they recommend. Thanks again everybody and happy GPS ing............Tom :)

[cbearw]

I did phone Lowrance. The fellow I spoke with said MMC cards are getting very difficult to find now and most people were using SD cards with no problems. He didn't specify any particular brands and seemed to think most brands would work fine but I will be sure to stick with a better known brand and not the bulk purchase type. He also indicated that a card up to 1 GB would not not slow down the function of the unit. He said that the acessory package (bundle) came with a 64 MB card and that a 1GB card would be 4 times that capacity roughly. Not sure how many MB's are in a GBite but it would seem to me that 64 times 4 is 256mb. I thought there might be 1000mb in a GB but for the moment I'll take his word on that.
Thanks ................Tom