Earthmate PN-60w SE with SPOT vs. PN60 and spot gen2, what do we think?

[seanz0rz]

http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELi...minisite=10020

looking at getting a handheld GPS for hiking and off highway travels. having spot included sounds like a pretty good idea.

any one have the PN60? how do you like it, etc?

how about value for money? i dont mind paying for a good product, but i really have a problem with paying alot for a little. i should add that amazon has it for $550. a regular PN60 and a regular spot gen2 comes out to about the same price. so what im really after is any personal experience with the pn60.

thanks!

[angusdevil]

I think its a step in the right direction but having 2 units doesn't really help any. Sure its nice to write custom messages but aside from that, it's not much of an improvement over what you would already be doing with your handheld GPS and SPOT unit.

[seanz0rz]

it ends up being around the same price either way. and it would be nice to have the seperate spot messenger for times when i dont need or want to carry the gps.

ill revise my origional post.

[1leglance]

you could use the new spot as a stand alone device any time you wanted..and having the custom messages is a much bigger deal than most people think since they haven't gotten to play with it yet...
being able to send a short text out to a buddy on his way to meet you at camp
being able to send a help message that references that you need a driveshaft vs a rad hose
being able to give a naner naner about the amazing campsite you are at

and then we have the remote blogging aspect that might help folks who are trying to turn their adventure hobby into something more

I am planning of getting this new combo as soon as I can afford it just for all the new and fun things possible, plus I still get the benefit of the gps and the spot each for their own sake.

[NorCalLC]

I had no idea this was even being released, I feel out of the loop on things like this. Thanks for making me want something new....

Seriously though, I like the possibilities these new devices offer. I have neither a handheld GPS or a spot, so it's perfect timing to jump right in with the new generation of handheld units.

I'm wondering though, weren't the Delorme products not as widely praised as the Garmin 60csx? I know these are new models and things have clearly changed for the better (at least in some ways). Again, I have no experience with them, I'm just wondering outloud.

Has any one seen a good review worth mentioning yet?

[85CUCV]

I just received my PN60wSE three days ago. I'm not one for jumping on the latest and greatest as soon as it is released, but I've been wanting to upgrade my Garmin GPS V for some time and thought this would fit the bill. I wanted the map layering features for work and the Spot for work and family travels.

I'm still tinkering with the GPS. The Spot will not be sent until Aug.

Dan

[Topmounter]

I just received my PN60wSE three days ago. I'm not one for jumping on the latest and greatest as soon as it is released, but I've been wanting to upgrade my Garmin GPS V for some time and thought this would fit the bill. I wanted the map layering features for work and the Spot for work and family travels.

I'm still tinkering with the GPS. The Spot will not be sent until Aug.

Dan

Any feedback on the new Spot yet?

[preacherman]

I just ordered a pn-60 with a spot. It should be in this Saturday and I will do a write up when I get it.

I am wayyyyyyy excited

BTW Amazon now lets you pay with american express reward points and I had enough points to get a pn-60 w/spot and a ram mount and I only had to add $100 out of pocket. Not a bad deal for $100

[preacherman]

OK first few days check in here.

I will give a full report later but here are my first impressions.

What I like so far:

1. It's freaking sweet, does everything advertised and them some

2. Has some cool things like:
-update facebook status or send tweets from the device via spot
-comes with $40 worth of free sat imagery downloads. (facebook and twitter accounts must be linked ahead of time.)

3. The GPS unit user interface is simple. If you have ever used a GPS you will pick it up fast.

4. Delorme Topo V9 software is way different, and takes some time to get used to. It's like going from Mac to a really complicated PC program. You know you should be able to do everything but it takes forrrrrrever to figure out how to do it.

5. GPX file friendly. Old routes, waypoints, tracks, its all good.

6. Has 16g internal memory, and can accept up to a 32G SD card. Right now I have the entire state of New Mexico topo maps uploaded as well as a 250 mile off road route with over 1,000 waypoints as well as the sat images for the whole route and I have used less than half of the internal memory!

7. The spot unit is simple and small. It only has two buttons, on/off, and SOS. Everything else is done through the Delorme device.

OK Now the bad (so far)

1. After 1 hour on the phone with spot they said they could not transfer my existing spot account to the new device. Really !!!!! After talking to a manger I had to settle for a full refund on my old spot and then go and totally recreate a new account with the new spot.....very inefficient. Their response "we are not able to transfer accounts with old devices to the new devices, we hope to be able to sometime in the next year."

2. It cost $.50 a text to send texts if you pay as you go. They have some package deals which brings the per text cost down to $.30 a text if you pay a yearly fee, the lowest yearly fee package is $29. No a big deal but they don't do a good job of telling you that. I plan on just paying $.50 per text. I doubt I will send 20 or so a year.

3. Also kinda hidden is the fact that you may only send texts to mobile
phones that have been pre set up in you spot account. You cannot enter in a number through the device. It must be set up ahead of time just like the spot unit that sends check in messages.

4. Maybe I am a moron but it took forever to set everything up. By the time I installed everything on my computer, set up the device, got the spot set up and tested it must have been 3 hours (not counting the hour on the phone with spot) But I did spend a lot of time trying to figuring out how to get around in Delorme topo and do simple tasks like import old waypoints etc...

I plan to get lots of user time in the next few weeks and I will post a full report after taking it for a test drive. So far I really like it think it was a good purchase.

[tdesanto]

I purchased the PN-60 w/SPOT a few weeks ago. I didn't know about not being able to transfer my SPOT account from my old device to my new one. That's lame. I haven't tried to activate the new SPOT yet as I got it a few days before a trip. I like the speed of the PN-60 and the ability to layer the maps. I've been using the Delorme Topo software for quite a while now; so, it's great to be able to transfer my project files to a handheld now.

My PN-60 worked fine for most of my trip, but at the end of the week, it simply stopped routing. I still cant' get it to work. I was on the phone with tech support today. I tried their method of resetting it, and that still didn't work. I keep getting a "recalculating error" whenever I try to route to a new destination, even if it's down the street.

So, i think I'm going to have to send mine back in for a replacement.