Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I decided to invest in the Delorme PN-60W after hearing some fantastic claims of accuracy from users of the PN-20 and PN-40. The group I geocache with primarily use Garmin units, and recently upgraded to the Oregon, but were all somewhat disappointed with its accuracy. While I have not yet bothered to activate the SPOT communicator, I have used the PN-60W on several geocaching runs and compared it against the Garmin 60CSx, 62ST, Oregon, and Colorado. So far, I am very pleased with the performance of the PN-60W. The accuracy of the unit is superb, the interface fairly easy to use, but there are some problems that need to be worked out.
Loading geocaches into the PN-60W is easily done when attaching it as an external drive to a computer and moving an entire pocket query from GC.com. Sending individual geocache files to the PN-60W from the website using the plug-in software has been problematic, however, and fails more often than not. Delorme obviously has some work to do in that area. Advertised features of the PN-60W include wireless sharing of GPX files with other PN-60W units, but this feature is not in the current user manual and a call to Delorme revealed that this feature may be part of some future firmware update.
While the screen is smaller than comparable Garmin units, the graphics are easy to see and understand. The user interface, while not as slick as that on the Garmin, is similar, and I was able to use it in the field after less than a half hour of study and experimentation. The actual process flow of selecting a geocache to find, navigating to it, and recording the find is very similar on the PN-60W to that of the Colorado. Marking a waypoint or geocache on the fly is almost as easy on the PN-60W as on the 60CSx, and making a projection only slightly more difficult.
One of the strengths of the PN-60W is the large amount of memory. With a 32 gig SDHC card, it can easily hold massive amounts of map data, several times that of any other unit I am aware of. I'm looking forward to combining satellite photos with topo maps on the unit when geocaching. The accuracy is also as good as advertised, with the PN-60W easily holding its own when compared against the Garmin 60CSx and 62ST. It's nice to have the accuracy of the 60CSx and also be able to look up the cache details, logs, and hints on the same unit, so finally I am going paperless with the PN-60W. As reportedby others, all this power has a price: the PN-60W can eat up batteries quickly, but then so do the comparable Garmin units. At the moment I'm using only high capacity lithium batteries, but plan to purchase the Delorme rechargeable battery pack and car kit and give it a try shortly.
Overall, this is a very sound unit and great for geocaching, with tons of memory and super accuracy. A larger screen would be nice, but what Delorme really needs to do is fix the ability to send individual cache files from the cache page to the unit, and allow units to trade GPX files wirelessly. An added bonus would be to allow the PN-60W to trade GPX files wirelessy with other manufacturers' units, such as the Garmin Colorado, Oregon, or 62ST. That would be a hard package to beat!
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Product Description:
Handheld GPS meets satellite communications. Enjoy peace of mind wherever you go, worldwide, even when cell phone service is unavailable. Send custom text messages to family and friends. Allow others to track your progress on social network sites like Twitter, Facebook, and SPOTadventures.com. Let family and friends know you're safe when your adventures take you to challenging locations.
SPOT Communicator technology
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