Well, I see a lot of questions about the DeLorme PN-60, so I figured I better start giving some of my feedback. I have had this unit since November and have been playing with it, but have not had a chance to use it extensively, as it was near the end of the season when it arrived and I just didn't have time with the filming season to take time out for the learning curve new devices require.
Any comments I provide need to be balanced with my background. That background is a low-tech guy who prefers simple methods to do what I need done, without lots of bells and whistles.
More background is my past history of using a Garmin 60CSX and for the last year, a GPSMAP 62st. That familiarity with those units obviously build some biases as to how comfortable I am with a completely new unit.
Here are my thoughts to date:
Feel and construction - My first thought was that this unit feels more plastic than my Garmin. Instantly, I thought it was cheaper construction and durability. Having stomped on it, dropped it, kicked it, and done things to see how solid it is built, it seemed unphased by those stunts.
When you open the back to put the batteries in, it requires two screws, compared to one for the Garmin. Not a big deal, but they screws are harder to get to for a guy with my fat fingers.
The opening for the batteries is bigger (better for guys with fat fingers). Not sure if that affects the weather resistance or not. Have not put it through a tough weather event such as cold, wind, rain, melting show, followed by more cold.
The unit is rated as waterproof down to 3', for a time of 30 minutes. I did not try that, but submerged it in a sink of water while under full power, for five minutes. I figured that is more water than my units will be exposed to during the rain and snow. Don't know many guys who use theirs under the water. The units kept running just fine, and when I took it out, within a few seconds the water quickly dripped off and you would not know it had even been wet. I admit to being tentative about immersing it, wondering it I would ruin it before I ever got a chance to use it.
I would summarize this by saying it feels different than what I am accustomed to, but seems to have good construction.
Intuitive feel to operations - This is probably where a bias toward the Garmin menus and display will be most evident. Having said that, this unit is very intuitive. Pretty easy to look at the screen and buttons, and with a couple minutes of time invested in the "Getting Started" guide, I was off and running.
You can customize your display, page order, and most anything else you want. That is nice and is similar to the Garmin in how that works. Once I set mine, I usually don't change them. I only need a few features and the rest is just static. This is easy to do on this unit.
Maps with the unit - I am not sure what maps sets come with the unit, but they sent me every map in the US and the DeLorme Topo North America 9.0. Downloading maps to the unit is very easy. Pretty much just load the CD in your computer and follow the instructions. The unit asks if you want to download to the unit memory or an SD card. Once you select that, it loads the maps to wherever you choose.
They also sent me a subscription to all their other online map sets. This is where I struggle with GPS technology. The headache of building maps and downloading them is more than I want to deal with. That is my feeling on all GPS units and associated map sets. I am too busy to have to learn another software interface. Give me a micro SD chip, let me plug it in my unit, and let me go hunting.
So, inspite of this huge amount of maps they offered me, I have yet to use them. I know many of you are not so impatient and would get a huge amount of benefit from such map sets. I have previewed these maps, and they have more data than I can see most hunters needing. These look almost like a professional surveyor set. The detail is excellent. I am not sure what the cost is to this higher level map set. It was provided to me at no charge.
Wish I could comment on that, and may get to the point of building maps from these sets, but have yet to do that. When I get to that stage, I will let you know.
The Northwest US map set contains the Montana public land map set. It is downloaded on this unit and works great. Very good detail and easy to see on the display.
The download cable for your computer hooks to the unit in a manner than I had not seen before. It has a USB connection on one end and a proprietary connector to the unit. It might be a great connector, but it does not give me a lot of confidence, given how hard it was to connect, and how exposed the unit adapter is to the elements when the connector is not connected. It worked fine for downloading maps.
SPOT and PN-60 combination - It is a very cool feature, but I thought they would be a combined unit. They are two separate units, which is cumbersome for those of us who already have way too much junk in our pack.
I did sign up for a SPOT account a while back. A very cool website and you can do a lot of stuff. I have only touched the surface of some of the features. It appears SPOT has tried to build a community of users out on the SPOT website, which is helpful, but I see very few hunters out there. Mostly geocachers.
The SPOT has many features and communication options. And, the SOS feature which is the biggest reason why people probably purchase the device. It is just too bad they are not a combined unit. I think I would find myself leaving the SPOT at home, unless I was going to the ends of the earth where all communication is days away.
Will give more comments on the next post, as I am running out of space on this one, and Mrs. Fin is calling me to get downstairs and fry those walleyes. Will continue in a couple hours.
Any comments I provide need to be balanced with my background. That background is a low-tech guy who prefers simple methods to do what I need done, without lots of bells and whistles.
More background is my past history of using a Garmin 60CSX and for the last year, a GPSMAP 62st. That familiarity with those units obviously build some biases as to how comfortable I am with a completely new unit.
Here are my thoughts to date:
Feel and construction - My first thought was that this unit feels more plastic than my Garmin. Instantly, I thought it was cheaper construction and durability. Having stomped on it, dropped it, kicked it, and done things to see how solid it is built, it seemed unphased by those stunts.
When you open the back to put the batteries in, it requires two screws, compared to one for the Garmin. Not a big deal, but they screws are harder to get to for a guy with my fat fingers.
The opening for the batteries is bigger (better for guys with fat fingers). Not sure if that affects the weather resistance or not. Have not put it through a tough weather event such as cold, wind, rain, melting show, followed by more cold.
The unit is rated as waterproof down to 3', for a time of 30 minutes. I did not try that, but submerged it in a sink of water while under full power, for five minutes. I figured that is more water than my units will be exposed to during the rain and snow. Don't know many guys who use theirs under the water. The units kept running just fine, and when I took it out, within a few seconds the water quickly dripped off and you would not know it had even been wet. I admit to being tentative about immersing it, wondering it I would ruin it before I ever got a chance to use it.
I would summarize this by saying it feels different than what I am accustomed to, but seems to have good construction.
Intuitive feel to operations - This is probably where a bias toward the Garmin menus and display will be most evident. Having said that, this unit is very intuitive. Pretty easy to look at the screen and buttons, and with a couple minutes of time invested in the "Getting Started" guide, I was off and running.
You can customize your display, page order, and most anything else you want. That is nice and is similar to the Garmin in how that works. Once I set mine, I usually don't change them. I only need a few features and the rest is just static. This is easy to do on this unit.
Maps with the unit - I am not sure what maps sets come with the unit, but they sent me every map in the US and the DeLorme Topo North America 9.0. Downloading maps to the unit is very easy. Pretty much just load the CD in your computer and follow the instructions. The unit asks if you want to download to the unit memory or an SD card. Once you select that, it loads the maps to wherever you choose.
They also sent me a subscription to all their other online map sets. This is where I struggle with GPS technology. The headache of building maps and downloading them is more than I want to deal with. That is my feeling on all GPS units and associated map sets. I am too busy to have to learn another software interface. Give me a micro SD chip, let me plug it in my unit, and let me go hunting.
So, inspite of this huge amount of maps they offered me, I have yet to use them. I know many of you are not so impatient and would get a huge amount of benefit from such map sets. I have previewed these maps, and they have more data than I can see most hunters needing. These look almost like a professional surveyor set. The detail is excellent. I am not sure what the cost is to this higher level map set. It was provided to me at no charge.
Wish I could comment on that, and may get to the point of building maps from these sets, but have yet to do that. When I get to that stage, I will let you know.
The Northwest US map set contains the Montana public land map set. It is downloaded on this unit and works great. Very good detail and easy to see on the display.
The download cable for your computer hooks to the unit in a manner than I had not seen before. It has a USB connection on one end and a proprietary connector to the unit. It might be a great connector, but it does not give me a lot of confidence, given how hard it was to connect, and how exposed the unit adapter is to the elements when the connector is not connected. It worked fine for downloading maps.
SPOT and PN-60 combination - It is a very cool feature, but I thought they would be a combined unit. They are two separate units, which is cumbersome for those of us who already have way too much junk in our pack.
I did sign up for a SPOT account a while back. A very cool website and you can do a lot of stuff. I have only touched the surface of some of the features. It appears SPOT has tried to build a community of users out on the SPOT website, which is helpful, but I see very few hunters out there. Mostly geocachers.
The SPOT has many features and communication options. And, the SOS feature which is the biggest reason why people probably purchase the device. It is just too bad they are not a combined unit. I think I would find myself leaving the SPOT at home, unless I was going to the ends of the earth where all communication is days away.
Will give more comments on the next post, as I am running out of space on this one, and Mrs. Fin is calling me to get downstairs and fry those walleyes. Will continue in a couple hours.
