embra
-
Posts
5260 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by embra
-
-
I just wish it floated like my 76....
I believe that with lithium AA's in it, any PN device will float. Some people have put a positive buoyancy attachment on the lanyard clip for insurance in water.
-
The two things that really got me about the Sierra is the touch screen and the voice turn by turn capability!
If you want voice turn-by-turns, I think Lowrance is the only one that offers it in a handheld.
-
Only three reviews at Amazon, but uniformly unimpressed (I have no direct experience with any Lowrance, so no personal opinion to specifically offer).
I would suggest the DeLorme PN-60 for your consideration...should be in about the same price range. Garmin's Oregon 450 garners a lot of recommendations on these boards, too.
-
My understanding is that the card is a way to make sure customers know they are eligible for the upgrade, but if you can provide DeLorme a receipt documenting the purchase date they will provide the upgrade anyway (there is still a $10 S/H charge).
Good luck with either side of the fence you come down on. It's nice to have two attractive options.
-
Nice find on the rebate! Looks like it's Bass Pro-specific, good for PN-30, PN-40, and PN-60/60w purchases 8/1 - 9/15.
-
I think you can exchange waypoints and tracks, but the maps are in a proprietary format that only DeLorme GPS's can use.
-
I found this comparison chart here (I'm unable to format this table correctly, but the first number is for the PN-60 and the second for the PN-40)
Average Battery Life Under Typical Usage Conditions PN-60 PN-40With Li-Ion rechargeable battery (available from DeLorme) 13 hrs 10 hrs
With 2 e-lithium batteries 31 hrs 18 hrs
With 2 AA batteries (included with device) 19 hrs 9 hrs
I believe the 2 AA's included with device are the Energizer Advanced lithiums, while the e-lithiums are the Energizer Ultimates.
-
IIRC DeLorme claims something like 25-30% improved battery life over the PN-40 exclusive of power saving mode strategies, but they implemented a new power saving mode in the PN-60 that I think works very well for those wanting to get the most out of a set of batteries.
When in PSM, the PN-60 goes into a type of sleep mode after 30 seconds of no button activity whereby the screen displays only a message to touch any button to wake it up. After pushing a button it will then reactivate as soon as it gets a position fix (typically about 8 seconds or so). While in sleep mode, tracking continues to record if so enabled.
There's also an intermediate setting to "Sleep when stationary." If there is no movement detected by the accelerometer, the device goes into sleep mode. It is reactivated when the accelerometer again detects movement or a button is pushed.
-
My recollection of the Explorist line was that if it failed during a firmware upgrade, it was bricked. I think the only way to recover was to send it in to Magellan for them to do a firmware installation via internal ports. That might be what the "Software upload mode" is about...
I might be wrong, though; it's been a long time since I had my 500. It could be worth checking in with the Yahoo Explorist Users group to see what they think--lots of informed knowledge used to be there.
-
When I first got my DeLorme PN-40. I tried to fit a Zagg PN-20 shield on it. Although a very close fit, the PN-20 shield was just a bit too big. I tried to cut it down and mucked it up enough that I replaced it a few weeks later when Zagg listed a PN-40 specific version.
I'm not saying it can't be trimmed down cleanly, but the stuff is tough and requires good trimming tools to do it well. And, of, course, alteration voids your Zagg warranty.
-
Congratulations!
1. Topo North America 9 should have come with your PN-40 (or perhaps you got something with Topo8, but you are eligible for a upgrade to T9 for just the cost of shipping). T9 is actually pretty good for cache management. You will probably want to get a premium membership at geocaching.com so you can create and download pocket queries of the caches. The Map Files tab in T9 will allow you to log into your gc.com account and allow for autoupdates of your pocket queries. Then Syncing on the Handheld Export tab will move data to your PN-40.
T9 can sometimes feel overwhelming to people because it has so many capabilities. I'd suggest not getting into the other things just yet...wait until you've got the essentials under your belt. I don't know how much or how little more to say about the geocache management, so I'll stop on that and let you ask any particulars you'd like spelled out.
2. The download credit will go pretty quickly--the map data is rather expensive ala cart. It allows you to see what the available imagery is like, so download a little of everything. Then, *if* you think it would be useful, buy the subscription and go whole hog.
3. It depends how many maps and how much imagery you want to carry around. Most of us find the current sweet spot for GB/$ is the 16GB size. That's ample for most peoples' needs; you might even get by with 8 or possibly even 4 (1 is just too small). So I'd recommend a 16GB card. It's always better to have too much memory than too little.
Check out the wikis in my signature line...lots of help there.
-
You'll most likely be happy with either choice. I went from an Explorist 500 to a PN-20 and then to a PN-40, and I've been very happy with that progression. I'd agree with The Yinnies that the PN-40 is not particularly challenging to learn; the intricacies of all the imagery choices with the $30 annual subscription fee and the the other capabilities of the Topo North America software can take time and effort to master--but if one chooses to forego that, it can keep pretty simple and straightforward.
The main disadvantages that people find in the PN-40 are shorter battery life than with other devices (I get about 8-10 hours with mine) and a smallish screen (it's about the same size as the Explorist IIRC). It looks like Walmart and Amazon have it around $220 right now.
Rich Owings has some good reviews of both models at his web site.
-
Yup, that should be fixed with the plug-ins available here. IIRC it wasn't a firmware version problem, but rather the 3.6 version of Firefox. Whatever, people using Firefox and IE are reporting that it works for them.
-
I believe it is the case that you need the 2.8 firmware on a PN-40 to take *full advantage* of TNA9. I think that limited use can happen (e.g., map files should still transfer over), but one wouldn't be able to handle multiple waypoint files without the firmware upgrade (I haven't yet verified this on my own, so I might be wrong...but I think I remember reading this in the DeLorme forums).
I'd still try the firmware upgrade. I understand that your previous experience makes you cautious about firmware changes. I have found as a rule that the DeLormes are very robust for avoiding the kinds of firmware update glitches that can brick a GPS, and the vast, vast majority of those doing upgrades find that they are able to benefit from the additional features with no loss of basic functions. The risks of doing a firmware upgrade are not zero, but they are very small.
And here's another way to think about it: suppose that the risk of a bad outcome from a firmware upgrade is approximately equal to the odds of winning the lottery. If those are long odds, how much longer are they for winning the lottery twice? (and for all you statistics purists, yeah, I know the odds of winning a second time given that you've already one once are the same...we're going for psychological reassurance here).
-
I will add that the wiki link TCP gave you doesn't have a lot in the PN-60 area yet, but a lot of the PN-40 material is relevant.
Also, the DeLorme forum is so active it can almost feel like chat at times.
-
You're on the right track...those 3 DVDs contain precut regional files that are a convenient way to get detailed vectorized topo maps on your PN in a hurry.
-
I think I remember TotemLake saying he contributes to and uses the Northwest Trails data...he'll probably be along to describe his process (or set me straight).
-
GSAK may be a good bridge for you until the DeLorme solutions are in place. It's nagware...free to use, but after some time you get reminders (in the form of progressively longer start-up delays) to buy if you use it. So it won't cost you anything in the short run--and you just might find that its features are worth the reasonable license fee.
-
I'm not certain of this, but I suspect that you might need to go back to 2.6 to get T8 to keep the hints at the end of the comment. CR lets you arrange the order, of course, and I know some people use GSAK to arrange the order.
If nothing else, maybe this will bump your question back up to get someone else's attention who may have a more informed answer.
-
You *might* be in luck, depending on how long before your trip occurs. DeLorme has said that they intend to have world-wide detailed coverage available--I think they said later this year, although I don't recall (I know they're busy right now getting the PN-60 line out the door).
The impression I have gathered is that it would be prohibitively expensive for most users to get the whole shebang, but I believe they intend to sell regional coverage at more affordable prices. It's a "stay tuned" situation. If your trip is pretty soon, I don't think I'd count on it.
-
With the PN-40 one can usually recover from this condition by pulling the batteries and letting it sit overnight. The quicker way to get the same effect is to pull the batteries and hold down the Power button for a minute or two (shorter time is usually sufficient, longer time might be needed if the first attempt fails). Then replace the batteries and power up.
Apparently these procedures drain a capacitor that needs to be discharged before the device can power up again.
More information here: http://www.gps-wiki.com/wiki/Pn40:Power_FAQ
-
The way I use mine, 16GB is plenty of card. But for $7 more, I'd go for the 32GB. Even if you never need the second half, it's worth $7 to me to not have to worry about outgrowing the 16.
-
It so much depends on what money is worth to you and what GPS features are worth to you. If it were me (which just happens to be the case in my particular situation
) I'd go for the 60.One other thing to consider: the PN-60 is a new model, and we usually find that there are a few rough edges to polish off with a firmware revision or two over the early part of the product life--regardless of company. If you've got good tolerance for that sort of stuff, it's not a big deal. But if your tolerance is low, you might prefer the PN-40, which has had the benefit of a few years' refinement.
-
Also would it be worth getting rechargeable batteries? Or if not, what kind of regular batteries would work better?
And on Delorme.com it says the PN-40 with Topo 8.0 is discontinued, but the PN-40 they're selling now comes with Topo 9.0, is there any difference between the two besides the different version of Topo?
Another question is the library subscription worth it, or are the base maps good enough for geocaching (could you show me which base maps come with it)? If you did subscribe to the library, do you get to keep the maps if your subscription ends? Or are they deleted? Are there any free maps on Topo?
Lastly, before i order my PN-40, would it be better to save up for PN-60? Or is there no real difference (besides a few small things like processing, internal size, ect.)?
The different versions of Topo would be the only difference, although T9 (whether bundled or upgraded to) implies the full use of the 2.8 firmware upgrade.
I think the subscription is worth it. It's a little cumbersome to use, but it's doable. OTOH, you can get along without it. There should be a coupon included to sample for free the datasets available in the subscription...so you can try before you buy whole hog. Included in T9 are routable roads and topo data for Canada, US, and Mexico. (sample screen shots)
If price is the biggest concern, it can make sense to go for the PN-40. But I think the PN-60 is worth the extra cost. The better battery life is the most compelling for me, followed by the new user interface that includes user profiles.
) I'd go for the 60.
getting a NEW macbook pro first thing in the morning,,will topo8 and my pn-40 work on it..
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
Someone mentioned the other day that DeLorme has a media replacement program. If registered the software, I think you can call them up, describe your situation, and get new disks for a minimal fee.
If you have a hard time finding relevant threads on your topic here, try looking on the DeLorme forums.