Delorme PN-40

[+gojomoso]

I am getting a Delorme PN-40 sometime this week, and i had a few questions about it.

I am getting it with Topo 8.0, can I upgrade to Topo 9.0? If so where (a link would be great), and for how much?

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.)?

 

Thanks for your help,

gojomoso

[+goosehunter12]

I have borrowed a PN-40 and thaught it worked fine. I chose to purchase the PN-60 for the new interface and longer battery life and more memory. I am new to geocashing and handheld gps's. I will be using mine for hunting, some driving, and geocashing. The PN-60 is brand new to the market, but has the same size and buttons as the PN-40. I feel the PN-40 has proven itself and the PN-60 is a good upgrade for the money. That way you won't have to worry about all the compatability problems everyone is trying to figure out on these and other forums. Less headache=more user time. I was impatient and bought a PN-60 from Amazon for $350, but you can get one from TheDigitalOasis.com for $322 with free shipping. I just ordered a trolling motor from there and they were great. It was at my door in three business days and it was exactly what I ordered. Hope this helps. I should get mine on July 8th. Good luck.

[39_Steps]

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.)?

 

Thanks for your help,

gojomoso

I would suggest that a new Delorme cutomer will be better off ordering a PN-60 over the PN-40 now and worrying about purchasing accessories later when funds are available. For one thing, the PN-60 has 3.5GB of internal memory vs. the 0.5GB of internal memory in the PN-40. That is a huge difference and will let you experiment fully with the included topo maps of your area. Battery life is also claimed by Delorme to be better in the PN-60, and this will save some operating expense over a year or two.

[+goosehunter12]

Also, if you need accessories they are the same as the PN-40. Everything is compatable. I found that the cheapest place for RAM mounts, power cords, etc. is Amazon.com. Hope this helps.

[+The Yinnies]

Shop around for the map subscription and accessories. I got my map subscription for $23 shipped, and yes everything you download is yours forever. Ram items GPScity is the best for these.

Thanks

[+Pax42]

If you can afford it, yes go for the 60. It has a nicer easier to use UI and much better battery life.

 

If you do go with the 40, you should get a coupon in the box for an upgrade to topo 9 for just the cost of shipping. If you don't get the coupon call Delorme directly and they will give you instructions on what you need to send them for the upgrade i.e. receipt copy and bar code from box. The upgrade to topo 9 is very important because it gives you the ability to update the 40's firmware to 2.8 which brings some nice new features.

 

Also: Both the 60 and 40 come with more than basemaps. Topo has detailed maps of the US, Canada and Mexico. Those maps are also routable. You also get 5 region disks of detailed maps that are already "cut" which means they can be loaded directly to the 60/40 without having to even use the topo software.

Edited July 5, 2010 by Pax42

[+goosehunter12]

Shop around for the map subscription and accessories. I got my map subscription for $23 shipped, and yes everything you download is yours forever. Ram items GPScity is the best for these.

Thanks

Where did you find the subscription for $23?

[+embra]

I wonder if that was jr.com as they listed the subscription for $20...don't know if or what the shipping would have been.

[+embra]

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.

[+Team CowboyPapa]

Another question is the library subscription worth it, or are the base maps good enough for geocaching?

I use both the maps included in the box and the aerial photo imagery available by subscription for geocaching.

I have about 50 GB of the imagery downloaded and consider that to be "worth it" as I also use them for other purposes.

 

If you did subscribe to the library, do you get to keep the maps if your subscription ends? Or are they deleted?

The maps are yours to keep and use indefinitely.

 

Are there any free maps on Topo?

I'm not sure on how to answer this; therefore, there are three main sources of maps from DeLorme that may be hosted directly on a PN-40 or -60:

1. Those base and intermediate maps delivered as pre-installed firmware on the GPSrs,

2. The detail, residential street level maps on the 5 DVDs included in the box, and

3. Those available for download via the annual subscription.

[+RRLover]

May I interject?

Thank-you!

2b) Maps you cut yourself from the Topo software,

if, for some reason, the default((pre-cut) maps on the

5 DVDs) don't meet your needs . . .(disregard if you're

a Mac/Linux user who elects to not use BootCamp or

emulation software, adhering to your chosen OS.).

 

Norm

Edited July 5, 2010 by RRLover

[+The Yinnies]

Shop around for the map subscription and accessories. I got my map subscription for $23 shipped, and yes everything you download is yours forever. Ram items GPScity is the best for these.

Thanks

Where did you find the subscription for $23?

I got mine from j&r music. Right now Walmart $24

[+gojomoso]

Just one last question (this one is really an opinion, but i want to gauge it anyways)

Does the extra cost (i can get a new pn-40 for 180) (the cheapest PN-60 ive found is 350, and thats on sites that i trust, like amazon and ebay, ect.) justify upgrading to the pn-60? Or would i be better off buying a PN-40, and saving $170?

Don't argue about it, i'm just looking for some opinions about it.

[+Team CowboyPapa]

I am reluctant to make value judgements for others, particularly when a sum of money is involved.

 

However, as a user of the PN-40 and being rich, I'm ready for a step up!

[+Team_Searchgeo]

Here is something I recently posted on another thread:

If you can afford it then the 60 definitely but if you can't then there is nothing wrong with the 40. Remember if you buy the 60 or 40 you have to get a SDHC card. That can cost a few extra dollars. I have the 40 and with the new Topo 9.0 and 2.8 firmware I can do just about whatever the base model 60 can except mine is not as pretty to look at. The difference I see is of course price, Internal memory but since I have everything on the SD card that is not that big of a deal, User Interface(60 looks really nice), Battery life( I only use mine for geocaching and small hikes the 7-8 hrs I get out of the NIMH rechargable batteries is more than enough for me)and some processing speed. The most important stuff as far as operation and now being able to load GPX files,tracks and waypoints directly to my SD card, I really don't think the fact that the 60 will hold more of those internally makes that much difference but I could be wrong on that. I have only had the topo 9.0 for 2 days now but I can already see that it was a great upgrade and so far has worked perfectly.

Then I posted this on a thread that i started about topo 9.0 and F/W 2.8

Well after a couple days of messing around with the new F/W 2.8 I am finding it very simple to load my caches onto the SDHC card. It's truely as simple as drag and drop them into the GPX folder on the SD card then renaming them. The only issue is the amount of time to get them downloaded from the card to view on the unit. I just did a 500 cache PQ and it probably took30-45 sec's. The best thing though is I now have over 2000 caches on different files on the SD card and I pull them up as I need them and I have not even used the 1000 cache part for the internal memory. I am going to time it with a stop watch to find out how long it actually takes to load but that small wait is well worth the extra caches you are now able to store on the system. I am going to do a 1000 cache PQ later to see how long that will take to load also. One thing I noticed is you can only view one file at a time on the unit but I guess that is not to big a deal since you can only search one section at a time anyway. With several imagery maps and around 2000 caches I have only used 19% of the 16 GB SDHC that I have in the PN-40. That's not bad at all.

Now as far as the map subscription I think it will be well worth but the topo 1:100k maps work really well. I use my 40$ free testing money and bought some 1:24K topos and imagery sections and those are real nice. I did find the 1:24K to be a little more detailed than I need for geocaching but imagery are nice. Once i get back from vaca I will do the map subscription just for the imagery stuff.

[+embra]

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.