RINO 110 Radio Performance

[Alphawolf]

Just a quick info. update....More to follow. I "borrowed" a couple of RINO 110's this week from the store where I sell them. I took them to San Diego for a serious "field test". The radios suck! Among the worst radios I have ever used. I own 6 different FRS and GMRS radios, and sell lots of them. I have field tested many models of radios and these were bad! Way bad! Now, I have to figure out if something is wrong with one(or both) of the units I took with me. As an example, my daughter and I were trying to communicate over the FRS band with these units and I couldn't even understand her. I assumed she might be to far away (we were in Sea World) and was about to give up. I looked around and saw her and we were only about 50 yards apart! This was not an isolated event either! Anyway, more to follow.....stay tuned. (no I don't have any bones to pick with Garmin. I own and have owned nothing but Garmin....I Love my V!)

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[+st_richardson]

My daughter and I had no problems in the field with my pair of Rino 120 units.

[+EtrexRose]

All I have heard on these forums about the Rino 110 and 120, is that the radios suck, the radios suck, and the radios suck. Im sick of hearing this. What about the Rinos' without the radio on? The GPS is still a fully functional and better then Etrexs' and others. So many extra features and things that make it better. 28 hour battery life without radio? wow.

 

All I am saying is, instead of continually reminding us how bad the radios are, tell us how good the real thing that matters- gps reception and the gps R itself.

[+Cachetrotters]

For 200 bucks I'd rather have most anything else if I'm going to leave the radio off.

[Alphawolf]

quote:

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All I have heard on these forums about the Rino 110 and 120, is that the radios suck, the radios suck, and the radios suck. Im sick of hearing this.

---

 

Maybe if Garmin hears it enough, they will do something. The radio is half of the equation! If only half your new car worked would you be happy expounding on the half that was right? Geeezzzz....c'mon!

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[+EtrexRose]

Open your eyes people! The Garmin Legend is the same price, but has no radio, or the calander, stop watch, and whatever else it has, legend does not have Quad Helix, and lasts 18 hours, Rino lasts 28 hours w/out radio on, which is great for hiking and backpacking.

 

I dont buy the rino 120 because of its "radio," I buy it because of its functionality and ease of use, not to mention special options and things that have never been seen in the GPS r world.

 

Listen to what I am trying to say and then maybe you can come up with a counter argument ppl.

[Alphawolf]

I agree the unit is innovative. I too, couldn't wait to get my hands on them. However, look at it from my perspective.....I sell them. I am the one who has to answer to the customer who asks "where is the volume control? I need to turn it up. I can't hear you." This is when we are standing 30 feet apart in the store. I (embarrased now) have to tell him "it's turned all the way up sir. That's how they sound." I am also the one who has had to fill out return forms to send them back to Garmin because of this. I expect a whole bunch of returns after Christmas. I love the concept of the RINO's.... Garmin just needs to get it right. I can't sell them based on a comparative price to the Legend. The customers want it *all* to work well, not just the GPS half. I agree totally that the GPSR part of the unit has a lot going for it. But the Magellan SportTrack Pro or the Garmin GPSMAP76 are also great units and I don't have to explain why the radio sounds like there is a piece of duct tape over the microphone! And, by the way...I don't consider this "getting ugly". This is what the forum is about. I say what I don't like about something. You say what you like about it. Everyone who is looking to buy it then makes up their mind! It's great!

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[Cache Canucks]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr. Rose:

"...Open your eyes people! The Garmin Legend is the same price, but has no radio, or the calander, stop watch, and whatever else it has, legend does not have Quad Helix, and lasts 18 hours, Rino lasts 28 hours w/out radio on, which is great for hiking and backpacking..."

---

...or, you could look at it another way. Garmin, being first and foremost 'a business' who's primary goal (as with any business) is to maximize profit, is unlikely to be giving anything away for nothing. If an 'eTrex Legend' and a 'Rino 110' cost the same, but the 'Rino' also includes an FRS/GMRS radio and some extra widgets in additional functionality, do you think that perhaps just maybe there may have been a few corners cut to bring the gosh-golly 'Rino' to market at a 'Legend' price...? It's like the old saying "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is"; if getting a top drawer GPS and a quality FRS/GMRS radio in a single package for the same price as a regular 'GPS only' unit from the same manufacturer seems 'too good to be true'... well...

 

[+EtrexRose]

Hey man, I know what your talking about, but about the cutting corners thing, your wrong. The legend is now 50$ less then the Rino 120 because of the rebate as you probebly know. And once again you talked about not being happy with the radio, and once again I am going to tell you the radio means nothing to me. The quad Helix attena, innovative menu design, number of tracks storage, very robust, and big battery life without radio on (because of 3 batteries).

 

I dont know what to say except, the people who expect high quality radios on this advanced GPS r for 220 have to realize the deal they are paying for what they get. The radios are a safety feature though and the fact that it has it when you need it just like the GPS is a comforting fact although its power is very low.

[+benjamin921]

Well beside the radio part being crap how does the Peer to Peer work?

[Alphawolf]

It's pretty cool! The downside is the FCC would only let it happen on the FRS frequencies, so the range is only that which you can squeeze out of the FRS. GMRS peer to peer would've been that much better. In my tests, I could do about 0.7 to 1.25 miles pretty consistently(NOT the voice part!) It updates everytime someone pushes the "call" button or the transmit button, but not more frequently than like every 10 or 20 seconds or something like that. I can see a real use for this technology as soon the voice modulation gets fixed. We have just about decided that the problem lies with bads microphones. They often sound like a cotton ball has been taped over the mike. What we can hope for is that someday, maybe with enough public input, that the FCC will allow us to do this on GMRS as well. Rules can be changed (remember selective availability?).

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[+benjamin921]

quote:

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Originally posted by Alphawolf:

It's pretty cool! The downside is the FCC would only let it happen on the FRS frequencies, so the range is only that which you can squeeze out of the FRS. GMRS peer to peer would've been that much better. In my tests, I could do about 0.7 to 1.25 miles pretty consistently(NOT the voice part!)

---

 

Well it's good to know that it works better than the radio.

 

quote:

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We have just about decided that the problem lies with bads microphones. They often sound like a cotton ball has been taped over the mike.

---

 

Might have to get in there and play around a little bit.

 

quote:

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(remember selective availability?)

---

 

Yup

 

I have a 120 coming this week and can't wait to play around with it. The only problem is that I am the only one with a Rino right now. Hopefully that won't last too long.

 

Thanks for the info.

[Snowshark]

Ok the radio sucks, how did the GPS part perform?

[+phantom4099]

Since they made these radio "waterproof" it might not be to far off from having duck tape over the speaker/mic.

 

In regard to the comment for what to expect for 220 I would say that I would expect it to work if I was a newbie. Because after all 220 dollars may seem like a lot of money to lay down (specially when you need two plus of these to get the full effect).

 

That and the screen size on the rino's seem a little small to me (I have not seen one, but guessing it is worse than the etrex). So in that regard if I just wanted the GPS part of the system I would buy a GPSr that was easier on the eyes, and carring an extra set of bateries is always a good idea (so I would only have to carry 2 batts with me but I would have about 20-24 up to 28 hours of GPS use on these), you will have to carry 3 batteries.

 

Alpha wolf did you try another brand of radios to see just what is the problem on them?

 

Wyatt W.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

[+Dan_Edwards]

I know that my FRS radios have a headset plug in, do the Rino's? If so does this fix the poor sound?

 

A = A

[Alphawolf]

quote:

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Alpha wolf did you try another brand of radios to see just what is the problem on them?

---

You bet...We were trying them against Motorola, Cobra and Midland FRS radios that we had in stock at that time. The other brands of radios were coming through on the RINO with good voice modulation, but the RINOs were still sounding bad on the other radios. This is how we made the conclusion that it thas something to do with the microphones. They received o.k., but wouldn't transmit the voice worth a dang. I doubt is has anything to do with the weatherproofing,many other radios have that as well, but still sound o.k.

quote:

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How about a headset?

---

We didn't try that, but I thinking it wouldn't help, as the RINOs sounded o.k. when listening to the other brands of radios.

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[Alphawolf]

quote:

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Ok the radio sucks, how did the GPS part perform?

---

Seemed to be flawless. If I remember right(it's been a bit since we tested them) I don't think they have position averaging. Maybe I'm wrong. But I think I remember wishing it was there and it wasn't. But other than that, I don't remember any downsides. With the antenna it has I would expect better performance under marginal conditions than the Legend(it's equal in features)gives.

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[+EtrexRose]

Finally, ya tell us what we wanted to know. Thanks for the GPS information, just wait till I get mine, I will test it and test very vigorously and let you all know how it compares with my brothers Magellan Gold, and because my friend is getting one also, we can try out peer to peer.

[+benjamin921]

Well I just got my 120 and did just a very small field test with the radio.

 

I used the Rino 120 and my father n law to be used a Motorola T289 on the FRS band. I was in the Jeep with the windows rolled up and he was outside in his side yard. I drove the jeep from his house, down a small hill and then up the hill (road). All the while using the radio.

 

We finally lost each other when we were a little more than 3/4 mile apart. By the time this happened his house is in the valley and I was on top of the hill, through the Jeep metal and all the trees in between.

 

The audio quality was very OK on both radio's. Granted this test was not between two Rino's but never the less I was not that disapointed in the performance of the radio.

 

Ok Ok I know this not up to 2 miles as it should be but it works and wroked satisfactory for us.

 

This was just a quick test so YMMV.

[+EtrexRose]

keep it coming guys, how does the alarm and calander fuctions work? Are they usefull? And Ben, have you had any tests on how sensitive the antenna is under tree cover? Just curious? thanks

[+benjamin921]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr. Rose:

keep it coming guys, how does the alarm and calander fuctions work? Are they usefull? And Ben, have you had any tests on how sensitive the antenna is under tree cover? Just curious? thanks

---

 

I just got it this evening when I got home so all we really did was play around with the radio part for now. I won't get out to test the GPS part until Mon at the earliest.

 

I'll play around with the calender and other stuff tommorow at work.

 

I do have one question though. I can't seem to get the back light to come on. Any certain tricks or do I just have a burnt out light?

I really don't want to have to send it back yet.

[Cache Canucks]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr. Rose:

"...Now were getting some good info...keep it coming guys..."

---

...does being what you want to hear make it 'good'? Seems to me, the best objective assessments/reviews of a GPSr (any GPSr) are by those who've used it without being pre-disposed to purchase it. It would appear by your comments that you've been looking forward to acquiring a RINO (or you already have one?) and are only interested in hearing from people who share your enthusiasm for this particular unit. Granted, there's nothing like the opinion of someone who has some hands-on experience with a product (such as actual owners), but there's almost always a natural bias to give a glowing recommendation for something that we've just plunked down a few hundred hard-earned dollars for; these forums are full of posts from folks who swear by their respective choices in a GPSr, but you have to do some real digging to find those that say "...just paid $400 for a brand new _____, boy, is it a piece of junk!..." (...they're there, but they're far outnumbered by those who are enamoured with their purchase). All that to say, don't be so quick to dismiss an objective critique (such as Alphawolf's) out-of-hand, while at the same time embracing only those reviews that vindicate your own personal choice of hardware.

 

[+EtrexRose]

j/k lol. I was not mad that the radio is bad, its just all I have heard is that the radio is bad, the radio is bad as I said before, and I was curious if the GPS reception was good or not. Thats why I got happy and started saying things like "finally information that we need, keep it coming." I understand AlphaWolf, But ya know ur right though, I have heard really good reviews and bad reviews and happy reviews and sad reviews, but what is interesting is how some people say 10 things are bad, and nothing good, and others say radio is weak, click stick is too short, but other then that, GPS is flawless. hmmmm.....

[+benjamin921]

I made it to work today.

 

I walk three blocks to work and it is a good thing I had the GPS this time. There was some light snow so visability was low and the Rino got me there with in 15' of the door.

 

I was also able to use the click stick with heavy fleece gloves on.

[+niskibum]

I do have one question though. I can't seem to get the back light to come on. Any certain tricks or do I just have a burnt out light?

I really don't want to have to send it back yet.

 

To turn on the backlight push in the power button once and you will get a pop up screen to adjust contrast and turn the light on. Either push the power button once more or use the click stick to toggle the light. That is one thing I don't care for on the 120, the position of the on switch and the light control. Other than that I have been very pleased with the performance and the overall construction. I get very good gps reception, but it isn't really fair to compare it to an etrex because it is a different type of antenna, so in different circumstances one will be better than the other.

[+benjamin921]

quote:

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To turn on the backlight push in the power button once and you will get a pop up screen to adjust contrast and turn the light on.

---

 

Dooohhh . I should have known. Kind of like my III+. Thanks

[+EtrexRose]

Hey guys, I am still waiting for some detailed personal reviews on the Rino 120, pls help me out>

[Alphawolf]

Well, I talked about the peer-to-peer above. It applies to the 120 as well. The only important functional diffeence from the 110 is the 8 mb of memory for mapping, and the database it comes with out of the box. I also mentioned previously the radio issues with it, and the antenna advantage over it's non-radio equal, the Legend. Anything in particular you are wondering about?

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[Alphawolf]

Oh yeah...alarm and calendar...Pretty straight forward. The calendar will let you makes notes or reminders on a given day, then it will alert you on that day(assuming you turn on the receiver that day ) The alarm function is an alarm clock, pretty simple, but I think I remember a lap timer as well. I'll have to look. It also has a stop watch built in. I think it also has the scramble mode on the radio. I never use that on my radios, 'cause it cuts down your effective range somewhat. The sunrise-sunset calculator seems unnecessary to some, I couldn't live without it on my V. I use it to plan photography trips, so I know when I have to be in place and set up (sunrise or sunset).

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[Alphawolf]

Sorry, I keep having after thoughts! I a house, side by side with a Magellan SporTrack Pro, the Magellan was recieving several sattelites, the 120 had 1....Not too much of a test, but maybe indicitive of performance under heavy cover(I guess a roof could be considered heavy cover, huh?)

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[+benjamin921]

quote:

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I think it also has the scramble mode on the radio. I never use that on my radios, 'cause it cuts down your effective range somewhat.

---

 

It has the scramble mode just on the GMRS side of the radio. Of course for this to work the other Rino has to be on the same channel, PL and I think have the radio in scramble mode as well.

[Cache Canucks]

quote:

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Originally posted by Alphawolf:

"...I a house, side by side with a Magellan SporTrack Pro, the Magellan was recieving several sattelites, the 120 had 1..."

---

Perhaps not all Quad Helix antennas are created equal (...another 'cut corner' by Garmin to keep the RINO's cost down?).

 

[+niskibum]

I have done some comparisons between my 120 and my legend. In most cases the 120 is 3 or 4 feet more accurate (according to its own accuracy meter) then the legend (which is no slouch). Right now I have both of them sitting on my desk in my office side by side and the 120 has a solid 17ft accuracy, while the legend is bouncing between 18 and 20 ft. Both have the same 7 birds locked. Outside on cache hunts the 120 is usually 4 or 5 feet closer. The one acception to this is when I have been in a deep narrow canyon. This is where the patch shines. The quad searches a wider angle while the patch looks up more, but this has nothing to do with the quality of the 120, it is just the type of antenna it has. I have a cache planted where I have 20 ft accuracy with my legend and a Garmin V gets nothing. It is in a deep canyon with heavy tree cover. This is why I laugh when I hear people say etrex's suck in the tree's.

 

Sorry I don't have a Magi to do a comparison with, but as far as I can tell the radio's on them are far worse than what the rino's are.

[+phantom4099]

The accuracy that the unit states is not a measure of real accuracy. To get a feel of real accuracy you will have to go to a survey marker. Or you can check the precsion of your unit by see how close it will return to a marked point that you created with the unit that your using.

 

Wyatt W.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

[iryshe]

We have a 120 and a 110. It's amazing how you can attach the Rino to your belt and it maintains an excellent GPS signal. We haven't really tested out the range of the FRS, but the beep is a great way to get the attention of the person on your channel. Also, the scanning capability is great for listening in on the other locals on the FRS band.

 

I'd probably recommend either the Garmin V or the Rino if someone asked me which GPS unit to get at this point. For me, signal lock is a must and everything else is secondary, until you get to the Garmin V cost where everything else pales in comparison.

 

The cheapest recommendation of all would be the Meridian gold. I'm non-partisan.

 

Jeremy Irish

Groundspeak - The Language of Location™

[+Cymbaline]

New user warning!

 

After reading the forums and whatnot, I still went out and bought a Rino 110 today. Buddy of mine also bought one at the same time, different registers, same store.

 

Our one-day test:

 

Quite pleased with the location geometry with 1 (*ONE*, read: O-N-E) unit within 15 feet of the other. Closer than that and the other won't get more than one satillite to save the other's life. Once I turned off, we actually got within about 4 feet of published coordinates of a geocache, without WAAS. Pretty good, I think.

 

Radio coverage was actually decent. We tested this using my house as a waypoint. The hard part was that I have a rather large power substation about 1/2 mile as the crow flies from my house, which my buddy had to drive past. Even with that, we did a dead-reckoning (we both have nextel as well) of about a total of 3/4 to 1+ mile of reception. This is over a *generally* flat terrain, with powerstation inbetween.

 

Overall, quite pleased with the unit, except for my outstanding quesiton of "Yes, I'm here. Yes, I know where I've been. Please allow me to put in where I WANT to be!"

 

Dazzit.

[+mrp]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cymbaline:

Overall, quite pleased with the unit, except for my outstanding quesiton of "Yes, I'm here. Yes, I know where I've been. Please allow me to put in where I WANT to be!"

---

 

Like most Garmin units, the way to enter a waypoint is to mark the current location, and then highlight the location and edit the co-ordinates.

 

-- Mitch

[+Cymbaline]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pneumatic:

Like most Garmin units, the way to enter a waypoint is to mark the current location, and then highlight the location and edit the co-ordinates.

---

 

Thanks. A user in other topic pointed that out to me as well. Found it the manual, finally. RTFM fully, as I finally did. Finding more and more options with this click-stick on each menu.

 

Still learning. But again, thanks for pointing this out.

 

--Jason

[+EtrexRose]

I wen't to REI today to actually feel the unit. It is so small like other etrex's. It looks much bigger in pictures on the internet. I spent 10 minutes messing around with it. The screen seems small at first but you quickly accept it when you realize how much crisp the display is. The backlight is more of a green color now, not as green as the Yellow Etrex but not whitish like the Legend and Vista and others. They had all of the units: meridians, etrex's, map 76's out and on and every one was stopping to look at the Rinos. The man giving information said he actually had a Rino 120 for his own unit. The click stick feels different then the Etrex models. It is a more fluid and easy motion and is accurate. The only problem is it does not protrude far out on the unit but has a big hole around it allowing you to still control it. 3 batteries make it deeper, which some would believe would be annoying or something like that. Actually it fills much more secure and solid with the case sticking out partly because of the added battery. Did i mention it is small??? Lots of user control to what u like. U choose what u want out of the many screens it has that you want it to go through by pressing the page button. Zoom button is different, u use z button and click stick. Was originally annoying but actually is preferable now. You can zoom in and out very fast. Was impressed, cant wait till I get my own too do some serious field testing .

 

Pls add to what I have learned, I mean all i did is hold and mess with the unit for 10 minutes, the least you guys who have them can do is tell us more, too much info is better then too little

[+MedicP1]

Here is what I believe to be a similar unit. Found it while surfing their webpage. all I noted quickly is that it has both the GPSr and the FRS radio in it. Anyone tried this one out yet, and if so how does it work in comparison to the rhino?

 

It does seem quite less $$$$, barring any sales.

 

GPSr's...A step in the right direction!

[+Dan_Edwards]

quote:

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Originally posted by Alphawolf:

 

How about a headset?

 

We didn't try that, but I thinking it wouldn't help, as the RINOs sounded o.k. when listening to the other brands of radios.

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

---

 

Why not since that would replace the microphone with a external one, I would think that would fix the problem completly. I am not talking about headphones, but a headset with mic.

 

Dan

 

A = A

[+Cachetrotters]

Anyone testing their RINO on GMRS bands without getting their M or GP FCC license first? Please answer into my little lapel pin....

[+niskibum]

That would be....wrong.

[+EtrexRose]

quote:

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Originally posted by MedicP1:

Here is what I believe to be a similar unit. Found it while surfing their http://shop2.outpost.com/product/3213741. all I noted quickly is that it has both the GPSr and the FRS radio in it. Anyone tried this one out yet, and if so how does it work in comparison to the rhino?

 

It does seem quite less $$$$, barring any sales.

 

GPSr's...A step in the right direction!

---

 

I think the only simularity is the fact it is radio and gps intergrated. But read more on the unit and you will see it does not come close to any popular unit on the market. It sortuf looks cool, but god, I dont know who would buy it. Its hard to explain just read what it has and you will understand. BLAAA!@@

[HOTPHOOT]

Alot has been said here about these units, good and bad. My opinion may not be that valid due to this is the first GPS that I have personally owned, however I have spent a fair amount of time researching and playing with other GPS units. To get aquainted with our units (2 of) we have been playing a type of GPS tag out in our 40 acre almond orchard (we also venture out in the neighbors orchards as well). So far we have tested up to about a 1 mile range with no complications. Flawless on the peer-to-peer and next to flawless with the FRS radio. My 11 year old son likes to start talking before or right when he begins speaking. When using the radio one must use a slower speaking speed and use clear text communication. The real test will be in the mountains while backpacking.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Merry Christmas to all!

 

Hotphoot

[+phantom4099]

IF memory serves me right the audiovox was the first unit to offer the combination (how did they get around the FCC so quick?). But if I rember right the manual says that the unit only has 8 GPSr channels (its on my other comp, so I will look at this weekend to see if it offers the same features as the rino, and if I am right about the channels).

 

But the one and only review that I read about it was that the unit sucked.

 

Wyatt W.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

[+Cymbaline]

Few days ago I posted my initial impression.

 

Semi-newbie alert!

 

Well, having used the Rino 110 a-farking-lot (original batteries I put in it when purchased Friday 12/13/02 are long-gone), I can now add the following:

 

- In the woods, the radio works great for about 1/2-3/4 mile over VERY hilly terrain. Radio works "decent" for about a 1 mile+ over semi-flat turrain.

 

- Location plots from neighboring Rino's are awesome. Just clicking the talk button updates RIGHT NOW.

 

- Mag North on this unit took me right were it was supposed to (evidently), based on a semi-half-baked inbetween waypoint. Was off by about 150 feet. Units fault? No. Mine. Should have set it to magnetic WHEN I should have set it to mag, not inbetween. TN + MN = gamble at your own risk, based on distance. Oh, the 150 foot differential was over a 3/10 mile basis. Know what you want to do beforehand, not during. Or, have a friend with an identical unit, you do one, they do the other. There's probably some newbie-factor faults in there, but i'm just saying... to error is magnetic, not human. Watch out for it.

 

- My issue with this unit is that it's either 1) mag north or 2) true north, no inbetweens and/or switching between the two mid-jaunt. No biggie, that's why I have a hand-held $20 compass. Just didn't know at the time.

 

- READ THE MANUAL. The Ref guide has a lot of stuff in it I missed when scanning it the first time. Save you a LOT of time and problems. For instance - did you know this unit has GAMES? Me neither, not til Sunday.

 

My overall review after a lot of intense hiking this weekend? GET THIS UNIT, or it's big brother the 120 (if you have the cash). Just have lots of batteries on hand - it uses 3 batteries, went through first set in 2 days, if you do a lot of hiking and/or use the radio a lot - I did a lot of both, hence fresh batteries died in about.. oh, 11? 12? hours of hiking. I didn't have WAAS running, and that shortens battery life even more. Normal usage (2-4 hours a day hiking, not a lot of radio/radio off use), you should get about 4-6 days use by my estimates, as long as you turn the unit off when not using.

 

Just my opinion.

[+EtrexRose]

Im not sure what the rating for the Subject that Alpha Wolf started is for but it is 5 star i guess. I think most people would get a good idea of what they were getting into if they bought a Rino 110 or 120 now. It seems not all but the majority of the Rinos' have microphone problems. Also the clicksticks are very short in early production units. I think that if you bought one now, your chances of getting one with no microphone problem and one with a longer click stick are better then before. I have read many reviews like some at Amazon.com and others and Many have sent their units in. They say in emails they will have longer click sticks on later production Rino's, and that was two months ago. So i think the longer click stick should be on most units. The microphone is what its all about I believe, the gps reciever seems to be working good(its good that isn't messed up like some of the radio parts), and atleast it has the function of GMRS and position sending, even if you dont use it. umm, thats all i can think to say now, thaks for all of the chatter.

[Alphawolf]

As soon as the Holidays are over and I get a little breathing room, I will re-test a pair of these again(whenever we get some in again) and I will report any changes. Hopefully, with just a couple of minor improvements, Garmin could pull these up to their full potential. We have sold enough now, that I will soon be hearing some customers feedback as well. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[youngie]

Has anyone else found that the microphone is not in the place mentioned in the manual? After realizing I had a low audio problem I did some testing and found the best transmit audio when speaking into the area of the speaker near the bottom of the radio. Maybe they changed the location due to waterproofing problems.