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I Tried Out a Pair of Rino 120's last Night.....


Alphawolf

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I brought a pair of these home from the store last night for a bit of a "field test". The radios sucked as bad as the 110's did in a previous test I did. I would expect them to however. I don't imagine they changed them at all between models. These radios are among the worst I've tested for sound quality and transmit distance, even in GRMS(1watt) mode. The audio sounds very hollow and scratchy, with heavy crackle at only moderate (.7 mile) distance. That the FCC wouldn't allow the peer-to-peer positioning on the GMRS freqs. is a big disappointment. I'm not sure that this radio will offer enough range in the FRS band to really make the cost worth the investment in a pair of these(and if your not using them in a pair...why have them at all?)

 

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

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A local sporting goods store had five at $199. About the same price as my legend! Even if the radio only works a few hundred yards you still have the advantage of a quad helix antenna for the same price, plus the compass screen has an accuracy meter on it. That's something I've wanted on my legend from day one. I also think the construction is better than the legend, no rubber band around it, plus a better data connection.

 

So even if the radio sucks, it's still the only one out there with peer to peer, plus you get some extra stuff that the legend lacks. Money well spent I'd say!

 

I almost forgot one advantage the Rino has over all other Gps's and radio's

19143_1300.jpg

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BrownMule...I work at a large sporting goods store and we received about 25 or so of them. So I "borrowed" a couple to test them.

niskibum....I concur.....If you were about to buy a Legend and didn't already have a pair of radios, then the Rino's would be a no-brainer for the extra $50 or so. However, the same $50 will get you a good quality FRS radio and you can still radio your coordinates to your buddy and he can input them in about 60 seconds. Doesn't have the "cool" factor built in like the Rino does, but it works just as well (even better). personally, I would rather have a seperate GPS and radio anyways.....When one goes South, I don't lose them both while they're in the shop.

 

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

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There have been numerous discussions here in the forums with regard to the Rino's performance vs features vs cost (here and here are but two examples). Although having never used a Rino myself, I have to agree with 'Alphawolf' ...I'd rather have two separate pieces of equipment that do their respective jobs very well, rather than a single piece of gear that tries to multi-task but offers mediocre performance as a result. I too once considered purchasing the Rino, but after giving it a lot of thought (which included the question 'Just how often would I really use the telemetry functionality?'), I decided to go this route instead:

57962_1000.jpg

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The Rino's send their position data out only on the FRS band, and only when you press the "press to talk" button or the "call" button. Update interval is limited by the FCC to not any more than every 10 seconds. (go figure)

 

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

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quote:
Originally posted by Seth!:

Can you see him on your map like a waypoint?

 

Thanks!

 

- Seth!

 

http://www.geocachingwa.org

 

Yes, they show up on your map plus a track of their movements using all the updates they send. You can track up to 50 people with different names and 20 differentface icons to choose from. Another cool feature is the games section. There are four games that you can play against other people with Rino's using the peer to peer that sound pretty fun. The only problem is finding other people with Rino's.

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I could not help but laugh at the guy who had a picture of the Vista next to a radio, If you took the Vista and offered to trade it to me for my Rino 120 W/out the radio or peer to peer function, I would quickly say NO. Despite the Vista's fancy features, (I have owned one before, along with Yellow etrex, Etrex Legend, and Meridian Gold), It gets terrible reception compared to the Rino and Meridian Gold. The gold and Rino both have Quad Helix attenas and are Robust units( rino is more robust). Think about it, if u get Rino and never use the radio because it sucks, you get up to 28 hour battery life! That is very high, and you know it. Also other bells and whistles, calander, games, alarm, SOUND including proximity alarms and others, ability to choose what screens show and what order, square screen( high res). www.gpsinformation.net basically shows what I have said is true and trust me, Venture sucks even if it had 500 megs for maps for GEOCACHING.

 

I rest my case

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