Delorme Earthmate PN-20

[tjbliley]

I just got one for X-mas from my Wife. So far I have loaded a few low res sat images and some NOAA Charts and I love it. I am getting ready to load some higher res images and set it up for some good offroad use. Right now I am just figureing it out. I do know that it is nice to have the software on my laptop to plan a route and then pull in the sat images or USGS maps, and load them to the SD card. Then if I go exploring I can download my track back to my computer at home. It seems like it will do everything I need. We will have to see how well it does over the next few months, then I will post more results and some samples of its capabilities.

 

[TheRoadie]

I just got one for X-mas from my Wife.

I seriously need your wife to talk to my wife so she doesn't get me any more flannel shirts. It took 20 years of marriage to get her to stop buying me ties, because I don't have a job that requires them.

Back on topic - did you read the GPS review in the last Overland Journal? Lotsa data there, and Delorme runs a user forum for trading real-world experiences.

 

[tjbliley]

Ihave not read the article. I am still an infant in this arena. I don't have a subscription yet but hope its in my stocking later this month. I am on the delorme board but just lurking til I have some real world experiences to give me an idea of the questions I need to ask. I am hoping to get some use out of this thing hiking, boating, and exploring offroad. That was the biggest reason I chose this one. It seemed the most versatile without too many compromises. I guess I need to get that article to see what I may be in for.............unless you can summarize.

 

[nvprospector]

I just got the PN-20 yesterday and I am blown away. It is nice having the SAT and Arial images on one unit and not have to lug the laptop out into the field anymore. The topo images are better qulity than whats on my Garmin GPSMAP 76Csx and they look like real topos not flaten images.

Should of purchased this unit last year instead of the garmin.

 

[TheRoadie]

A little bird tells me my wife was led by a mutual friend to ExPo to see what I was talking about wanting for a gift. So one should be under my tree. Yippee!

I just sold my Garmin Extrex VistaC to a hiker co-worker for $100.

 

[nvprospector]

I just sold my Garmin Extrex VistaC to a hiker co-worker for $100.

Know what you mean. I donated my garmin to the Boy Scout troop.

 

[TheRoadie]

I donated my garmin ...

Ack. Didn't even think of that. Rats! Great idea.

 

[nvprospector]

A little bird tells me my wife was led by a mutual friend to ExPo to see what I was talking about wanting for a gift. So one should be under my tree. Yippee!

I just sold my Garmin Extrex VistaC to a hiker co-worker for $100.

Did you get it?

 

[TheRoadie]

Boy, you're up early! Yes, disguised in a box much bigger than the unit so my usual shaking ploy and check for center of gravity of the box trick were misleading. Sneaky Mrs. Roadie.

Anyway, it's exactly as described in the OJ review - the processor is so busy that redrawing the map, if you have a lot of detail turned on, is noticably slower (by a factor of 2-3) than the Garmin Etrex VistaC I had. I'll get used to it, but I'm in the middle of configuring it with the aerial and satellite maps, and I don't know yet how it scrolls with those on the screen.

I actually do like the button arrangement a lot, where they're all in thumb range instead of on the left and right edge plus thumb space as on the Garmin. And the cursor control is a simple 4-way tilter, where the Garmin had a joystick that also was the enter key if you pressed down on it. That was hard to avoid pressing down on if you had gloves or a fat finger.

More news after some use.

 

[tjbliley]

Congrats. I have loved mine so far. I have loaded some nautical charts in mine as well as some aerial and sat shots. It is a little slow but when you are only going 10-15 mph then how fast does it really need to be. plus the detail available is worth it.

 

[TheRoadie]

I wanted to check for firmware upgrades, and get some imagery, but alas, their tech support server is down. Bummer. The normal web form to report the problem is also dead, so I just emailed them. But I have to assume they're aware of it and already on the case. Not a big surprise that there is a peak load on Xmas day.

 

[tjbliley]

That is why I convinced my wife to get it for me at the begining of the month. I avoided the possibility of the dreaded "Out of Stock" notice and got to get used to it before the holiday tarvel season. At least that was the arguement that worked this year.

 

[TheRoadie]

And that is precisely one of the sublime powers of the forum: to share the excuses that work. :wings: New tires, the SPOT locator, and a few other items were marketed using the "it's for SAFETY, honey" ploy. That way I don't have to whip out the "I want it because it's MY hobby, and I want it NOW!" card, which seems to be far too whiney.

 

[nvprospector]

Boy, you're up early!

Not really, I work graves and it is easier to stay on my work schedule than switching back and forth.

For the speed issue, I found if you turn off the layers that you are not using at that time it is much faster. It is trying to render all layers at the same time slows it down a lot. I have all the maps from the DVD cuts for southeren Nevada and southeren California and if I only turn on the section I am in at the time and turn off all the others the system then screams. Even when you have 7.5min topos and aerial/sat images loaded.

I have also found out if you are in an certain area for awhile copy the map to the systems memory and it will also speed it up since it does not have to read from the SD card all of the time.

If you have not been able to access the website yet there is a firmware update, and it really helps with redrawing the maps.

I was also playing around with mine and I have some HCSD cards that are rated at Class 6 (11 Mbit/s) and these really make a difference in render times. The SD card that comes with the unit is only a Class 2 (3 Mbit/s).

What really gets me about the unit is the sensetivity. I move only a few inches and it is already making a track. That is really nice.

 

[tjbliley]

When you are pushing yourself to the hiking market you have to be sensitive. I love it cause I can use it to get to a base camp and then use it for day hikes. it really fits the bill.