 "The PN-40 is outstanding" | 2009-11-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1OF35UMI8EAHP |
This is a review for the PN-40; it applies to the PN-30 as well, identical but for the absence of the compass and barometer. I've owned the unit for roughly a year and have been consistently impressed. It is rugged, accurate, feature-rich, and a pleasure to use. It is not perfect.
I use the unit solely for biking and hiking, not for automotive navigation. My impression is that PN-40 is not particularly well-suited for navigation, though it can do it, in principal. (The few times I have experimented with road navigation, route computation and update has been painfully slow. Additionally, there is no particularly handy way to navigate to locations that are not already waypoints. As this is obviously not what the PN-40 was designed for, I forgive the unit these "faults.")
Accuracy: Its accuracy seems to on par with the Garmin 60csx (which, as far as I can tell, the gold standard for accuracy). In demanding side-by-side tests, I believe that PN-40 accuracy is a hair poorer than the 60csx, but better than the new Garmin units (Colorado/Oregon).
Sensitivity: I regularly use the unit under a dense tree canopy and have had excellent reception.
Ease of use: The unit itself is a pleasure to use; I find the menus to be well laid out and intuitive. The Topo 8.0 software, on the other hand, is a real hassle. While the software is quite feature-rich, the user interface is...well...deplorable. I use it just infrequently enough that I spent the bulk of my time hunting through menus to try to locate the relatively basic functions I use. That said, Topo 8.0's routing algorithms seem very good. I have been especially impressed with the "bicycle" routing setting. I should mention, also, that at the moment Topo 8.0 does not run on OS X, a serious shortcoming.
Form factor: The actual form factor of the unit is perfectly satisfactory; it's not as sleek as the new Garmin units, of course. It is, on the other hand, very rugged. I don't take particularly good care of mine, and it shows very little wear.
Maps: This is one dimension where deLorme dramatically outshines the competition. For a modest $25/year, a subscription to the deLorme mapping service gives you essentially unlimited access to USGS 1:24k contour maps of the US, nautical maps, satellite maps, &c. One of the PN-40s selling features is that it can overlay several different maps in the main display. I find the base maps for the unit quite good, but have really only tested these in a narrow area. HOWEVER, as far as I know, deLorme does not sell maps for other countries (even Canada) for the PN-40. If you are enterprising, you can download (often free) geotiff maps and load them on to the PN-40, but you need extra software from deLorme for this trick; I haven't experimented with this. |
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 "PN-40, not for casual user" | 2009-11-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1NI5H2ZLTSUD5 |
This unit is very accurate and works very, very well. It acquires satellites very quickly and the screen is very bright and easy to read in sunlight. ( I've not yet used it for marine purposes so I'm not sure how it would handle glare and very, very bright conditions. Battery life seem reasonable.
If I were reviewing the unit itself on it's own it would get a five star review, the unit is not difficult to operate, albeit the learning curve navigating menus and sub-menus.
The Topo Usa software that is bundled with it and is essentially the unit's operating system is as difficult to use as they come. I don't know who they get to design this software, but it is the least intuitive program I have ever used. I'm not exaggerating. I bought a copy of Topo USA many years ago (version 1.2.4) just to print out some hiking and fishing topo maps of my area. The old version was just as impossible as the current Ver.8. Ease of use has not changed a bit. It's impossible to navigate the controls and the menus. None of the mapping options follow any linear progression and downloading maps from their web site to the unit is as buggy as Windows 95, and direct download from web to unit doesn't work. It's workaround (as explained by telephone tech help)is ridiculous. I assure you it is not my computer, my video card or usb port compatibility.BTW, I have the most recent firmware update installed.
The unit is great, but you will have to spend an awful lot of time with the software and the map interface.
This unit is NOT for the casual weekend user in my opinion. Also, I think it ought to come with a zippered case, if for nothing else, to protect the screen and store an extra set of batteries. |
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 "Pretty face.......Not the all story" | 2009-10-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: A39X1CULSEOESZ |
I waited a month before I wrote this review ,I have used this GPS every day.
I have used many GPS ,starting with my 1996 BRUNTON ,just died and miss it the most(very accurate).
First the good ;
Screen, face, maps are very nice .
Than the bad ;
Batteries life terrible
Accuracy ,in my part of the woods Maine is far from good ,not better than my $127 E TREX .
Compass;
At the best UNRELIABLE ,do not depend on it for your life saving.
Have to recalibrate every time you change the batteries,which is often .
Gave up ,bought the rechargeable accessories.
Take for ever to get to the point ,by than you are going somewhere else.KEEP A REAL COMPASS WITH YOU.
Map access download a pain .
Map interface great,if you have only that to do ,take time to learn and impliment . Not user friendly.
I do use computer dayly .
In all ,for PRO who have time and money maybe .
For amateur ,the price and need do NOT match.DO NOT recommend
Delorme has some great features ,hardware remain to Garmin.
GET TOGETHER FOR the best GPS. |
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| "Just What I Wanted." | 2009-10-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: AAVN0VV0M5A79 |
I received PN 40 last Christmas. I wanted it for grouse hunting. Just finished a week of grouse hunting and found this unit to be just what I wanted. I had an Garmin 12 from which I was able to downland my waypoints to TOPO 8 and then download them to the PN 40, this went smoothly after I figured out the correct com port. I was able to download aerial imagery to the PN 40 without a problem. I really like the track feature which shows where I've be walking. Also, I was surprised at how much distance we walked while hunting, typically 7 to 9 miles per daily trip. The tracks can be downloaded to TOPO 8 which is nice for future reference. It's nice when you can use the PN 40 to go across country just by looking at the screen and placeing the arrow where you what to go, it shows the distance and bearing, that way I can avoid unproductive areas.
Printing maps is easy.
The only complaint I have is battery life. I use Lithium batteries and get about a day and a half use from them. I get about half a day of use from the rechargable batteries. The point being, make sure you have extra batteries with you. |
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| "the best handheld gps available" | 2009-10-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2E6WJXVYXTFSO |
| OK this gps uses the same chipset as Garmin's Colorado and Oregon gps's. The major difference is Delorme actually has tech support just check out the forums at [...] . You get the latest maps with the gps and to update them to current next year is only [...]from Delorme( who's main business is maps). Garmin can't offer that feature and they would charge a lot more for it if they could. |
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 "Nice product, company is not ready for prime time" | 2009-10-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2FNB3BH6KIROU |
The product seems to work well, however, Delorme is definitely overwhelmed and/or disinterested in supporting their customers.
There are many broken links on the [...] website, including EVERY LINK ON THE TECH SUPPORT PAGE. That's right, everything you click on on the tech support page generates an "Application Error" page. Hardly inspires confidence.
So you might try calling the 800 number for support. All that does it tell you that you need to make a TOLL CALL to another number. That's right, they aren't paying for the phone call, and the 800 number is just there for looks, I guess.
So you might bite the bullet and call the paid number, but you still won't get hepl because NOBODY ANSWERS.
It gets even worse. The "Netlink" feature that you can use to download new map data runs at about 50k per second. The Delorme forums are full of nonesense blaming the ISP's traffic-shaping algorithms, but the fact is that if I do simultaneous downloads from Delorme and iTunes, my iTunes download runs at 500kbps and the Delorme download runs at 50k. That's right, barely above modem speed.
So, you might think "I'll join these forums and try to ask a few questions". Knock yourself out - no matter what you type in for a username, you get back "This username has been disallowed". And if you email [...], you will never get an answer.
Netlink map data downloads fail halfway through for no apparent reason, about 30% of the time. Delorme also provides you with a link to a website where you can download the map data with your browser, but that website must have been designed by the same people who wrote Netlink - it just doesn't work.
Remember, this is map data that you PAID for, and you can't download it 1/3 of the time. The downloads fail, the files disappear from your queue, and you'll never get ahold of anyone to rectify the situation. If you're lucky, you might be able to download them at modem speed.
The Topo 8 USA software that comes with the product is horribly buggy. Connecting to the product over the (proprietary) USB cable is intermittent at best. And when you get a good connection, the data transfer rate is 9600 baud! That's right, folks, it's 1989 again!
All of this is a shame, because the device itself seems to be accurate and well-designed. But once you buy it, you're on your own as far as Delorme is concerned.
Delorme clearly has the expertise to design a decent GPS. They clearly DO NOT have the expertise required to write the software to support it. They need to invest heavily in development (just start over on Topo 8 guys, it's a mess) and in infrastructure to support the online map data store. I suspect that other better-established players (Garmin, etc) will eventually eat these guys for breakfast - they're clearly not ready for the big leagues. |
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Expedited Available
