DeLorme PN-40 GPS Review

[Joshua Szulecki]

Hey folks,

I promised a while back that I'd do a review for my PN-40 once the new firmware is out, from the perspective of my sort of hiker. Well... I got around to it.

http://waterfallchasing.b...re-view-introduction.html

[McDowra]

Thanks for the review, I want one bad!

[Joshua Szulecki]

BTW... Any other PN-40 users on Alatrails?

[ednotmilkman]

i've got the pn-20 

I think it does the same thing except slower and not as good at picking up the sats.

I wouldn't mind loaning it out for a weekend, if I'm not using it, and you have a 100% reliable e-bay rating !

[MoBill122]

i've got the pn-20 

I think it does the same thing except slower and not as good at picking up the sats.

I wouldn't mind loaning it out for a weekend, if I'm not using it, and you have a 100% reliable e-bay rating !

ED ?  You still dwelling on hiking the BMT anytime soon ??  I'm going to start the first week of April from Three Forks to Blue Ridge.  That's like 50 miles or so.

[Joshua Szulecki]

As a note, DeLorme has released an official new firmware, 2.5. It solves some of the signal issues the device initially exhibited. Most of the fixes were in the 2.5 Beta 3 and 2.5 Beta 4 releases, but now it is official, not experimental. The improvements include a major addition of new geocaching features.

http://forums.delorme.com...db447ea2f8f0feae9b18765a9

[Joshua Szulecki]

Another note...

DeLorme just released TopoUSA 8.0. I got it for free (plus S&H) because I bought a PN-40 within the last six months, and DeLorme is cool about stuff like that.

I don't see any major differences, although there are now basemaps (no topo yet) for Canada and Mexico.

[Joshua Szulecki]

One minor note about the upcoming Cache Register geocaching software for the PN-series...

It is expected to be released by next week, and will cost $9.95.

[Pully]

Thanks for keeping us updated. I'm now a PN-40 user.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Pully,

Enjoying it so far?

[Pully]

I haven't had a chance to use it in Bankhead yet but have used it around my house and took it to Seven Falls today. I marked the parking area and an Indian Marker Tree.  I also used it while driving down the road and am extremely satisfied with that. I've also downloaded a USGS 1:24k quad for the Hurricane Creek area and love the ability to turn on and off the imagery.

I love this GPS. It was actually easier to use and figure out than I expected.

[ednotmilkman]

Just noticed that DeLorme is now selling an "in between" model handheld receiver.

All the same high-performing features as the PN-40 (no barometric altimeter or electronic compass)

So it costs $300 instead of $400 for the pn-40

http://shop.delorme.com/O...tDspRte.jsp?section=10460

I'm gonna order one soon.  Anybody want to buy my old pn-20, give me a private message. I still works fine, but I dropped it and cracked the window so I've been using it with a piece of clear shipping tape over it for the last two months. DeLorme said it would be $40 to fix it.

Edwin

[Joshua Szulecki]

The PN-40 did pretty good in my first Bankhead test. It had some weak coverage behind a bluff, and drifted a bit in a few spots (we didn't cross Brushy Creek, PN-40), but otherwise did fine under the bluffs. I even had a WAAS lock a few times.

[McDowra]

Pulled the trigger and bought one yesterday, hope to play with it this weekend

[Joshua Szulecki]

Make sure you get the map subscription! Totally worth it and I'll be renewing mine.

Got good batteries?

[McDowra]

I will get the subscription for sure, and I bought rechargeable battery's. Really looking forward to having the topo maps on the gps instead of folded up in my pocket.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Keep the map with you, though. The GPS can and probably will have trouble someday. Dead batteries, no reception, slow to lock, etc...

[ednotmilkman]

I recieved my PN-40 the day before I flew out to Yellowstone last month. So I carried it instead of my trusty old PN-20, needing only to swap the SD cards containing the appropriate map data for the hike out there and the ride back.

Things worked smooth for about 20 minutes - at the Birmingham airport where I had a 3 hour layover from my friends flight to mine. But then the darned thing froze up. I had already read about this problem and how you restart it by removing batteries and holding down the "on" button for 60 seconds before trurning it on. That was only a temporary solution. Never did stay operating more than 20  minutes.

So today I finally had time to mail it back, requesting that if they had to send out a new one, give me a PN-30 instead of the 40 that should get longer battery life; since I don't really see the need of an electronic compass nor barometric altimeter when you can see the elevations from the topo map unless you are in an airplane.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Yeah, a handful of units do this. I don't know if they'll switch you to a PN-30 or not, but they will get you a working unit.

The barometric altimeter is essentially useless (and doesn't work in planes anyway: pressurized), but it and the compass have been shown to use VERY little power. I mean a ridiculously small amount of power. Like 2mA. 

[ednotmilkman]

I guess if you are in the habit of jumping out of airplanes, then you'd know how far you have to fall, once you do the subtraction of map elevation from altimeter reading!  cool to see your velocity I'm sure before (hopefully), and after opening a chute.

They said they would send me the replacement front cover for the pn-20 for $40, or they'd fix it for $47, so I told them to ship a cover with new unit to save shipping.