Rating:

The BRUNTON Ped CARDIO pedometer is well made, attractive and seems like it may last quite a while but set up was a real nightmare for me; the instructions are not worth the little scrap of paper they were printed on!

So far as I can see there is no way to switch between metric and English measures and the instructions (the tiny bit provided) do not match reality.

As far as design and quality of construction go, I give it five stars, but it is so frustrating to set up, I give it zero stars for user friendliness.

Rating:

About 2 miles into this trail in an area I’ve never been, one quad runs out of Oil, and the big quad almost out of Gas. Sun goingd down quick, no idea where we were, and no way to communicate back to base.

We decided after this event was over, look for decent communication gear for these types of situations.

I created a simple checklist:

1. Longer range comm. (Keep this in perspective, I’m happy with a couple miles)

2. GPS.

3. Ability to send position.

4. Ability to Poll position. What if I fell and broke my neck? Better yet, what if I lost it

So, I researched and found these bad boys! I bought 2.

Though they are somewhat expensive, safety is well worth it.

Out of the box, they feel rugged enough, but not so rugged I can throw them off the roof. They come with the strap, belt clip, charger, and USB cable(I’ll get to this).

Supposedly they carry a charge long enough for 14 hours of use. I’ve used them for over 4 and had well over half left.

Range: So far I’ve got around 2 miles in town(housing) using GMRS. The keying isn’t instant, you have to hold the transmit for just under a second then talk.

Screen: Not the greatest in the world, nowhere close to what you’d get off of a dedicated car GPS, but definitely usable. There are settings to turn off clutter which helps since the screen is smaller..

Buttons: The only thing I wonder about is the navigation stick. Time will tell how well this holds up, but so far so good.

Back to the USB cable:

You can connect this device to a computer for updates and map loads. So far I’ve tested the Topo maps, and Road maps. Nice added functionality, but more cost. You need a microSD card for this.

As with most newer GPS’, this unit does auto-routing, lookups, etc. No voice command as far as I can tell.

It has a built in compass, could be helpful. Barometer, altimeter…

SO, it accomplishes what I needed and more. When you transmit to talk, the unit transmits its location at the end updating the other units. You can poll the position of another unit in your contacts list if you haven’t heard from them. You can even send little text messages if you don’t want to talk; this could be handy if the others can’t understand what you are saying. It does do GeoCaching if that’s your thing. So there’s more functionality than I discuss.

I’m extremely satisfied with these.

NOTE: One of the units I first received had an issue where it wouldn’t transmit more than about 15 feet. Since I ordered from Amazon, I created the RMA, and had a new one in 2 days. No hassle at all.

You MAY find a cheaper price, but dealing with Amazon is super easy. Don’t be cheap and order from Joe Schmoes online who nobody ever heard of to save $20.

I hope this helps.

Rating:

With a fully charged, brand new rechargable battery as supplied with the unit, I got 40 hours of continuous use. I turned off the radio during all but 1 hour of this time but had the WAAS enabled. During this time, I took it with me while I ran errands, took 2 short day hikes, and went to work, but did not carry it on my person around the home. With 4 brand new, high quality brand name AA batteries (using the separately purchased alkaline battery pack), I got 19 hours of continuous use under similar conditions. After reading Hinch’s book on GPS use, I did turn off the WAAS after about 8 hours into this trial. I did not have the radio on at all during the alkaline battery trial, although I did “fiddle” with the pages and settings more often than the rechargable trial (was reading the Hinch book simultaneous with the alkaline trial, so I tried a couple of the tasks in the book during this time).

The base map supplied with the unit provides minimal street information and (as with any map from any source) some inaccuracies. Lists our grade school parking lot as “Black Partridge Park” — which is actually a very large prairie/forest preserve located just outside of our little town.

Be aware: you cannot load any map onto this unit except those specifically provided/sold by Garmin. To my knowledge, this is true for all gps units; the units with mapping features will only accept those from the manufacturer of the receiver. You can, however, download waypoints generated from other mapping software programs.

Have not tested the radio capability in the wild, but I see others have reported 5 mile range under typical wilderness conditions. The discrepancy between this irl range and the 14 miles listed on specs (which is always the maximum obtainable under totally optimal conditions) is entirely par for 2 way radio range estimates. If you plan to use the GMRS radio frequencies, you will need an FCC license. No training or test required; just an $85 fee. Easy to obtain online.

BTW: highly recommend Stephen Hinch book, Outdoor Navigation With GPS. I’ve been a basic-feature gps user for several years, but wanted a better understanding of the more advanced features and the jargon.

Rating:

The satellite positioning seems to be right on and positioning after start-up was quick. I used the unit to mark several deer trails, rub lines, and possible stand placements and I was able to return to those areas very easily. I used the averaging feature to fine tune the locations and was able to get within 5-7 feet of everything I marked.

Everyone in the group said that radio transmission was crystal clear, they could hear my transmissions better than anyone elses. Don’t get me wrong the Garmin in definetly a GPS first and radio second but I was very pleased with its two-way capabilities. It performed as well, if not better, than the midlands and motorolas in the group.

I also invested in TOPO US 2008 to install on the unit. I wasn’t that impressed with the TOPO map but area detail is alot better than the basemap. We make several trips to Fort Campbell every year and all roads, creeks, and even fire

Rating:

Likes; Works as advertised. I got alerts for red light cameras, speed cameras, speed traps, school zones and others. Tech support was fast, courteous and educational. They did not embarrass me or make me feel stupid Simple mistakes i did.

Dislikes: Alerts can be too much for school zones… but I guess i can turn off that particular POI. Also Speed traps can be old and create a false a;alert but at lest you get the warning ahead of time just in case they are there waiting. I understand its not a radar detector and it cant tell if they are actually there or not. It just warns you of all the favorite “cop” hiding places…. which is fine. I use it as a reminder to slow down in those areas.

Overall… Not bad at all … i think its a worthwhile service. Seamlessly works in the back ground while navigating just popping up with alerts to slow you down in all the right places. I believe I will continue to use it and get updates regularly. I am also eager to try the iPhone app they keep saying they will release. B++

PhantomALERT Red Light Camera and Speed Light Detector Software for select Garmin, TomTom and Magellan GPS (1-Year Download Subscription)