Battery Pack

Darren · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:59 am Post subject:

Andy, you continue to assert the issues you had whilst conveniently overlooking the numerous posts from users happy with their units. That is the point I wished to make.

You had a bad experience, we know and understand that and I'm not seeking to hide that but you seem unwilling to accept that others are happy. You may have paid to 'test' yours but you have been refunded have you not?
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Darren Griffin

andyb2 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 12, 2008 Posts: 32

yes i do accept that, but i think that you have to accept that if you look at my posts you will see that i have always admired the unit when it works.

i did get a refund of the money paid - but not for the time wasted and days out in the countryside marred by the frustrations of use.

to hide from potential purchasers the fact that the satmap will need patience?! is not helpful to them.

and PloddinPedro is right - people tend not to post into forums when they are happy. but the reason most people look at forums is to see what problems they may encounter with products - and make an informed decision.

and the satmap website still contains errors about the product

Darren · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:54 am Post subject:

And a decision based on dozens of posts from a few unhappy users is not as informed as it might be because it overlooks the silent majority happy with their units who feel no need to post.
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Darren Griffin

PloddinPedro · Regular Visitor Joined: Mar 25, 2007 Posts: 229

FrequentFlyer · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 1:29 pm Post subject:

Well I think it's a cracking device...as a non techy type person. Yes, it still has some anomalies to sort out...(just back from the Alps ,and the total ascent shown was a nonsense)....but battery life and 'freezing' are sorted as far as I am concerned.
I think that the wish list shown elsewhere has merit, and hopefully, Satmap will sit up and take notice of the many valid improvements that could be made to the product.
On the phone they are one of the most helpful companies you could wish to speak to....(try calling BT.....without cost... to sort out your internet connection which the hub keeps disabling.)

p-brain · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 17, 2008 Posts: 30

Having kept an eye on these forums for some weeks now, prior to my recent purchase of my Satmap, I have to agree that there are a fair share of negative comments about the Satmap. One, previously mentioned, user being responsible for a lot of the very negative posts.

This is fair enough, and to be expected. As one poster pointed out above, people are quick to complain, but less quick to praise.

The unit is not going to satisy everybodys needs.

This is my first GPS, so I cannot compare. No GPS system is perfect - there will ALWAYS be something to moan about - end of story.

Yes Satmap 10 plus maps is very expensive. However, it is an excellent piece of kit.

I am growing bored of reading just the negative comments, especially from users who have done nothing but complain, and who no longer even posess the Satmap 10

It would be good to see some positive experiences posted on here. It would give interested parties a far more rounded impression of this bit of kit.

lostinleeds · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 23, 2008 Posts: 6

I used the satmap over 4 days cycling in Scotland (got back yesterday), and got long hours of use out of the battery (ending with a 90 mile ride against the wind - about 7-8 hours of use in all, about 3 of them on 90 per cent battery (very bright sunshine); the rest on per cent. I am a convert, though performance was not ideal (I'll post more elsewhere): it did freeze several times, but quickly righted itself after a battery unplug, which would have been more of a problem in the wet - it needs a reboot switch. I had 3 hours on 4 bars, then almost 4 hours on 3 bars, then it went to 2 bars and very quickly then generated a critical battery alert. But when it works it's lovely! It reacquired signal speedily, even a few times on the move.

LostMike · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:47 pm Post subject:

Andy

I thought you bought if for £400 but whatever you seem to have had your money back.

Most of us don't want our money back and are happy to have the units for what they provide.

You have made your choice and we have made ours.

You have also made your views clear.

Why are you still commenting in this forum?
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LostMike
Satmap A10. Platform 21
Software version 1.5.9193
Satsync 1.525

ocam · Occasional Visitor Joined: Nov 08, 2007 Posts: 46

As an early adopter (purchased in November) albeit without experience of any other GPS, I have been very impressed with Satmap and the A10. There is no substitute for OS mapping and they are the only company with a worthwhile product. One competitor appears to have packed it in - the Road Angel is no longer on the market.
So all credit to them and their superb customer service. Here are some positive thoughts.
Customer service:
If you buy from a company ie Satmap, you buy into their customer service. If you buy from retailers who undercut the rrp all you can reasonably expect is your money back from the retailer. These retailers are the ones who should have to talk to Satmap about getting products fixed/replaced. Anyone who expects customer service from Satmap having saved money by buying from Amazon etc has a blooming cheek. Nevertheless, Satmap have been showered with oustanding praise on their customer service ever since launch.
Device performance:
To claim that the A10 is not fit for purpose (as per one individual who seemingly loves to complain, skewing the whole picture) is obviously rubbish. There is no question it does the job. Period. It is capable of more and that will be the guilding of the lily. It is in this regard that impatient complaints have arisen, and anyone with the patience to carefully trawl this forum will observe that several issues have been succesfully addressed. Clearly the product (software) is still developing/updating; the company show great drive, enthusiasm and determination to make a success of the product and to satisfy their customers both new and existing.
The A10 has got me out of traffic jams whilst driving. It has seen me safely off the hill on my own and with groups I led, both in good weather and in foul. And at night - so satisfying when you know how difficult life would have been using paper maps.
I have had my enjoyment of the outdoors enhanced hugely during the last 7 months. There are no negatives for me. Sure I've had the odd freeze - so what? Just disconnect, then reconnect. (If it's foul weather do it under someone's coat or whatever, even set up shelter under which to do it - still a miles better scenario than trying to read a paper map under such conditions!!) Hopefully they'll clear this bug, but even if they don't, it makes no difference to me; it remains a fantastic application of GPS. I want the device to show me where I am. It does. All else is bonus.

Regards

robs1972 · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:59 pm Post subject:

I totally agree....some people do like to over do it with the whining even after they've bailed out and got a full refund.

Had mine since October.....the freezing issue highlighted in it's first day of use and pretty much every use since but if they never manage to fix it I wouldn't be without the thing.
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I like mapping, I like mapping, I like mapping and I like to map!

mikealder · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:29 pm Post subject:

I have only taken out a second GPS device whilst walking on a couple of occasions since purchasing the Active 10, the first time was the first time I ever used the device (just in case - and the standby unit wasn't required) and other times when playing with other software/ hardware.

The device works fine for me with very little in way of lock ups etc. The customer support is second to none, when I ordered a custom 25K map they phoned me up within minutes questioning why I wanted so much area covered by water (Morecombe Bay) - an equivalent land mass to that of the water was added to my custom map as they don't charge for water!

When I snapped a battery connection point on the AA battery holder I phoned up and expected to be charged for what was my own stupidity in breaking the component. No charge and a replacement battery holder came through the post within a couple of days.

The above points and quite a few other reasons are why I would never hesitate to recommend the SatMap 100% as a great device, backed up by a very proactive team who know what customer care is all about which is all too rare in this day and age - Mike

4ndynorfolk · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:19 am Post subject:

I got my Satmap just last week, after reading about it in the press and on this forum.

I took it out first day fo a "play" and it froze up twice within 2 hours. Since then I have used it seriously on three occasions and several more "plays to familiarise myself with it. It has not frozen since that first day.

Hopefully this may help pin down what causes the freezes. Other members may be able to add other scenarios that will lead to a solution.

On the first outing, I had Energiser Ultimate batteries left in by Blacks after the pre-purchase demo. I had also set advanced power saving.

Before the next excursion, I noticed that the battery indicator kept changing between 1 and 3 bars. So I decided to change the batteries. I found that one of the batteries was a little loose and gently bent one of the battery contacts to improve the fit.

I have been a keen user of rechargable batteries for many years. Last year I binned all my straight NiMh batteries, in favour of Uniross Hybrio batteries. These can be used straight from the pack as they hold 80% charge after 12 months. These are 2100mAh batteries, but since ordinary NiMh batteries can lose 20% of the charge in the first 24 hours, they are generally more powerful in the real world than even 2700mAh cells. Sanyo Enloop and Annesman Max-A are similar. You can pick them up for less than the lithium batteries. (I think Uniross may call them "Ready to Use" now)

I also turned off advanced power saving.

Given the number of lock-ups reported on this forum, I have either been extremely fortunate, or one of the three factors above holds the key to preventing lock-ups

Perhaps some of you could experiment and add your thoughts. This would enable Satmap to fix the problem and make a good device great.

lostinleeds · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 23, 2008 Posts: 6

I think the majority of freezes I have experienced were due to pressing too many buttons too quickly once the unit had initially slowed, rather than waiting for it to respond to the first button press.

mikehay · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:02 pm Post subject:

I have had mixed success with both the SatMap and support from them. I bought my unit from them at the Birmingham outdoor show earlier this year when looking to replace my Garmin Venture unit which I could no longer connect to my new laptop due to no serial connection on the laptop. The thing that sold it to me was the OS Mapping on the unit.

I have experienced days when it has been perfect; and once acquired the GPS lock has been maintained even when I forgot to turn the unit off and put it in the boot of the car on for the journey home. It was the longest, fastest walk I have ever done when I viewed the resulting log in Memory Map. Also seems to maintain 3 -5 satellites indoors after a walk.

However, I have also experienced issues like a 5k trail added to the start of a route, and the thing locking up while on a walk, so ending up with lots of tracks with "as the crow flies" sections. This is annoying when walking with a group and you are asked how far have we come? how long was the walk. Questions I could always answer with the Garmin.

I have also walked on water without getting my feet wet, which was quite an experience.

I have sent logs, comments and offers to help to the support team at SatMap and hardly ever had any follow up. I did ring them and the suggestion then was to send the unit it so they could check the receiver. I used it again that weekend before deciding to send it back and it behaved perfectly.

The really cool thing with the device is, when it is working, that it is really easy to show people where you are, and I have used it to show "lost" walk leaders the errors of their ways.

New technology always takes time to be right and this is a product with great potential so I have decided to stick with it. I'm hoping the latest build is an improvement, but the list of bug fixes doesn't seem to address any of my main issues with it.

Getting the battery pack is my next item. I ordered it once and they took my money from the credit card even though they didn't have any in stock, so after a few weeks I asked for the money back and cancelled the order. This nearly caused me to send the whole thing back for a refund.

The graphical mapping is still the thing that sells it to me. However, for serious walking you always need a map just in case.

reklawpete · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 06, 2008 Posts: 40

You say that you have also experienced issues like a 5k trail added to the start of a route. If you go to page 46 of the Satmap guide it says "When the unit is in the process of acquiring a satellite lock, a straight line false trail is laid down. This 'spike' is around 5km long and the track arrives at your location. If you wish to have an accurate trip log you will need to clear the track and reset the trip log before you start your journey. It is planned to remove the spike in a future software update."

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