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TechnoTV - DeLorme Earthmate PN-40
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List Price: $399.99
Our Price: Too low to display
Your Save: $ ( % )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: DeLorme
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: DVD-ROM
Brand: Delorme
EAN: 0019916005696
Feature: 32-channel STMicroelectronics Cartesio chipset; dual-core processor for blazing-fast performance
Format: DVD-ROM
Is Autographed: 0
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: DeLorme
Manufacturer: DeLorme
Model: AE-7985-201
Platform: Windows XP
Publisher: DeLorme
Release Date: 2008-11-21
Studio: DeLorme
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Features
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32-channel STMicroelectronics Cartesio chipset; dual-core processor for blazing-fast performance
500 MB of available onboard Flash memory; support for high-capacity SD cards (SDHC) up to 32 GB
3-axis electronic compass; Barometric altimeter
More detailed onboard base map data for the U.S., now with secondary and connector roads, along with major highways and thoroughfares for the entire world
Fast USB 2.0 data transfers to in-device SD card--no external card reader required
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Delorme Puts It All Together For Hiking GPS
Comment: I had a chance to try the PN-40 extensively on a recent off-trail desert hiking trip. The unit performed flawlessly, and though I'm pretty picky about features, at the end of the week, I still didn't have a wish list.
Delorme's new high resolution color aerial imaging is a real upgrade from it's previous topo and "satellite" imagery. Comparing side by side with Google Earth, Google has a slight edge on resolution, but it's pretty close. And for a mobile GPS, the resolution is more than you need, and you can zoom up on details that provide more than enough detail. Delorme's new subscription pricing option of $30 for a year's worth of unlimited map downloading is a much better pricing model than the old "pay as you go", which got expensive fast.
The PN-40 is fast, both in GPS acquisition and map re-drawing. The GPS continued to track while in my pocket. It acquires a fix after being turned on often within 30 seconds. The map re-draws are not silky smooth if you set it to always orient "heading up" as it constantly tries to adjust to your varying direction. But in "north up" and "course up" mode, where the map is static and your arrow is moving, the unit is very easy to use. And zooming in and out is almost instantaneous, which is much faster than older handheld GPS models with high resolution aerial maps.
Planning routes and waypoints on the included Topo software is an easy way to plan hikes, though you can also pick points on the little screen on the unit if you don't have a computer nearby. That's a slower process as you have to use the four-direction round button, which is not that easy to nagivate around extensively.
The unit is rugged, with high impact, tough plastic on the outside, and a battery case the screws tight with finger screws to make it water resistant.
The unit is easy to use but has a whole lot of layers of complexity if you want to do more. It took me several days of heavy use before I felt I knew all the menu options. There are a lot of ways to customize the unit, which is probably why I didn't feel I wished for much at the end of the hiking week.
Though you could use this for auto routing, I find my regular auto GPS a lot easier to use for that. But for anything off roads, such as hiking or jeep riding, this unit is really great.
Here's a few tips I learned using it:
1) Sometimes the unit will not be recognized by my computer when I first hook up the USB cord and turn it on. For some reason, if I just turn the unit off, wait a bit and then back on, the computer recognizes it on the second try.
2) Don't be afraid to turn up the display brightness to full brightness. It's a lot easier to see in the day, and since the unit runs on two AA batteries, it's no problem if you need to switch them out. I found that two AA batteries lasted a day and a half at full brightness with the display set to automatically turn off after 30 seconds of no use.
3) I scratched the screen with my car keys in the same pocket, so watch out for the screen and sharp or metal objects.
Portable high resolution GPS has finally become reality. I really enjoyed my hiking trip, being able to plan complex routes in advance, and see exactly where I was when out in the backcountry or on trails. I was able to make some smart decisions while hiking when it was getting late and I needed to figure out a new way back out. It took years for my dream of a hand held GPS with high resolution maps to finally happen. I highly recommend the PN-40.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Simply an amazing GPSr. True paperless caching!
Comment: I received my new DeLorme PN-40 GPSr the other day.
First off, let me state that my previous GPSr was a basic Etrex. It was pretty weak, but helped me find lots of geocaches. Now, keep in mind two weeks ago I had NO intention of getting a DeLorme. I was pretty set on getting the Garmin Oregon, and had just an inkling of the PN-XX's. So, I headed on over to the DeLorme forums and posted some questions. The level of attention I received from the members as well as employees of DeLorme really impressed me. Couple that with a DeLorme employee's blog post which pretty much seemed to be a direct answer to my questioning about Mac support, and I was sold. I'm willing to wait a month for limited Mac support, and know that they are working towards more support down the road.
So, onto my first impressions. This might not have the bells and whistles aesthetically of the Oregon (by this I mean large touch screen, lack of buttons), but it ROCKS. I really have nothing to compare it to other than the Etrex, but it is FAST, fast, FAST! I've heard the PN-20 took a while to render maps and create routes. This rendered maps real-time while I was driving. It only took a few seconds to calculate a driving route. Really amazing. On top of that, it took quite a few minutes from a cold start to acquire a 3-D fix, but once it did, every restart after that had an almost instant fix. Literally, I turned it on and it acquired a fix.
The driving directions were very accurate, and the beep was sufficient for me to know to turn. If I had the travel kit, I could keep the backlight on in the dark, and have no problem finding my way to other addresses. Speaking of addresses, the maps that come with this are GREAT! So easy to load the pre-cut area maps that come on the accompanying DVDs. I haven't tried to cut maps online yet, but I plan on grabbing a bunch of satellite imagery, as that is one of the key points that sold me on the PN-40.
Now, onto the main reason I wanted a new GPSr, geocaching. The Etrex served its purpose, but sometimes I would be walking around an area for over an hour, with the GPSr jumping all over the place. With the PN-40, it took me right to the cache. I had already read the hint, so I thought I knew where it was. The GPSr showed that I was only 2 feet from where I thought it was!!! Unfortunately, I couldn't find it at first, so I keep looking, and finally I find it a couple of feet from where I was first looking. I look at the PN-40, and sure enough it was registering 0 feet. Maybe this was beginner's luck, but I was impressed.
I am simply AMAZED. This was the greatest geocaching experience I have ever had. I loaded Color Aerial Imagery onto my PN, and it was literally like i had Google Earth as GPSr. I viewed all my caches on the map, scrolled to one I wanted to hit, and routed to it. It was so accurate it was scary! I was in heavy foliage at times, and it never lost a 3-D connection. It wasn't jumping all over the place like my old GPS did. This was steady! In fact, I think the biggest problem is that the people who placed the caches had a less accurate GPS, thus throwing off the coords slightly.
I had the PN auto-routing for roads to each cache. Once I got to the area, I just let the GPS lead me to cache. Some of the caches I didn't even read, I just made my way to the area and found it.
I'm already having a lot of fun with this. It's a big change from my Etrex. My biggest concern was that I would have buyers regret and wished I bought the Oregon. So far that is not the case. Once I start loading all kinds of different maps, which come with the GPSr (and for $29.99, I can get a year subscription of unlimited map downloads of their online maps), I don't see how the Oregon can even compare.
I could not be happier with my purchase of this treasure! I am really amazed how the PN does everything! I can't wait for the next firmware update to get the enhanced geocaching features. The PN-40 can only get better.
BTW, 7 for 8 caches today, and the one I couldn't find was definitely gone.
Great job DeLorme!
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Editorial Reviews:
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DeLorme's blazing fast, feature-rich handheld GPS - built upon the PN-20's rock-solid design for unbeatable reliability in challenging outdoor conditions. Topo USA 7.0 software with complete U.S. topo and street maps included - no extra purchase required. Download data directly to SD card while in the receiver Fast USB 2.0 data transfer to internal memory or SD card in device More detailed onboard base map data for the U.S., now with secondary and connector roads (along with major highways and thoroughfares for the entire world) 65K-color daylight-readable TFT screen for clarity in any light conditions Pre-loaded secondary and connector roads (US only) Pre-loaded worldwide highway / major road base map Holds up to 10 tracks (10,000 points per track) Holds up to 1,000 user-defined waypoints Holds up to 50 routes Topo USA 7.0 software included - no extra purchase required Displays aerial imagery, 7.5-minute USGS Quads, and NOAA nautical charts Dimensions - Width 2.43 x Height 5.25 x Depth 1.5
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