Personal Locator Beacon Recommendations?

[Miya]

Pricing is cheaper for sure.

Blackberry keyboard made me snicker, but inReach's input method is so useless you more or less have to use the phone app to compose messages anyway.

Agreed. I just use my preset message of "alive". Hah

 

[Vegan.Hiker]

Just to be clear, the InReach and Spot are not PLBs. Those work with different satellites and only can call for help, they don't have tracking or messaging or anything else, just call in an emergency.

I’m a little confused by this post. I have an InReach SE and it indeed has tracking and and messaging.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I’m a little confused by this post. I have an InReach SE and it indeed has tracking and and messaging.

I think he means that PLB's do not have those capabilities.

 

[SKLund]

I wasn't planning on upgrading to the SPOT X so soon, but they gave me an upgrade offer I couldn't refuse, so now I'm going to test it out for a while and see if I want to keep it or not.

I had never heard of this until just now. I haven't received any offer from them I have a Spot Gen 3 and am considering getting rid of it because the cost per year is just too high. Maybe I'll go this way or the Garmin Mini.

 

[andyjaggy]

I was completely turned off by SPOT.

First, you have to sign a 12 month contract, I really only need it for 3-4 months of the year.

Second, they raised the rate during my 12 months contract, suddenly they were charging me 20 dollars a month instead of 15, of course I was locked into a 12 month contract so there was nothing I could do about it.

Third, when I got upset about the increased rate I decided I wanted to cancel, but there is NO option for canceling on their website, you have to call customer service.

Fourth. When you finally get a hold of customer service you find out that you can only cancel your subscription within two weeks of your account renewing. So you have to remember to do that 6 months down the road in the two week window before your account runs out, otherwise you will be charged for another year, during which time they will probably raise the rate again.

I ended up ditching the spot and bought a garmin inreach. Because I can pay for only the months I need it, it actually end up being cheaper than my spot was, and I can send and receive unlimited messages during those months to keep in touch with my family. The initial cost was a little shocking but I overall I am glad I made the switch.

SPOT is a good service I just think the company has lousy policies and it is too expensive for what it is.

 

[andyjaggy]

Oh looks like I missed the news on the spot X. That might eliminate some of the issues I had with it.

 

[SKLund]

I was completely turned off by SPOT.

First, you have to sign a 12 month contract, I really only need it for 3-4 months of the year.

Second, they raised the rate during my 12 months contract, suddenly they were charging me 20 dollars a month instead of 15, of course I was locked into a 12 month contract so there was nothing I could do about it.

Third, when I got upset about the increased rate I decided I wanted to cancel, but there is NO option for canceling on their website, you have to call customer service.

Fourth. When you finally get a hold of customer service you find out that you can only cancel your subscription within two weeks of your account renewing. So you have to remember to do that 6 months down the road in the two week window before your account runs out, otherwise you will be charged for another year, during which time they will probably raise the rate again.

I ended up ditching the spot and bought a garmin inreach. Because I can pay for only the months I need it, it actually end up being cheaper than my spot was, and I can send and receive unlimited messages during those months to keep in touch with my family. The initial cost was a little shocking but I overall I am glad I made the switch.

SPOT is a good service I just think the company has lousy policies and it is too expensive for what it is.

I pretty much agree. The service fee for this new device is lower than the standard SPOT with more features. I like that it has a keyboard. I too have had a difficult time with SPOT and can't hack the current cost of service. Having doubts about a new device from them also. Anyone remember how bad SPOT Gen 1 was?

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I pretty much agree. The service fee for this new device is lower than the standard SPOT with more features. I like that it has a keyboard. I too have had a difficult time with SPOT and can't hack the current cost of service. Having doubts about a new device from them also. Anyone remember how bad SPOT Gen 1 was?

The Spot Gen1 worked flawless for me for many years. It was the Gen2 that was terrible. I tried the Gen2 for a few months after it was released and then went back to the Gen1 because it did not send out messages reliably. If I recall correctly, they realized there was an issue with the Gen2 and took it off the market pretty quickly.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I like that it has a keyboard. I too have had a difficult time with SPOT and can't hack the current cost of service.

My initial impressions of the keyboard so far is that the keys are a little too small for someone with big hands (like me), but I know that's a trade-off for device size. I can definitely type on it OK, but it's not going to be quick. Maybe I will get used to it with some more practice. Messages seem to be going out and coming in pretty quickly (within a few minutes), and it's nice to have a dedicated phone number that family can send a text to.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Second, they raised the rate during my 12 months contract, suddenly they were charging me 20 dollars a month instead of 15, of course I was locked into a 12 month contract so there was nothing I could do about it.

When they raised the rates earlier this year, they didn't raise them on my account until my service renewed, not during the existing contract. But I pay for a year at a time, not monthly...

 

[andyjaggy]

Yes it was probably because I was paying monthly. I am sure there was fine print that told them they could do that, but there is a difference between what you CAN do, and what's just bad business to do. Obviously they lost me as a customer.

 

[SKLund]

Okay I knew it was one of them. If get the X, let us know how well it works.

The Spot Gen1 worked flawless for me for many years. It was the Gen2 that was terrible. I tried the Gen2 for a few months after it was released and then went back to the Gen1 because it did not send out messages reliably. If I recall correctly, they realized there was an issue with the Gen2 and took it off the market pretty quickly.

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Well, right now I cannot recommend the SPOT X. You can read all my thoughts about it here:

http://adventr.co/microposts/spot-x-review/

I'm trying to work with their technical support to see if they can resolve these issues (mainly the poor battery life), but if they are not able to help me I will probably return the X and go back to my Gen3 and think about trying out an InReach later on. The messages are still going out reliably for me, it's just problems with the device itself....possibly fixable with firmware updates since it's so new.

 

[KevinD]

Hopefully SPOT can help you with the issues you're having. Kind of shocked to see the battery is only lasting 2 to 2.5 hours :/

I'm currently using an InReach SE and connect to it using the smartphone app. May try the new mini as I mainly communicate through my smartphone (which acts as my gps too).

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Hopefully SPOT can help you with the issues you're having. Kind of shocked to see the battery is only lasting 2 to 2.5 hours :/

That's days, not hours.....but it's supposed to last around 10 days.

 

[SKLund]

Well, right now I cannot recommend the SPOT X. You can read all my thoughts about it here:

http://adventr.co/microposts/spot-x-review/

I'm trying to work with their technical support to see if they can resolve these issues (mainly the poor battery life), but if they are not able to help me I will probably return the X and go back to my Gen3 and think about trying out an InReach later on. The messages are still going out reliably for me, it's just problems with the device itself....possibly fixable with firmware updates since it's so new.

That's pretty sketchy of them to ship a beta device that people depend upon. My guess is that they are losing to Garmin and product development was under pressure to get this thing out the door. I think Garmin has them by the throat. I'm not renewing my Gen3.

 

[Perry]

That's pretty sketchy of them to ship a beta device that people depend upon. My guess is that they are losing to Garmin and product development was under pressure to get this thing out the door. I think Garmin has them by the throat. I'm not renewing my Gen3.

^^^ This!

I’ve got an InReach Explorer+ on its way. I’ll post up my thoughts on it when I’ve had a chance to try it out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Deleted User]

This one has my attention. Keeping an eye on this PLB. somewear-limitless-communication-built-for-adventu

 

[andyjaggy]

I used my inreach for the first time in the wild last weekend in Great Basin NP. It worked fantastic, messages sent and received reliably, and I kept it on almost the whole time and after two days battery was still at 70%. I was a little bummed when I Found out about the spotX, wondering if I made the right decision, but I think I am happy with how things went down.

 

[Wanderlust073]

This one has my attention. Keeping an eye on this PLB. somewear-limitless-communication-built-for-adventu

Wonder which focus group recommended they mold it out of "impossible to find when dropped at dusk" blue.