GPS help and advice

I had a play with one a few weeks ago. I thought it was hopeless. Because:

1) Not waterproof. It was suggested that you carry it in an Ortleib style bag.

2) Needs a stylus to operate, which is attached, seemingly as an afterthought, by a bit of cord. 

3) Because of 1) and 2) it is unimaginable using it say in Winter with gloves on, or in serious rain.

3) Batteries don't last a day.

4) Screen rather small.

5) If you are an existing memorymap user, all you get offered is a miserable £25 off, desipite already owning the maps.

6) Memorymaps current mapping software is clunky to say the least, so would worry about using it on a handheld device.

Perhaps if you cycle fairly short days in nice sunny weather it'll do what you want, but it's not for me. 

Aye Parky ... joy indeed ..  imagine shrinking all that memory map joy into a handheld unit with a screen you can't easily see, that you have to keep wrapped up in a waterproof bag, and that needs a stylus to touch it's tiny icons and with a battery that runs out before you get home... all for  £250. I'm sticking with my £65 etrex - works a treat. And I'm buggered if I'm giving memory map more money for the same maps.

> 1) Not waterproof. It was suggested that you carry it in an Ortleib style bag.

Interesting that the original glossy sheet said 

"Weatherproof and rugged".

I wasn't very impressed with the glossy at the time; see my comments...  and I'm reminded that this product also seemed to bring out more 'pseudo-independent' spamming posts than any other product I can remember.

JonC wrote (see)

According to the blurb on the website it has the same waterproof rating as the satmap. Bags are only advisable if its going to be used in a canoe, boat, etc.

All I can say is that it was demonstrated to me by the distributor (for Scotland). He assured me it was not waterproof in the same (ie submersible) sense a Garmin was, and needed to be protected from rain. I said I was used to carrying my Etrex clipped to my waistbelt, in all weathers, accessible with a single hand movement. He suggested putting the 2800 in a small Ortleib bag with a roll top and using a carabiner to attach that to a rucksack strap; not exactly a user friendly arrangement for winter use in Scotland.  The distributor may of course been wrong, but the dopey stylus, rubbish  battery life and the wee screen were deal breakers in any case, not to mention previous underwhelming experiences with memorymap software. My Garmin etrex is explicitly rated waterproof to the IPX7 standard, which means it should withstand immersion in a meter of water for 30 minutes. All I can find on the memory map website, like captain p, is a claim that the 2800 is 'weatherproof', but no definition of what that might mean.

There is a faq on the website

 http://www.memory-map.co.uk/adventurer/adventurer_faq.html

from the faq

We’ve designed and tested the unit to be used outdoors but avoided the claim that some manufacturers make of being ‘waterproof’ as Adventurer GPS cannot be used under water! We therefore think ‘weatherproof’ is a better description. If you intend to use your Adventurer GPS in an activity where it may become submersed in water (eg sailing or canoeing) then we recommend the added protection of a waterproof bag such as those from Aquapac. (SRP approx £15.00)

The IP rating for Adventurer 2800 is IPx5 – the same as the previous Adventurer 7000 and Satmap Active 10*

waterproofing specs

very clear

Can you use it in the rain -- Yes

Can you use it swimming --  Not without a bag

Can you use it in the shower -- Depends on the shower

I have had one for about a month and taken it on a couple of day long hikes one in the Black Mountains in cold and foggy conditions where visibility was no more than a couple of hundred yards on the tops.

I have to say that by and large I am happy with it. It is easy to plan routes on your PC using the memory map software and then export it to the adventurer. The unit then tracks your progress and you can see very easily where you are and if you are on your planned route. This was fantastic in the conditions described above and gives a lot of confidence and reassurance in such difficult conditions. 

The stylus system is a little untidy (it would be better if it could be clipped to the side of the unit) and the battery did give up after 6.1/2 hours but this was probably my fault for setting the back light to be on constantly. I have now re-adjusted it to go off after a minute so I hope that this gives enough power saving for the unit to last for a whole days walking.

Interesting comments !

 I too have been contemplating the Adventurer 2800, but have held out until more reviews have been made. I like many other people have a lot of money tied up in maps from memory Map, and do not fancy spending more money on further maps when I have all the National Parks in the UK.

 I had contemplated garmins Oregon, but the cost of their OS (GB Explorer) maps is putting me off. Anybody else have any thoughts?

Garmin offered me a £25 discount on the 2800 in consideration of the money I'd already given them for memory map - nowhere near good enough an incentive. If I were you I'd wait and see what happens when OS maps become free online  - this, and competition from iPhone type apps will hopefully bring the prices of GPS based OS mapping down.

In my earlier post i said:- 

"the battery did give up after 6.1/2 hours but this was probably my fault for setting the back light to be on constantly. I have now re-adjusted it to go off after a minute so I hope that this gives enough power saving for the unit to last for a whole days walking."

Well! I took it on a long walk on Exmoor yesterday and used the power saving option but once again the life of the unit was only around 6.1/2 hours. This is a big downside to the unit and something that Memory Map are going to need to give some attention to if this product is going to be as well received as they would like it to be. I guess I am now going to have to take a battery or prefrably a solar powered charger with me on every long walk. Any suggestions on this?

Mike

Have you seen the new Adventurer 3500 Keith? Maybe worth waiting for that if a MM is what you are after; IPX7 and bigger screen. Saw it at the Outdoor Trade Show, you can read our review and see a video here:

Memory Map Adventurer 3500

Alternatively the Garmin stuff is very popular but bit pricer. If you have an iPhone you could get some mapping software as an App but then the GPS isn't as strong as you'd get from a stand alone unit but still pretty good.

Feel free to give me a call (07749 314 400), I used to work at Garmin but have an in depth understanding of GPS so can give you some advise on what you might want to look at.