GPS and Map Software | Running Activity

Customer Review

Satmap

Active 10 GPS Plus Bundle

£400.00

Overall Rating (4 out of 5)

Reviewed By Iain, 12 Feb 2012

Best Navigation Aid Ever

I have had my Active 10 for 4 years and it has never let me down once, its accuracy is second to none, just what you need to accurately confirm your location. I have used it throughout the UK for Trekking, D of E Assessment, Geocaching and GPS training, it is rugged and easy to use. You can plan routes on Satmaps website then download to your unit, and there is an option to up-load to the website and share routes with others.

My wife thought this was a gadget that would get used now and again, she was so wrong, we use everytime, I'm hoping to try iy out overseas at some point. The site centred map service is fantastic, my only complaint is, and its a little complaint, is the price of the maps, 1:25,000 maps are fairly pricey, and would work out very expensive if you wanted the entire serious, shame its not compatible with memory map.

Overall this is a valid and worthwhile piece of GUCCI Kit.

I have had my Active 10 for 4 years and it has never let me down once, its accuracy is second to none, just what you need to accurately confirm your l...

Reviewed By MICHAEL, 30 Dec 2011

At the moment I can not fault this product.

I would like to make a comment of the first class service I recieved at the Carmarthen store when I purchased the above.I can not fault the member of staff which made me feal like a valued customer.
Product review.
A well made product,I have used it four times and it does stand up to what Satmap say.
The test will be when I lead a group of people on a night treck accross Wales in a few weeks time in aid of Breast Cancer, I am sure it will be trouble free.
I will be shortly be buying the extra cover for the Satmap before then as the weather can change at a very short notice.

Reviewed By David, 02 Sep 2011

Observations On This Package

Some observations re the bundle and Active 10 itself.

(1) Unless things have changed recently, the picture shows the Active 10 with a slimline battery pack (available separately) not the standard item listed which is bulkier.

(2) Allowing for the retail cost of the protective case (perhaps overkill / bulky for normal use) and full GB mapping at 1:50k you are paying only £200ish for the GPS unit which looks good value vs. the Satmap website pricing.

(3) The free mapping software is tied to the unit's registration. In my opinion it is usable but an annual OS Getamap subscription at circa £30pa useage down to 1:25K scales with import capability via gpx files is better.

(4) The range of power peripherals is handy. Switching between AA and the power pack is fiddly - you also need to carry the respective battery cradles with you if this is important. In fairness though the supplied battery pack has long life on a single charge, making the AA battery option relatively superfluous.

The Satmap itself works fine although past experience is that it can be slow to get signals and can drop them - subsequent experiences with Garmin kit has been better. The absence of a touchscreen is not all bad and I prefer the way the unit manages routes / tracks compared to my Garmin Montana 600. The screen is big enough to be really usable (unlike Garmin Dakota / Oregon) if prone to being difficult to read in bright sunlight.

In summary. Not a bad buy but getting perhaps overdue for a material upgrade in the face of recent product launches from key competitors.

Reviewed By , 01 Sep 2011

Highly regarded - but is it really

I purchased this product in order to have a unit which was well thought of by many users of this type of equipment and provided a good sized screen to display OS mapping, taking for granted that any product of this type should be robust enough for severe weather in the outdoors on the fells, after all thats what its designed to do, I also like the software because there are no fancy and to some degree unecessary menus and clutered fancy screens, although the compass screen and off course screens are a bit naff, the fact that it didn't have a touch screen which can always reduce the clarity of the display and also avoids accidental activation of the unit if stuffed in the rucksack or coat pocket,didn't put me off Trail reviews were also good :- Now to my personal view, this unit does all it said it would do although the screen is not as refined as some, but the big problem I found is build quality, the screen damages and scratches easily, the buttons can require a bit of pressing on occasions particulary when wearing gloves (but better than touch screens)the rubber cover to the USB port after only a few months split on the hinged bit, no wonder SatMap have a service option to replace all the outside bits for £35.
So having used Garmin for many years I have to say that I feel even for its faults the Garmin equivalent would probably have been a better buy, and the build quality is always extremely good, never had a problem or needed to send one back for any reason.
Again just my observations sincerely hopr this helps when thinking about purchasing this unit.

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Customer Review

Memory Map

Adventurer 2800 NP

WAS: £250.00

NOW: £179.00

Overall Rating (2 out of 5)

Reviewed By Jonathon, 17 May 2012

OK entry device - not without problems.

As per the other review, this could have been a great device. When it works it's great, but every now and then it plays up leaving you frustrated.

First off, the instructions aren't very comprehensive. If you know how to work a PC you'll be able to figure a lot of it out.

The gps lock can range from a couple of seconds to a few minutes, but once up and running its fine. The device feels solid, but the screen is a bit small.

I've used this mountain biking and hiking. You can't follow it as clearly on a bike as you would a satnav in the car, but its easier than an OS map. I've had no problems scrolling the screen with my finger wearing a light cycling glove. To access menus you need the stylus, but once following a route you don't really need to do so.

The biggest drawback is that memorymap appear to have stopped providing support for the device, and are focusing on the smartphone versions. If you want help you have to go onto their forum and see if a fellow member can help.

After two years of fairly trouble free usage its beginning to get more temperamental, but at a discounted price, and if you don't demand too much, the Adventurer 2800 could work for you.

As per the other review, this could have been a great device. When it works it's great, but every now and then it plays up leaving you frustrated.

Reviewed By , 03 Aug 2011

Potentially a Great Unit but Too Many Faults

With some tweeking, this could be a very good unit. I intended to use it mainly on my road and mountain bikes but it doesnt come up to scratch; it is better for walking.

The first problem is the battery life; it will not last long enough for a long road ride. I try and save the battery by dimming the unit but then its hard to see. In fact, in bright sun light it is very hard to see anything under all settings.

The unit is also very hard to use when cycling; i challenge anyone to use a stylus and cycle. Trying to use just your finger is very frustrating as it does not work very well at all.

Forget trying to have data and maps on the screen at the same time; there is not enough room. Why they didnt have a set up which allows you to flick through pages I have no idea.

Unfortunately the Garmin units with Ordanc eSurvey maps were not available when I Purchased this unit, as they are a far superior unit. As a cyclist i see no reason to buy this unit; spend the extyra money on a Garmin. If you're a walker, have no iterest in data and do not go walking for too long, this unit may be for you.

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Customer Review

Garmin

Oregon 450 GPS GB 1:50K Discoverer

£350.00

Overall Rating (4.3 out of 5)

Reviewed By Paul, 17 Jan 2012

Great product with maps included

Did my research looking for GPS for walking & cycling. Ideally wanted to use my Memory Maps on the GPS but didnt want their GPS as had bad experience with Road Angel GPS bought from them - touch screen went beyond recalibrating & tricky to keep routes when battery went flat. Already had etrek for years - v good. Ideal not out there but Oregon with maps bundled comes closest for me. Prefer Oregon cycle mount to etrek one - fits any size handlebars which etrek doesnt.

Did my research looking for GPS for walking & cycling. Ideally wanted to use my Memory Maps on the GPS but didnt want their GPS as had bad experience ...

Reviewed By , 26 Jul 2011

Very Good handheld Mapping GPS overall

We bought the Garmin Oregon 450 GB 1:50k at Cotswold Outdoors in the Cotswold Water Park. This purchase was made after considerable investigation and trial of other products.

Overall the GPS meets our needs for outdoor walking, geocaching and general outdoor activities. We even took it canoeing, mountain biking and to navigate in the car.

The Garmin GPS products are very good and this is no exception, but not perfect. This is our third Garmin device (an early non-mapping device, a GPS62st borrowed from work and this). Plus we've had Road Angel, Memory Map, PDAs and TomTom.

Garmin devices are very good for Geocaching as they can work with various websites, transfer cach information including descriptions, hint, recent finds etc. This is the main reason we bought another device. fast startup and GPS lock (few seconds), accurate positioning (often less than 10ft) with EGNOS, good battery life (although you'll need to purchase rechargables in the long term), robust, chunky to hold (but will take up a little more space than others in your pocket, and the original Garmin case is just too big), nice customisable menus. very usable.

It all synchronises with free basecamp software on your PC, and when connected runs from usb power rather than internal batteries if you setup to do that.

The slight negatives are the device doesn't come with a rechargable battery like other modern devices do (only the Garmin Colorado 600 series seems to have this). The chunky size is great to hold and use but still a bit thick for your pocket (the Colorado with 4" screen is HUGE). A 3" screen is just ok for 1:50k mapping (it's always a compromise with mapping between a usable size and how much can be displayed compared to a paper map).

Overall it is a very good handheld GPS for geocaching and fine for walking and outdoor activities.

We prefer the Memory Map ADV 3500 for walking (especially with 1:25k maps... the 3.5" screen is visibly fantastic but the touchscreen performance is very poor in usability)

We also liked the Garmin GPSMAP 62s which has a 2.8" screen but not a touchscreen. If you don't like touchscreens then I can recommend that as an alternative.

I probably give the Oregon 450 GB four and a half stars as 5 would imply it was perfect.

I think Cotswold should consider renting devices to customers so they could try several alternatives in real life before buying the one they find best. You'd probably have to pay the full price as a deposit but I would honestly do that. Until you have the device out in the wilds and try to use it for what you want you really don't know if it will suit you. For example I have to wear reading glasses and that makes quite a difference to the screens I can and cannot use without glasses. Devices with buttons are easier in those situation. But to see the maps clearly I always have to put glasses back on.

Thanks Cotswold.

Reviewed By , 13 Mar 2011

Simple to set up & use

A great bit of kit if you can afford it.
I used it in the Welsh mountains and the Lake District last year for more than eight weeks. in bad weather trying to use a paper map is a pain even when in a waterproof cover. although I always have map and compass with me, I found them to be almost redundant. I was able to follow all tracks & paths on my planned route with my new 'Garmin Oregon' without the need to keep looking at the paper map. however the old map is more useful to get a larger overview of an area.
The only thing I don't like is the blue position arrow, it would be better with a circle with cross hairs in the middle (like some other brands) so it does not cover map info' you have to keep zooming in to get vital details. Having said all that I have no regrets in buying it.

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Customer Review

Garmin

GPSMap 62s GB Discoverer 1:50K

£390.00

Overall Rating (5 out of 5)

Reviewed By Ian, 29 Mar 2012

Garmin GPSMap 62s

Bought this to replace a lost Memory Map Adv3500. I wanted a unit with buttons rather than a touch screen and the £50 trade-in offer for my old Etrex made it affordable. Being able to press a button to go straight to the different pages of information is excellent. The information on each page can be customised as can the sequence of the menu lists. You can save several different configurations or profiles for different uses - I've saved the same options as two profiles, one setup for metric and the other imperial so when I'm walking I can just switch profiles to check distance, altitude, etc in km-miles, m-feet, km/hr-mph etc. The GPS accuracy seems to be better than 3 metres most of the time. The unit comes with worldwide base mapping with main roads named. I got the bundle with GB 1:50k OS mapping. This also gets overlaid with all street names and individual addresses and points of interest of the built in GB street map. The text size of these overlays can be adjusted or turned off so it can be used as a road satnav although it does not speak to you. The clarity of the OS mapping does not seem as good as the Memory Map Adv3500 but this may be because of the smaller screen. My unit didn't have the latest software installed but the upgrade procedure was painless. Good points - too many to list but the functionality and customisation and general usability are excellent, it's the right shape and size to hold in one hand and use your thumb to operate - and it runs on AA batteries so you can always carry spares. Bad points - smaller screen than touch screen units. Thanks to the really helpful staff at Cotswold Outdoor Chester.

Bought this to replace a lost Memory Map Adv3500. I wanted a unit with buttons rather than a touch screen and the £50 trade-in offer for my old Etrex...

Reviewed By David, 12 Jun 2011

Probably the best waling GPS so far

I've had various GPS devices over the years and for walking over the past few, I have used a Garmin eTrex Legend. This is the replacement (the eTrex, I have given to friend).

The fact that it comes with the 1:50000 OS maps already (on a separate micro SD card, just to be inserted), means that it is very easy to spot alternate routes when out walking and the originally planned route looks a bit iffy for some reason.

However, the very best bit is being able to scan in paper maps and use them.

So, I'm off on holiday trekking in Greenland. I have bought the paper maps of the area where I will be. I have now scanned in the area and created a JPEG file. The next step is to load up Google Earth and add in the JPEG as an overlay. (Find the place in Google Earth first, then add the overlay). The time consuming bit is to move, rotate and stretch the JPEG so that it exactly matches the ground on Google Earth. I found it best to keep changing the opaque slider to see exactly what I have done. Eventually, I'm happy.

Now click the OK button in the dialogue and this is saved in Google Earth. You now need to right click on the name of the map (in the left hand table of places) and select . Save as a .kmz file (the d

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Customer Review

Silva

Expedition 4 Compass

£30.00

Overall Rating (5 out of 5)

Reviewed By Mike, 12 Apr 2012

Not the cheapest but excellent value for money

Just getting back into mountaineering following a long lay off due to serious injury. In the meantime my trusty expedition 4 had gone astray.

Despite owning a collection of compasses, I bought a replacement of this one.

While all their needles point reliably north, this is my best one.

Distances are easier to measure courtesy of the romer scale for all map scales (including the increasingly popular 1 : 40,000 used by Harveys). It also has luminous markings, making it ideal for night navigation - you can see instantly when the 'red is in the shed'.

Its not the cheapest option but what's a few quid for an easier life?

Just getting back into mountaineering following a long lay off due to serious injury. In the meantime my trusty expedition 4 had gone astray.

Reviewed By jennifer, 19 Nov 2011

Strong & Durable

Good size,clear markings ,does the job

Reviewed By , 24 Aug 2011

Quality piece of kit

Who needs a GPS! Great compass easy to use and well built, perfect!

Reviewed By , 22 Aug 2011

Great 'no fuss' Compass

The long side edge is useful for taking bearings off the map. Nice compass this. It's got little rubber feet which is a nice feature.

Reviewed By , 23 Jun 2011

Fantastic Compass!

I recently used this compass on my Duke of Edinburgh Expedition as our sole means of navigation. Who needs a GPS when this hardwearing compass has everything you need? This is great of people who use different maps because the roamers are applicable to different scales of map. The compass is fairly big, so you can't lose it and very easy to use from the beginner to the advanced map reader. Indispensible!

Reviewed By , 29 May 2011

Quality compass - reliable

Well you can either buy a cheap one that'll leak alcohol all over your bag after a little while, or invest and have a quality tool for life - a worthwhile investment all round!

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GPS & Map Software (35 Products)

GPS and Map Software for Running (35 Products)

Best Navigation Aid Ever

At the moment I can not fault this product.

Observations On This Package

Highly regarded - but is it really

OK entry device - not without problems.

Potentially a Great Unit but Too Many Faults

Great product with maps included

Very Good handheld Mapping GPS overall

Simple to set up & use

Garmin GPSMap 62s

Probably the best waling GPS so far

Not the cheapest but excellent value for money

Strong & Durable

Quality piece of kit

Great 'no fuss' Compass

Fantastic Compass!

Quality compass - reliable