Satmap Active 10 GPS Plus Bundle

Fair play to the staff at the Guildford store and to Cotswold. I had problems with my satmap GPS so took it back to the store in Guildford they were helpful and changed it for the Magellan Explorist 610.

This hand held GPS is by far the best I have used . In fact when I lost mine recently I just had to replace it with the same model. The features, excellent maps ease of use and the way it fits comfortably in my hand makes it an ideal walking companion

Satmap say they have awards for this and that but I do not agree, as I have used this GPS now for about 5 months and found it not very good. I only find it good for just on thing and that is confirming my location however 50% of the time it is no good for several reasons, often it looses the GPS signal, also some times it takes upto 30 mins to locate a signal. The battery runs down very quickly and I often have to use my solar charger at times it sjows 3 sections green for full charge and then sudenly it goes into the red and sometimes turns itself off hence loosing all signal. Last week whilst on Exmoor I lost all signal and then when got signal back 2 hours later I lost all the map display , the display went light blue. I contacted Satmap who told me they did not know what the problem was so I emailed in my problem, the reply I got was not helpfull as it did not correct the fault. When I am in Guildfrod next I will take the faulty unit back. From an expensive bit of kit I would have expected better. Lucky I do not rely on this GPS but I would have liked it to work as I like statistics ie distance traveled times speed altitude etc. Very disappointed will try a different make.

I brought this a few months ago and also the rubber waterproof case. tried it out in Scotland in the cairngorms by fairndoran bothy and was surprised how accurate it was..I was by a fence gate at the corner of the bothy and the satmap agreed,exactly..first time I used one.will take it on the GR11 route in the pyrenees as a supplement..it needs to be the worth the weight plus solar charger when on a 4 week trek.......it survived scotland in winter mostly camping wild

I've used this a couple of times and despite the assurance from the very helpful staff that i could return it if it didn't suit me I've decided to continue with it. It isn't that easy to figure out how to operate without referring to the very lengthy on-line instructions. The online site isn't that intuitive either and the other maps are ridiculously expensive in my opinion. I really hope my commitment pays off! I'll post another comment when I've used it some more.

Purchased this active 10 GPS from Cotswold in Guildford the staff member was very helpfull.The picture is the GPS with the slimline battery,the Guildford shop did not have the slimline battery so have ordered the slimline battery for me but am still waiting for it to arrive. On opening the boxed product there were no instructions so called the shop to be told that Satmap no longer provide instructions with this GPS so I had to down load the entire 91 pages from their website, for the price I would expect a working manul. I have used the GPS nearly every day now for the past 2 weeks and must say I am a little disappointed with a few points, takes a while at times to get a signal. the on off button is not very resposive, at times on a journey the unit has lost signal and so has not recorded all the journey data, the compass does not seem to be that accruate and on several ocassions I have had to reverted to my hand held silva. Satmap web site is not that clear for registration as there is a uk site and world wide site that do not seem to tie in together. The individual 1-25 OS maps they sell are very expensive. having said all that it has its good points.

Firstly the help i had from the staff in the Carlisle store was outstanding this being my first GPS unit.
This GPS unit is outstanding, very well made and easy to use. I also bought the tough waterproof case for it which has stood up to torrential rain in the lake district no problems. The unit can also be worked no problems with gloves on.

No touch screen bonus the buttons are great for navigation whether you are wearing your gloves or not and the screen has settings for high sun, standard and night time use so it is always clear to see. Oh yeah and the Xpedition route planner is the best thing I've ever seen. Buy it. Tough durable fit for purpose. I use it for MTB and hiking.

Having just purchased an active 10 GPS, I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to master all the buttons and set up the GPS ready for use. It is a robust piece of kit and I look forward to using it in the Lakes when my Lake District Harvey map card arrives.

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 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.

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.

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.