DeLorme Earthmate GPS PN-60 (GPS receiver)

Would be a great product if properly supported and made more user friendly. Just to much of a headache to use and trace faults down on the forum instead of customer support. I suggest going with something else that is properly R&D'd prior to hitting the market for this price.

I've had the PN-60 for about a year now. On the positive it is powerful, rugged, and accurate. I'm very happy with the hardware. On the down side there is one hell of a learning curve to get it to do what you want. I've written user interface software for industrial equipment for many years and all I can say about the PN-60 user interface is - it sucks. The software folks must smoke a lot of funny stuff at DeLORME because setting up the PN-60 is convoluted and frustrating. They have known bugs in the firmware that don't get fixed - the response when you call is "maybe next release". The same problems haunt DeLORME's Topo 9 mapping software - it's difficult to use. The PN-60 and Topo 9 communicate with each other like an estranged couple. After a year of ownership I can now pretty much get the PN-60 set up to my satisfaction before heading off on a trek - and download information when I get home. At times I still have to refer to my extensive notes and every now if I'm not very careful the PN-60 will bestow on me a "got-ya".