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I'm giving consideration to purchasing a beacon and want to know your thoughts on these two.
I've heard the Spot customer service is terrible but the product is good. I know very little about the InReach other than what I've read on their webpge and the fact that it was awarded the Editors Choice award by Backpacker.
Your thoughts?
Thanks in advance
Wade
Checked them both out at the OR show Saturday. Inreach is two way, spot one way... do you really need to send texts? Inreach has a very hefty monthly fee to use all of the features - $49/mo. - due to their satellite carrier, spot uses their own constellations and is putting up more all the time. Spot is a lot smaller and has better mounting systems for Bike/car. After touching, feeling, fondling, and discussing the pros and cons with the reps I would have to go with the spot.
Hi Wade,
inReach plans vary whether you are based out of Canada or the US. In Canada, there are some affordable no contract options. The Safety Plan starts at $14.95/month but the most popular plan is the Chat Plan ($29.95/month) which gets you 100 text messages and 25 tracks. You can still use the features if you sign up for the Safety Plan, it’s just that you pay per use.
Also, when you aren’t using the device, you can suspend it for a low monthly fee of $3.95/month and can reactivate back onto your original plan without incurring any additional charges. You can also pair the inReach device with your Android or iPhone to write custom text messages and receive messages as well (Spot only allows you to send out messages). This can come in handy when trying to coordinate SOS responses or location pickups. You can also view your location on your Earthmate maps (free inReach app) and post updates to Twitter and Facebook.
Overall, the functionality of the inReach is more sophisticated and the satellite connection is a lot more reliable (runs off the Iridium network which is good enough for military use).
Hope this helps!
inReach Canada - Andrea
Thanks all! I really appreciate the insight and guidance.
Tough decision...
From wnorton using an iPad and Tapatalk HD.
A test of Spot and 2 other devices can be found here (i've posted this link before I think):
http://bolty.net/2011/04/28/by-the-n...fast-find-210/
Some extra info never hurts, even though the DeLorme isn't mentioned....
Good luck & grtz!
Great links and info.
Thanks
Wade
From wnorton using an iPad and Tapatalk HD.