Following my previous Satmap Active 10 review I have been experiencing further problems with the unit following a recent walk in the Lake District. These have manifested themselves in the way of the unit getting stuck in the "North up" mode rather than being able to switch between "North up" and "Direction of movement up". The former is obviously where the map displayed is as you would find the OS map holding it upright the latter showing you the direction you are pointing the satmap in as up.
Despite previous frustrations attempting to contact satmap to no avail regarding battery issues and following Sophie Easterbrooks comment on my previous blog regarding Satmap's high levels of aftersales care I emailed them again regarding the "North up" issue along with the previous battery problems Id experienced with the satmap. In their defence they totally redeemed themselves and were back to me within the day with solutions for extending the battery life offering assistance regarding the current problem I'm experiencing. This is ongoing as I need to email certain details to them for them to consider. I'll post the outcome when it's sorted.
Regarding the battery life the optimum settings are to have the unit turn the backlight off after 15 sesonds, this can be changed in Settings>Power Control>Automatic Screen Turn Off>Off after 15 seconds. In order to extend the life further the unit should update every 4 seconds rather than every second too, to change this go to Settings>Advanced Power Control>Power Saving Mode>Advanced. I was always under the impression that Duracel were the best batteries on the market for your handheld gadgets. Turns out I was wrong on this one and you will get around 20% more out of the unit if you use energiser batteries - you learn something new every day!
When I hear back from them regarding the "North Up" issue I will post the suggestion/solution on here.
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6 comments:
I find Energiser Lithium batteries excellent. The ones in my present GPS unit seem to have lasted for ages. They are also quite light so carrying spares when backpacking isn't a problem.
Not wishing to start comments of biblical proportions but i have used Ansmann digital energy batteries that are 2850 milli amp hours and are rechargeable.
They are a little more expensive to buy but once you have them, they last. I have used these for a year or it might be close to 2 now and they still hold good charge.
I keep a spare set in by rucksack just in case they run out.
Thanks for passing on the info on satmap active 10. Good to hear that they helped you out quickly.
For some reason I always thought that Duracel were the best from a lifetime point of view - I am delighted to stand corrected however.
Alan - that is another top way of solving the battery issue however I always found that they never held as much charge as conventional batteries. Great to hear you found a set that meet up with todays standards. I'll keep this in mind for future thanks!
The weekend dude - I agree with you. I have used some absolutely rubbish rechargeables.
However with the mAh being 2850 on the Ansmann (which i think is as high as you can get at this time for AA batteries) and being designed specifically for digital equipment they hold out well. -- Alan
Thanks Alan, you're right - expensive at the outset but you'll get your cash back in no time. A no brainer really if you use enough batteries and that as you say their performance is comparable to standard batteries, thankfully you've found a brand that are - you've saved me a job - many thanks (I think a few folk will say the very same).
Hi, the joystick has come off my active 10 and is lost,anyone else had this problem.Satmap are unable to help.Its obviously a design fault as they no longer use that system.Any ideas for a solution.the unit is fine apart from that.thanks
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