 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, new to this forum (so go easy on me) and seeking a bit of friendly advice. Have been thinking of getting some sort of GPS watch or similar toy and have found this Navman A300 tool, have seen one on t'interweb for about £70 (RRP is about £115 I think) and was after the advice of anyone who has one of these or has used one; is it any good and is it worth it? have also seen the X300 (which is more general purpose as opposed to the A300 which is designed specifically for skiing) for £100.
Is it worthwhile investing in one of these or can anybody suggest any better alternatives.
Cheers.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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What's the battery life like? I have a Garmin forerunner than lasts for 15 hours that is useful, although struggles in built up areas. Unlikely this will be a problem for skiing unless you are riding rails in carparks with the back bottom hanging out of your trousers.
signal can sometimes be a problem, and a GPS requires 4 satellites to give you proper altitude info, and only three for location. This can be annoying when you get accurate location but altitude '8000m'
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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On the manufacturers website it quotes a battery life of 10 hours (on some other sites it says up to 16hrs), so thinking about it you're looking at new battery's every day almost, or at least recharging them. Not sure if this forum will let me post a link but if it works this is the info from the manufacturers website:
http://www.navman-pcn.com/index.php?product=26
I tend to stick to the pistes and to be honest I severely doubt I'll be going near any rails - although maybe the occassional bar!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I wonder if they have adjusted that for the cold, normal batteries struggle in the cold let alone rechargeables. I fi you can re-charge overnight then great. It is fun to see how fast you have skied once in a while.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I was planning on taking my recharger with me and juicing them up overnight, any idea why batteries struggle so much in the cold? have had this problem before with my digital camera, seemed to get through hundreds of batteies in a week - it got to the point where I had to give up on using the screen because they'd drain in minutes with it switched on.
Are there any particular brands/types of battery that work better than others in cold conditions?
flicksta, Which of the Garmin ForeRunner's do you have? this is one of the other GPS gadgets that I've seen on quite a few websites and would be interested to know your thoughts on it, what features does it have that you find particularly useful/interesting.
Cheers.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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flicksta, I have a forerunner 201 and was thinking of taking it to Tignes at Christmas. Have you had any problems charging yours and how long does the battery last in the cold?
Does the Forerunner have to be outside your clothing or will it pick up signals from under the sleeve of your jacket?
I was thinking that it would be fun to run some ski data via SportTracks into Google Earth.
CP
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Elizabeth B, Thanks for the welcome, was trawling the internet on my lunch hour at work the other day and stumbled across your site whilst searching for inspiration to get me through another week at work. Have already learnt quite a few useful pointers from reading the boards - planning on taking a trip to Lockwoods next time I venture back towards the midlands to check out getting some new boots fitted - they seem to have been recommended by a lot of people on here.
Am getting to the point now when I'm pretty much counting down the days (78!) to my week in Tignes, that and trying to work out how I can squeeze another trip out of my paltry leave allowance/pay packet!!
Cheers,
Chris.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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CP,
It has to eb outside your jacket, although I tend to attach it to the strap of my backpack, sort of like a nurse;s watch. Charging is fine and the battery lasts for a couple of days. Turn ot off at lunch etc.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Don't know how to link two threads on here and think I should have put this in this forum. 
Hi, I've already got a Garmin Pilot III that I use in the car and for flying but it's a bit bulky for skiing and eats batteries. So i was thinking about getting a Navman A300 for the distance and speed stats, and I quite like the arm strap idea. But i think if I'm using GPS it might as well tell me where we are if we ever witness an accident or get temporarily unsure of position (How we describe being lost when flying).
AxsMan, does the Navman A300 not give you any data about location? Can't you even read off co-ordinates like the earlier hand held gps?
Would I be better just buying any small hand held gps and making an arm strap from a phone pouch, especially as the e-trex supposedly runs for 22 hrs on 2 AAs?
Thanks.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I've got the X300 and find it quite handy. I used it for skiing last season, and regularly use it for running. I doubt there's much between them, to be honest. You can set the X300 so that it doesn't record time on ascents - chairlifts, for example.
Battery life? I got about two days' skiing from mine and then had to change the batteries.
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If you have a smartphone with bluetooth you might want to consider GPS software for it instead. A BT GPS unit can be purchased for less than £50.
I use GPSDash on my MS smartphone and PDA - www.gpsdash.com - there is (was - it's locked for new posts 'cos the developer was getting hassled) a forum and a few members there have used it for logging ski tracks.
If you have a Symbian60 or SE P900 then have a look here - www.vitotechnology.com
There's probably a few more applications. Google should find them.
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You know it makes sense.
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WayneC, Nope no location info on the Navman, just speed and distance travelled stuff.
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FAQ
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