Satmap.com Avis 9

I didn't like the SatMap Active 20 because it had serious problems with all my maps on a single 64 GB SD-card, the device then crashed reproducibly. This even though I received this 64 GB SD-card with all my maps on it from SatMap, because only SatMap is able to convert and copy their maps! SatMap at first excanged the device, but later found out, that the Active 20 is not able to handle 64 GB SD cards. So they spread the maps on two smaller SD cards.
Because the Active 20 is very heavy and the map resolution is not too big, I finally wanted to use my Active 12 again. But SatMap is not able or willing to convert the SatMap Active 20 maps back to SatMap Active 12 maps.
The email communication regarding all this was very uncomfortable, usually it took days or a whole week to get a response and the worker repetitively didn’t understand my request or the error description even though I attached screenshots.

Is this company still trading ? I ordered some spares off the website (prices were hugely reduced).
Had a confirmation email 10 days ago and now nothing. No replies from their email support and trying to contact by telephone is impossible......

Just checking the SATMAP on line shop and they are having a 75% off clearance on Satmap 20 accessories such as cases lanyards AA battery caddies and backplates.

Strangely you can no longer buy the dedicated LiPol 20 batteries or any SD map cards for other countries outside the UK as you were once able to as they NO LONGER Appear on the website and stockists are er…..out of stock!

I guess that alternative OS mapping apps for mobile phones with £20 annual subscription are finally killing the need for dedicated and comparatively very expensive dedicated GPS units.

I’d welcome a response from SATMAP to explain otherwise and advise when/if replacement Satmap 20 LiPol batteries are going to become available?

SATMAP RESPONSE

Hello,

Thanks for contacting us.
Unfortunately, we currently do not have any batteries in stock and will not be getting any more before we close the website down.
There is a small chance that we will have some in stock before the new year as our manufacturer is still contracted to produce more, so if you still require one, please email customer support at a later date.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Kind regards,

Technical Support
Satmap Systems Ltd.
satmap.com
Satmap Systems Ltd. New Vernon House, Vernon Avenue
Nottingham, NG9 2NS
Registered England No: 5597195
VAT No: 876 5910 78

Warning. Serious warning. SATMAP will NOT repair units out of guarantee. Over three years old and a small metal clip has broken. SATMAP replies that they do not offer a repair service. £680 for three years. Rubbish.

Difficult to use not at all intuitive, SatSync only works with some broadband for example it wont connect to BT Home Broadband.
Look elsewhere.

I bought this as a present for my wife for her birthday as she doing some long distance walks. However the box suffers from some what looks like software faults and a poorly designed user interface (I have a post graduate qualification in UI design).

I'm an IT professional and can make the device work. My wife finds it very awkward to use and on a walk yesterday on the pennine way with my daughter they cutover to using an phone's mapping software as they found that much easier to use.

So I do regret buying this as it needs someone who likes playing around with gadgets to use it. I'll now go through some specifics:

1. Switching itself off : When the battery gets to 25% it shuts down. It will happily reboot but will take several minutes to resync with the satellites.

2. Following a route downloaded from a website (a GPX file). It will visually show this, but that's all. You need to keep an eye on it and not to touch the screen. I contrast this with my Wahoo bike computer which visually and aurally will ensure you stay on track. The wahoo is very easy to follow.

3. It has a touch screen and buttons and I think suffers from overload in options. It's very easy to touch the screen and end up in another mode and not acting as a navigator. For instance it flicks into "planning mode" with a touch of the screen.

4. It loses maps randomly. The device came with "base maps", 1:25K OS , 1:50K OS and 1:10K streetmap. When using it it can suddenly lose the 1:25K map. You can get it back by flicking through folders and selecting the map, but this is exactly what my wife doesn't want to have to remember to do. I've also seen it boot in this mode after the 25% switch off mentioned above.

5. The hibernate function: in order to try and alleviate the problems mentioned above with the touch screen going off mode you can set the device to hibernate and then use the on button to restore it. This seems to work okay as much as I can tell from what my wife tells me, but she needs to remember how to do it. You need to hold the on/off button in for a few seconds. Then select one of the hibernate functions (why so many?) and it will go to sleep. To restore you need to do the same but don't hold the button in. From a UI perspective a switch off UI button would be a great deal simpler.

So in a nutshell if you like flicking through menus to find things this is for you, If you just want a GPS device with a simple UI then avoid.

Zero nil nada customer ersvice. Do not buy from satmap the software provided is to be frank useless if you use a mac on Big Sur or anything going forward. Buy from Garmin at least it works

The SatMap Active 20 is probably a great piece of kit but sadly the instruction manual is largely awful: littered with typos, poor diagrams and crucially an apparent assumption that the reader mainly knows how the kit works. There is no supportive YouTube of any merit. There is no telephone number to contact them for guidance.
My error was to buy direct from SatMap. There are other vendors (GPS Training) who sell the Active 20 and give free support. How I wish I had shopped there.
The technical reviews suggest that the Active 20 is a great piece of kit. I just wish I could get it working to its potential.