New model

WalkerDan · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 04, 2010 Posts: 30

All very strange and it appears we are now being offered some sort of upgrade for our Satmap 10's. Lots going on with the Satmap website but the Satmap 12 or should it be Satmap 14 is conspicuous by it's absence.

Mountain_Stu · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 02, 2013 Posts: 3

Yes, some very cool features there.

WalkerDan · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 04, 2010 Posts: 30

That looks pretty cool to me. I reckon you've just killed off sales of the Active 12 in one fell swoop. Embarassed

Ah a neat change of post Mountain Stu. It's sure to confuse any future viewers of this thread. I assume you have some inside knowledge Embarassed

SmellyBoots · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 02, 2010 Posts: 43

stevesimler · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 23, 2012 Posts: 11

Will Satmap start actually selling the Active 12 from their home site? Why is it only available from other outlets (aboveandbeyond). Does this mean they lack confidence in their own product?

SmellyBoots · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 02, 2010 Posts: 43

Only available to pre-order...it's the small print as ever!! While I guess they will have confidence, given the apparent delay, one wonders whether there are teething issues that they are having to sort out.

stevesimler · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 23, 2012 Posts: 11

davidor · Regular Visitor Joined: Nov 14, 2008 Posts: 117

Xcell1 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 12, 2011 Posts: 12

Given that Satmap seem to think that Facebook is the only way to comunicate to their users, here is the latest on when the active 12 will be out,
Podraig Taylor
Had an Active 12 on order from Cotswolds but I've been informed that the earliest I can now expect delivery is March 2014.
25 November 2013 at 18:26
..
Satmap Systems Ltd
Hi,
Unfortunately there was a small issue with the Bluetooth module.
The developers are working frantically to get it resolved.
Kind Regards
Satmap Team
26 November 2013 at 01:41..

I would also still like to know if I bought a Platinum map today would it have the required resolution to work on the 12 or are there going to be 10 maps and 12 maps?

SmellyBoots · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 02, 2010 Posts: 43

JimmyTheHand · Frequent Visitor Joined: Apr 16, 2005 Posts: 386

Just got an email about new Active 12 -

Active 12

High Res maps
_________________
J.

smashing · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 17, 2009 Posts: 27

http://www.satmap.co.uk/news.php now links to a press release dated 1st March 2014 titled 'Satmap Launches Active 12' but has no details of prices or when you might actually be able to buy it. I usually get such info in their e-mails but not on this occasion.

Most of the new features are a bit wasted on me but do hope the screen is as good in bright sunlight as Garmin's are.

A link to the full press release

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/sh/etqo8babx5fnqzo/tPYG7hlk45/Press%20Release/Press%20Release_Active12%20UK.pdf?dl=1&token_hash=AAE-SIwAI1XpbM-FkADHvbOy7rxxzkuFKDWpg4ZvqKe3kA

lucevans · Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 12:18 pm Post subject:

Through sheer bad luck, my trusty Active 10 finally kicked the bucket whilst in particularly foul weather in The Lakes a few weeks ago (I dropped it onto a rock, and the display stopped working). Now I know I could have paid for a full service and had the screen replaced, but I was curious about the new Active 12, so decided to order one....
It arrived yesterday. I've unpacked it and set it up this morning, and here are a few initial observations:

-SHOCK! HORROR! The screen area is actually SMALLER than the Active 10's- it's the same height, but it's narrower, so the overall effect is less square (and I liked the fact that the A10's screen was squarer than it's rivals - it looked more like a paper map that way)

- At the same brightness setting (I use 90%), the A12 is MUCH brighter than the A10 (which is good)

- With the 1:25K High-Res map card, the detail on screen IS finer, but it's not as big a difference as I had expected; certainly not as "high-res" as Anquet on an iPad mini retina, for example (a set-up that one of my walking buddies uses instead of his Active 10 these days)

- The processor inside the A12 is certainly faster than the A10, but again, some things still aren't instant: registering a full-UK HR map card still takes a while, and building map tiles on screen after it's loaded still isn't instant. However, overall, navigating menus and settings feels much snappier than the A10

- The barometer settings seem simple enough to set-up, with either auto-calibration at a selected time interval from map or GPS elevation data, or by manually entering your current elevation.

- As I don't use a heart rate monitor or cadence sensor, I was hoping that I might be able to use bluetooth for file transfer between the A12 and my iMac (especially since SatSync for Mac doesn't work with OS X Mavericks). I can't. Neither piece of kit sees the other over bluetooth. I realise this is very early days, and this functionality may come later.

- There is a noticeable delay before the screen comes on after pressing a key in screen-off mode. I know it's not a big deal, but it is a minor niggle. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

- I don't know whether the GPS/Antenna components have changed in the A12, but this one finds more satellites and locks onto them inside a building much faster than my A10 ever did (and I didn't ever consider the A10's performance to be poor)

To summarise, the Active 12 appears to be a more capable device than the Active 10: it's faster, brighter, higher res-screen (albeit slightly smaller than the A10) with a few new bells and whistles (bluetooth, barometer).
BUT... I'm not convinced that it's sufficiently better than the A10 to justify the expense of upgrading unit and maps to HR versions if you already have a functioning A10 and map library!

***UPDATE***

There is also currently a glitch with the electronic compass calibration. I've been in touch with SatMap this afternoon and they've told me that they are aware of it and are working on a software update to address the problem.

SmellyBoots · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 02, 2010 Posts: 43

Thanks to Lucevans pioneering the Active 12 we can all sleep soundly at night in the knowledge that we're not really missing out in so far as the essentials are concerned. I had assumed that the reason the screen protector wouldn't fit the new model was due to an increase in screen size. The fact that the new screen is smaller is really surprising. But I'm glad it's out at long last so that the Satmap techies can get on and deliver the long-promised improvements to Xpedition.

WalkerDan · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 04, 2010 Posts: 30

Had a look at Active 12 in Cotswold shop and can only agree with Lucevan's comments. To me the screen looked noticeably narrower although much clearer. The main issues highlighted on this site over the years don't appear to have been addressed, namely, battery connection terminal, buttons, usb cover and a fairly hopeless proximity alarm (silent except to dogs I reckon).
As someone with many years of marketing experience it seems to me the most half cocked product launch/relaunch I've ever seen.
In summary, I think the Satmap 10 is a great product with a few flaws. This is basically a bit of an update which doesn't address the issues users have raised. If I broke my Satmap 10 tomorrow would I buy one of these, probably Yes, but had hoped for better.

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