About time for a new model?

[WalkerDan]

I've got a Satmap 10 and also bought a Satmap 12 shortly after its release in March 2014 so I'm thinking it's about time a new Satmap model hit the market. We all know the shortcomings of the Satmap case which I'll not go into again here but isn't it about time this was resolved with a new casing, buttons etc. It's not rocket science to sort this out or is it?
The Satmap 12 was just an upgrade off the Satmap 10 so the whole thing is getting a bit long in the tooth.

[davidor]

I was one of the early buyers of a Satmap 10. Was it really eight years ago? Yes it was. Back then it was way out in front with 25K & 50K OS maps, good signal reception and a record of your walk. It seemed to be way ahead of anything that Garmin were doing (I had a very clunky Garmin eMap) and smartphones were still not very clever. We still use it regularly - at least once a week.

Now the world and his wife, not to mention most of their kids, have powerful computers in their pockets which they still quaintly refer to as a phone. Some to be had quite cheaply as long as you avoid fruit. For very little more money this can display OS maps with your location.

There will be the more rugged sorts who feel they need something that will work in more remote areas, but for many people who previously might have considered a Satmap, the phone is now the answer.

A phone is not a complete alternative to a Satmap, but for casual walkers and cyclists who might have previously considered a Satmap the phone is adequate for their purpose.

I think Satmap really missed the boat with the Satmap 12. They could have increased the functionality, made it properly waterproof and done something about the useless battery caddy and its connector. In the end it seems that all they did was put some orange buttons on it and mess about with the screen size, which was of little benefit unless you wanted to spend another few hundred pounds replacing your map cards.

[WalkerDan]

A year on from my initial post we now have a new model. Just in time as I was about to chuck my lot in with Garmin. Just hope it does the business as I want to support a UK company.

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