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| Brand: SPOT Inc.
Category: Sports
List Price: $169.99
Buy New: $80.00
New (88)
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 640
Color: Orange
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.9
Dimensions (in): 5.9 x 5.9 x 5.5
MPN: SPOT
Model: SPOT-1
UPC: 893049001059
EAN: 0893049001059
ASIN: B000YTZV74
Release Date: November 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 SPOT...Un-reliable, NOT to be used for emergencies!!!!!! July 20, 2008
11 out of 20 found this review helpful
SPOT Messenger review: I have owned this unit since May 2008. I have used it numerous times during the months of June and July quite disappointedly with it's lack of reliability. Only functioned correctly 2 out of 9 times!!!! I spoke with SPOT customer care, competent and professional but could not help with technical aspects. I called on Saturday, will have to wait until Monday. (mean while my son is at sea and unable to communicate his position to me, the reason I purchased this sytem!) DO NOT buy this unit for an emergency tracking system, most likely it will not work! Instead, take the $149.99 you'd pay for the unit plus the $149.99 for the annual service fee (Yup, $300.00) and buy a portable USCG and/or SOLAS approved EPIRB, ELT or PLB from either ACR or McMurdo/Paines Wessex for about $500.00 with NO ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION FEE!!!! Both ACR and McMurdo units work!!!! SPOT is UNRELIABLE at best!!!! SPOT should be pulled from the marketplace as it represents the unit to be dependable when in fact the manufacturer knows this to not be true! It's a good concept but needs to fixed and brought up to a near 100% functioning reliability range before being re-introduced to the marketplace! Hopefully, the 2nd Generation units will WORK!
 Dose what it should July 17, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have had the SPOT unit for about three weeks and have tested it several times. It works just as it is advertised. I had a little trouble trying to change an email address for one of my contacts, but a call to the service number solved the problem quickly. I am well pleased.
Reliable and easy tracking device April 20, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
I am living in Germany and imported the device from the USA (Bass Pro). It took unfortunately 8 weeks because the German customs was holding it back. I am running the device now for 2 weeks. The activation over the SPOT Web site worked fine. Foreign addresses and credit cards are accepted.
The device works without any problems in Germany.
Beside the messaging (included in the basic subscription for $99.99/year) I also use the tracking service (additional $49.99/year to the basic subscription). The tracking must be re-activated every 24h by pressing the Ok button for 5 seconds. Every 10 minutes the current position is sent to the satellite. This position is very accurate (within a few meters accuracy). In your account (on the SPOT Web site) you can access the messages and the tracking data as KML file (Google tracking format) and also display the positions in Google Maps and Google Earth. So far I like the device very much. In the next months I will use it on my wilderness trips.
Tip for how to publish the tracking data on your own home page: The tracking data is offered through the account that is password protected. I don't want other people accessing my account. If you have a running PC with network (e.g. permanent DSL) then you can use a Webtool (e.g. iMacros for Firefox) for polling regularly the KML file from the account (be responsible for doing it not too frequently). After that the KML file can be copied over to your home page (e.g. write a small script that uses FTP). Then link it with Google Maps (see http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41136 for instructions). So anyone visiting your home page can watch your live tracking positions in Google Maps (use it e.g. when you are on vacation). Alternatively someone can define a so called "network link" in Google Earth that periodically reads this KML file from your home page.
Tip for the initial activation: If you enter the ESN (equipment serial number) on the Spot Web site for the initial activation, then include the '-' character. Otherwise you get a misleading error message that the device is already in use.
Spot Messenger and Tracker March 24, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This devicde works exactly as described. The directions as to how to enable someone to access the tracking function are not all that great. A brief demo on the web site might be of a help. Once you get it figured out the system is actually pretty simple to operate.
Outstanding Test February 11, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
The SPOT arrived on-time and in perfect condition. I set-up the subscription info quickly on their web site. The e-mail notification and google map test for the TRACKING feature worked amazingly well.
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