Monday, March 18, 2013
I am happy with the Unit
by steve from Port Isabel TX USA 
Pros: very precise
Review: It took a little work to get started with people I wanted to share my locations but it works great.
I plan on taking on our road trip to Alaska this summer. I used a Spot unit on our 2011 Alaska trip that was loaned to me by my Brother. We were the first on the scene of a small plane crash and hit the SOS button. Emergency crews were on the scene in 1 hour (in the middle of nowhere).  It may have saved this Pilots life
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Saturday, November 10, 2012
by A Customer from Cedar City UT USA 
Pros: Would stop tracking without notice,
Cons: When it worked, it worked fine.
Review: Does what is is made for. No more, no less. Next time I would rent a satellite phone.
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Tuesday, November 06, 2012
by Larry A. from Springfield OR USA 
Pros: Unit size, comfort on pack and wrist , button easy to use. being waterproof is great
Cons: could not find anything at this time to find fault.
Review: I am 66 years old, I have tested my product out in the worst conditions living in Oregon. The unit and response time was wonderful. I used this unit in a downpour in light foliage coverage in a canyon at 2700 feet during elk season. My wife got the results with 5 minutes of sending signal. Used the unit on the Mckenzie river in a drift boat. Logged my position correctly. This is the next best thing to Bug Light... thank you all the seen and unseen.
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Friday, August 31, 2012
I would recommend this product
by Kylie from Singapore  
Pros: Easy to use, instructions are straight forward.
Cons: Short battery life for continuous long distance trips
Review: First time using this and we needed it.  In our time of need we recieved assistance fast.  Must be used in conjuction with other forms of communication (i.e. VHF Radio)
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012
by Adriano from Philadelphia PA USA 
Review:


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Friday, April 27, 2012
kind of okay....
by Biggles from Canada 
Pros: handy, small, works mostly.
Cons: funky controls logic. not sure if it is actually working, even with full green display.
Review: The instructions on the website are hidden somewere I cannot find. (editor: user guide) Lots of sales information however.
The SPOT website is not easy to navigate. Poor logic, for simple people like myself. Seems to be written by a computer whizz.
For reference I fly a million dollar helicopter for a living, and this little thing is not easy, brezzy.
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Overall SPOT is a great product but it has some gliches and limitation
by Tom from Salt Lake City UT USA 
Pros: The ability to locate and visualize the locations on Google maps is awsome
Cons: If you don't know if it is working from the senders side, it becomes an expensive toy.
Review: I just made a solo winter Grand Canyon trip and bought the SPOT with the tracking option for the trip. The concept and basic functionality was great but even though the unit said it was sending the messages and had a green light for the GPS connection, there were probably about 30% of the I'm okay messages and tracking locations that actually came through. I had no way of knowing that it wasn't working. The last two days it stopped working all together (on the computer end, it still showed everything was connecting on the unit) and gave an error message that said among other things that the account was deactivated. We had tried the unit around town and on ski and horseback trips and it worked flawlessly. When I really needed it, it failed.
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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
a satisfied boater
by lester from chokoloskee FL USA 
Review: Makes me feel safe when I am alone in the everglades. My family likes to know that I am out and about
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Tuesday, November 01, 2011
by john from willow AK USA 
Review: Great product,small, compact fairly easy to use.
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Thursday, September 08, 2011
by Zak from Stanchfield MN USA 
Pros: Wife knows where I am when outside of cell phone coverage.
Cons: Wife knows where I am, asked me what I bought at the motorcycle shop. oops
Review: Setup was great, had it working in about an hour. Worked flawlessly for about five weeks. When I had to change the batteries it quit functioning. I used the lithium, checked the polarity, turns on but doesn't register on the website. Just got back from a 3 week trip and haven't had a chance to call tech support or figure out what is going on. If I can get it to work again easily I would give it 5 stars. I will update.
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Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Live tracking works nicely
by Kelly from Columbus IN USA 
Pros: small and easy to carry along
Cons: must lay flat with unobstructed view of sky
Review: I signed up for the live tracking service and it seems to work just fine. I have created some public pages so my friends can keep tabs on me while im riding my bike. The updates are 10 mins apart which is good enough, faster would be better. The device needs to lay flat and unobstructed view of the sky. I mounted mine on the Top tube of my bike all the way up against the handle bar. Works great in that location even while in the aero position. Have not had to use the SOS feature yet but the check in works just fine. I'm still on the first set of batteries and I have used the unit quite a bit. I took the unit mountain biking and it wont work at all when your in the canopy. Using this unit with road biking though seems to work perfectly.
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Monday, May 23, 2011
"I would buy this product again"
by A Customer from Granada Hills CA USA 
Review: So far it lives up to its hype.
The Spot web site is not intuitive at all.....

I'm a retired civilian helicopter pilot that does not fly anymore, I use it on motorcycle trips.  Keeps the family informed.
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Thursday, April 21, 2011
Works as Advertised
by Kristen from Dillingham AK USA 
Pros: Works in very remote Alaska
Cons: somewhat difficult to setup via web site
Review: Purchased as gift for daughter in Dillingham AK., primarily as survival kit device. Tests on cross country ski trip confirmed it's tracking feature works well, even on the very slow dial up modems which are the standard in this area.
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Wednesday, March 02, 2011
I WOULD BUY THIS PRODUCT AGAIN
by Raymond from Surprise AZ USA 
Pros: GREAT LOCATOR WITH COORDINATES
Cons: SEE REVIEW ABOVE
Review: SOFT WARE IS NOT USER FRIENDLY.
IMPROVE ABILITY TO SET UP AND DISTRIBUTE AN ADVENTURE LOG
IMPROVE PROCESS TO NOTIFY USER AND QUESTS AS TO TRACKING/LOG INFORMATION.
NOTIFY OWNER/USER AND GUESTS VIA EMAIL OF SPOT ACTIVITY, TRIP, ETC. LOG WITHOUT LOGING IN TO THE SYSTEM

VERY DIFICULT TO ACCESS SPOT LOG LOG INFORMATION.
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Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Works well - very versital
by Jack from Draper UT USA 
Pros: Size, Weight - Functionality
Cons: Subscription needed for expanded functionality
Review: I use this for flying, mostly x-country so my wife and others can track where I'm at. However, I have found it useful in snowmobiling and hiking also. Good size and weight, just flexible enough and more useful than a personal 406 personal transmitter.
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Wednesday, February 16, 2011
totally worthless
by PAUL from BAKERSFIELD CA USA 
Review: does not work at all
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Wednesday, February 02, 2011
No Manual with Package
by Ron from Reno NV USA 
Pros: none yet
Cons: does not work!!
Review: I bought the product. There is almost no instructions for use in the package. I went on the internet to register and payed another $150.00 to use it. I had to search for instructions, but I got conflicting statements. I finally figured out how to test the unit. Followed the directions, but have not received an email. I am going to call to see what is wrong.
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Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Worked fine on trip to New Zealand but had problems after
by Robert from Vacaville, CA 
Pros: Worked well over USA, Pacific Ocean Zew Zealand
Cons: Did not work over or on Antarctica
Review: Did as advertised on flight from Colorado to New Zealand. Did not work on flight from New Zealand to Antarctica. No reception in McMurdo or at Bird's Surface Camp. Was purchased so family could track son on scientific expo to South Pole. Son will return to USA end of Jan 2011.
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Tuesday, November 30, 2010
works as advertised
by A Customer from Marathon TX USA 
Review: Very good. No surprises. I carry it all the time and I fly alone over Southwest Texas rugged rural country where there is very limited ATC and no cell service, so I feel confident that I can get help if forced to land. Makes my family feel confident as well.
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Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Could easily be a 5 star product, BUT....
by High Above Texas from Texas (like a whole other country) 
Pros: Small and easy to keep in your pocket. Hell of a battery life!
Cons: Gawd-Awful company website and manual (they should be tarred and featherd!)
Review:

(NOTE MY UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS REVIEW BEFORE BUYING)
I bought a Spot GPS Messenger 2 in May 2010, mainly to use when I travel in my airplane (if you go to my Flickr account, "SouthwestUSA" or Google "Flickr, SouthwestUSA Spot GPS Messenger" you'll see my Spot resting on top of the panel in my airplane over New Mexico where it always managed to send a message) or RV.

This product has received more than it's fair-share of less than favorable reviews, and I too had earlier given this product a 1 star review here and on Amazon, about 7 days after I received it. I was so frustrated and mad at one point, I was close to cutting the Spot in half on a band-saw and posting a video of the severing on YouTube. I wasn't a "happy camper" the first week I owned this little jewel.

Here is the "meat" of some issues that need to be considered before you order this product.

#1. (Like most people advise) It is not a substitute for a full-fledged ELB.
#2. The website, where you must activate the Spot and purchase a service plan is complicated and convoluted. It is difficult to navigate and understand. It took me more than a week to finally get their BIZARRE website figured out in order to get my Spot GPS Messenger 2 set up and working as I need it. The manual that came with my Spot 2 is TERRIBLE. I should cut the manual in half, and post a video of that on YouTube. These folks need to produce a better manual. IT'S TERRIBLE!
#3. If you buy this little jewel, you'll have a boatload of questions once you open the package. Rest assured, if you go to the "Follow Me Spot" website and look at the "FAQs" be advised that 90% of your questions will NOT be addressed on the website's FAQs.
#4. If you call their customer support people, be prepared to wait for up to 20 or 30 minutes for a real human-being who you can actually talk to. I only have a cell phone and it was annoying wasting my "minutes" while on-hold.
#5. Don't even think of sending a question to these people VIA e-mail... You MIGHT be lucky if you get an answer in 7 to 10 days by e-mail.
#6. The tiny buttons on the Spot provide NO TACTILE FEEDBACK (click) and it's somewhat difficult to determine if your button ("I'm OK" or "Send Help") was actually activated and worked... The button you push for the specific message eventually lights-up and blinks when they have been "activated and sent" however when viewing these very tiny buttons in sunlight, they hard to see and determine if the message was indeed "SENT." If you are 6 years old, your little finger can get to the small buttons. If you are a Baby-Boomer like me, your fat, old fingers might have trouble pressing these little buttons in order to send a message. I have to use the fingernail on my "pinky" or a ballpoint pen in order to press the button to make it engage the electronic contacts. I suspect if I fell down a cliff or were injured in some way, I might not be able to get the tiny buttons to work because they are so small and awkward to access with my fat and stubby fingers.

Once I FINALLY got my account established and my emergency contacts set up, I'm having more confidence in my Spot as a device that can contact my wife when I am in a remote area not having cell service. My iPhone has a couple of WONDERFUL apps where I can press one button and ask for 9-1-1 assistance and another app that I can press, to send my wife (or anyone having an e-mail account) a message showing my GPS location on Google Maps... but the iPhone doesn't work everywhere, and I love going into remote areas to tour ghost towns and old mining camps where there is NO CELL SERVICE FOR MILES. (You'll see on my Flickr account my Spot GPS Messenger in a few Ghost Towns.)

The SPOT GPS MESSENGER can easily beam your pre-determined message to a satellite, when my iPhone can't work. And so far (after learning the pain-in-the @$$ website for SPOT, I now am confident I can go nearly anywhere and be able to get my pre-programed message to my contact list. PLEASE NOTE... You can not create "tailor-made" messages with the spot while out in the boonies. You have to get on-line with your computer, go into your "Follow Me Spot" account in advance and create a pre-determined message.

You get a choice of 3 messages with the 3 different buttons on the Spot. Below are examples I programmed into my "Follow Me Spot" account. You will probably want something entirely different. There are three options for sending messages...
#1. (Which goes to my wife) is "I am safe, here is where I am."
#2. I need help and this is where I am. (I'll probably modify this message prior to going off on an adventure to tailor the message if I am traveling in my airplane or my RV.)
#3. For my emergency message that would be sent to the nearest 9-1-1 responder, I set this up with text to advise the 9-1-1 responder "O-Positive Blood Type. This person is an aircraft pilot and might have had an unplanned, emergency/forced landing in remote area and could possibly be injured as a result of the forced landing. The emergency contacts for this person are ***** ****** ****** (this is where I list three names and cell phone numbers for my wife, sister in-law and brother in-law.)

Some of the criticism about the Spot is when the emergency 9-1-1 button is pressed, some 9-1-1 responders in "less sophisticated regions, a-k-a "Hootersville" have no idea what a latitude/longitude is or what a Spot or ELB emergency might be, thus the reason why I say I am a pilot, and might have had a forced-landing, and advising of my blood-type and general health issues. (You can make up your own message, maybe saying "This person is on a hiking trip and might have fallen. 58 year old male, blood type is ??? and allergic to ????. Next of kin is ???????."

LAST BUT NOT LEAST.... My Spot GPS Messenger 2 does things an ELB can not do, which is to allow my wife to have some peace-of-mind with my "I'm OK message." Additionally, if I do have a forced landing and I DO NOT have a life-threatening emergency, I have confidence I can just send out a simple "need help message" and the local responder will show up, having called my wife first who will advise the color and type of my airplane. I can tell him "Hey, the engine quit in my airplane, and I just need a lift out of here to contact a mechanic." If that is the case, I sure don't want the folks at 9-1-1 calling Army Blackhawk helicopters with Airborne Rangers swooping down from ropes. Although I did purchase the insurance to reimburse the responders, should they show up in a helicopter.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE SPOT... The Spot fits nicely on my arm with the enclosed arm-band that came with the unit. It also fits in my shirt pocket and isn't too heavy. I can Velcro it to the glare-shield (dash) of my airplane where it has a clear shot at a satellite. It has worked well in sending out my test messages when sitting on the dash of my pick-up and while strapped on my arm. The ability of the unit to send out a "bread-crumb" trail of where I have been isn't a big deal to me, and although I've tried this feature a couple of times, be advised it sends out a message to your contacts about every 10 minutes and it DOES NOT exactly provide a trace of the trail (or route) you have been on. But, it still can be useful for tracking in an emergency. When I tried this "bread crumb trail" feature while driving my pick up on country roads, the device, when sending a "blip" every 10 minutes will show up on a Google Map and will not trace the road you are on, and it will "hodge-podge" across a map making what looks like leaps over hills, rivers and across valleys, instead of tracing an actual road or trail you are on. Not a big deal, but for those of us who are used to high-end GPS units that actually trace every foot of your path on long distant trips (my Garmin 496 does this in my airplane) it can be a bit distracting.

There are several features that I'll never use and I can't comment on them, but as a "pseudo" ELB, I think I will be very satisfied. And, as a way for me to communicate with my wife (since I often travel alone) it will give her peace of mind as I check in when in locations where my cell phone can't work. I plan on making a video showing how this unit works in my airplane, my RV and my pick-up to put on my YouTube account. The videos I've seen on YouTube about the SPOT don't cut to the meat of the subject and the heart of the capabilities of this nice little unit. I'll also show on my YouTube video, what a pain in the @$$ the "Follow Me Spot" website is... Stay tuned, my moniker on YouTube is "tuutuutango" where you can see a video of an airplane I built in my backyard and flew for the first time.

BOTTOM LINE... After spending just over $300 for the Spot and all of the features they offer to include RESPONDER REIMBURSEMENT INSURANCE (I bought everything) I feel good about my decision to go with this unit over a full-fledged ELB, because the Spot can do more than an ELB can do... It is lightweight and small but the company website and their manual are almost a joke and a royal pain in the neck.

Spot GPS Messenger can post your adventures on a website called Fire Eagle, but it is a royal pain getting Fire Eagle to work. It is too complicated to be practical. Spot easily posts onto Google Maps though and I like this feature. Fire Eagle is should be named "Frustration Eagle." Remember Steve Fossett, the millionaire pilot who was lost in the Nevada wilderness? Search and rescue teams spent nearly two months looking for this guy ([...]) and they never found him. Maybe, if he had a SPOT GPS MESSENGER (and a survival kit) like I do, he would have been found alive. I just hope if I have an emergency landing somewhere, someone doesn't stumble across my boney-fingers pressed on the 9-1-1 button, years after I crashed.

I have to admit, I don't have total confidence in my Spot working, when I need it the most, thus the reason why I will probably also buy a ELB to go in my airplane survival kit as well.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 5... I returned home from a 12 day adventure in my airplane. All my "Check-In, I'm OK" messages went to my assigned e-mail contacts while the Spot was sitting on top of the panel (dash) of my airplane. Battery life was OUTSTANDING. HOWEVER, many of the "I'm OK, check in messages" did not show where I was after about 7 days. All they revealed (once "stale" after 7 days) was a gray screen and NO MAP. So, I reduced my "star" rating of this product from my earlier "5" stars to 3 stars due to these issues and the LOUSY manual and TERRIBLE, difficult to understand website. (GOOGLE "GPS Magazine Spot GPS Messenger Review) and you'll see an editor's comment about the poor documentation... ) If it weren't for the difficulty with the company website, their poor track record of answering their phone and taking a week to 10 days in replying to e-mail inquiries AND their WORTHLESS manual, I would have given my Spot "5 STARS."

Monday, November 29, 2010
Good for my job
by Gerard from Monte Vista CO USA 
Pros: Very accurate
Cons: Easy to loose because the clip does not clip to a belt very well.
Review: It meets my expectations.
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Saves on lots of phone calls and is a constant safety reminder
by Tom from Johns Creek GA USA 
Pros: Easy to use and comforting
Review: I use SPOT when I'm hunting and I often hunt alone 90 miles from home. SPOT keeps my wife informed that I have come out of the woods safe and sound, without a phone call. If I were to ever have to use the help message, we have devised a plan of action and contacts. My wife feels more relaxed and I feel like I might have some help, should I get into trouble.
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Wednesday, November 10, 2010
i am a dummy
by robert from bass harbor ME USA 
Pros: great idea
Cons: how to activate
Review: I bought this for my son. I am not sure it is programmed as it should be.  Need to know the ins and outs.  What message brings the coast guard ASAP.  What are the mode choices. It should not be too difficult to write up a spot for dummies.  It is said that it will track....
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Thursday, November 04, 2010
I would buy this product again"
by Daniel from La Jara, CO. USA 
Review: I would like to say your product is exceptional. My co-worker had ordered 3 and then I ordered another 3 as well. It determines exactly where your at and it something that fits our needs in our organization.
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Monday, August 23, 2010
SPOT
by Steven from Concord NH USA 
Review: I purchased the product so that I can be tracked when I go on long distance motorcycle rides. The product works perfectly and allows people to track me on their pc through a web site.
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Monday, August 16, 2010
fantastic
by MICHAEL from bridgeport, wv 
Review: I went from West Virginia to Iceland. The SPOT allowed my friends and family to track me all the way up to the artic circle.  An amazing device.
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Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Good Product
by John from Phoenix AZ USA 
Pros: Works as described
Cons: Needs flexiblity on the updates cycles.
Review: Good product, does what I thought it would. If I could improve it I would prefer the choice for a more frequent transmission/updates than every 10 minutes. For aviation use, 10 minutes is 15 miles or more. I would ask for more functionality on the findmespot page. Archiving old trips, easy date sorting, and altitude display or even better 3D! As is, still a good product and the family really likes the check in messages!
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Saturday, July 31, 2010
the tracking function is too complicated
by Roger from Farmington NM USA 
Pros: handy size and basic functions of sending message easy to do
Cons: tracking feature to complicated
Review: The SPOT website is not intuitive for setup. I especially found initializing the tracking feature annoying. The page needs to be more accessible by your contacts. They are not always a the same computer that they saved the link to your shared page. The link is necessary to view your track.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010
My body would be recovered....
by Richard from Moultonborough NH USA 
Pros: It works! My wife tracked my progress. My brother even computed my ground speed.
Cons: PITA to get up and running with poorly explained setup.
Review: Great product! Hard to use setup and unexplained procedures to wade through...geeks need real people to make the setup user friendly. Flew a J-3 from Denver to Maine to Lock Haven to NH...will be flying back to Denver soon. Comfort to know my body would be found if I crashed in the ocean of trees in NY and PA. Family can see where I am...know when I got to destination. And it is portable...can use in the car or boat or spacecraft.
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Friday, July 02, 2010
Shady Practices
by Taildragger from Kenai Alaska 
Pros: Orange
Cons: Interruptions in satellite coverage. Tracking will skip large blocks.
Review: Adding to the cacophony about SPOT's not reimbursing customer's for "Purchase Rebates", I would like to alert potential customers to another foible. Having purchased the device, customers are required to "activate" the service. Along with pages of the usual boilerplate legalese, there is a committment to automatically renew the service upon the anniversary of purchase. This is not an uncommon practice among organizations providing services. What is unusual is SPOT prematurely charges your credit card. Combined with not alerting you to the "renewal" charge, they threaten legal action to gain collection. Including threat of credit rating repercussions. Not a very customer friendly experience! I can't think of anybody who would like getting beat out of their rebate and then a year later get a bill for a service you thought was cancelled.
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Thursday, June 10, 2010
Solo Trekker Security
by Gladesman from Homestead, FL 
Pros: Compact, easy-to-use, peace of mind for travelers, especially solo trekkers.
Cons: Alkaline batteries won't work so ensure you have spare AAA lithium batteries.
Review: I used my SPOT recently on a 129-mile 10-day solo canoe excursion in the Everglades and was able to track my trip plus send "I'm OK" messages to family and friends, and they were able to see my exact location on a Google map. It could be your life saver if you have a serious medical emergency far away from any other type of communication means. DeLorme has come out with a GPS that synchs with a SPOT messenger, which allows you to send text messages when you're out of cell phone range. Although the unit costs $550 it's still cheaper than a satellite phone.
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Saturday, May 08, 2010
CHEAP INSURANCE
by Elk Hunter from Tucson, AZ 
Pros: Small, easy to carry.
Review: Have used my Spot for over a year. Always use it to check in with my family when hunting or off-roading in areas without cell coverage. Have never had an issue with coverage. Have used in Arizona and Alaska.
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Friday, May 07, 2010
It does what is is designed to do.
by Flash from Pleasant View, Utah 
Pros: It works.
Cons: A satellite lockin indicator would be nice
Review: Bill, from Boston's review deserves an answer. My sons and I have been using our Spots for a year now and have been very happy with them. We snowmobile in the winter with them and know that we can ask for help should we need it. I have 5 acres in Central Utah that I spend a good deal of time at during the summer months. There is no cellphone coverage at my "Ranch", so I depend on being able to let my wife know that I've arrived safely by sending her a Spot message. As for charging your account without asking, Netflix takes $5 and my IP takes $35 a month out of my account, without asking, because I agreed to it when I signed up for their services. If you aren't happy with their business model, you should consider taking your business elsewhere!
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Thursday, April 29, 2010
SPOT doesn't work
by Bill from Boston, MA 
Pros: Small, light weight
Cons: Doesn't work in most situations
Review: This thing just flat out doesn't work. The only way I got it to transmit to the satelite was if I was on a mountain top. If you're in a valley or live in the east with trees, there's no chance. The icing on the cake was when I found out that the company had charged my credit card for a second year of 'service' without my asking. I tried to get away on the cheap with SPOT instead of buying a PLB. You get what you pay for.
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The short answer is that the NC Coast Guard would absolutely become involved in a rescue situation triggered by SPOT under their jurisdiction. 

The longer answer is that if you ever needed to issue a distress (911) signal, that would be transmitted to an organization called the GEOS Alliance.  GEOS provides the 24/7/365 Emergency Response capability i.e. if you're ever in a situation that threatens your life or safety and you have to press the "911" button, one of their Duty Officers at the GEOS Emergency Response Center in Houston, Texas will be dealing with your LOCAL emergency, liaising with local Police, Coastguard or any other relevant authority as well as coordinating any additional private Search & Rescue resources that may be required to rescue you or save your life.

If the emergency feature is activated, the GEOS Alliance is notified who then relay all information regarding your location to local emergency services and search & rescue. The buttons on the unit are not programmed, but all pre-set messages and information are entered into SPOT's website through your account with them.

The SPOT does not have a 12 volt adapter available.

SPOT does have coverage in Afghanistan. You can view the most current coverage map here.

They are really different technologies with completely different business models.  The SPOT uses a private satellite network and has a yearly subscription cost with features not found on any of the PLBs (such as tracking and check-in).  The ACR PLBs use the 406 MHz public COSPAS-SARSAT satellite system and does not have any ability to do real-time tracking.  It does not have any monthly or yearly subscription cost after the hardware has been purchased.

At this time SPOT only offers an annual service option.

The service fees are as follows:

$99 annual fee for unlimited basic service (North American Alert 9-1-1, Ask for Help, and Check-In) .
$50 additional annual fee for SPOTcasting real-time tracking service. 

We are not aware of any FAA or FCC regulation that prohibits the use of SPOT on an airline.  In fact, many private and commercial pilots (myself included) use SPOT every time that we fly.  With that said, many airlines prohibit the use of any device that receives or sends a satellite signal.  You would need to check with your airline to be sure.

As far as using the SPOT to report emergencies that do not involve you directly, there is no issue at all.  The SPOT is intended to be used in any emergency situation where emergency workers need to be summoned.  

The SPOT does have coverage in both Iraq and Afghanistan. You can view a picture of the most current coverage area here.

Just checking in.  All is well from this location.  <= this is your custom message
Unit Number: XXXXXXX
Latitude: 33.6153
Longitude: -111.9205
Time in GMT the message was sent: 01/31/2008 18:58:33
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=33.6153,-111.9205&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1