On Trackers GPS unit:
1. Only several cell phone companies were listed- do us other folks need to switch services
2. How much is there mapping software that will be necessary for the cell phone.
3. How long do your cell batteries last? When used repeatedly? Got a spare? I don't
4. How much is their "small" service charge per month gonna be? What is "small"
5. In the Scandanavian countries it's used in now the fees vary from country to country (service provider to provider??) and plans are based on how often you will be checking the status of the hounds. Does this mean if you go over your plan you pay more.
6. How big is your phone screen- mines about half the size of the garmin Astros.
7. Why the heck do I have to ask these questions when they've already put a press release out on thier website about thier gps unit. Told just enough so that we really don't know anything. I LOVE my Maxima and TRACKER has been good to me customer servicewise, but thier a day late and a dollar short on the GPS front and left me with more questions than answers as they arrive late to the party.
8. Tracker stated to me thier units would be about the same cost as thier Maxima packages. Heck I can get three collars and an Astro for 770 bucks plus I have the latest topo map package already for my personal gps- add a 19 dollar chip I'm all set for three hounds. What do I get from Tracker for 800 bucks??
Not for or against the Tracker GPS and surely want a unit I don't need to be worrying about the antenna breaking and leaving me with no signal, but I'm not paying even 5 bucks a month service fee for it (unless I get Satelitte Radio with it
). So they know the answer to these questions but we don't. A poor way to do business for us folks lookin at which way to go. Our group now has about 9 astros and 10 collars they are not going to be compatable with TRACKER or Quick Trac or any of them. I tried to talk our group into buying only several and waiting to see what other companies offered. I even tried to get some specifics from other companies about what they were going to bring out (yeah I know, but I tried anyway) and got nothing, did explain my reasoning for asking. So we see the Astro work and love what it can do and put up with the potential antenna breakage and electrical tape it like a mummy to the collar because the plastic plate breaks. Then there is the matter of the 69 dollar upgrade (add the 15 buck aluminum replacement bracket to that as well) for the Astro collars- heck Garmin should be shelling them out to folks who bought the current models at cost. Yes, I understand thier a business and they need to make a profit, but it's not an "upgrade" it's a correction of a flaw in thier design. In effect it's a recall- and yes I know it's not garmin itself putting out the current "recall" fixes, but they need to do it themselves and take care of thier customers. Arrgghhh.