 |
Regrettably, the Onix experience was highly unfavorable. I do not understand how or why Bushnell, a company whose other sporting products have such a sterling reputation, could put out such a poor product. I can only imagine that the absolute wrong person got put in charge of product development for it, and there was no serious QA or market research done. Where to begin? I suppose the unit itself. While the screen is large, it is easily damaged and the resolution is fairly low. The processor inside of the unit is woefully underpowered and the display programming makes no use of memory windowing techniques -- thus loading more than a few of the bitmap overlay maps into the unit drags its scroll speed down to a frustrating crawl as it had to shift all of them around at once. The base map that underlies the overlays is absolutely terrible, and virtually unusable for all but the most general direction-finding. Had Bushnell licensed even the cheapest and most incomplete base map from any other GPS manufacturer, it would have been better. I contacted their customer service about it and they said there is no plan to upgrade or offer a replacement for the base map. The process of finding, downloading and installing map overlays from the Bushnell site to the actual unit is tedious, numbing and frustrating. Why didn't they provide -- even as a separately-purchasable option -- all the maps for the USA and Canada on a CD or DVD? Why this broken, frustrating, slow web site? How are people who are out in the field supposed to make use of it, if they wind up going outside of their planned area? I'd gladly have paid $100 extra at the time of purchase for such a CD, just to be able to have it with me and be able to use it in the field -- and I think I'm not alone. How many people will make 100 $1 downloads from their site? They'd wind up making a whole lot more money and having a lot less unhappy customers. There is also no backwards integration via USB to the laptop. Why not have an matching application on the PC, such as the Bushnell GPS PC Companion and make that a full-featured GPS client with as many features as a Garmin or more -- using the handheld GPS to feed it positioning and weather data? No such simple, forward ideas were apparently present at Bushnell when this unit was being made. As to the XM radio, I'd rather get a dedicated portable unit than have it built into my GPS. The weather tracking is an interesting feature that I can see the value of but the need for a subscription is annoying. At the price point of this premium GPS unit, it should have come with a free lifetime subscription to XM Weather. There is so much more that could have been done with the unit, through creative programming if nothing else, that it's disappointing. The fact that Bushnell really seems to have given up on the unit (that's the sense I get when talking to their bored customer support reps) and nothing new is really happening or planned for the unit just goes to show that they see it as a failed product and have gone on to other things instead of trying to improve and make the unit better through downloadable upgrades -- even simple ones, like replacing the abysmal base map. I could go on and on with more complaints, but why waste your time? I strongly recommend NOT BUYING this unit.Read full review
This GPS is the ONLY one I have ever seen to have Sirius XM built in. I mainly bought this just for the Sirius XM and it does a very good job running the Sirius XM Radio! But on the other hand. the GPS is just plain crap. Bushnell no longer supports this and you cant even get maps or 3d satellite images for it anymore! But it is rugged and waterproof and as far as the GPS Goes. It does tell you your speed and is very accurate at that. and it also has a trip odometer and it is good at that as well. The only major thing is the Bushnell maps, if they WERE Still available. This would be the BEST GPS Ever! But, sadly. I cant find them anywhere...
THE FOLLOWING IS A COPY OF SOMEONE ELSE REVIEW, BUT I COULD NOT HAVE SAID ANY BETTER. Regrettably, the Onix experience was highly unfavorable. I do not understand how or why Bushnell, a company whose other sporting products have such a sterling reputation, could put out such a poor product. I can only imagine that the absolute wrong person got put in charge of product development for it, and there was no serious QA or market research done. Where to begin? I suppose the unit itself. While the screen is large, it is easily damaged and the resolution is fairly low. The processor inside of the unit is woefully underpowered and the display programming makes no use of memory windowing techniques -- thus loading more than a few of the bitmap overlay maps into the unit drags its scroll speed down to a frustrating crawl as it had to shift all of them around at once. The base map that underlies the overlays is absolutely terrible, and virtually unusable for all but the most general direction-finding. Had Bushnell licensed even the cheapest and most incomplete base map from any other GPS manufacturer, it would have been better. I contacted their customer service about it and they said there is no plan to upgrade or offer a replacement for the base map. The process of finding, downloading and installing map overlays from the Bushnell site to the actual unit is tedious, numbing and frustrating. Why didn't they provide -- even as a separately-purchasable option -- all the maps for the USA and Canada on a CD or DVD? Why this broken, frustrating, slow web site? How are people who are out in the field supposed to make use of it, if they wind up going outside of their planned area? I'd gladly have paid $100 extra at the time of purchase for such a CD, just to be able to have it with me and be able to use it in the field -- and I think I'm not alone. How many people will make 100 $1 downloads from their site? They'd wind up making a whole lot more money and having a lot less unhappy customers. There is also no backwards integration via USB to the laptop. Why not have an matching application on the PC, such as the Bushnell GPS PC Companion and make that a full-featured GPS client with as many features as a Garmin or more -- using the handheld GPS to feed it positioning and weather data? No such simple, forward ideas were apparently present at Bushnell when this unit was being made. As to the XM radio, I'd rather get a dedicated portable unit than have it built into my GPS. The weather tracking is an interesting feature that I can see the value of but the need for a subscription is annoying. At the price point of this premium GPS unit, it should have come with a free lifetime subscription to XM Weather. There is so much more that could have been done with the unit, through creative programming if nothing else, that it's disappointing. The fact that Bushnell really seems to have given up on the unit (that's the sense I get when talking to their bored customer support reps) and nothing new is really happening or planned for the unit just goes to show that they see it as a failed product and have gone on to other things instead of trying to improve and make the unit better through downloadable upgrades -- even simple ones, like replacing the abysmal base map. I could go on and on with more complaints, but why waste your time? I strongly recommend NOT BUYING this unit.Read full review
Downsides -Clumsy menu's, large, heavy and awkward stature. -Near impossible navigation of website for uploading maps. -The lanyard attaches from the top of the unit, when walking you must detach it to comfortably read. -Very very slow map browsing. Cursor speed is almost agonizing. Positives -Awesome battery life (3 full days of walking through the bush) -Waterproof (unintentionally tested) -Largest screen of any GPS i've ever used -Satellite Weather is handy tool but need to subscribe All in all it is a good BUDGET gps but if i could do it again I think i would spend the little extra and buy a Garmin.
This review is actually about the unit- not the sellers... I have owned this unit for 7 months now and it works beautifully. I would encourage you to download the free software updates for the unit to get even more functionality (Solar Tables and fish/hunt activity predictors) and some of the early "bugs" fixed. I use the unit as an XM Radio in my car, and we go hiking, camping, and snowshoeing with it. It is very handy to be able to overlay weather radar, topo maps and aerials over the base maps to really see the land around you. The early reviews indicating a poor base map were correct, but after the third (free) firmware update the base map is actually pretty good for an outdoors (not in-car, turn-by-turn) gps. The Ram cradle available for this unit is also very sturdy, and worth owning. My only criticism is that you have to download the maps for the area you will be using it in before you go- and if you go off your pre-downloaded maps, the base map doesn't show much land detail. The maps can get a little pricey if you choose to download many of them. (I have hundreds.) The included memory of 128 is too small, I upgraded to 2gb for less than $15, and it came with a reader to update/upload maps from my computer without the cable. (much faster) Customer service has been excellent, both times I have called, the same technician called me back and helped me remedy my download issues. In all, once you realize the value of watching the moving, near real-time weather radar overlay when you are outdoors- and the "wow factor" of the satellite images- this unit will become your favorite, and draw ALOT of attention too. (I own 6 gps units- and this is the one I carry all the time because of: xm radio, weather radar, weather forecasts, aerial & topo maps, and large display.) Oh, and by the way- when you buy one- put a screen protector on it- the front display is so large and flat it attracts abuse. Happy eBaying!Read full review
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in GPS Units
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on GPS Units
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
