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 Suunto X9Mi GPS Wristop Computer By: Suunto Average Rating: 2.5 Total Reviews: 19 More Information buy a garmin.  On: 2008-07-05I gave it one star because I couldnt pick zero stars. It was in a Suunto repair facility for 2&1/2 months of the first year I owned it. It was so bad at locking and sticking with gps recep. that I felt it must be faulty. It check out fine with them. I wore it in a pool, bad move. In less than two feet of water it shorted out. I returned it again and they sent me a new one. Same horrible reception. I guess it works fine in the desert but throw in a tree or cloud and down it goes. Get a garmin. Smart buy  On: 2008-06-02Cheaper, rough and tough its an ideal item for sporting and fitnes. I recomand this watch awesome watch!  On: 2008-06-01This watch is incredible. packed with features, it has everything you could want. the menu system is easy and flawless. more like a symbian cellphone menu than a typical watch. this watch is also much easier to operate than other suunto watches. I also have a t1. the negative face can be hard to read in low light but is excellent in bright light and the red back like looks and works great. this watch has a rechargeable battery and the specs say it can take about 500 charges before needing replacement. good news is that with standard use, the battery lasts for months before needing a recharge. its really only the gps feature that eats battery. gps works great, although you must turn on gps function and leave the watch stationary for several minutes to aquire signal. once youve done so its a snap to track your movement then it simply connects to your pc or Macpro with windows on parrelles and you can view your trek on google earth...very simple. it is a large watch but at 64" it looks just fine on my arm. bottom line, i found this bad boy on amazon for $349 and it works great, for everyday use you may not want the "m" version with the negative face. other than that i wear this watch everyday, it works great, and the menu system is the best and easiest to use on any digital watch ive ever owned. get one. Good for some uses, but not for all  On: 2008-05-30This is not good to be used as a track maker because of what has been pointed before - when the signal is poor, it just records abnormal locations and the track ends up having a very weird configuration and extension, with recorded highest speeds and average speeds that are very high. This could be fixed by Suunto, I guess, if they just corrected the software in a way that there would be no record when the signal was poor. Hopefully theyll do that in the future and then this device could be used for that task. Other then this issue, it is a good device for navigation. I feel deep regret for buying this watch On: 2008-05-06I tried to like this watch, I really did. The GPS can take up to 5 minutes to get a lock. Everytime. The GPS isnt accurate. The watch is fragile. After I gave up trying to use the GPS, I just wore it as an everyday watch. Then the casing for the face broke. I had to mail the watch to Suunto to get it fixed. Now if I try to use the GPS the log file aborts immediately. This watch is worthless. Handy, but some emprovements are needed On: 2008-03-09Generally, it is a good watch: GPS, compass, barometer and altimeter,and thermometer. GPS is the most prominent fuction that the watch is proud of. Once GPS receives enough signals, it keeps them. But, it takes too long time to begin: more than 5 minutes to 10 minutes to start. Thermometer does not seem to be very reliable when it is put on the wrist. Compass functions are read in both ways: degree and mil. This function is very useful for the military. It is also good to be rechargeble. Generally, I am satisfied with the fuctions, but it neeeds more improvements. Suunto X9Mi On: 2008-01-17I have owned this watch for 6 months now and have not experienced any problems. The average initial satellite link time is about 90 seconds. I have only lost the link a couple of times for a few seconds under heavy tree canopy. It is very accurate, have compared it against car speedometer, etc. Compass and barometer have also been right on. The temperature sensor is only accurate if you remove the watch from your wrist as it picks up the ambient heat. RTFM and this watch/GPS can be a joy On: 2007-10-30I found the remarks of the one other positive reviewer quite a relief: the guy who pointed out that good performance of the GPS (i.e. the key unique feature distinguishing this watch from other Suunto models) hinges critically on whether or not you first get your satellite fix properly. I have found that, if you wait the very first time you use it, to get a proper (not flashing) firm fix, then subsequent fixes have been relatively rapid (usually around 2 minutes in an urban environment. Once you have a lock-on, then subsequent performance is relatively fine. I have a few minor gripes about the software visualisation. When it does loose satellite connection, rather than not graphing for the drop out period of time, the software includes the squiggly deviations to route when it cant locate you. This has the consequence that some journeys appear like I fly around or walk on water. This is not the case. I would prefer just blanks for drop-out periods of time. Any GPS device works much better in open spaces rather than built-up urban ramblings. As a watch model, the comparable device is the Garmin forerunner. The Garmin probably has more stickability and usability for its GPS (I have Garmin handheld for comparison). Its greater reception and stronger GPS reception is due to its bigger aerial. That means its also bigger and probably emitting strange things into your arm. The battery life on Garmin receivers is very frustrating and I have had no problems with the x9i though its continual GPS use would be limited to 4-5 hours. Personally, I am prepared to live with the slightly more delicate reception of the x9i in order to use a much more elegant device. The watch looks like a watch and its smooth contours and rubberised grippy surface have design aesthetics and simplicity of display that Garmin doesnt. If you primarily (or only) use GPS, buy the Garmin. If you are concerned about looks and multi-function and if you are patient to setup a good connection first time, I think you will be pleasantly rewarded by this watch. I really like that it charges off my USB. Also, using Desktop Parallels and Win XP, I exchange the data into Trek Manager and X-loader uploading to Google with my Macbook ;-) DO NOT BUY IT. On: 2007-10-24I used just for a week and GPS entered into a sleep mode. There is no way of leaving this state but draining the battery until it is empty. This can last more than two months. Suunto recognized that X9i can "crash" in some occasions and the only way is to reset it. But there is no reset button! SCAM On: 2007-10-16This watch is a SCAM. It is not more than 9 months since I bought it and the plastic cover is loose. I swear that I normally use it no more than 5 days a month. The GPS is useless in Latin America. The battery lasts 20 minutes and goes down immediately after charging it. I used to have the Vector. It was a far better watch. SCAM On: 2007-10-15This watch is a SCAM. It is not more than 9 months since I bought it and the plastic cover is loose. I swear that I normally use it no more than 5 days a month. The GPS is useless in Latin America. The battery lasts 20 minutes and goes down immediately after charging it. I used to have the Vector. It was a far better watch. Looks Great On: 2007-10-04This is my weekend watch, well worth the price, I just have to learn everything that it does. Almost worthless On: 2007-07-10I bought this watch to track distances while jogging on new routes. The unit will stop tracking GPS everytime I go out. I have never been able to go 3 miles with it tracking the entire time. When it stops tracking, you have to stop moving for 90 seconds to allow it to re-acquire its GPS signal. For a jogger/runner, this performance deficiency is unacceptable. Useless compass  On: 2007-06-15The compass is useless. The manual says "1 degree precision" but by tilting it only slightly the direction changes wildly, by 30 degrees or more. Calibration has no effect on this. Try Forerunner 205 On: 2007-06-13Believe me: I tried 3 times to buy this watch. First one arrives with a battery problem (after a completed charge, the battery signal went down to half), I sent back to Amazon that returned another one. Same problem! I decided to look for support on the web and I found a discussion at Suunto website about the subject. The suggestion was to send the unit to Suunto for replacement. As I was under the guarantee, I sent it back to Amazon. Naively I thought it was related to Amazon units, so, I bought another one from other vendor. Same problem! I returned it and bought a Garmin Forerunner (bigger but less expensive and works beautifully). Small, all in one device BUT lacking in user friendliness On: 2007-04-12If what you want is a very small interface loaded w/ features and youre willing to sacrifice user friendliness and graphic display, then this watch is for you. Navigating the various functions can be tricky and GPS, Compass and Altitude functions will need to calibrated regularly in order to be usably accurate. Also note that the GPS function quickly drains the rechargeable battery so for long outings you will need to use this function sparingly. Another factoid: although the watch is water proof to >50m (not sure exactly) the manual warns of pressing ANY button while the watch is submerged at any depth as this could short out the electronics. I returned this watch and decided to go with a hand held GPS device that has the same functions. Small, all in one device BUT lacking in user friendliness On: 2007-04-11If what you want is a very small interface loaded w/ features and youre willing to sacrifice user friendliness and graphic display, then this watch is for you. Navigating the various functions can be tricky and GPS, Compass and Altitude functions will need to calibrated regularly in order to be usably accurate. Also note that the GPS function quickly drains the rechargeable battery so for long outings you will need to use this function sparingly. Another factoid: although the watch is water proof to >50m (not sure exactly) the manual warns of pressing ANY button while the watch is submerged at any depth as this could short out the electronics. I returned this watch and decided to go with a hand held GPS device that has the same functions. struggle to operate On: 2007-04-10I bought this for a 10 day trek across africa, followed up by a North Pole trek. What a challenge to get to operate, and when it did start to operate it would stop recording mid day. Also battery life is weak, didnt make it across africa. PS Im a computer geek, so it may be user error but doubtful. struggle to operate On: 2007-04-09I bought this for a 10 day trek across africa, followed up by a North Pole trek. What a challenge to get to operate, and when it did start to operate it would stop recording mid day. Also battery life is weak, didnt make it across africa. PS Im a computer geek, so it may be user error but doubtful. Best gift for the biker/hiker On: 2007-01-17I bought this watch as a gift for my husband and he absolutely loves it! It does everything you can imagine and he has fun showing it off, but its practical uses are undeniable. He is a mountain biker and uses it for elevation, speed, barometer, altimiter, and the GPS directions. He is also a Land Surveyor and he uses the GPS and compass daily. He would recommend it to anyone serious about a GPS watch. It is the best weve found and I did my homework before I purchased it--others just dont compare! Best gift for the biker/hiker On: 2007-01-16I bought this watch as a gift for my husband and he absolutely loves it! It does everything you can imagine and he has fun showing it off, but its practical uses are undeniable. He is a mountain biker and uses it for elevation, speed, barometer, altimiter, and the GPS directions. He is also a Land Surveyor and he uses the GPS and compass daily. He would recommend it to anyone serious about a GPS watch. It is the best weve found and I did my homework before I purchased it--others just dont compare! ok... but expensive On: 2006-12-27Should have ordered a Garmin etrex and a sunto vector. Amazon shipped me the wrong color watch...but I was in Iraq and needed a watch and didnt want to wait another 4 weeks to get one. Then it broke (the cover/bezel/frame) the third time I used it. Pros: 1. Small (compared to other GPS watches) 2. Accurate (compared to military maps and GPS) 3. has MGRS 4. good quality charger/acessories/softwear 5. battery lasts a long time (w/o using GPS) before needing to be recharged Cons: 1. because its small, it has hard to use button combos 2. does not appear sturdy and it broke easily (but still works) 3. if I am moving at all, I cant get a fix. 4. Need a computer to take full advantage of features Amazing Watch On: 2006-12-24This is a review for the Suunto X9mi, not the X9i. I did a lot of research on this watch before purchase, including reading several trade publication and personal reviews on the Internet. Heres the bottomline on this watch: 1. The Suunto X9mi does everything it claims to do: GPS, Altimeter, Barometer, Compass, Temperature, and Standard Time Keeper. In addition, all of the functions are integrated, meaning the possibilities are unlimited for a smart user, especially if you own a computer. Im away from the states, so havent used the National Geographic TOPO maps yet. 2. I owned the Suunto Vector for several years and if people, myself included, initially think the X9mi is just the vector with added GPS capability, think again. The design and user interface are greatly improved: all of the functions work better, esp. the compass, added weather alarm is a great feature, altimter is more integrated into the other fuctions; I could go on and on. 3. The GPS-does it work, yes it does. Keep in mind that the first time you use it out of the box, it takes a while to get a satellite feed-it took mine one hour. I think some people dont understand this, hence some of the blistering negative reviews about the product. After that, no more than 5-10 minutes before getting constant feed. Note, Im in Europe. I read one reviewer who said he couldnt get a satellite feed in China, which surprises me b/c I never had any problems in Japan. 4. Design and wear-durable and comfortable. I say this after owning and wearing the uncomfortable Vector for years. Obviously someone at Suunto did their homework. With the new wraparound design, most of the time I even forget Im wearing the X9mi, its that well designed. 5. The X9mi has a rechargeable battery that can be recharged 500 times using a USB cable or wall socket power (The watch comes with adaptors to use the wall option anywhere in the world.) Battery power could be an issue for users who plan on using the watch in a remote area for several months with heavy GPS usage with no access to the power options listed above. One charge will last over one month, but if you turn the GPS on and leave it on nonstop, youll run down one charge it about 24-30 hours. Who should not buy this watch: 1. This is not a dive watch. Water resistant to 100m but youll it damage if you push the buttons underwater. 2. People who want to use this watch almost exclusively as a "fun and run" GPS device to record time, distance, and mileage during weekly fitness runs. They would be better served with one of the Garmin wrist devices-if they dont mind wearing a cigarette case on their wrist. The X9mi can be used this way but I wouldnt recommend it for any run less than 5-10 miles out in the open countryside if you expect the results to mean anything. 3. People whos idea of navigation is turning on a GPS and staring at the screen nonstop several hours while performing their treks. Again, the X9mi has this capability, including showing constant distance and direction to your waypoint, but the device is better served by those who know know how to use a compass and know a little bit about map use and terrain association, using the X9mi to periodically confirm location or checkpoints. For those in the military, search and rescue, outdoorsmen, etc...buy this watch without fear. You wont be disappointed. Its 100% tactical, durable, (X9mi) and in my opinion, a great investment. (One Soldier downrange, based on his review, said the watch didnt work at all. If thats true, and he is using it correctly, Suunto is such a great company, Im sure theyd replace it with no issues.) And last, dont waste your money if youre too lazy to read the Users Guide and Manual. Both are user friendly, and as much fun as it is to use the watch, its not a toy. Highly, highly recommended. give it a pass On: 2006-05-30I bought this watch from REI. The first ones electronics gave it up on the first night when I connected it to the PC. On the second two the plastic housing started separating. Thats right, I had to return the watch THREE TIMES, the 3rd time I just wanted my money back. Also, it seems you have to hold your wrist up facing the sky if you want a reading. Too bad, the watch sounded so good... Suunto X9i On: 2006-01-03Please do not spend your time and money with this wristtop. I received with battery problems, it does not charge completely and suunto does not have the proper tech service available to fix it. You have better and cheaper options such as forerunner 201 or 301 or the timex trail runner. The suunto signal detection is quite weaker and when hiking grand canyon the unit remained most of time without capturing signal at all. |