Comments on: Backcountry Electronics – 6 Month Use Report

By: John Aardappel

John Aardappel — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:46:40 +0000

Update on my earlier posting, my Origo watch has to date performed okay. When the battery is nearing dead, it does all sorts of funky things, so you will really know it’s going.

Backlight and other buttons either stick frequently or I just must push them while typing or doing an activity. Seems to go thru batteries like crazy.

My only complaint to date is that the buttons seem to stick and there is NO guide online…here’s the website if you want to try it yourself: http://nagear.com/downloads.php I can’t get the site to give me the downloaded manual, and my old one is hiding somewhere in my house…but it should be posted online.

At any rate, good watch, probably WON’T rebuy though.

By: Allen

Allen — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:21:23 +0000

Lou, I have had two of the BarryVox Opto 3000 for 4 seasons now. Went to use one of them this week only to find that it is dead for no apparent reason. The interesting part is that I used it all last winter with no problems. The other which is the same age is working fine.

We also have a couple of the new Pulses. As was commented on the beacons really need to focus on both the single search and yet have the multiple as well.

By: John Aardappel

John Aardappel — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:09:55 +0000

Advice well taken on the Origo. I’ve had 2 Highgear Summit Watches now, both have broken. The 1st one after a dip in the ocean (it’s not waterproof by a long shot, not that I mis-read “water resistant” or anything), and the second when the band came off at the pin, marred the plastic and wouldn’t stay in place when I put the pin back into the two holes. So, I’m off to test the Origo. My Highgear stayed at 1 altitude well, and the sensor was against my wrist rather than on the side like Origo. I used to have an old Casio Alti-Watch in the 90′s that also jumped around, and it had a sensor on the side as well. Maybe that’s the cause. I’ll come back in 6 months and give you an update on my Origo’s performance. It’s the same one you list on your site.

By: Lenka K.

Lenka K. — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:03:11 +0000

Hi Lou,

concerning your dead Barryvox beacon, a friend of mine who lives in Switzerland (where about every single backcountry skier has one) said she knew quite a few people whose beacons died for no apparent reason … so you’re definitely NOT alone in having problems with yours!

Lenka K.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 00:49:10 +0000

Lou, Cannon has announced the A630 and A640, with a larger fold-out LCD and more pixels, 8 mp and 10mp respectively:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/

The message boards over at DPR are full of opinions about the new cameras.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1010

I love my A610.