DeLorme inReach SE announced, ships mid to late April

Fred, that's great. Where did you order yours from?

I ordered mine from Bass Pro. Obviously no field experience yet but so far I am impressed. Registration of the unit was simple, GPS satellite lockon was fast and the icons on the screen are clear, intuitive and easy to navigate through the various menus. This will be much easier than my original InReach paired to my cellphone.

Glad it's looking good so far. One question: can you see maps on its screen? I don't believe so, as a phone would be required for that, but just checking to make sure…

You need the smart phone to see the maps.

The burning question is "can you get your current position coordinates to display without a smart phone" (onscreen, or via a text message that you send to yourself… any way at all would be good… just don't make me bring my smart phone or a GPS!)?

REI expects to receive 30 SEs on the 24th, 15 on the 25th, and another 15 on the 31st. All outstanding orders should be filled by June 5. Customer Service could even tell me where on the queue my order is (46th, if you care). I am impressed and like REI yet more.

Just came back from an outing today where having the SE might have been useful for a corpse recovery. Fortunately, happy end, but I have an idea for a new extreme sport — white water fording on foot. The attraction is that it isn't fun at all. The readership here will be pleased to know that I used light weight gear only: two shoes, 18 oz.; two staves, 10 oz.; the rest was freight.

$239.99 for the DeLorme inReach SE at REI during their May 17-27 sale, discounted from $299.95 retail price. Of course, you don't get the usual 10% REI rebate at the sale price, and you can't use the 20% off coupon, but this is still a pretty good deal. Backordered of course. That's the best price I could find with a few minutes of googling.

Not finding reviews of the DeLorme inReach SE yet. If you have one, tell us more!

— Rex

Thanks for the alert, Rex.

I called REI Customer Service and she, the Customer Service Being, changed the price I'll be charged, when the SE ships, to the sale price and preserved my place in the backorder line. If I had to cancel my current order and reorder it, shipment would be delayed two weeks. They are flying off the shelf before even getting on the shelf.

Here's the email response I received yesterday from Delorme on a couple questions:

1. The inReach SE device will not display its current coordinates on the screen of the device at this time. This has been submitted to development as a feature request for potential future implementation.

The inReach SE has an onboard GPS chip and will include coordinates from that message in every outbound message it sends. There is no need to manual type coordinates into a message you send to another individual.

2. The inReach SE can store a nigh unlimited number of pre-written messages that can be referenced and used instead of manually typing out the entire message while in the field.

-I ordered mine from REI right before their sale:(

Regards,

Robert

Too late – REI says: "This item is currently sold out or unavailable online".

— Rex

Robert quoted DeLorme: "The inReach SE can store a nigh unlimited number of pre-written messages that can be referenced and used instead of manually typing out the entire message while in the field."

This provides a method for the prolix to get past the one hundred sixty character limit on each text message. It requires some forethought. Make a readable file on the web somewhere, Google Docs perhaps, with every message you might ever send (however long), each one numbered. Then create the same number of pre-written messages for the inReach SE which include the link to the Google Doc file and the index number to the particular message. You'll want to have a copy of that message file in the field with you, unless your memory is very good. If the SE allows editing of a pre-written message, you can instantiate variables in the Google Doc message (e.g., person1, place3, body-part2, emotion1, &c.) using a short table. Easy!

DeLorme’s inReach SE web page says: “Shipping is expected to begin May 31st.” I guess Fred’s delivery a week ago doesn’t count!

You can backorder the DeLorme inReach SE at REI again, at retail price, same as many other web sites.

The Earthmate iPhone app was updated for the inReach SE on April 19, and the Earthmate Android app was updated for the inReach SE on May 10.

And we continue waiting for Godot…

— Rex

"DeLorme's inReach SE web page says: 'Shipping is expected to begin May 31st.' I guess Fred's delivery a week ago doesn't count!"

I can explain this. DeLorme Customer Service said that DeLorme would be shipping to its major retailers before it begins shipping to its own retail customers. How very gracious of them!

They obviously know I am an all-around good guy and granted me special super deluxe treatment:)

According to DeLorme:

“Now accepting new orders for a mid-to-late June delivery.”

“If you have already placed a pre-order for an inReach SE

Shipping at full volume begins the week of June 3rd. The earliest pre-orders have the highest priority and will be fulfilled within the first two weeks of the month.”

Presumably this applies only to orders direct from DeLorme. Other dealers have started shipping, or will soon, on different schedules.

— Rex

DeLorme released inReach SE 2.0 Update 1 Firmware around May 21, 2013, with several new features and many fixes.

Important fixes include:

– Improved performance of GPS chipset
– inReach SE will no longer reboot when sitting at the edge of Bluetooth connectivity
– “Do you want to discard changes” message now shows up only at the correct times

DeLorme’s support web site provides the firmware update, instructions, and Windows/Mac browser plugins required for the update.

— Rex

Sort of telling isn't it… the product hasn't even been widely released and they are doing firmware upgrades. I suspect it's been rushed out the door before testing has been completed.

I did notice that there is still a message on my inReach account page (I owned the old unit and kept my account active while waiting for my pre-order), that says the contact Sync is still not working for the inReach SE. You would think they would be rushing that update out quickly before the units are widely available. With the Sync not working they will get a lot of complaints from users. They explain how to manually update your contacts on the inReach SE.

Maybe guys like Fred, that have received their inReach SE's early, will have all the bugs reported well before the rest of us get the new unit. :) Keep testing Fred, and report all the bugs!

gpscity.com just released five videos showing DeLorme inReach SE functions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c898Z9r5WAc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITS_HFN4VL0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX-1wtjzjrY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My0im4YropY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poTaCfBH20A

Also, you get about 99 characters guaranteed delivery in an SMS text message to certain cell phones, since each message starts with about 61 characters of your name and a link to your current location. Some phones truncate at 160 characters; some send two messages with the full message. The inReach SE screen indicates you have up to 160 characters, which is not always true. The entire message will show in the linked web page, but some cell phones don’t have Internet access!

See this thread on the DeLorme forums for details.

— Rex

Everybody’s different, and everybody changes.

I've been unable to decipher if there is a loop/hole on the inReach SE suitable for hooking it to a backpack using a carabiner. This would be useful/required if tracking is enabled. Can anyone who owns one confirm this? Thank you.

Any word on a firmware update that will allow one to view the current GPS coordinates in the field?

My suspicion is that they don't want to chew into sales of their inReach model that pairs with their GPS unit.

Was on a trip recently where we had a GPS geotagging digital camera, a SPOT messenger 2, and a handheld GPS. 3 GPS chips and antennas, but only one device would display coordinates to you in the field.

I don’t have one, but the inReach SE should come with a lanyard and a belt clip, according to the owners manual.

You can see part of the lanyard, installed, in the Panbo prototype review photos:
http://www.panbo.com/archives/2013/04/inreach_se_will_the_screen_do_it.html

You can see the holes for the lanyard just above the USB port, with the belt clip on the back, in this GPS City video, starting about 1:15:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c898Z9r5WAc

And you can see the inReach SE attached to packs with the belt clip in DeLorme’s long commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqQukvj_diI

— Rex

“My suspicion is that they don’t want to chew into sales of their inReach model that pairs with their GPS unit.”

Looks like the inReach PN-60w is going away. It’s buried on the inReach web site, and it’s been out of stock for a few months now.

Besides, you can get most GPS functions by pairing the inReach SE or inReach Smartphone with a smart phone and DeLorme’s Earthmate app.

The prototype reviewed by Panbo could display track point GPS coordinates under History, maybe that’s still available, the manual isn’t clear.

— Rex

“When you activate your new inReach any time during June and July, you’ll get your first two months free of your annual satellite subscription plan.”

Details here:

http://www.inreachdelorme.com/summer/

— Rex

Since my backpacking is getting further and further afield (thanks to sooo much load lightening!!), and my adventures are getting more and more adventurous, I'm starting to consider one of these, especially if I do the PCT next year.

Is this a device anyone would recommend yet? I'd like to get one for the JMT (to make my mom happy), and this seems to check all the boxes I want to check.

I'm in no hurry, of course…I certainly CAN wait for better technology, but goodness if we always keep waiting for better technology……

Also another similar contender is the Spot Gen3 which is only 3.2 oz (compared to the 6.7 oz. inReach SE). It depends on what your requirements are. If you only need tracking for people back home, plus an OK message and SOS capability, the Spot may suffice. inReach SE adds two-way communication and mapping when paired to a smartphone, which may be useful, but double the weight.

Iridium…thumbs-up
Globalstar…thumbs-down