Delorme inReach SE Satellite Communicator

A new satellite communicator is being released by Delorme which is more feature rich than the Spot. Two way text communication, SOS alert and can be paired with iPhone and Android phones. Retail looks to be $299 plus service plan. inreachdelorme.com

and here...Looks like shipping dates have slipped out into early to mid-May.

Was thinking about buying one, but that keyboard is mighty small and if you have to use it like you type on the Garmin 60 gps, no thanks. You still need to use a smartphone to download the maps. I think I'll keep my current INREACH.

it is superior than its predecesor based on functionality.
i am buying one now.

This product looks like a winner.

Hope to hear some reviews soon.

Can't have an eval report until they are in hand. Looks like pre-order shipments start this week.

Sure would be nice to have an idea when this will be available. I'm definitely considering ordering one for a trip in July but if it won't be here before I leave then there's no point. Delorme has pushed the release date back multiple times.

From DeLorme...

Shipping Update for Your inReach SE Order

Dear inReach Customer,

Thank you for your recent pre-order for an inReach SE. All customers who have pre-ordered an inReach SE are expected to receive their shipment between June 5th and June 18th. Priority will be given to the earliest pre-orders, with most customers receiving their shipment with the first two weeks of the month.

We sincerely thank you for your patience while you have been waiting on your inReach SE to ship. DeLorme has a rigorous testing protocol and exacting quality standard for all the products we manufacture. Most importantly, we strive to meet our customers' expectations for a rugged, trustworthy companion device capable of enhancing any outdoor adventure and performing well in extreme conditions. And it is for this reason that we temporarily halted manufacturing to resolve a supplier quality issue. We are pleased to tell you that the necessary corrections have been made and after performing additional rigorous product testing, we are resuming full-capacity manufacturing of inReach SE units late next week.

Again, thank you for your inReach SE order! It will be on its way to you very soon! Should you have any questions, please contact our Customer Care Team at 1-800-511-2459 (207-847-1165 outside the U.S.).


Sincerely,
The DeLorme Customer Care Team​

Thanks for the update! Did you order directly from Delorme? I was looking at pre-ordering thru GPScity. Their latest update says it will ship on 6/10, but they have changed that date twice since I started shopping a few weeks ago. Maybe they really mean it this time.

Well I pulled the trigger and pre-ordered today from GPScity. Let's all cross our fingers that it shows up at my door within the next 3 weeks.

Got the "It's in the mail" email today!

Lucky guy! I'm looking forward to your full report and review.

Luke

Yesterday (Monday) I tackled a rough trail which was a bit beyond my current experience and abilities and as it was fairly remote (Scotch Road, north of Grenville Quebec) there was no cell service. I made it though unscathed (luckily!) but I was a fool for doing this all alone. Chances are good that no one else would have come through that way that day or even possibly for several days (until the weekend).

Got me really thinking and after some research (I had thought I wanted a SPOT), I pulled the plug and pre-ordered an Inreach SE this morning. I suspect our wait (here in Canada) is going to be longer than for folks in the States.

I came to the same conclusion. And while I'm not thrilled about carrying yet another piece of electronic equipment, I think I've pushed my luck far enough riding alone in remote places. I know my family will appreciate it.

I was going to wait for the Spot 3 to show up before I opened this up, but couldn't. Went on a short two hour ride today. All pavement, lots of back woods roads that had heavy overhead cover from trees. I wanted to see how true it was in tracking me on known roads. I set it to track at 1 minute intervals since I wasn't worried about battery life on a short ride.

I've linked it to my iPhone as well as my iPad mini. Pairing is quick and easy. The free topo maps look awesome on the iPad. I'll try pairing to an Android tablet and phone in the next couple of days to see if there are any key differences due to OS.

I plan on doing a day or longer ride this weekend to continue testing it, but so far with the limited time using it I think it is better than the Spot 2 that I tested last. The Spot 3 might be another option, but I'll have to wait until I can get my hands on one.

For now I've got it slid into the RAM mount for my GPSMap 76Cx. For road riding it was fine sitting in there with the lanyard dummy cording it just in case it decided to jump ship. I'm going to use a small elastic retainer to keep it in there until I find a long term solution.

Thanks for the write up. I considered the spot 3 but I don't really see what it has that previous spots did not. The 2 way messaging on the delorme is huge. Where did you order from?

The Inmarsat satellite constellation used by the inReach has significantly more coverage and bandwidth compared to GlobalStar (SPOT). I rarely had consistent connection and transmission with the SPOT (1,2 and Connect). I don't believe the SPOT 3 can improve on that since GlobalStar hasn't launched any new satellites in the past couple of decades (that worked).

I really don't expect any difference between the inReach for Smartphone and the inReach SE as far as reliability and message transmission. I'm looking forward to being able to switch Tracking modes without having to use my iPhone. I also like having the maps as backup to my GPS. They are OK in North America but they're not much more than a "base map" when you leave the country.

My Delorme InReach SE was delivered today. Will test it out on a good ride this weekend and post up a mini review.

Still waiting for the RAM mount to come out. Anyone have any word on it?

When I last talked to my Delorme rep he said there was one in the works. I'd think they would have had plenty of time to source one with the release delays.

The 2-way messaging is a game changer. Here's my write-up of my recent experience using the SOS feature of the Spot. All of the problems we encountered could have been avoided if we had been able to SMS with GEOS and with family. Immediately after this, I ordered a DeLorme Inreach SE. IMO, a Spot may be better than nothing, but it comes with a whole host of problems that may not be immediately apparent until you're in the middle of an emergency.

http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=431684