Today I made the call to DeLorme to return my all-too-recently purchased PN-40SE and associated accessories.  I was very eager for this GPS to take me by storm and impress me, but it did the opposite.  The unit seemed to work perfectly (not counting USB connection to my laptop that I discuss below), but just about every aspect of it was less polished and less functional than my Garmin units (even the older GPSMap 60CSx).  When thinking over the benefits of the PN-40SE that drew me to it in the first place, the things that came to mind were:

• The ability to download and view aerial imagery (and other datasets) on the unit
• Tri-axial compass
• Dual processors providing a step forward in redraw and routing speed

In reality, however, I found the limitations of the unit to far outweigh the benefits.  Let me describe some of those frustrations:

• Limited POI functionality.  You can add points as draw objects to a map, but I couldn’t find a way to search on them, and they contain no information other than name, symbol and location.  More stunning to me was the fact that you must export them like you would a map exchange and you are limited to a block of area equal to roughly 1.5 degrees by 1.5 degrees.  This means that I can’t load up all of the caches in my GSAK database, which covers all of Washington and North Idaho plus other areas, like on my Garmin.  Instead, it would take something like 12 separate (and manual) exports to approach the same coverage.
• That same limitation on POIs is also seen when it comes to custom mapsets, like Northwest Trails.  Yep, you can only export about 1.5 degrees x 1.5 degrees at a time.  You can get it all in if you break it out into separate chunks, but it is a manual and time-consuming effort.  Northwest Trails covers 6 states and 1 province; the number of divisions and exports that would be required to cover all of the data would be astounding.
• Only 1000 waypoints.  This same issue is present with the 60CSx, but with the ability to handle unlimited POIs quickly and easily, the 60CSx makes up for that.  My “home” GPX file that I export from GSAK for geocaching currently contains over 1300 caches + additional waypoints; I’d have to cull that severely to make things work with the PN-40.  That doesn’t even take into account the POI database I have for work, home, friends’ houses, etc.  Did I mention benchmarks, waymarks, terracaches, et al?
• Track recording on the PN-40 is limited to record by time or record by distance.  There is no equivalent of the “auto” algorithm in Garmin that is pretty good at laying down points only when needed.  I would have to either go by time and record many unnecessary/redundant track points (which makes editing tracks for inclusion into my trails database a pain), or go by distance and miss some important features in a trail such as tight switchbacks.  Even then, the distance option would record many extraneous trackpoints.
• No geocaching functionality.  I know that DeLorme has promised to deliver this by Christmas, but as of now, this is an issue.  It is especially so given the lack of POI functionality.
• Poor USB interfacing.  I continue to have problems getting the PN-40 to maintain a connection to my laptop, often in the middle of copying maps to the internal memory.  When such a copy fails, I have to disconnect and start again, often after rebooting Windows.
• The painful, painful map upload process, caused by a program (Topo 7) that in my mind has always been poorly designed (the UI has been essentially unchanged for years) and is now trying to be “forced” into its role as the PN-40s map and waypoint manager.
• Slow (and poor) routing on the unit. I am not a real big fan of DeLorme’s routing software, so I didn’t expect the routing to be as good as NavTeq-based software packages, but I was at least expecting the PN-40 to route quickly.  I found it much slower to route than my Garmins, and it does not recalculate when you go off the intended route, a fact that I find very shocking in this day and age.

In the end, I realize that I had unrealistic hopes for the PN-40, so I might have been setting myself up for disappointment.  The idea of being able to visualize aerial imagery on my GPS had me more excited than just about any feature on a GPS in recent memory, but when I encountered the difficulties of downloading, packaging and transferring it to the unit that excitement was quickly tempered.  That imagery also did not help much with navigating; in fact, I found I had to zoom in extremely close to avoid clutter that was actually distracting when navigating; there is something to be said for the approximations of your surroundings that vector maps provide.

I have to say that I’m disappointed at myself for not expecting this letdown and waiting to buy the PN-40 only after seeing extensive reviews.  However, I was so concerned at getting Northwest Trails in shape for use with what looked to be like the “next coming” in GPS that I rushed into it.  I also find it sad that I’m getting rid of a unit when I never ever got to really testing it for the basics of GPS functionality such as accuracy, performance under cover, or tracking of a trail through the mountains.  Failures in this area, at least with early firmware releases, were what irritated me with the Garmin Colorado and opened the door to me trying another GPS manufacturer.  However, I’ve learned that I’ve come to expect a certain level of quality features with my GPS as well, and in these areas the PN-40 was simply lacking in my opinion.

UPDATE 12/17/08: Apparently the PN-40 can auto-reroute, but this functionality is off by default.  WTF?  This is another of what I see as many nonsensical design decisions with this unit.