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Went pretty far at sea recently, weeks from any land. For keeping in touch with loved ones I bought a Garmin inReach Mini 2 device. Together with a monthly data
by nickpp 4y ago
Went pretty far at sea recently, weeks from any land. For keeping in touch with loved ones I bought a Garmin inReach Mini 2 device. Together with a monthly data plan I was able to send and receive short messages in the middle of the ocean. Not a lot, but much better than nothing.
But the biggest surprise was the size: the device was tiny, I was easily able to hold it in my hand. The antenna extended a little but still under the size of my iPhone. Needed LOS to the sky though. Battery lasted for days. Software was atrociously bad: lots of errors and problems.
So after my trip I was 100% convinced that we will soon see this kind of connectivity built into smartphones. It's great to still be able to contact the world even when truly remote and of course phone manufacturers would love to sell us another subscription.
- post_break 4y agoAre you able to type out texts or is it canned messages only? I’ve always wanted one of these but have zero use for them.
- nickpp 4y agoMy monthly plan allowed unlimited your own texts and replies. Limited number of characters each though. There are also some settable canned messages and an emergency signal options, but I never used them. Do you hike, sail or otherwise travel in truly remote areas? That was my scenario - being able to tell my wife and kids that I am OK while days away from the closest outpost of civilization.
- vorpalhex 4y agoTime to take up hiking
- randyrand 4y agoAnd move to somewhere with mountains.
- wepple 4y agoBoth, depends on your plan. Custom messages cost more. My $10/month-ish plan allows unlimited pre-canned, which I use to check in with family “I’m still alive” / “on my way home” type thing. Then I get a certain allocation of custom. Sending GPS waypoints counts as custom IIRC?