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Reviews > Electronic Devices > Watches > Silva Outdoor Computer > Liz Neely > Test Report by Liz Neely

Silva Outdoor Computer

Initial Report    

January 7, 2007

Field Report

May 5, 2007

Long Term Report

July 15, 2007


Computer Carabiner Wrist Band Lanyard
Computer
Carabiner
Wrist Band
Lanyard


Tester's Information

Name: Liz Neely
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight: 145 lb (65.8 kg)
Email address: liz at armory dot com
Location: Santa Cruz, California

Tester's Background:

I've been day hiking for many years, and started backpacking in 2005. My backpacking has been primarily in Central and Northern California, on designated trails.  My backpacking trips have ranged in length from 2-4 days, with temperatures from 25 to 75 F (4 to 24 C), and elevations between sea level and 8700 ft (2652 m). I'm not an ultra-light backpacker, but I keep my pack weight between 28 to 35 lb (13 to 16 kg) including food and water. I typically hike from 7 to 11 mi (11 to 18 km) per day and I sleep in a tent.


Product Information:

Manufacturer: Silva
Year of Manufacture: 2006
URL: http://www.silvacompass.com/
MSRP:  Unavailable
Listed Weight: Not Listed
Measured Weight:  computer unit: .9 oz (26 g); wrist band: .5 oz (14 g); carabiner clip: 1 oz (28 g); lanyard: .5 oz (16 g)
Colors Available: the computer unit is available in Black or White; there appears to be a choice of Green, Orange, or Black for the wrist band; there appears to be a choice of Green or Gray for the carabiner clip; the lanyard is Black.
Battery Type: This computer uses a 3 Volt Lithium battery type CR 2032.
Battery Life: The maximum life span of the battery is 18 months; certain functions of the computer will reduce battery life.
Changing the Battery: the computer provides a sleep mode which allows me to change the battery without losing data, as long as I can change it in one minute or less.
Warranty: the computer comes with a one year warranty against defects in materials or workmanship.

Product Description:

The Silva Outdoor Computer can be worn as a watch, or on a lanyard or on a carabiner. The wrist band, lanyard, and carabiner clip are included with the computer. The features included in this computer are an altimeter, a barometer, a digital compass, a watch (time/date/alarm), a stopwatch, and a 375 record logbook. It's water resistant up to 30 ft (10 m), although the instructions warn not to push any buttons while it's under water.

The computer has five buttons on it. The buttons are labeled Mode, Option/-, Set/+, Start/Stop, Light. The Mode button is used to move around among the five modes: Log Book, Compass, Altimeter, Barometer, and Time. The Option button is used to navigate sub-modes within a particular mode. The Option button is also used to decrement values (thus the minus sign) when in a setup menu. The Set button is used to access setup menus, such as for setting the time. The Set button is also used to increment values (thus the plus sign) when in a setup menu. The Start/Stop button has various functions depending on which menu is displayed. The Light button turns on the backlight.

Time Mode
The time (watch) mode displays the day of week, time, and date. It allows me to choose whether the time should be displayed in 12 or 24 hour format, and whether the date should be displayed with month followed by day or vice-versa. The time mode also has six sub-modes: alarm, countdown timer, stop watch, stop watch memory, a second time zone, and a lap counter. The alarm sub-mode provides two daily alarms and one weekly alarm. The countdown timer sub-mode provides three countdown timers. The stop watch sub-mode can store up to 50 intermediate or lap times, and five independent stop watch sessions. The stop watch memory sub-mode is used to look at the stored stop watch sessions. The second time zone sub-mode allows me to store a different time than I have stored in the main time mode setting.

Altimeter Mode
The altimeter mode displays the speed of vertical ascent/descent, the actual altitude, and the time of day. I have the choice of whether the altitudes are displayed in feet or meters. The altimeter uses barometric pressure to calculate the altitude, and it must first be set with a known altitude before it can be used. The instructions warn that the computer cannot differentiate between a change in altitude and a change in weather conditions, so the altitude displayed will be incorrect if there is a change in the weather since the last time a known altitude was set. The altimeter mode also has an alarm setting, so I can have an alarm ring if I reach a selected altitude. It also has a lock setting, which the instructions recommend setting overnight or while on level ground; the lock setting tells the computer to treat changes in barometric pressure as actual weather changes rather than altitude changes. The altimeter mode has three sub-modes: altitude difference function, 24 hour memory, and trip ascent and descent. The altitude difference function allows me to tell the computer to start at the current altitude and display the difference as I ascend or descend. The 24 hour memory is automatic, and it stores the actual altitude every hour on the hour. The trip ascent and descent sub-mode automatically stores the cumulative trip ascent and descent since the last time I reset the value. However, this cumulative data is only collected when the computer is in altimeter mode. If it's switched into any other mode, such as time or compass mode, the cumulative ascent and descent data is not collected until it's put back into altimeter mode.

Barometer Mode
The barometer mode displays the temperature in either Celsius or Fahrenheit, the barometric pressure in Millibar or inches/mercury, the time of day, and indicators to show barometric trends over the last 10 hours. The trend indicators compare the current barometric pressure to that 5 hours ago and 10 hours ago. The trend display can show from 1 to 5 segments, where each displayed segment indicates a change of 1 mbar (.02 in/Hg.) The barometer mode has three sub-modes: barometer pressure difference, automatic 24 hour memory, and barometric sea level pressure. The barometric pressure difference function lets me tell the computer to measure the difference between the current barometric pressure and that in the future. The automatic 24 hour memory automatically records the barometric pressure and temperature every hour on the hour. The barometric sea level pressure lets me program sea level pressure; the instructions recommend that I don't change this setting.

Compass Mode
The compass mode displays the direction using N/S/E/W, the direction in degrees, the time, and a "digital compass needle." The digital compass needle is four small marks, one on one side of the display, representing Magnetic North, and the other three all together, representing South. The compass allows me to adjust for the difference between True North and Magnetic North. The compass mode has one sub-mode, Route. This sub-mode allows me to repoint the compass needle to a desired route, rather than North/South.

Log Book Mode
The log book mode allows me to record 375 records, with each record consisting of altitude, ascent/descent rate, barometric pressure, temperature, time, and date. I get to select a time period from one second to 99 hours; this time period indicates to the computer what interval to use between log book records. The log book mode has four sub-modes: history, recall chapters, cumulative chapter data, and recall single value. The log book history sub-mode allows me to scroll through the various chapters in the log book, look at the data in a particular chapter, and/or erase a particular chapter. The recall chapters sub-mode allows me to open a selected chapter, look at the number of records in the chapter, and/or erase records stored in this chapter. The cumulative chapter data sub-mode allows me to view cumulative ascent and descent data as well as a count of how many ascents and descents occurred; these values are over the time period covered that that particular chapter. The recall single value sub-mode allows me to view individual records within a chapter.


Technical Information

Altimeter: The altimeter is effective from -1600 to 29,000 ft (-500 to 9000 m) and I can select whether it displays feet or meters. It has a resolution of 3 ft (1 m.)
Barometer: The barometer has a measurement interval of 8.9 to 32.4 in/Hg (300 to 1100 mbar). It has a resolution of .05 in/Hg (1 mbar). It has a temperature range of -5 to 140 F (-20 to 60 C). It has a temperature resolution of 1 F (1 C).
Compass: The compass displays the eight major directions, the direction in degrees, and a North-South needle. It must be operated in a flat position, it's not accurate if it's tilted.
Watch: The watch is accurate within 30 seconds per month. The preprogrammed calendar goes up to the year 2020.
Storage: The computer should be stored in temperatures of 68 to 86 F (20 to 30 C).



Initial Report       January 7, 2007


Initial Impressions:

I received this computer on January 3rd, 2007, and it was complete and in new condition. I find the computer to be exactly as described on Silva's website. The computer comes with a wrist band, a lanyard, and a carabiner clip, so I have an option of three different ways to carry this around. It arrived with the unit in the wrist band, so that's the first way I tried it out. The band has various holes on the strap, so I can tighten it securely around my wrist, but it's a pretty large/bulky unit to be wearing on my wrist. I'm not accustomed to having something so large on my wrist, so it felt a bit awkward. Perhaps I will get used to it with time. I then tried it out using the lanyard instead of the wrist band. The lanyard has an adjustment ball on it, so I can adjust it to the length I want, and the excess strap is simply at the back of my neck. I didn't want to wear it at work around my neck, but I might prefer the lanyard to the wrist band during outdoor activities. I then tried it out in the carabiner clip. This seems like it might be a nice way to carry it when backpacking; I could clip the carabiner to an accessible strap on my pack. I found it easy to switch the computer between the different carrying options, and I also found that it appears very secure in each of them; I don't think it would accidentally come out.

First I decided to try out the time mode. I had to read the appropriate section in the user's manual to figure out how to set the time and date, but it was fairly easy to do once I read the instructions. I find the display of the date portion a bit odd, it's not a display I'm accustomed to. It displays the date of January 3, 2007 as 1.0307. There is an alternative date format, but it simply switches around the month and day; it still has this display I'm not accustomed to, with the date in xx.yy format, with the year as a superscript number. I do like that when the computer is in watch mode, it clearly displays WED at the top, to indicate that it's Wednesday; it makes it very easy for me to quickly glance at it and immediately know what day of the week it is.

Next I tried altimeter mode. I found out from the instructions how to set the current altitude, which I set to 12 ft (4 m.) However, when I left the setup mode, I found that it was displaying the current altitude as 68 ft (21 m.) I tried this several times, but each time as soon as I left setup mode, the main altimeter was displaying the current altitude as 68 or 72 ft (21 m.) I then, just as a test, went back to setup and set the current altitude as 1000 ft (305 m); when I left setup, the display showed the current altitude as 1056 ft (322 m). I'm guessing this has something to do with the computer misinterpreting changes in barometric pressure as altitude changes, since that's something the instructions warned about, but if it can happen within a matter of the several seconds it takes me to go from setup back to the main display, I'm not sure how useful the altimeter will be. I might need to call customer service about this to make sure I'm not doing something incorrectly.

Next I tried barometer mode. The first thing I noticed was that the temperature displayed was much higher than I knew the room temperature to be. I looked through the instructions and found a note that if the computer is being worn on my wrist, the temperature display will be the temperature of my wrist, not the air temperature. I took the computer off my wrist and set it on my desk. It took what I considered to be a long time for the temperature displayed to come down to the actual room temperature. I found a note in the instructions that I should wait at least 10 minutes after removing it from my wrist to read the ambient temperature, or the temperature displayed might be a combination of my wrist temperature and the ambient temperature. I'm not sure why this takes so long, since the instructions also indicate that the temperature is sampled every second.

Next I tried compass mode. Holding my wrist level, since the instructions indicate the computer must be level for the compass to operate correctly, I faced the direction I knew to be South. The compass correctly indicated this. I then turned to face West, and the compass indicated this too. The compass responded quickly and accurately to my changes in direction. After playing with it for a while, it went into OFF mode. I looked in the instructions and found that the compass will go off every 45 seconds, to save battery life, so I have to press Start/Stop to wake the compass up every 45 seconds.

I didn't spend much time investigating log book mode, since I hadn't had any real changes in data to log, but I did go into it and find the logged records as expected.

I find the labels of the five computer buttons difficult to read except in the very best lighting conditions. The labels are located on the face of the computer, behind the clear plastic, but they are written in a dark font on a silver background, and they are outside the area that lights up when the backlight is used. I also find the display of what mode I am in difficult to read. It is across the center of the display, but also written in a dark font on a silver background. It does get lit up when using the backlight, but even with that I find it difficult to read. I find all other parts of the display easy to read. Here's a picture of the display. Note that the "light" button label, located at the bottom of the display, does not show up in the picture, but it really is there.

Display


Overall, so far, I find this computer packed full of useful features and the instruction manual very easy to follow. There are some features I need to investigate further, such as the problems I encountered with the altimeter, and those will be reported on in future amendments to this report.



Field Report       May 5, 2007


Customer Service

As I mentioned in my Initial Report, I had trouble setting the altimeter. As a recap, when I tried to set the altimeter to 12 ft (4 m), the display would simply jump to a higher elevation as soon as I finished setting it. I experimented with this, trying to set it to 1000 ft (305 m) instead, and it still jumped to a higher elevation once I finished setting it.

I called customer service to get help with this. The lady who answered the customer service phone number offered to read me the instructions, but since I had them right in front of me, I declined that offer. She didn't have any information other than what was printed in the instruction booklet and on their website, and she didn't walk me through any steps nor ask me to try anything. She said all she could do was to have me send in the unit for testing and possible replacement. During the course of our conversation, she asked me three different times if I was sure I lived at 12 ft (4 m) elevation. I felt as if she didn't believe anyone could live on the coast, even though I had told her I lived in a coastal town in California. She also told me twice that it would be unusual for the altitude function to be broken if all the other functions worked; I felt like she didn't believe that it wasn't working.

To send the unit in, the method they use is FedEx, and they pay the return postage. She didn't know how to set it up such that I could drop the unit off at a FedEx location, she could only set it up such that FedEx would come pick it up from me sometime in the next three business days. Since I didn't feel comfortable leaving it on my front porch for 3 business days, I had her set it up so FedEx would pick it up at my workplace. But because it was being picked up at my workplace, the return unit also had to be shipped to my workplace rather than my home. My preference would have been to drop off the malfunctioning unit at a FedEx location and to have the replacement shipped to my home.

Two and a half weeks after FedEx picked the unit up for the return, I still had no replacement unit, so I called customer service to find out when I would be receiving it. They told me the replacement unit had been ready in their shipping department for the past 4 business days and they didn't know why it hadn't been shipped back to me yet. One week after that, I called again and was told it had been shipped and would arrive in four more days, and it did. So, in total, it was about four weeks from when I sent in my malfunctioning unit until I received the replacement unit.

Unfortunately, the replacement unit had exactly the same problem with setting the altimeter! Because I had this unit as a tester for backpackgeartest.org, I was able to get a phone number to call a tech rather than going through customer service again. I called this number and spoke to a tech who was familiar with the Silva Outdoor Computer. He told me that I should press all four buttons at once to reset the unit. He also told me all their customer service representatives know about this undocumented reset feature and it usually fixes any problems. Too bad the customer service person I spoke to didn't tell me about this since it fixed the altimeter problem!


Field Information

I've used the Silva Outdoor Computer for two days of skiing and two days/one night of backpacking since my Initial Report.

The first day of skiing was at Mount Rose Ski Resort in the Lake Tahoe, NV area of the Sierras. The elevations were between 8260 and 9700 ft (2518 and 2957 m) and the temperatures were in the 30s and 40s F (-1 to 4 C).  The second day of skiing was at Homewood Ski Resort in the Lake Tahoe, CA area of the Sierras. The elevations were between 6200 and 7880 ft (1890 and 2402 m) and the temperatures were in the mid 30s to low 50s F (2 to 11 C). My experiences with the Outdoor Computer were identical both days. I put the outdoor computer on the included carabiner and attached it to the outside of my snowsuit - I wore it that way all day on both days. I chose the carabiner because when I tried wearing it as a watch it was too bulky to fit comfortably under the sleeve of my snowsuit, and I thought if I wore it on the provided cord around my neck it might bounce around a lot while I was skiing, and possibly fall off. I checked the time, temperature, and altitude often, and I found that (as far as I could tell) they were all accurate. The altimeter wasn't always accurate down to the foot, but it was always accurate within about 40 feet (12 meters.) Within the 40 feet (12 meters) margin, I could stand perfectly still and see the altimeter reading jump around! The user's manual warns that changing weather can cause the altimeter to give false readings, however, it was a perfectly clear day so I don't think that's what was going on. I also had the log book running all day, but I didn't check the records during the day, and, unfortunately, they were lost (incident described below) before I got to study them in detail. I didn't really get the opportunity to test the Computer's water resistance in very wet conditions; it wasn't raining or snowing at all, but I fell enough times that the Outdoor Computer got snow on it every once in a while; it didn't affect it at all.

I had turned the log book on at the beginning of the first day, then I promptly forgot about it, so it remained on for the entire weekend. I believe I had it recording a record every 10 minutes. In the middle of the night after returning home, it reached its limit of 375 records and sounded a loud alarm to let me know about that. After pushing a button in the dark to quiet it, I went back to sleep. A week or so later I went to review the log book records, and I found that the time and date were completely wrong, and the log was empty. I don't know what happened! I reset the time and date and ran the log book for a little while, then stopped it and verified that the log book entries were there, so I know it works, and that the previous records were just lost for an unknown reason, probably related to whatever caused the time and date to get reset too. To test whether it would reset itself again, I hung it from a hook for a week and then checked back on it; the time and date were still correct and what happened previously to cause it to reset remains a mystery.


The backpacking trip was at Henry Coe State Park, CA. The elevations were between 1080 and 1350 ft (329 and 411 m) and the temperatures were in the 80s F (27 C) during the daytime and in the 40s F (4 C) during the coldest part of the night.  Once I arrived at the starting point of the hike, I checked the Outdoor Computer and found that the altimeter was displaying the correct elevation! This surprised me a bit since it had been a couple weeks since I had looked at it and I figured due to changes in weather and the drive from sea level to the state park, the altimeter might have lost track of the current elevation, but it was still correct! I did find that the time was 3 hours and 5 minutes ahead of what it should have been - no explanation for that! After resetting the time, I started the log book so it would record a log book record every 20 minutes. I left it going until I got to the campsite, then I turned it off for the night. The next day I did the same thing - had it record a log book entry every 20 minutes from when I started hiking until I finished. I wore the Outdoor Computer on the carabiner attached to my pack the first day, and on the neck cord around my neck the second day. I prefer the carabiner method rather than having something around my neck, but both methods were acceptable and neither was uncomfortable or difficult to use. I didn't wear it as a watch because it's too bulky that way and catches on my pack when I'm putting it (the pack) on and off. During these two days of hiking, I found the altimeter to be basically accurate (as far as I could determine) whenever I checked it. Because it was such a hot day, I checked the temperature on the Outdoor Computer frequently, and it often displayed temperatures that I believe were higher than the outdoor temperature really was - at one point when I checked it, the reading said 122 F (50 C). However, the digital thermometer my hiking partner had with him gave very similar readings to those I was seeing on the Outdoor Computer. Since the Outdoor Computer temperature readings have generally been correct, my guess is that it was sensitive to being in directly sunlight, and that's why it was giving higher readings than I believe the outdoor temperatures really were. I tried to use the digital compass a couple times just for the fun of it but I had trouble figuring out how to use it and I didn't have the manual with me. It seemed like I could turn myself 90 degrees or more without the compass reading changing accordingly. After getting back home and reviewing the manual, I believe I need to recalibrate the compass. I will try this and use it during my long term testing over the next two months.


Summary of feelings about the Outdoor Computer after two months of Field Testing

Comfort:
I find the Outdoor Computer very bulky when worn around my wrist - it sticks way out, catches on things, and is too large to fit nicely under sleeves or gloves that cover my wrist. I find it comfortable to wear around my neck on the provided cord; it bounces around a little when I'm active, but is not uncomfortable.


Durability:
The Outdoor Computer has held up well so far - no noticeable scratches on the display, no problem with it fogging up in cold or snowy conditions. I have not yet tested it in very wet conditions.


Usability:
The display of which mode I'm in is impossible for me to read in bright sunlight. It's difficult to read in any lighting situation, but in bright sunlight I have to shield the Computer from the sun in order to read the mode at all. After going through the user's manual many times, and using each feature several times during field testing, I'm now able to use the basic features without referring to the manual. I still find I need to refer to the manual for some of the advanced features that I haven't used as often, such as reviewing the log book records.

I find the user's manual easy to understand and sufficient to tell me how to use all the features of the Outdoor Computer.

I find the buttons a little hard to press because the buttons are exposed all the way around the outside edge of the Computer, thus I have to be careful where I grasp the computer or I accidentally press multiple buttons at once. I also find the buttons to increment/decrement values when in "set" mode are inconsistent in their sensitivity; sometimes a light press of the button will increment or decrement the value by one unit, and sometimes it will increment/decrement the value a lot - scrolling very quickly through a bunch of units as if I had held the button down for a period of time. As far as I know, the buttons do not get pressed accidentally during outdoor activities - I have not noticed the Computer being in a different mode than where I left it, and I have not heard beeps (indicating a button press) coming from the Computer unexpectedly.

The backlight is nice and bright and lights up the display enough to read in complete darkness, although it doesn't stay on for very long (it stays on for 3 seconds) so I have to read very quickly or press the backlight button repeatedly.


Accuracy:
So far the altimeter seems fairly accurate. I don't think it's accurate down to the foot, but in general it has been within 40 ft (12 m) or so of what I believed to be the actual altitude.

The clock seems accurate although I have had two strange problems. One was one day when I looked at it, the time and date were completely wrong. The other is that when I checked it on a different day before starting a hike, the time was 3 hours and 5 minutes ahead of the real time. I have no explanations for what happened in either of these situations.

The temperature readings don't always seem correct to me. It's possible that it's very sensitive to being in direct sunlight, but at one point when hiking in full sun in temperatures in the low 80's F (27 C), it read 122 F (50 C)! In general when hiking in the sun, it seems to read higher than what I think the actual temperature is. However, under controlled conditions it does seem accurate in its temperature readings. It seems to take about ten minutes to adjust when it changes temperatures under controlled conditions.

As far as I can determine, the cumulative ascent and descent values in the log book are correct. It's a bit hard to tell since I had it set to record an entry every 20 minutes, and I can't determine from a map exactly where I was during a given 20 minute period. I hope to test this further by setting a larger time interval for the log book entries on a hike during the long term testing period.


Additional Testing

I will continue testing the Outdoor Computer for an additional two months and report on any changes of opinion I have.  I will be taking a plane trip during that time period, so, if the airline allows me to use it on the airplane, I will report on use of the altimeter while in an airplane. I will also be snorkeling several times in May, so I will have the opportunity to test the water resistance of the Outdoor Computer - it's advertised as water resistant up to 30 ft (10 m). I will also try to test the compass and barometer functions more during the next two months since I haven't have much opportunity to test them yet.



Long Term Report       July 15, 2007


Field Information


I've used the Outdoor Computer on one airplane trip and one day of snorkeling since posting my Field Report. I had additional day hikes planned during my Hawaii trip, on which I planned to test the compass and barometer functions, but the snorkeling destroyed the computer so I was unable to use it on these day hikes. After receiving another replacement unit, I tested the compass function at home, but I did not have the opportunity to test the barometer function (no changing weather conditions here!)

The airplane trip was an overseas flight from California to Hawaii. I put the Outdoor Computer in altimeter mode, and although I didn't know our exact altitude as we ascended, the altimeter reading went up at a rate that seemed reasonable to me for an ascending airplane. However, it never went above about 7900 ft (2408 m), even though I'm pretty sure our flight went quite a bit higher than that. My guess is that the inside cabin pressure was tricking the altimeter. I don't think this is a fault of the altimeter, I think this is probably normal behavior. Upon our descent, I watched the altimeter reading again, and the altitude it displayed decreased at a rate that seemed reasonable as we descended, and was fairly accurate after the flight had landed.

The day after arriving in Hawaii, I decided to try out the Outdoor Computer while snorkeling, since it was rated as water resistant down to 30 ft (9 m). Unfortunately, it was not water resistant after all. After about 45 minutes of snorkeling, all on the surface (no diving), I got out to lie on the beach. I glanced at the Outdoor Computer to see what time it was, and it was blank, and looked like it had condensation on the inside of the display. Since I was on the beach, there was sand and water everywhere, so it didn't seem like a good place to open it up and have a look. When I returned to the condo (hours later), I took a closer look at the Computer. It appeared that the back panel was properly snapped in place - I had never opened it, so it was as it was when I received it. I opened it up and found a little water inside, and the internal parts had red (rusty?) moisture on them. I dried it out with paper towels, but it never came back to life. Here's what it looked like:

Condensation Inside Computer


Compass testing: After receiving a replacement unit, I calibrated the compass, as per the instructions in the user's manual. I then faced what I believe to be South, and watched the compass reading. It was slow to respond, but did end up displaying South. I then faced East, and watched the compass reading. It displayed OFF. I looked in the manual again, and read that it turns itself off after 45 seconds, to save the battery. I pressed Start/Stop to turn the compass back on, and it correctly displayed East. I believe the compass is accurate under these controlled conditions, although it's slow to respond to changes in direction.

Customer Service

After returning home from Hawaii, I called customer service and told them I had gone snorkeling with the Outdoor Computer on and it had died. They told me other people had encountered similar experiences wearing them while swimming, and that they (customer service) thought perhaps the seals were not good enough for wearing in the water so they were recommending to people that they not be worn in the water. When I mentioned that the manual said it was water resistant to 30 ft (9 m), the customer service representative was surprised and said that perhaps that was incorrect. This time they did not offer to pay for return shipping, they just told me to mail it to them and they would inspect it and send me a replacement. I mailed it to them and called them back a week and a half later to find out the status of the replacement. They told me it had been received, but because they had a flood 6 months ago, their departments and offices were still a bit unorganized, and it had not made it to the correct department until the day before I was calling. They told me it would be sent back to me in 3 more business days, and should take 7-10 days after that to arrive.  I received the replacement 12 calendar days after my phone call, which is when I was expecting to receive it based on the information from the customer service representative.

Summary of feelings about the Outdoor Computer after four months of field testing

To be honest, I'm not impressed with this product. I have had it for approximately four months and have had to have it replaced twice, and also had to contact a technical person outside of customer service in order to get it working after the first replacement unit arrived in the same condition as the one I had sent in. Additionally I have had the entire unit reset itself once, losing all my data, and I have had the time become several hours off once while it was not in use (although at all other times during the four months, the unit has kept accurate time.) I find the display very difficult to read as mentioned in my Initial and Field reports, in almost all lighting conditions.

Conclusion

I will most likely not be using this Outdoor Computer in the future.


Thank you to BackpackGearTest.org and Silva for giving me the opportunity to test this Outdoor Computer.




Read more reviews of Silva gear
Read more gear reviews by Liz Neely

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