PocketFinder Outdoor Personal GPS Locator

Putting this review on hold after a helpful call from Pocketfinder customer service! Thanks to this call I'm now aware of some fixes to the problems I had outlined below, though I have yet to test them out, completely. Once I do, and all is well, I will delete this review and write the glowing version :) Part of the issue is that the following tips are not readily available in the instructions, so please call customer service if you find your device not doing what you would like it to, don't necessarily assume its just not capable. you might even all them ahead of purchase to see if it will do as you need it to.One thing I learned right away is that i CAN indeed find my own location in relation to the pocket finder...the secret was in the iPhone App. I was previously accessing pocket finder on my smartphone or computer by going to the pocket finder website and signing in there. When I did that, I could track the pocket finder, but not see my own location. Apparently there is an iPhone App for pocket finder as well. the iPhone or iPad app has self location capabilities, which solves my issue. There I am, a perfect blue dot...this should be a huge help in tracking my husband's location in unfamiliar areas! Unfortunately for android users, I'm told their app does NOT have this feature. For me, problem solved in that issue.The next issue I had was poor speed of locating, which I'm told was a setting issue. The user can set how often the device gets tracked, options being once a day, 4x a day, every 10 minutes, or every 2 minutes. The more it tracks, the more battery power is used, so I had it set for every 10 minutes. There is a locate button that I had pressed in between those 10 minute intervals if I wanted an instant update. HOWEVER, apparently, that LOCATE button is deceiving. It apparently does not actually offer an instant update. Customer service suggests setting it to the more frequent locating intervals for my purposes.....and here's a big surprise: It can actually be set BY CUSTOMER SERVICE ONLY to 1 minute intervals, if your usage needs can put up with the lessened battery life. it is not commonly shared because it will eat considerable battery power at this rate and they are worried that customers will dislike their product because it won't last. However, if you need more accurate and swift locating, and are aware of it's time limitations (my need for several hours use should be fine on 1 minute intervals setting) call customer service to get this changed. LIKE IN AN EMERGENCY, for example. I have yet to test this suggestion, but for my next use it will be set to the 1 minute intervals, and we'll see how everything goes then. I should have an update in a couple weeks or less.The following is my old review:I wanted it to track my husband during triathlons. Previously, I would choose locations to stand about looking for him to come out of swimming to cheer him on, and then to await in some other location for him to ride by on the bike for more cheering and rooting on, and try to track him down on the hours long run thereafter, which is always a crapshoot and is a lot of time spent standing around and afraid to DO anything entertaining for fear of missing a glimpse and a wave as he goes by. It was a frustrating business, as I had to watch everyone that passes and wonder, if I took a bathroom break or wanted to spend downtime checking out the area, had I missed him or was he still approaching? If he went by unnoticed I could stand for hours looking and never know, and easily miss him on the next leg for that reason. With him wearing the pocket finder, I hoped to find his location and position myself accordingly, and be able to predict timing of his arrival at my location easily.Sadly, it really has not been very helpful so far.Things that would have made this device useful:1. If it picked up moving targets faster. Each time I ask it to pinpoint the location it takes at least a full minute, sometimes several minutes, and often fails to get a lock on location at all and you have to ask it again and wait again. If he is somewhat close, I cannot afford minutes staring at my screen to see his progress. If I were trailing a child in trouble, I'd have ripped my hair out in frustration and probably had a psychotic breakdown to boot. It'd be like calling 911 and being placed on hold for several minutes. then disconnected. Then placed on hold when you called back.2. If it showed MY actual location in relation to the pocket finder location so that I can see where I am in relation to the carrier. Even as it successfully picks up his location, it's of little help if I cannot figure out where my own location is in relation to that. Is he coming toward me? or moving away? I see his icon, but is that close? Where am I on this map? Triathlons are not held in my hometown where I am familiar with what I am seeing on the map. I need a dot designating YOU ARE HERE on my phone's map so I can watch the icon that is my husband approaching me or heading away from me, as the case may be.I gave it 3 stars because I feel like with practice I can make this work for me...maybe. It DOES find the location accurately enough, eventually. It helped me realize when my husband had stopped for an unusual amount of time (turned out he had a mechanical bike problem and the race was over for him. That was useful). I am hoping to find ways to work within its limitations to improve my triathlon watching experience.

I may revise this to 5 stars if it does what I need it to do. I am compelled to to give an immediate review based on my initial experience thus far which is 12 hours. I got this so that my wifecould know where I am even when can't answerthe phone or text. Amazon prime got it here in 2 days and I immediately opened box afollow the instructions to charge it then to log onto site andregister/ activate product. There were several glitches that surfaced. First , the literature in box directs you to teacakelocationservices.com which was a dead end. Then the contact numberlisted was the usual " leave us a message and we'll get back to you". In light of the many 1star reviews given I was ready to out in the box and send it back right then, but....I forge ahead andregister ..enter CC info for billing ( no schedule or amounts !:( ), enter activation code from box. That would be glitch #2. Tried 3x but alwayssaid invalid code. Found an email contact for Pocketfinder.com at Location Based Tech and used it. Suffice it to say there was a quick response and they fixed the problems quicklyand I was up and running within the hour . All via email , no phone calls. The interface on main site is OK and I was able get " located" and to take a short 20 minute drive that tracked asadvertised. App is now downloaded and we'll see how it goes. My observation so far and from Emailed " short guide is as follows..when this thing sits still it goes to sleep! Once asleep there is a bit of shenanigans to get it rolling and locating again. So don't expect to pick it up and run out the door and start reporting to the " boss" right away. If your putting this on a child at , say , a bus stop get it up and moving for 10 minutes or so so it relocates. The trail will eventually show up on the track though.