0ur opinion:

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The Suunto X9M/i ('Military') is a new version of Suunto's incredible X9i Global Positioning System wristop computer, designed specifically for Military professionals looking for the ultimate field watch. The array of functions offered with a Suunto X9i GPS watch is still there in the X9M/i, but with some added features that make this watch even more valuable to our friends in the Military, both at home and abroad. The Suunto X9M/i allows you to plan routes through the field of operations and save them into your watch, which will advise you as to your bearing and the right direction to take to get to your next way point, as well as the way back. Just select the 'find home' feature and your Suunto X9M/i GPS watch will guide you along the route and provide the distance between your current position and 'home'. To stay out in the field with your Suunto X9M/i GPS Watch longer than ever before, check out the Solio Solar Hybrid Charger - a solar charger for your Suunto and other handheld devices You can also head out into the field without a preset route, and use your X9M/i to keep track of your position, speed, and distance traveled. lt will record your progression, which you can save for later analysis, as well as use as a guide to return to your original position, or anywhere along you're route.With the X9M/i you'll still get all the standard Suunto watch functions,plus GPS with global functionality and digital mapping service, as well as an altimeter, compass, barometer, and thermometer.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Poor GPS reception hampers functionality ...
Received this watch last week. Thought it would be nice to have all this functionality in a watch.

I have over 14 years experience with GPS systems. This one is perhaps the least stable I have ever used including the older sequencing receivers. Since it will not hold lock even in an open flat area unless held level and away from your body, you can't very well move about with it strapped to your wrist and get any usable data. In a car - forget it. I let it acquire and load the satellite emepheris data for 15 minutes, after which it still could not hold position fixes with any normal movement, even it open terrain with good satellite geometry.

The other functions work well enough, stopwatch, dual time, compass, barometer, etc. The temp function is worthless, however this cannot be accomplished with any watch since your wrist warms it.

In conclusion it is not as good as the Casio triple sensor pathfinder you can get for about 160 dollars, which has a compass, baro temp function and a battery that lasts years rather than days like this one does (between recharges).

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Buyer's feedback: - Acceptable!
I'm in the military and purchased this watch mainly for Land Navigation. When switched to MGRS this watch performed above my expectations. While in the desert the watch performed outstanding and outfited my squad with a ten digit grid. I love this watch mainly for military use the only downfall to me is the battery life.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Not Quite Up to Quality Standards Expected of Suunto ...
I am a proud owner of the X-Lander and in hindsite wish I'd gotten another one when it finally gave it up at just over eight years of exceptionally hard use in a military environment. The GPS functionality and some of the other features in the X9i intrigued me however and I took the plunge despite some of the warnings and foreboding reviews regarding poor GPS signal lock, battery life, and faceplate delamination.

Thus far, I've experienced no problems with the GPS or the battery--yes, it does suck a lot of power when in GPS mode and requires more frequent charging but it hasn't been unmanageable and when used merely for jogging and time keeping functions when at home station, it has been a reasonably solid performer. The faceplate did delaminate within the first two weeks of ownership as warned however and disappointed me in the quality I would expect for such an expensive timepiece.

The prospect of the pain and suffering and expense of a return was more pain than I was willing to endure so I fixed the cheap faceplate cover delamination problem with a drop of superglue, almost certainly voiding my warranty which probably delights Suunto but since it has no impact on the performance of the watch as it's just a cheap (let me restate that incredibly cheap) plastic cover and has no impact on it's waterproof seal I chose to endure it.

In sum, a good product idea, possibly a good product in the future once it matures and they fix a few of these quality problems, but on the bleeding edge of technology and product development at the moment so unless you are a true early adopter, I'd recommend just saying no.

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Buyer's feedback: - Not up to snuff
I ordered the X9i on the recommendation of a friend.
Boy was I disappointed...the manuals and instructions were unclear and badly organised in trying to find topics.
I never could get the GPS tracking properly and I found the Military version hard to read in different situations.
If you are slightly ancient you will find the dial hard to read and the buttons not user friendly.
I also would be given the incorrect time on numerous occasions and tried resetting a number of times..never did figure that out.
After a day I returned the product and am still awaiting the refund.
I ended up with a Garmin 60CSx and am so happy Io made the switch.
Having a wristwatch GPS sounded like a good idea but having now my handheld I think the larger color screen and easier controls and instructions makes it a much better buy in my opinion.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Comparison: Suunto X9i vs. Garmin Forerunner 405 ...
After two weeks of side-by-side usage, I've concluded that these watches are targeted at very different markets. Furthermore, in many respects, it seems like neither watch is totally ready for prime-time. Both have nice feature sets, but they each seem to be lacking some very important features to make them truly useful across several sports. The Suunto X9i seems to be targeted and more useful to the climbing crowd, whereas the Garmin Forerunner 405 seems targeted at the fitness/jogging crowd. Neither has the complete feature set that the above-average hiker/trail runner/mountain biker needs. Thus, if you purchase either, you have to accept the compromises inherit in one or the other.
If I was pressed to recommend one over the other, I very hesitantly lean towards the Garmin Forerunner 405 due to smaller size, better battery life, faster GPS synch, slightly better navigation screen and of course, lower price. I'm hesitant because of several important cons which I elaborate on below.
STATS:
Battery Life (w/ GPS): 4.5hr (X9i) vs. 8hr (405)
Battery Life (w/o GPS): 16d. (X9i) vs. 12d. (405)
Size: X9i is larger in every dimension than 405
Weight: 74g (X9i) vs. 60g (405)
Water Resistence: 100m (X9i) vs. 3m (405)
Heart Rate Monitor: No (X9i) vs. Yes (405)
Outside Temperature: Yes(X9i) vs. No (405)
CONS: Garmin Forerunner 405
1) Does not display raw latitude/longitude position on standard screen. You can save a waypoint, which they call "location", and then edit that point to see the latitude/longitude (displayed in non-decimal format).
2) Does not have On/Off button to save battery-life.
3) Comes with very basic software with limited maps. Cannot export tracks into GPX format.
4) Difficult to upload waypoints for future route.
5) Limited to WGS84 map datum (limits international usage of tracks)
PROS: Garmin Forerunner 405
1) Easy to use menu system.
2) Fast GPS satellite synching.
3) Can connect to heart rate monitor.
4) If you can get waypoints loaded, there is a nice screen that shows the direction/distance to the selected waypoint.
5) Great fitness monitoring screens and many are customizable.
CONS: Sunnto X9i
1) Large physical size.
2) Poor battery life with GPS on.
3) Slow GPS satellite synching.
4) Difficult to use and complex menu system with 5 buttons.
5) Does not have On/Off button to save battery-life.
6) GPS tracks, which they call "logs", tend to have jumps/errors when GPS drops out, which is often.
7) Comes with very basic software with no maps.
8) No screen to show direction to a selected waypoint.
9) Limited to WGS84 map datum (limits international usage of tracks)
10) Suggested Retail Price is 25% more than the Garmin 405.
PROS: Suunto X9i
1) Does display raw latitude/longitude position on Position screen, but in non-decimal format.
2) Does have temperature feature.