Garmin Alpha 200i Dog Tracking Handheld, Utilizes inReach Technology, Sunlight-readable 3.6 Touchscreen (010-02230-50), Black

I upgraded recently to the 200i from the previous handheld. My old one lasted 8 plus years of daily use, but the startup had gotten very slow and it would just turn off on occasion.

Let me say this....I have 2 beagles that love to do a walk about. 9 hours they return. Got tired of it, so purchased this as a Christmas present. It is WONDERFUL. I know exactly where they are and can buzz them and they return. Easy to set up and operate. Love the zone area. Alerts you when they leave the zone area!

The Alpha series is incompatible with OnX GPS chips. Who at Garmin thought this would be a good idea?!? Needs to be changed ASAP.

I purchased this as a dog finder. We go out moving cattle and the cows go into some pretty dense forest, bush, marsh, whatever they can to hide and as big as they are they hide pretty well. This Alpha 200i with TT15 collar does not work accurately if the dog collar is within 30 feet of you! ... $1000 dollar device and it doesnt track when you are near the collar? Really?!

I have a Alpha 100 and now a Alpha 200. The Alpha 100 is a great product with a few shortcomings that have been eliminated with the Alpha 200. If you only have one dog the alpha 100 is a good choice but if you have more the Alpha 200 will work better. The Alpha 200 also has a bigger screen that is easier to see in sunlight. The only negative I now feel the Alpha 200 has is the inability to use ONX maps which I feel are superior to the Garmin maps.

Handheld is fine. Collar won’t charge right out of the box

I disliked the pre loaded maps. Contour lines are to far apart. For the money its a cheaper version of maps. I like everything else.

Bought this unit to be able to track, train, and use InReach. It does all those well. I do have to lock the touch screen to keep from changing things when I put it in the carrying case but locking the screen is a viable option to keep that from happening. When received, I had to go to Garmins site and update the software, but that is not unusual for Garmin products. Sometimes they come with out of date software or versions that were put in at the factory that may be off from the ones on Garmins website. Just be aware that you always need to check the software version upon arrival. Aside from that, this is a great multipurpose unit.

My dislike is l needed this for a trip. To find out the battery will not charge. The package was not secured, everything thrown in a bag like it was returned. For me to go on a trip l had to go buy a more expensive one. Learned my lesson not to buy electronics from Amazon.