How is the battery life compared to the 320?
The collar battery life is about the same as a dc40 until it gets down to 20% and then it automatically changes to a 2 minute update rate and will run for an additional 12 hour. As far as the hand held goes it is supposed to last 18 hours on a charge. The thing i like about the hand held is if you are hunting off a buggy you can recharge it while you r hunting, just like a cell phone. You can also buy another battery pack and keep it in your pocket if all you do is walk hunt .
Justin. The rescue mode deal i am kinda un clear on. It may just be the slowing the update rate to two minutes for an additional 12 hours??? The guy i bought my alpha from told me that if the collar shuts off after the battery goes dead you can hit rescue mode and the collar will turn on long enough to send a few locations. Supposedly they found a lost dog three days later using the rescue mode. I do NOT know for sure if that is how rescue mode works. I need to look into that.
As far as the collars having to be sent back in.... I talked to a garmin guru about all the hoopla on the web about the alpha being junk, he said allot of people do not run the update on the hand held and collars to get them updated before they start using them. Then these people biotch about the alpha being junk.
A friend of mine just bought a new 320 and three collars last week and the thing wouldnt track over 300 yards without loosing the dogs. He brought the stuff to me and i ran the update on everything for him. He hunted yesterday and said he was getting the dogs at a mile plus. I am a firm believer that the updates need done when available.
