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Old 14-02-2013, 08:26   #1
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iridium extreme vs isat phone pro

I was considering buying an iridium phone (latest) ($1095.00) with one year warranty also the optimizer box ($150.00) also $50.00 month (10 minutes) for a year (rollover ok) which would communicate with my ipad for weather etc. Iridium uses 66 satalites. HOWEVER, a well established company called Jackson Marine Electronic company said that if you are only cruising in the Carribean then their Isatphone Pro ($575.00 =optimizer also $150.00) and with prepaid card of $275.00 for 250 minuters gives great reception throughout Caribbean - they use three satalites and they are "fixed" the closer to the equator the better apparently - Anyway apparently unlike global star the isatphone Pro has great reception and equal to Iridium extreme in the Caribbean. time to download weather is 1 minute. Also it will receive text like the iridium for free and outgoing text is 1/2 minute vs 1 for the Iridium

Any feedback?
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Old 14-02-2013, 08:38   #2
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Re: iridium extreme vs isat phone pro

Sat phones are wildly expensive toys that will not work just when you need them. The cruising community here in the SW caribbean uses Skype and the SSB for those two days a year you may be far out at sea. I do not believe I know of a single cruiser that has a sat phone.
PS I do, it's been in a box for two years. Wanna buy it?
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Old 14-02-2013, 08:46   #3
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Re: iridium extreme vs isat phone pro

Quote:
Originally Posted by lorenzo b View Post
Sat phones are wildly expensive toys that will not work just when you need them. The cruising community here in the SW caribbean uses Skype and the SSB for those two days a year you may be far out at sea. I do not believe I know of a single cruiser that has a sat phone.
PS I do, it's been in a box for two years. Wanna buy it?
Maybe... what you got?
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Old 14-02-2013, 08:46   #4
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Re: iridium extreme vs isat phone pro

OP, I would not take Lorenzo's comments as gospel. There is a growing number of people using sat phones. There are pro's and con's for each approach. I know this is getting off your original topic. I, for one, would like to hear some on-topic responses.

BTW, SSB rigs are not exactly cheap.

Scott
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Old 14-02-2013, 08:58   #5
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Re: iridium extreme vs isat phone pro

The deluxe Iridium with the large antennae and cradle, cost about 3k with 6oo minutes. It sat around for a year until the minutes were about to expire and we tried to use it, what a joke. I won't sell it or give it away, if I did you would just end up mad at me.
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Old 14-02-2013, 09:37   #6
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Re: iridium extreme vs isat phone pro

Arthur-
"Jackson Marine Electronic company said that if you are only cruising in the Carribean then their Isatphone Pro "
It isn't THEIRS. That is an Inmarsat product, and if you look at the specs, among other things, the coverage isn't just three satellites in the Carib. Inmarsat is a respected brand name. Compare the prices, the data speeds, it may be what you are looking for. As opposed to some oddball proprietary system belonging to some marine company--which is what one might think about a company talking about "their" own system.
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