gdavison wrote:
I'm not affiliated in any way to the unit and have not use one myself, but seriously consider it for my next car etc etc
Without going into the in's and outs, I know this unit well.
Being honest, self powered units have a lot of advantages in that you can put them anywhere and they are completely sealed so you can stick them on the exterior or in the engine bay etc. Mainly designed for truck trailers as they often don't have their own power supply.
Dowssides? well... in order to get the battery to last years it is a real technical challenge and compromises are made.
For example, where as an externally powered unit can report it's position constantly should it need to, self powered units have to be very economical with it's use of comms.
The gps receiver is relatively inexpensive but as soon as the cellular comms is activated then it can take a fair chunk out of the battery very quickly.
If you want to use the box as a monitor and view via the web often then you'll be very unlikely to get the 2 year battery lifespan.
£540 for unit a one year + internet access... Certainly not the cheapest.
Remember with self powered sealed units once the battery is dead you'll (most likely) need to buy a new unit.
Given it lasts up to 2 years then you'll be spending:
£172 / year on subscription
£152 / year on hardware (assuming one box every 2 years).
£324 / year total on the tracker solution. (not including the remote control which may or may not be transferable to the next unit).
That is actually more than my total insurance quote for the year...
May work for some people and the fact you can easily transfer it can be useful too.
Compare with tracker horizon over 2 years:
£99 / year for the hardware (one off £199 supply and fitting)
£149 / year subscription.
£258 total.
But if kept for 4 years
£49 / year hardware
£100 / year subscription (£399 lifetime subscription)
£149 total - less than half the price.
Not saying one is better than the other as they really are different unique selling points - just worth doing some homework on both.