The ResQLink is the clear winner, IMO. I will be replacing my Fastfind with the ResQLink: http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=284

^ Thanks Doug. But really, I did not see a compelling reason to point me to the ResQLink. Did I miss it? Having both of the units in hand and actually using might show obvious diffs, but I can't do that. Heck, I don't think I could even test them to see how they work around here, blind faith (makes me uneasy).

It's not like I'm a professional pilot, though I am a pilot, this is only for "casual" mostly land personal use. The FastFind is ~$200 around here.

Edit: The FastFind is $225 here now. If the ResQLink had a user-replaceable battery, that alone would sway me...I'm checking for that now...

To each his own. If least expensive is your requirement, get the Fastfind.

Smallest? Where would we all be without Marketing to put a little daily smile on our faces? ;-)

I realized I may have given that impression, but actually I only mentioned price to show that was NOT a consideration in the comparison since they are expected to be very close.

I didn't want to take too much of your time by getting into my "personal" details as I know you're always so busy, especially lately. Where I was actually coming from is that the FastFind is easily available locally NOW. Whereas, best I can find out but I'm not positive, is that the ResQLink is not yet approved in Canada. So...was there a compelling reason I should wait for the ResQLink, or not. I will follow the ResQLink experiences here, since I'm not planning to need rescue for a few more months anyway...

Now that I think about it, the user-replaceable battery thing is a red herring. As a bit of a battery person I actually do understand why they don't have this, at this point. The FastFind is effectively disposable, based on a battery replacement cost quoted to another Canadian owner, and I don't see it getting cheaper in a few years.

Wow!!! Look at the size of those quarters!

I do have to say - and I believe that Doug had a hand in it - that the new PLBs are much easier to use - that things would be less confusing in a time of severe stress.

I found my Terrafix 406 to be somewhat confusing - I could see that under stress I might have doubts about whether I was using it correctly. As I remember I have to press two buttons - I think its a Test button and a GPS button at the same time for a few seconds. What's with that? It would feel like that was just launching a test sequence.

As I recall it would flash a red LED, then green ... or something like that. I always thought that the red LED would make me think I was doing something wrong - like an error warning, and that would lead me to wonder if it was even working. The newer models are much more straight forward.

I've not studied the differences between the two the way Doug has, but it would appear that one major difference between the two is ACR's 406 Link Service. Also ACR does have a spotless record in this area. As I do not plan on using the check-in capabilities on my PLB (I have a Spot 2 I received as a gift that I use for that), I'm going to stick with the Fast Find 210 at least until its battery expiration. Although it may seem silly carrying two devices, I just do not like using the battery capacity on the life-saver device for non-emergency traffic and if PLB standards remain that a non-user replaceable battery is standard, I'm not likely to change my mind.

I will stay with my fast find as well for now until by battery is almost out. I like the resqlink and I don't use the service that you have to pay for the text. The size difference is not significantly noticeable,the one hand feature is nice and a little more battery life is good but to toss my fastfind for that when it still is good is not something I would do at this time however when it's time to change the batteries I will do the switch.