Spot Gen 2 or 3??

[Buttermilk]

Did a search. not much info comparing the two devices. So...

I'm finally going to commit and purchase a spot device. Is it going to be the gen2 or gen3. The 2 costs less, but does less. Is the 3 worth the additional bucks? I'll primarily use it on various bikepacking races and with Trackleaders. I'm leaning towards the 2 because of cost, but if the 3 is the better way to go that is what I'll get.

I know there is a wealth of knowledge on this subject so please chime in. Thanks!

[Marshal]

I know this isn't exactly what you are looking for but I just replaced my Gen 1 SPOT with a Gen 3. 

The new Gen 3 is small, easy to understand, turn on etc etc and so far tracks extremely well.

I am a happy camper

[Buttermilk]

easy to understand, turn on etc etc

I like the easy to understand bit. I've ridden many miles thinking the Gen2 was doing its thing to find out it wasn't. The problem was user error. It seemed to work well when I did my part right. Still up in the air between the two...

...any other opinions from the collective wisdom out there??

[Area54]

Get the gen 3, period.

I've used a gen 2 for rec riding, then bought a gen 3 for the kiwi brevet, totally improved model.

will happily run on alkalines for many days in moderate temps, but of course lithiums are better for varying ambient temps - power consumption is pretty awesome. Would not run off my powermonkey cache batteries though - the power draw is soooo low on the gen 3 that the cache thinks that nothing is connected and then auto switches off.

Makers claim the gen 3 is better on power consumption than the gen 2 - they are very right!

They both work as they should as far as gps tracking, but the power consumption is the big ticket for me - knowing you can just pick up any old alkaline batts for some corner store (when you have no other choice) and keep trucking, is a huge bonus for me. Mine ran for more than a day on low battery warning, but I changed them out before it ran out completely, so you get plenty of warning when the batts are running low. Temps were about 23C, so of course YMMV in challenging environments.