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Well I am looking hard, I mean very hard at the Magellan Explorist 600.They as supose to come out this week sometime. I was wundering if anyone out there has any of the explorit series or heard anything good or bad opinions about them. It just looks like a great gps! Right now got a Garmin V and am just not too happy with it. Might have to change over to the Dark side of the GPS Moon.!
smokey
“Be safe and Keep on Searchin”[This message has been edited by smokey & the teacher (edited 04-06-2005).]
I think you have to switch to Magellan. I just switched from Magellan to Garmin. Therefore, there must be a convert the other direction. It’s just part of the natural order.
I’ve heard about the Explorist 600, but have yet to see one for myself. It was actually one of the units that was under consideration for my birthday gift. Went with the Garmin GPSMap 60CS though.
Is this Explorist a cool color like the other ones?
Bec
The Explorist was Magellan’s way to compete with the Garmin Etrex. It suffers from a screen which is too small and even worse, now a color screen which is very hard to see/read in any sunlight. The new battery system forces you to plug in the unit to re-charge, much like a cell phone. Although the life of the Li-Ion battery is much improved, the newest Explorists are coming with a electronic compass, barometer, thermometer, and altimeter, which is going to reduce the battery life down to only a few hours. Last I knew, there was no way to turn WAAS off either, which is the other battery killer.
If it has to be a Magellan, the Meridian Gold is a better workhorse than the Explorist any day.
Also, no GPSr is complete without getting the detailed maps.
Magellan’s Mapsend software is very limited in function compared to Garmin’s Mapsource software.You can have my Garmin, when you pry it
from my cold dead hands.[This message has been edited by Cathunter (edited 04-06-2005).]
When Lost Boyscout first got me into caching I did alot of research on a unit to buy. Everyone I talked to be it at a store or any person Magellan was not worth the money.Since then I have bought two Garmin units (eTrex Vista and a GPSmap 60C)
My advice would be the Garmin line, with the eTrex line going color you cant go wrong with quality or price.[This message has been edited by WindowLicker (edited 04-06-2005).]
quote:
Originally posted by Cathunter:
Magellan’s Mapsend software is very limited in function…Okay, I agree that it is a personal choice as to which whether Magellan or Garmin make a better GPSR…one’s own experiences are all we can go by. However, I disagree that Mapsend is not good software! I love my mapsend program and have never had a question about its functionality. (Again w/ the personal choice, ‘eh?)
quote:
Originally posted by MajorBrat:
Okay, I agree that it is a personal choice as to which whether Magellan or Garmin make a better GPSR…one’s own experiences are all we can go by. However, I disagree that Mapsend is not good software! I love my mapsend program and have never had a question about its functionality. (Again w/ the personal choice, ‘eh?)It’s ok that you disagree. I don’t think I said Mapsend is no good. Have you spent time using both? I have both, and a couple of others.
Here’s an easy test-
Pick out a few of the questions regarding mapping or waypoint formats from the WI Geocaching Trivia thread. Try answering them using Mapsend. Then try it using Mapsource.Mapsend is fine for putting maps in your GPS, but Mapsource has far greater functionality beyond just that.
I’d be interested in hearing more from people who have spent time using both brands of GPSr’s.
What can one do that the other can’t?.
[This message has been edited by Cathunter (edited 04-07-2005).]
we have the magellan explorist 200 that we won at a geo outing. the very worst thing about it is there is no cable for uploading coords. they all have to be manually entered. and the tiny joystick type button is always getting pushed the wrong way. it is very frustrating to use. but on the good side, i think it tends to be more accurate than my garmin 60c. if you are getting the 600 make sure you can upload to it.
djwinithe explorist 400,500,600 all have usb cables for uploading and SD card slot of alot of storage!. It just depends on the features you want to get within these series. Im looking at the 3 axil electric compass and the SD feture. Still doing alot of research before making the plung.
on another note. I too like the gpsmap 60cs with the electric compass. but want to know how you have to hold the unit to get the compass to work properly. Some units you have to be level horizontal for the compass to work. Any help would be appriciated.
“Be safe and Keep on Searchin”quote:
Originally posted by Cathunter:
Have you spent time using both? I have both, and a couple of others.Yes, I have and still…
…personal choice.Just checking if anyone got one yet?? Still thinking about it…..
smokey
“Be safe and Keep on Searchin”(lurker from FL posting 🙂 )
A newbie in my office just got the eXplorist 500. I was very impressed. I started with a Magellan Sportrak Pro and graduated to a Garmin 60cs this Christmas. I love the auto-routing features of the Garmin, but the 500 has some features I really liked: the expansion card, the file system for organizing waypoints on the unit and I’m pretty sure it also gives you more waypoint info right on the unit, like cache size and even the hint. Not sure about the last, but I can check.
I can’t understand in a million years why they didn’t put usb ports on the lower level units – I mean, how dumb is that – but the 500 and 600 look pretty cool.
Just a bump to see what everyone has to say about the Explorist 600 or the series. http://www.tigergps.com will start shipping on Friday and Im seriously thinking of buying one.
smokey
“Be safe and Keep on Searchin”quote:
Originally posted by suemac:
(lurker from FL posting 🙂 )A newbie in my office just got the eXplorist 500. I was very impressed. I started with a Magellan Sportrak Pro and graduated to a Garmin 60cs this Christmas. I love the auto-routing features of the Garmin, but the 500 has some features I really liked: the expansion card, the file system for organizing waypoints on the unit and I’m pretty sure it also gives you more waypoint info right on the unit, like cache size and even the hint. Not sure about the last, but I can check.
I can’t understand in a million years why they didn’t put usb ports on the lower level units – I mean, how dumb is that – but the 500 and 600 look pretty cool.
I just bought a 600 and can offer the following:1. It’s black
2. It didn’t come with a lanyard. I mean how expensive is a shoelace!
In response to some of the spectific criticms in other posts:
3. It gets more than the 12 hours per charge even with pretty constant use. However, you cannot substitute AAs. They won’t fit. I will buy another li-ion to carry as a spare – not on the market yet, but I’ll guess $40 – 50 like similar cell phone packs.
4. I installed a 256 mb sd card. Mind you my main use is not caching, it’s mapping trails. I can store a huge number of fully detailed trails (and detailed topo maps) on and SD card. I can swap cards, if necessary for different sets of topo maps and tracked, POI, etc. I find this a hugely important feature in my mapping efforts. Maybe not so in caching. I also carry topo & POI data for all of NY state, and still have %90+ of my card left.
5. Both the internal memory and SD card have a directory tree system that “looks” a bit like Windows. It is structured with an area specific to caching. It comes with a caching utility program to run on the PC that allows you to get cache coordinates from the web and transfer them to the appropriate area of either internal or SD card memory. There are easy options on the GPS menus to use those points, room for comments, hints, etc. I would think that might make it a desirable unit for caching.
6. I find the USB is fast. In addition, I can remove the SD card and transfer data directly using a cheap SD card reader/writer. Looks like just another removal drive to the PC.
7. The Magellan software seems to work ONLY with Windows XP, not 98SE, 98 or 95.
8. I can’t do NMEA position following on my laptop in the boat or car because none of my software (OziExplorer for example)looks for NMEA input from a USB port – they only see serial ports. Looks like I’ll have to install a software port kludge. Of course, data file (tracks, POI, etc) is no problem since it is just a file transfer. But real time position fixes for a “moving map” via NMEA can be a problem.
9. It’s small – probably 1/2 the size of my Meridan Color. Just a handful. So it has a small screen – some of us aren’t watching the superbowl on it and would prefer someting small and light.
10. I wanted the electronic compass. I could care less about the barometer and barometric altimeter. The compass can be handy though. It can also be turned off to minimize power drain.
11. You can turn off WAAS with a key sequence on power up, I believe. I just isn’t documented in the owners manual.
12. Speaking of which, the owners manual sucks! They don’t tell you which way the data cable attaches – yes you can do it two different ways with a good fit. One one, of course, will produce results.
13. It’s a good performer. I have a SporTrak Pro, a Garmin 12xl (with Garmin dgps receiver), and a Magellan Meridian Color. It is as good as any of them in terms of sensitivity, speed to first fix, and ability to maintain a fix under canopy.
All in all – its a neat toy. If you don’t need the thermometer, electronic compass or barometer, then I’d suggest you look at the 500. If you don’t care about color, how about the 400? AFAIK all the abilities other than these features remain the same on these models. The other Explorists are a bit different.
Hope this answers some questions.
We have lurkers from Florida and New York? Whodathunk?
Yes. The info was excellent. If I may. When the gps comes in, can I email you for further help on this item. This will be my first with a card. never used one before. I just ordered the 600 from thegpsstore.com
Email me if you have some further hints for this item
thanks again.
Smokey
“Be safe and Keep on Searchin”
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