Magellan eXplorist 500 Water Resistant Hiking GPS by Magellan
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Digital camera reviews of Magellan eXplorist 500 Water Resistant Hiking GPS
Digital camera Review: Magellan support doesn't exist
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased a new Explorist 500 in August 2006. It works fine although doesn't seem to lock onto satellites as quickly as Garmin GPS. I have on occasion tried to get through to their support both in email and on the phone and I don't think Magellan support exists. When I had to buy a new home computer and it came with Windows Vista, I received a canned reply from Magellan that said basically I was out of luck that there is no way the Explorist 500 will talk to Windows Vista. I will not buy another Magellan product due to the lack of support and the fact they seem to be way behind in technology. Windows Vista has been around for almost two years. Plenty of time for someone to develope a patch.Digital camera Review: My first GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
Even though I just returned the item, I still feel that it is a great product. The reason that I returned the product was that I needed a GPS that ran on regular batteries instead of being re-chargeable. I feel that if I am really out exploring and was completely turned around, and then all of the sudden the battery dies on you, your in real big trouble. Other than that, I would highly recommend this product. I am going to purchase a different Magellan GPS that runs on regular batteries.Digital camera Review: Not such a good buy in the long run
Summary: 2 Stars
I have owned two GPS hanhelds by Magellan. Technically, the product is ok, performs well, but the main problems surface with support, software and interface.
Magellan stopped most support for my two previous devices after a couple of years, this is amazing considering that I paid $250+ for them! The mapping software did not support (or recognize) my device anymore and they did not care at all. Thus I could not upload my tracks and waypoints any longer and was forced to buy a second unit and a new generation software. They do nto update their mapping software at all either.
I find that the limits on waypoints and tracks are arbitrary and unecessary. I have to go thru all kinds of loops to upload my tracks because they have too many points. Ridiculuos if you think that you can have almost infinite memory in a card these days and even more in a PC with any decent HD.
The mapping software can be hard to use and it is also unnecessarily limiting on the size of the area to be uploaded to the device! It seems that Magellan keeps limitations from an era long bygone of small memory space.
To make it all worse, Magellan support does not give a rats tushy that you need support for your (2-3 year old) device. Their answer is that they do not support it any longer! I will not buy their beand any longer!
Digital camera Review: One of the best for Geocaching. Beats Garmin - hands down!
Summary: 5 Stars
About 9 months ago, I discovered the sport of Geocaching. I started out with a Magellan Explorist 200, and was amazed at how well a small device could track your position and find remote locations.
Soon I was ready to move up to a more sophisticated GPSr with connectivity to my computer to load the waypoints, etc. A fellow geocacher recommended the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx as one of the best available - so I ordered one in April 2006.
From the start I was not impressed with the tracking stability with the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx. The display "walks" while you are standing still. Sure, most GPSr's will do this to some extent, but the 60CSx goes nuts. I upgraded my firmware on the Garmin 60CSx a couple times, the last time as recently as Dec 2006 - with no improvement. It does work, but you will get a bit more exercise finding a cache when you are chasing around and around trying to zero in on your target.
I need basic functionality, not marginal performance with lots and lots of bells and whistles. I need a handheld GPSr to find caches, and I occasionally use it to find an address.
So I bought a Magellan Explorist 500. I was ready to sell the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx, but first I had to be sure of the performance differences. I tried my Garmin 60CSx and a Magellan Explorist 500 side by side while Geocaching. I tried it in the open and under a thick, dense canopy of trees. Both picked up a good signal under these conditions and led me to within 30 feet of the target cache, but the 60CSx started dancing me around the cache - while the Explorist 500 pointed me straight at the cache and was accurate within 4 feet!! The Explorist was consistent and didn't "walk" very much- and was much more stable. The result was spending a lot less time shrub hunting and more time finding caches.
I have scrutinized the performance of my Explorist daily while caching in the last couple of weeks, and it has consistently performed amazingly well! Sure the computer software is not as intuitive as it could be, but I figured it out - and so will you. The bottom line is how well the GPSr performs in the field.
Garmin can brag about the sensitivity of the 60CSx, but Magellan has had the same or better sensitivity for several years. Garmin just has a much better marketing department - a lesson that Magellan could learn.
Compare with other GPSr units if you like before you buy the Explorist 500, but I already have. I compared one of the top portable Garmin products with the much less expensive Magellan Explorist 500 and was very surprised at the results. So, do yourself a favor by getting the Explorist. You won't be sorry.
Digital camera Review: Performance
Summary: 5 Stars
The other reviews here are very good and detailed. I purchased this unit based on them. No need to rehash what they have said. I got the unit on a Friday. Loaded the programs onto my Intel dual Mac running Windows XP PRO. Learning curve delayed me until Tuesday. I now have 600mb of data stored on the removable sd card. The maps-both street and topo are great. This unit works great! It is as advertised. It is small and rugged. Just what you need for off roading of any kind.