SWAK9802

I have the same problem with my 500LE on my desktop, but it works fine on my laptop. I can't do any data transfer to my GPS and I've spent numerous hours searching info and trying out everything that has been recommended. I bought an SD card to load my info onto and use that now. Initially I couldn't get my unit to sync with the laptop either, but it started working today, and I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

I haven't been able to get the Magellan Geocache Manager to export to my unit. But with GSAK I'm able to export to an SD card, which I put in my unit and it works quite well. Under the GPS tab at the top is an option to export to your Magellan or SD card. Is it not getting exported from there?

Any recommendations for the Magellan Explorist 500LE cable? I haven't found myself in that situation yet, but it's nice info to have on hand if it comes up.

HAHAHA I know the feeling! I'm still very new, with only 2 finds under my belt. All I can say is you speak the truth my friend. I never thought I would have so much fun tromping through the woods looking under rocks and brush or trying to look inconspicuous next to a newspaper bin with my hand running along all the nooks and stuff sticking out. Welcome to the club.

I've had a bit of trouble with my 500LE since I bought it in January. Most of my problems have either been easily solved, or I've been able to find a way to work around them. The unit itself is actually very easy for a newbie (like myself) to use. I need to spend more time getting used to the file structure, but as far as the basic mapping features and following the arrow to my destination it's really simple. It will also beep a warning when you get close to your set coordinates, a feature that can be turned off if you prefer. I will say Magellan's lack of Customer Service left a bad taste in my mouth, I spent the better part of 3 months on the phone with them, and there are many many posts from others with bad CS experience with them as well. I've never owned a Garmin, so I can't answer that end. It does seem to be easier to use with this website since you can download directly to them. With my Magellan, I send the LOC files to GSAK and it's pretty simple from there.

Congratulations! It's definitely something you won't forget.

After almost 3 months of waiting, our GPS is finally up and running. We went out today and found our first 2 caches! It was very exciting, exhilarating, nerve wrecking, and most of all FUN. When we found our first cache, my Husband didn't realize it was the actual container. Let's just say the owner would have had a heck of a time finding his container on the adjoining golf course if I hadn't noticed the markings right before he began to toss it over the fence. The second one was a bit easier as we already had a feel for it and a bit more confidence in our "skills". A little more practice with the GPS and I'm ready for our next adventure. I have my sights on 2 more in our immediate area that I hope we can go after later this week.

Yes the usb cable is right The problem is with the file. After it loads it doesnt even show the driver in the device folder. I spent the better part of last night trying to solve this same problem with no luck. I am not an expert when it comes to drivers and such, but I've never had this kind of problem with other files. Has anyone found a way around this issue to get it working? Thanks, Gizmodavis. They hid the link pretty good. You would think it would be at the top of the page before all the instructions, not at the bottom.

I'm having the same problem. Where did you find the driver file on Magellan's site? When I search on there I get sent to FAQ that says yes, there is a driver, but it doesn't direct me to where to get it from their site. I get the sound on my computer when I turn the unit on and off, but when I try anything else it says I don't have a GPS connected to my computer.

When I first registered with the site I was asked to input my home coordinates. I didn't have a GPS as the time so I skipped it. When I purchased my GPS I was able to go back to my profile and add them.

Taken from the Geocache page you listed:

The one YOU like the best... That may be a tough decision if you aren't familiar with any of the units. If you have time to comparison shop before making your decision, definitely take the time to do it. Talk to some of your friends or coworkers and see if any of them have one of the ones you are considering. They may be able to offer some insight to the quirks of the different units you are considering. Good luck with whichever one you choose!

double post

I'm hoping this is the simple solution that I need. I don't mind saving the info to an SD card and using it in my GPS. One less cable going into or out of my computer and cluttering up my desk area. I have a car charger on order now. When I get it sometime later this week I'll be able to test the charging power of my cable. As of now I'm using AAA batteries till the rechargeable battery and charger arrive. Thanks for all the advice and tips everyone has given me. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

This GPS is starting to turn into more than I bargained for. I'm getting overly frustrated and I haven't even gone out for my first hunt yet, and I've had my GPS since January! It took weekly phone calls to Magellan to get the battery clip that was missing when I purchased my unit, they sent me several clip (carrying) cases instead. I finally have the ability to turn the unit on, and I decided to go ahead and order a rechargeable battery and car charger and use the AAA's as a backup. Now I'm finding out the USB cable may not work. Can anything else go wrong with this unit? I'd really rather avoid going through magellan for a new cable, I've been dealing with their (lack of) Customer Service for 2 1/2 months now. Thanks for the tips Embra. I've tried connecting to 2 different computers and different USB ports as well. I also checked the spring loaded connectors and they seem to be fine. I'm surprised a "rugged" piece of equipment comes with such a fragile cable.

Breathing air back into this thread. I am having the same problem. I've tried several USB ports on my comp, restarted everything, have the cable running down the unit, etc. I keep getting an error message saying there is no unit detected. I don't have a cradle, and frankly don't want to spend more money on something that may or may not work in the end.

Thanks Embra, I finally came across your post with the info you quoted and went looking from there. I was able to find a good deal on the battery and a car charger that will work nicely.

A while back I saw several links to places I could buy a battery and charger for my Explorist 500LE. Unfortunately after my computer crashed and buying a new one, I lost all the links I had bookmarked to those sites for when I was ready to purchase. Does anyone have a list of places that sell the rechargeable batteries with the chargers? I'm very new to this and when I did my searches I came up with more junk than anything else. Thanks for any help.

I found out about it from my Dad. He was looking through the owner's manual of his GPS and it was mentioned in one of the sections. After he got hooked he told me about it and now my family is interested.

My Explorist 500le has a battery compartment door that isn't flush either,and there is no battery or clip inside. It's been that way since I bought it. I'm not too fond of the cable connection design either, but it sounds like the swivel mount is a great way to compensate for that. What about car charging, does the swivel mount work for that as well?

I'm so glad this question was asked and answered. I played around a bit with the Mapsend program that came with my Explorist 500LE but I was manually putting the info in. Since I'm still waiting on a battery clip from Magellan I havne't tried to upload it to my GPSr yet. I might try EasyGPS to see which I prefer as well.

Thanks for posting that. I have that site and a couple of others bookmarked just in case they don't follow through. I've not really heard good remarks about Magellan's Customer Service, so I'm a bit nervous about calling back this week. But hopefully they will stick to what they told me before. Since I have no battery life at all I can't really play around with the map features. I downloaded the Mapsend Software to my computer and it seems user friendly enough to my liking.

I got my Magellan 500LE at the local WalMart for $74 as well. I had a leftover gift card from Christmas with $20 on it, so I spent around $55 for mine. Unfortunatly it was the only one they had, and after getting it home I realized it was missing the AAA battery clip. Called the store and my option was to bring it back for a refund or contact Magellan. I contacted Magellan and they are out of the part, but took my info and said to call back in a week and they would send the part, free.

1. Trying to convince my husband this would be a fun adventure for all of us, even though we don't have a GPS yet. 2. Nerves. Since we haven't actually found one yet, I'm a bit nervous with the inconspicuous part. I drove up to a location twice now, parked, and lost the nerve to get out of the vehicle to look. Probably not the best one to start with, as it's next to a busy street, a micro cache, and I have no idea what I'm looking for! But the distance from my home is great, less than a mile away. 3. Weather. I want to get my 5 and 10 year olds involved and they wouldn't enjoy hunting in the cold.

Actually, I am "the wife" and I'm trying to convince my husband to get into the fun with me. He's a bit skeptical and thinks it's going to be more frustrating than fun. We'll really only be using it for Geocaching, so from the sounds of it the map feature isn't going to be a necessity. Thanks again for the useful information, I have a few bids out there, but so far the prices have gone well beyond what I'm willing to spend on a used unit.