HokieBird

Where is your job offer located? I thought I heard recently they were hiring somewhere in Maryland perhaps?

Looks like there are going to be continued enhancements to the explorist series. Here's some info on the new eXplorist 210: http://www.mobilewhack.com/reviews/magella...d_gps.html#more -HokieBird

Here's a picture of the XL: http://www.mobilewhack.com/reviews/magella...ndheld_gps.html What does everyone think of the size/style and capabilities?

The eX-XL sounds interesting (a bit big, though). Makes me wonder if Garmin has something planned to compete for the Fall/Holiday period. Anyone heard anything? Seems like they gone quite a while without a major new product...

Hold on. I noticed this last week too, but they seem to have 2 different prices for the eX600 on their we site. The one posted here originally has MAGEX600B in the URL (notice the 600B). However, if you do a simple search for explorist 600 on their web site it shows up as $449 (see link here - notice there is no "B" in the URL). http://www.shopharmony.com/product.asp?i=MAGEX600 I haven't investigated too thorougly, but does anyone have any idea why there are two prices?? Also, search for the ex500 price and it's $319. This is confusing at best and perhaps a bit fishy. [Edit for ex500 comments]

What about Costa Rica? Does anyone know what maps are available for it? Thanks.

Please refresh my memory - what are the screens that were in older Magellans but are not in the explorist 500/600 series? What fields did that have that are not available on the explorist?

I've heard the Magellan auto-routing pales in comparison. What does the Garmin routing offer that the Magellan doesn't? -HB

Dot-Com, I think there are a lot of us lurking and waiting to see whether we too want to drop the $700 to get the explorist and associated software. I'm nearly ready, but the lack of capabilities (such as routing along a favorite path, routing without highway, routing mainly highway, etc) of Directroute are holding me off for now. Plus the apparent lack of updates is very disappointing. All said, do you regret your purchase or are you overall ok with the product?

Any projections as to when we can expect a firmware updates for the Explorists? What was the rough schedule for other Magellan models? Those of you with older Magellan models, please weigh in. Approximately how many months after the unit was released?

Ok - let me ask a dumb question. What's the interface between the GPSr and the laptop? What is the output of the GPSr and what is the input to the laptop (USB?)? Are these special cables?

Does anyone know when (speculation or rumors accepted as well!) the next generation Garmin receivers will be coming out? Any ideas? I tried to start a thread on this a couple of weeks ago and it quickly went dead (since no one seemed to know anything on this topic). Edit: the thread had lots of readers, but no posters. So I'm assuming folks are very interested in the topic, but there is little information out there. BTW, has anyone asked Garmin? -HokieBird

Try www.epinions.com It's a helpful site with some reviews and comparative pricing across the web. -Hokie Bird

I've always found Epinions to be helpful. Try www.epinions.com -HokieBird

Workin on it! Robert Lipe provided an outline that's serving as a good starting point, and I'm trynig to flesh it out in the manner you described. There's a lot of issues/information in this forum, and we've got the Yahoo Explorist users group to draw on, too. Although the 4/5/600s are relatively new, they've been out long enough for us to start to see genuine Frequently Asked Questions, so your suggestion is timely.

Embra, I've noticed you're pretty much one of the top resources for explorist 500/600 questions that come up around here. A few others, like JamieZ, come to mind too. Anyways, I was wondering if you would be willing to put together an explorist 500/600 FAQ, probably based on a collection of yours and others posts. Just a suggestion that I'm sure many many folks would appreciate. What do you think? HB

Z- How do you compare the Magellen routing capabilities (e.g., MapSend on the explorist 500/600 series) vs. the Garmin routing (say on a 60c)? I've heard others say that the Garmin routing is alot better, but I'm not quite sure how it's better. Any thoughts?

Some interesting stuff on the referenced web pages. Thanks. Does anyone know what Garmin's next plans are for it's handhelds? Based on their typical/average timespan between introducing new models, can someone deduce when they should have a new one?

We all were closely watching the Explorist 500/600 series at it launched this spring. Overall, the consensus appears to be mixed reviews, some good stuff, some not-so-good, some folks really happy, others not. But definitely not the next leap we all were hoping for. What's the time schedule for the next generation of GPSrs and what's on the horizon? Is there anything (i.e., compelling features) that will be coming out that should prevent us from purchasing a new model now? Is Garmin (or any other brands) scheduled for it's next generation anytime soon?

Regarding autorouting for the two units, is there any consensus on which is better? I've been leaning towards upgrading to a 500/600, but want to make sure the directions in the car work well. Is the experience anything close to Hertz's NeverLost?