arthurking83

That's definitely the best product! My Meridian has been super! BTW the best receiver, is the one that cost the LEAST, that way, when the unit dies the day after the warranty expires, you will have lost the least amount of money! I would have thought the most important features set was reciever performance, not customer service!! BTW isn't there a thread, about the new Garmin 'x' models and some disturbing info about some new Garmin protocol, that doesn't communicate with 3rd party software? THAT makes the difference between a good receiver and an altogether useless one! And on the topic of maps..........maybe in the US the Garmins may be superior to the Magellans, but in Australia, the Magellans maps are by far the best quality! And Magellans mapping products don't have autorouting capability in Aus, whereas the Garmins do!

Has anyone confirmed that the 'x' models work with Oziexplorer?

You could upload a Euro basemap to the 300. It is a bit of a "homewbrew" method, but have a look HERE if you don't want to buy a new unit. I think there is a cable made for the purpose, so you don't have to make your own! either way it will void any warranty on a new unit

Using which program for the track file? Magellan track, Garmin track, or was the track downloaded using a third party app? I'm currently unsuccessfully playing, with one to do the same thing with Oziexplorer tracks. cheers.

I can't remember any advertising material for the explorist series that said they have 256 color screens I assumed they were 16 color! I doubt anyone really has a need for 256 color GPS screens, it would seem to be more of a gimmick. Unless, the GPSr was capable of displaying raster images. And I've only read that the explorist have High Contrast or High Resolution, but not High Color. I think the Roadmate series have 256 color screens.

exploristXL comparison photos I just had a look at the map that is displaying on the XL's screen in those photos, and I'm comparing it to my MeriColor...........all I can say is..........I'm getting one

Sorry 'bout my previous post, just having a laugh Magellans have an option to format the SD card on the reciever. Cosidering the USB format, One would expect an explorist like file structure, and therefore the cards could be formatted using windows (??) (Just a guess, and considering Garmins propensity for "Methods Garmin", you never know!) But we'll know soon enough, when they start to ship out the units!!

Are you having trouble formatting your 60csx's micro-SDcard?

I would have thought the kind of money you are talking about $200-$500, would be better spent on a dozen 0.5W two way radios or something like that. If the child got lost within a 1/2 hour range, you should have enough time to still be within radio range?? I'm not a scout, leader or anything, and I don't know what laws your country has with respect to these little two-way radios, but with a spare set of batteries, you could easily get a days of use from them! Just another angle to consider.

Yes! I'm thinking of doing the same thing, here in Aus. The USA XL's seem to be selling around half what they do here! I did this with my MeriColor, (USA to Uas basemap). The only issue "COULD" be, if you have a problem with the unit, Magellan may refuse top honour their warranty, as you have altered the basemap (the Aus distributor does, and I accept that without any problems) cheers

To set up Coord System....... try; Menu->Preferences-> Map Units-> Coord System should look like DDD/MIN/SEC

On a Meridian, you can delete files from the SD card by using the ........ [Menu]-> Card Utilities-> Delete Files feature I don't know if the Explorist series has this option, but the Meridian and Explorist range seem to have very similar menus! cheers.

If you had a POLL, I would have voted XL! The (yet to be released) Garmin 'x' models look promising, but that screen is too hard to resist! cheers.

Aparently there are some problems with the CD's that are well documented, and exchanged my magellan promptly! But as to the issue of mapsend innacuracies, well that depends on the age of the software, and the versions of mapping data they use! I live in Australia and have no dealings with the mapsend products from your side of the pond, but 'our' version of mapsend, called DiscoverAus, has very accurate mapping info! One would expect the latest 3D version to have very good accuracy, (as DiscoverAus topo does(almost pinpoint accurate compared to topo maps images!!) I have read that you can exchange the CD's from the point of sale..........etc cheers.

I thought that Garmins report the satellite numbers differently to Magellans(which report the PRN). So I assumed that the only other alternative would have been SVN?? And if THIS info is to be believed the SVN and PRN are sometimes the same! This site indicates that Garmins number the satellites according to Garmins random protocol!! anyhow it's not really making any sense ATM??

Apart from the Datum (which is by default set to WGS84 on Magellans) check which firmware you have! You didn't specify if you got the unit new or secondhand. If it's secondhand it may never have recieved the firmware update, AND it may have been set to another datum. The Meridians are more accurate than 300ft. Also if you're in USA, is WAAS turned on? This is set as default in a new unit, but may have been switched off in a secondhand one?? To find out what firmware you have just press Menu, and scroll down to About. The 3rd line....... "Rev. (number) (date)" .......is what you need! cheers.

Hi Derek, There are ways to make detail maps of your own area, for magellans, but the process is tedious and time consuming. You could have a look through the mobilemapper2 yahoo groups, or at MSH-tools website. The way I'm understanding the processes, to make a detail State map, will take days to create, a detail town may take hours!! If you don't need topo info, and the latest up to date Freeway data, you could save your money and just get the older DAST CD software. This won't have restaurant POI's and stuff like that, but the roads/trail info looks to be 99% of DAST topo. I have both, and don't find many variations in details, except the new Freeways and Major Hwy re-alignments.........etc! I've seen DAST at DickSmithElectronics for less than $200, as I think they are 'removing old stock'!! (not guarranteed to be in stock) cheers.

I think if you wait a bit more, the Legend Cx may be ideal then?? http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexLegendcx/

I didn't think that Mapsend would communicate via a virtual com port? Someone that uses Mapsend topo can verify this! I use the Australian version of Mapsend, called DiscoverAus, and it won't work with a virtual com port (USB to serial adapter). All other software is configurable (Ozi, G7toWin, etc...) There may be a com port splitter program you can download that may force use of Com3, I think that was the only way to get a Mapsend product to work with an adapter. You may find that the Com port the GPSr is using is a virtual port, probably numbered 5 or 6. Verify this with Device Manager! Make sure the settings on this Virtual com port, match the GPSr's settings, and you will have communication! Try XPort3 as this works well. It's very simple to set up. Once you find what virtual port the USB adapter is using, set this as the Input Com(x) port, and enable Com3 as an output port. Hopefully Mapsend will understand and you OK to go. The beauty of this program is that you can use 4 GPS aware program at the same time with the one GPSr

I think this is hard to do without resorting to some serious maths. It's easier to work out the distance between 2 lattitudes, to a reasonable estimate, something like 110km between each lattitude integer value, but longitude is harder to figure out due to the convergence of the lines. If you were in the arctic region near 89° north, I think the difference between an single integer of longitude is about 1.5kms so the easiest method to work out the distance of point A and point B is to use an online Distance Tool

I think the Galileo system will have (same for the GPSIII system) a second "civillian" frequency for the "greater accuracy" they are boasting about. There is supposed to be a third civvy frequency, probably for some business use for the Galileo operators to make a dollar from big business or something?? Both Galileo and GPSIII are supposed to be operational in about '08-'10. I think the biggest difference between new gen and current gen is the interference technology. Better accuracy may only mean 'more accurate for a longer period, or under adverse conditions, such as forrest cover or inside buildings'......... not neccesarily 50cm accuracy! Don't believe the hype (ads?? ) that the Galileo consortium spew out! Wait for the 1 m accuracy to become established first! Next gen GPSr's will almost certainly have both GNSS interopability, and possibly 20 or 24 channel at that too! Until then the Meridian is as good as any!

I think it's luck of the draw with electronics! My Lowrance AccuMap Sport hasn't given any trouble in 10 years, but my magellan 2000 didn't either in the same period, nor my Meridian in the last 6 months........... But my TV did! Unpacked the 60kg monster on my own! Hit it very hard various times to get sound working, on my own! Re-packed it, on my own! Took it back, and got the replacement the same day, on my own?? The second(same unit) has been running for a year, no problems! Why? Just the luck of the draw!!

............Or you could have bought a Mobile Mapper (CE)

the 'S' means that there is a Sensor in the unit. temperature(?) compass.....whatever! The compass is useful if you are standing still and want to head in a particular direction. A non-compass GPSr will not tell give you a heading if you are standing still. If you regularly use a REAL compass, there is no need for one on the GPS! You need to be moving(more quickly will be more accurate) for this to happen.

* More track log points 10000 would be nice. * But even better would be an easy method to save or [/b]autosave the tracklog, or a warning that the tracklog is full. I use my GPS mostly for track logging my driving everyday. 2000 point tracklog is kinda small considering Garmins 10000 !! 2000 points are generally OK, while driving around and you don't want super accurate tracks to see where you've just been, but the auto-detailed setting is really not doing a great job of it. I once set the track log to every .01km which gives only 20km of logging. Of course the track log only lasts for 20km, and there is no 'easy' way to save the track log. But! the track was very precise. I think the iFinder has 50000 track points, the downside is there is less info about each point.