Garmin Or Magellan

[gollum13]

i am new to geocaching i wish 2 buy a gps i was thinking about garmin gps 60cs or magellan 500 i dont know the best i hear you can get topo maps for uk for magellan but not garmin anyone help

[+Sue and Bernie]

...that's like asking "what car should I buy"? People who bought Garmins will naturally advocate their own personal choices and vice versa.

 

Like cars, each model has a specific set of features and, until you use one, you will not find out the little snags and benefits of each implementation.

 

I would advise you to try and borrow one from a friendly local cacher (attend an event perhaps) to take it for a "test drive".

[+Moote]

i am new to geocaching i wish 2 buy a gps i was thinking about garmin gps 60cs or magellan 500 i dont know the best i hear you can get topo maps for uk for magellan but not garmin anyone help

I think that if I got another GPS (I got my 60CS in August) I would choose a Magellan for few reasons.

 

1. You can use SD memory cards with them (my Garmin is fixed at 56Mb )

 

2. Yes you can get Topo mapping on the Magellan, this is bound to be better than the Garmin stuff (incidentally which is based on Flat Earth Society mapping database )

 

3. The new range is not as ugly as the old ones

 

But alas I only saw the ugly old Magellens

 

Say that aside you can get Garmin Topo mapping from Scottish Mountaineering Club for nowt (yes that means free)

 

Milton (aka moote)

Edited September 18, 2005 by moote

[Lactodorum]

Or you could look at the pinned thread here.

[+Flyfishermanbob]

Hi Gollum...

Just look that that old geocacher Pooter has done to you ........

 

any GPSr will "fill the bill" ...... for geocaching..... the maps aren't necessary....

 

Yellow etrex will do the job just as well as the top of the range model......

 

Don't buy from "High Street " shops ... check out "Global Positioning Systems" as a comparison for prices ...

 

ps "lovehearts " are frowned upon as swaps... food stuffs

 

good luck team gollum

 

Slainge

[nobby.nobbs]

tomato sauce or hp?

 

i use 60c and love it. didn't bother with the 60cs as didin't need the extras and they wear down the battery faster.

[+Birders]

It's worth considering that, in the unlikely event of problems occurring, Garmin have the most incredible after sales service. It is not unknown for them to replace a broken GPS with a brand new item well after the warranty has expired. That alone should steer you towards Garmin.

Edited September 19, 2005 by Birders

[+HazelS]

We have both a Garmin emap and a magellan, and the garmin wins hands down anyday...

 

For ease of use, fantastic after sales service alone they are the best, but you really should look at both for yourself. You don't need to spend a mint on your GPS, Etrex are just as good as anything else...

[+Moote]

We have both a Garmin emap and a magellan, and the garmin wins hands down anyday...

 

For ease of use, fantastic after sales service alone they are the best, but you really should look at both for yourself.  You don't need to spend a mint on your GPS, Etrex are just as good as anything else...

Garmin and after sales service?

 

I have sent them several emails on where to get the version 7 European maps without the car kit, they have never had the courtesy to reply - My conclusion there is if they don't want my money, they are not going to spend time fixing something which would cost them money.

 

To say I am disappointed YES!

 

I would now go for Magellan, and after all it is what the British Forces choose for there kit.

 

Milton (aka moote)

Edited September 19, 2005 by moote

[+HazelS]

We have both a Garmin emap and a magellan, and the garmin wins hands down anyday...

 

For ease of use, fantastic after sales service alone they are the best, but you really should look at both for yourself.  You don't need to spend a mint on your GPS, Etrex are just as good as anything else...

Garmin and after sales service?

 

I have sent them several emails on where to get the version 7 European maps without the car kit, they have never had the courtesy to reply - My conclusion there is if they don't want my money, they are not going to spend time fixing something which would cost them money.

 

To say I am disappointed YES!

 

I would now go for Magellan, and after all it is what the British Forces choose for there kit.

 

Milton (aka moote)

I contact them by phobe whenever I need to... they are generally able to answer my query there and then... PLUS their customer service v Magellan is a million times better - Magellan were dreadful!

[Moss Trooper]

Until recently I had a Magelan Sportrak colour and used to use a Garmin Vista.

 

I found the screen on the Magellan pretty naff to say the least. Very difficult to see at the best of times and even worse when the cover was on (thats an optional extra). I also had the UK topo maps, which are limited in there topography. They show the contour lines, roads, tracks and water features and that is about it. OH! aye and wooded areas.

 

I spotted a Garmin 60cs in a second hand shop and grabbed it, after checking it out. The screen is excellent, far superior to the Magellan. I use Garmin Mapsource UK for uploading maps and as mentioned previously the contours from the Scottish Mountaineering site. This combination is fine and only missing the rights of way that are on the Magellan Topo's

 

The Compass is better on the Magellan

 

Sat locks are about the same.

 

In a nut shell I kept the Garmin an sold the Magellan.

 

The choice is yours in the end.. but I seem to always revert to a Garmin.

 

Ducks for cover ready fer flaming offa Magellan users

 

Moss T

[+Sue and Bernie]

I would now go for Magellan, and after all it is what the British Forces choose for there kit.

 

Milton (aka moote)

...as a still serving member, I have to balance this statement somewhat because it does not tally with my experience.

 

In the RAF, the Tornado aircrew were each issued with a personal Garmin portable commercial unit during Gulf War 1 - just in case they had to walk home.

 

Naturally, I cannot speak for the other two services (except to confirm they must be very-easy-to-operate units)....

[+mongoose39uk]

On my third GPS

 

Garmin Geko 101 moved on to a yellow etrex as the 101 cannot use a data cable

 

Just got a Garmin Legend. The Etrex was fine no problems with it, just got an offer of a Legend.

 

All of them did a very good job.

 

Have used Magellans but still prefer Garmin easy to use and maps on the gps are not an issue for me.

[+Simply Paul]

Naturally, I cannot speak for the other two services (except to confirm they must be very-easy-to-operate units)....

Spoken like a true fly-boy, lol!

 

SP

[+Moote]

Well still not covinced by the Garmin support, I rang them this afternoon and was on some callcentre hold for 1 hour 45 mins. Had to hang up as needed to catch a train home. Work suffered and will have to work my socks off tomorrow.

 

So if you know where I can get V7 EU maps without the junk for a car tell me as Garmin can't!

 

Milton (aka moote)

[+Sue and Bernie]

I too have been very well served by Garmin.

 

When the cable of the power/speaker unit that feeds my StreetPilot 3 was damaged, I phoned up to see about getting it repaired. No problems contacting them at all.

 

"Don't bother, we'll send you another one" - and they did - for free!

 

Impressed? I was...

[+Hi-Tek]

Well still not covinced by the Garmin support, I rang them this afternoon and was on some callcentre hold for 1 hour 45 mins. Had to hang up as needed to catch a train home. Work suffered and will have to work my socks off tomorrow.

 

So if you know where I can get V7 EU maps without the junk for a car tell me as Garmin can't!

 

Milton (aka moote)

Rather than wait on the phone I emailed sales.europe@garmin.com with my query and got a reply the next day. You might like to try that method.

 

I have 3 Garmins and would add that I'm a very satisfied Garmin Customer.

[+Moote]

Rather than wait on the phone I emailed sales.europe@garmin.com with my query and got a reply the next day. You might like to try that method.

Yup, I have done that, got no reply after 3 emails, I have also written and still no answer, decided to phone this afternoon whilst taking some quality time out at work in the GC.com forums

 

Milton (aka moote)

Edited September 19, 2005 by moote

[+Hi-Tek]

Rather than wait on the phone I emailed sales.europe@garmin.com with my query and got a reply the next day. You might like to try that method.

Yup, I have done that, got no reply after 3 emails, I have also written and still no answer, decided to phone this afternoon whilst taking some quality time out at work in the GC.com forums

 

Milton (aka moote)

Well you do suprise me

 

Your experience does not mirror that that I have had

 

Well I'm happy with Garmin anyway - good luck in your endevours - perhaps Thales might come up trumps for you - it'll be interesting to hear your experiences with them .

[+The Forester]

Having owned several Garmins and Magellans over the past 20 years, I concur with the comments made about the awfulness of Magellan's customer service. I've never had any reason to contact Garmin, so I can't comment on them, but I can say that my two experiences with Magellan, one in the US and one in the UK, spread 10 years apart, were just awful.

 

Although Garmin wins hands down in terms of the quality of their customer service ethic, there are a couple of gimmicks which the Magellan SporTrak has which I find indispensable.

 

I particularly like the automatic averaging feature. When the device detects that it is stationary it commences averaging the GPS fixes. Averaging is a very simple but immensely powerful tool which rapidly and very effectiively improves the accuracy of a fix.

 

Another gimmick of the SporTrak which I make good use of is the ability to simultaneously display on a single page the fix in two completely different datums/spheroids and formats. This is very handy when you want to have both the GC.com format and OS grid co-ordinates showing your current position.

 

One drawback of the SporTrak is that when changing batteries the interior of the machine is open ro the atmosphere. In high humidity and high salinity environments such as the Persian Gulf or the Indian Ocean this can cause some horrible problems. With only a few changes of battery you end up with a fine layer of conductive salts encrusting the circuit boards and a voidspace full of water vapour which condenses in cold conditions and forms a thin layer of water droplets on the inside of the screen.

 

Garmin has always had much better cacse sealing technology, including their funky method of welding plastic enclosures using ultrasonics.

 

I read in the financial press recently that Thales is selling off Magellan. Sometimes a new owner can radically alter the corporate culture of a firm, so perhaps Magellans of 2006 will be quite different to those of today and perhaps they will catch up with Garmin in terms of quality of customer care. We shall see...

 

Cheers, The Forester

[+Pharisee]

I particularly like the automatic averaging feature. When the device detects that it is stationary it commences averaging the GPS fixes. Averaging is a very simple but immensely powerful tool which rapidly and very effectiively improves the accuracy of a fix.

My Garmin GPS III also has this feature. It's not automatic, you have to initiate it, though. Once you've recorded a waypoint you can turn on the averaging and the device sits there, recording it's location at the rate of one a second and displaying the averaged result for as long as you care to leave it. You can then save the result. I always use this when setting a cache and will leave it 'working' for at least 20 minutes or so, most times on at least two different occasions. That way I can be fairly sure that I've got a good fix. I very rarely get comments in the logs about 'duff' co-ordinates.