Stepadery Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Had to return my 500 back to Magellan today. The zoom button stopped working and the toggle enter button at times had a mind of its own. Has anyone sent their unit in to be worked on? If so about how long did it take for you to get it back. Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 With and manufacture of and product it depends on how busy the service dept is when they get the product. If they are not busy it could be a one or two day turn around. If you sent it with UPS you can track the package on the UPS web site with the tracking number. I think the post office offers the same service. When it gets to Magellan call them and ask what the turn around time is. Depending on were you are UPS transit time could be one or maybe 10 working days each way. Quote Link to comment
Geo Casher Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Got my MariPlat back in about 10 days from when I sent it in. It was having backlight issues. Quote Link to comment
+Sue Gremlin Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 We got ours back in about 7 days. Quote Link to comment
+spamhead Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 I can't believe all of the posts about problems with the eXplorist series. What is up with that? Quote Link to comment
+geognerd Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 My year-old eXplorist 100 works great. The following is my only issue: All the joystick directions work, but Up is a little difficult. I'm not seeing anything here about the 100/200/300 having problems. It seems all the complaining is about the 400/500/600. This is hard to analyze. Are we not seeing problems with the "lower" eXplorists because there are fewer people with them, or are the lower eXplorists better? Or is it the extra features in the "higher" eXplorists that are causing the bugginess? Also remember that people are more likely to complain about what's wrong than praise what is right with their receivers. How often do we see people posting "My iFinder H20 Rocks!" or "My MeriPlat Kicks Butt"? I know some of you are having real problems with your eXplorists, but I'm wondering if some folks just want to join the Dump On Magellan parade because it seems to be the popular thing to do here. Quote Link to comment
+spamhead Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 My year-old eXplorist 100 works great. The following is my only issue: All the joystick directions work, but Up is a little difficult. . This is hard to analyze. Are we not seeing problems with the "lower" eXplorists because there are fewer people with them, or are the lower eXplorists better? Or is it the extra features in the "higher" eXplorists that are causing the bugginess? Also remember that people are more likely to complain about what's wrong than praise what is right with their receivers. How often do we see people posting "My iFinder H20 Rocks!" or "My MeriPlat Kicks Butt"? I know some of you are having real problems with your eXplorists, but I'm wondering if some folks just want to join the Dump On Magellan parade because it seems to be the popular thing to do here. I'm not seeing anything here about the 100/200/300 having problems. It seems all the complaining is about the 400/500/600 Good point. I was referring to the newer units. Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 I have not had any problems with my Explorist 500, or My Sport Track Map the only problem I have had with my meridian gold was my fault. But when I called them they fixed it at no charge and it was well beyond the warrnaty date. I have sent lots of Garmins back for customers at my last job, Magellans also. There is no product made in the world that has never had a problem. Some are the result of operator error Quote Link to comment
+BoomerFZ1 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 (edited) Come on Johnny Vegas...you gotta admit that you may have gotten lucky with your 500 considering all the complaints and issues on this site alone regarding the 500/600 series. I mean it's true what you say but let's be real.... I LOVE the design of the explorist series, dadgum good looking/function unit (problems excluded) and I can't say I'd NOT buy a Magellan based on my bad experience. But I can say I'll DEFINITELY investigate any Magellan I'd consider purchasing a heck of allot closer than say a Lowrance or Garmin unit. Edited October 5, 2005 by BoomerFZ1 Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Most of the problems I have seen posted have been with owners of the 600, as I do not own or want a 600. The one reason I do not want a 600 is because I think a magentic compass in a GPS is a waste of money. Most issues I have seen listed have not been defects but have been with items like the geocache manager being limited as far as the number of characters in the message box/note filed. i cache paper less so this is not and issue for me. Some have had issues with not being able to edit a goecache in and explorsit. Well have never had to edit a geocache in any GPS unless it is one that I entered by hand (these can be edited in the explorist). Using Pocket Queries eliminates data mistakes. As far as notes about caches I have found I make those notes in my pocket PC. Some have complained about the Li Ion battery only being rated for 14 hours, also not an issue for me. geeze I remember when long battery life in a GPS was 8 hours. Most Geocachers do not got out for more than 8 hours. For me Li Ion is a big plus and extra batteries are about $10.00 after shipping on E-Bay. There are some people the still claim it is a propietary battery, but it is not. Some people had issues with the lack of instrustions for how to hook up the data cable, no big deal with that. There are pluses with the new Explorist, SD card memory, I have a GB in mine, not that I need it. But it was $49.00 after rebates. The computer style file structure. I have files for each of the 20 areas I cache in. the files match files in my pocket PC. I have one file for places I plan to hide caches in. I have one file for legs to multi caches I am working on. I have one file that containd caches I have hidden. If I am in Sacramento I and set the file as the active one in the GPS. You can rename the files, copy the files and rename the files if need be. The Lithium Ion Battery is a plus Geocache manager is a plus Quote Link to comment
+EScout Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 I agree with Johnny Vegas. I have had my eX500 since they came out. While not doing much caching lately, it gets a lot of use in the car and hiking. Mechanically, and functionally it works well, just as designed. Quote Link to comment
+JimyLee Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 I dunno... I've had my 500 for less than two months. I am learning that I hate how the maps and software seem to be proprietary, my Enter button label has already completely worn off, and the button controls seem to have a mind of its own sometimes. Overall I'm pretty happy with it though. Part of that may be due to ignorance though... it's my first GPS, so I've never experienced others. Quote Link to comment
Stepadery Posted October 21, 2005 Author Share Posted October 21, 2005 Received my eXplorist yesterday. 12 business day return not bad at all. They replaced the button pad, now I have new label markings. However, the joystick up is still difficult. In its absence I got a new computer now on to reinstalling the software. Quote Link to comment
+geognerd Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 From the myriad of posts in this forum, I'm thinking the eXplorist joystick is just bad engineering and design. At minimum, the Up direction is difficult. In some cases, one or more diagonals don't work. I got my 400 on the 11th, messed with it, found Up was difficult and Up-Right didn't work. I decided to send it back to TigerGPS and gamble on receiving one with a better working joystick. I should receive the replacement on the 25th. Doing the exchange with TigerGPS was very easy, and I got reimbursed for shipping the original unit back to them. I thought it would be easier to return to the retailer than accept the original unit, having the stick give out and then having to go through Magellan Customer Service for a repair. Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 I dunno... I've had my 500 for less than two months. I am learning that I hate how the maps and software seem to be proprietary, my Enter button label has already completely worn off, and the button controls seem to have a mind of its own sometimes. Overall I'm pretty happy with it though. Part of that may be due to ignorance though... it's my first GPS, so I've never experienced others. You are not going to find a GPS that does not require proprietary map software if you want to load a map into the GPS. That is just the way it is. Quote Link to comment
vagabond Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 I've had my 500 since july all in all I'm very happy with it, a few minor complaints that hopefully will be taken care of in the firmware upgrade when it comes out. Quote Link to comment
+clan MacLeod Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 I've had my Ex600 since May 05. Yes the arrow rubbed off, but i still know what the button is for. toggling up is an aquired skill, but i have also learned to work with that. The filling system is very nice and the fact that you are not limited on the size of maps is really nice also. Had to get use to the slightly smaller screen than my platinum, but the overall size is much easyer to put in my pocket. I could have saved some money and gone with the 500. I seldom use the elect. compass but owell. I for one of the few am pleased with the E600. Just for comparison I just ordered a 60C. Thought it would be fun to compare the two or three side by each and see what they each do. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.