Explorist Xl

[flir67]

haven't heard much about the explorist xl llately has anybody recieved one and tested it out compared the the 1-500 series explorist. I know there was alot of discussion about it a while back.

 

thanks in advance.

[+JohnnyVegas]

I may buy one in the sprig. Right now I am using my explorist 500 and i am very happy with it. From what I have read it sounds like a large version of the explorsit 500

[+GOT GPS?]

The Explorist XL does the best job of replacing the paper maps, but still keep one of those in a pocket somewhere, in case of need. The screen is much better than the smaller Explorist units, and much much better than the low resolution Meridians. Of course the Meridians would still be best for somebody with poor eyesight.

 

Check this website out, some very high resolution photos of the new Explorist XL

Edited December 2, 2005 by GOT GPS?

[+Jamie Z]

In my opinion, the Explorist XL doesn't deserve big fanfare. It's nothing new.

 

As far as I can tell, based on a few minutes pushing buttons at a Bass Pro Shops, the Explorist XL is identical to the Explorist 500. There aren't any groundbreaking features. It's just a new package.

 

Elsewhere in the forums, someone pointed out that Magellan documentation says the basemap is 28 megs. Frankly, I think this is a typo. Although I didn't have the thought to visually compare the XL and 500 basemap, I can't imagine Magellan would come up with a new basemap. Perhaps someone who has one can look in the "Basemap" folder and see how big it really is.

 

Jamie

[+GOT GPS?]

In a previous thread, I had pulled the information from page 11 of the PDF file on the Explorist XL.

 

In the manual it does say "Built-in Background Map (28 megs)"

 

This Basemap should be a little finer than a low res basemap like a Map 60C basemap, since that basemap only shows highways. Just imagine crunching down a bigger map database, to fit a basemap file of only 6 or 8 megabytes. With more data points in the basemap, the lakes and roads would look more natural.

 

This GPS is cool, but I may still stick with the idea of a Map276C, which is much more rugged than the Ique 3600 with the same 320x480 Resolution. A little screen does not help me much when driving, and need something that is easier on the eyes.

Edited December 2, 2005 by GOT GPS?

[+JohnnyVegas]

I am not looking at it for new features, I am looking at it to repalce the Meridian on my dashboard. The explorist 500 screen for me is to small for placment in my dashboard. My Meridain is just showing it's age, it has been on by dash for three years and is showing it's age and is getting harder to read.

 

I would rather have one of the Roadmates but they do not allow user waypoints.

[Dave48071]

I upgraded from the SportTrak Map to the eXplorist XL about a week ago. It's big but can still fit in a shirt pocket and even with 4 batteries it's not too heavy to carry around all day.

It's extremely easy to use and see everything even at an arms length away.

I also use Direct Route with a 1 gig sd card ( Mich. 35mb ) which at this time seems to be a bit of overkill but I intend to track and save all the michigan snowmobile trails.

I've been using it daily and so far all I have is praise for the XL. Fast usb 2.0 data transfer, the cable attatches firmly to the unit with a half turn locking key instead of that pain in the A.. little screw. It's plenty tough, you won't damage it by dropping it.

Tried out every feature and havn't found anything to complain about except the lack of available accesories so far, but I'm sure it won't take long for those to hit the shelves. Good unit, highly recommend it.