ashleedawg Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 I bought my gpsr 3 years ago. It's a Magellan Sport Trak Map. It seem like the best one I could find for the budget I had to go on. I've used it a lot, and I have had very few issues with it Except in the dense forest of southwest canada (especially when the trees are covered in snow). But I don't know anyone else that uses, or even owns a gps, AT ALL!! So I have no concept of how it compares to others. I also haven't yet found any discussion about it in this forum. But I Am, after all, a newbie in here. So, what's the scoup? Does anyone else have one of these? How does it rate? The only thing I don't like about the magellan is that the software (mapsend) is not that good, and yet very costly. And you can only use their map software, and nothing else, or at least none that I've found yet. I kinda wish I got a garmin. But I've never even seen one out of the box to compare it to. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment
+scott9282 Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 I am only going to write from personal experience and not bring up what others have posted about the Magellan Sportrak series. I own a Sportrak Map. It worked fine for about 2 years, then it decided that it no longer wished to track satellites, a definite drawback for a GPSr. I tried all the suggested rememdies on the Thales website, and ended up sending the unit back to Thales/Magellan for service. They said they had to reinstall the satellite almanac, which they did free of charge to their credit. Unfortunately this did nothing for the unit, and EPE (the unit's estimate of its error probability) was consistently ranging from 75 feet to 600 feet. Nothing fixed this. I also had Mapsend Topo, which seemed to be off by a consistent 100 feet even when I allowed for the EPE variance (even when the GPSr was new and gave EPEs of 10 feet, the Topo maps were still off by 100+ feet). While this sort of error might be fine for gross navigation, for geocaching it made the unit worthless. I tried software upgrades, downgrades, voodoo, witchcraft and vile swearing. No help. Enough was enough. I finally broke down and ordered a Garmin 60C. I also ordered the auto nav kit, and so far the maps are dead on when it comes to where the GPSr and maps say I am. Granted I could have spent more on one of the "X" models, but to be honest, I found that the 8 MB of memory in the Sportrak were more than sufficient for my mapping needs, and now the 56 MB memory in the 60C is much more than I use now. I suppose if my needs change I'll buy a 60Cx, but probably not for a couple of years at least, I like to let the "bugs" get ironed out of the system before I buy something. Quote Link to comment
+gpsblake Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 1) as long as your Sportrak Map works, it will be as accurate as any GPS on the market today. Some of the newer GPS units will have better screen resolution than the Sportrak. 2) any GPS will have trouble in dense forest. Don't believe otherwise. 3) with Garmin, you can only use their mapping software also. 4) People have been comparing Garmin vs Magellan for years now. Generally people love their brand, just like Coke or Pepsi. Garmin owners love their units and Magellan users love their units as a rule. The best way to compare is to a) Go out to stores and feel and hold the units and play around with them visit the manufacters websites and compare and read owner's manuals. Here are the big three http://www.garmin.com http://www.magellangps.com http://www.lowrance.com Quote Link to comment
+Team Dubbin Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 ashleedawg I also have a Sport Trak Map. I have been thinking about buying a new GPS but so far I can not find any good reason to replace what I have now. I have had it since May of 2003 and I have never once had a problem with it. Its just the right size, easy to use and accurate. With the Sprot Trak Map, Palm Zire 31, cachmate and GSAK I feel that I have a great caching setup. It has also helped me out many times on the road when traveling. Quote Link to comment
+Team Duckit Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 I have a sport trak PRO I bought new when it first came out I never did like the screen on it to hard to see no memory & I was always turning it off when pulling it out of a pack or case so I looked at a garmin 60c liked the color screen so I bought a 60 Cx last month put in a 512 card bought City Navigator & havent looked back Quote Link to comment
+Team Dubbin Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 so I looked at a garmin 60c liked the color screen so I bought a 60 Cx last month put in a 512 card bought City Navigator & havent looked back Do you really think it is fare to compare a $450 unit with a under $200 unit? I didn't think so... Also I bet I can find just as many caches with my under $200 unit as you can find with your $450 unit Quote Link to comment
+Semper Questio Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 I've been using my Maggie STM since I started a little over 2 years ago and have had no problems with it at all. I've been very happy with it. The new gizmos have better looking screens and all that, but when it comes right down to it, what I have works just fine and I can't justify the expense of replacing what works. Now let me qualify that with this. I only use my GPSr for geocaching and a little basic travel navigation. Therefore, a lot of the extra bells & whistles that others care about mean little or nothing to me. Yeah the better color screen would be nice, but I don't need the scads of storage, MP3 player (on the Lowrance on Woot today), a barometer, and much of the other stuff you'll find on the higher end devices. Quote Link to comment
+Team Duckit Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 TEAM DUBBIN I said nothing about how accurate or not that the unit was, All I said was, I didnt like the screen, The on/ off button is in a bad spot, & no Memory. The gps will find caches , get you back to camp just fine. sorry if I got your blood preasure up, Quote Link to comment
+I.R. Geonut Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 I started with a SporTrak Map. I upgraded to a Meridian Platinum. I see no difference in the two as far as operating and accuracy go. I loved my STM so much kept it in the family. The only reason I wanted to upgrade is so I could have expandable memory. My Meridian also routes for me which I use daily. My next GPS will be a Garmin only because I like my toys and I like learning how to use them. Heck I bought a Palm OS PDA just to see how it works. I didn't buy a Garmin this time because I already had the map software for my Magellan. Also Garmin is not real big on expandable memory, until recently. Quote Link to comment
+Team Dubbin Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 TEAM DUBBIN I said nothing about how accurate or not that the unit was, All I said was, I didnt like the screen, The on/ off button is in a bad spot, & no Memory. The gps will find caches , get you back to camp just fine. sorry if I got your blood preasure up, Nope no blood pressure worries here I was just pointing out that a $450 unit is not needed to find your way Quote Link to comment
+gpsblake Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 The Meridians and Sportraks were pretty good units. Why Magellan discontinued them to go with the Explorist which seems to have gone backwards software wise is beyond belief....... Magellan should have continued one of the Quad-Helix antenna models (Sportrak or Meridians) and simply updated the software and screen resolution. Quote Link to comment
ashleedawg Posted February 10, 2006 Author Share Posted February 10, 2006 Magellan should have continued one of the Quad-Helix antenna models (Sportrak or Meridians) and simply updated the software and screen resolution. What does this Quad helix antenna mean? I don't understand? Quote Link to comment
arthurking83 Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 (edited) What does this Quad helix antenna mean? I don't understand? This is just the type of antenna that the GPS uses. It doesn't seem to make as much of a difference as the quality of the receiver chipset!! The SportTrack is a good unit! And comparing it to the Garmin 60 series is a bit unfortunate!! The SportTrack is so much older in design!.......... The Mapsend (and Mapsource) maps are only as accurate as the data source they came from, and you may find that you have an old version of Mapsend! Never fear, as the Mapsend data is editable, thanks to some very industrious folks...... very industrious folks here! Warning! Map editing can be harmful to your social life....may be addictive, frustratingly difficult and confusing, and may lead to conversations of an incomprehensible nature to your non-GPS friends! The only 'real' problem with Magellan mapping software is it's infrequent update schedule, and a lack of minor updates/bugfixes!! cheers. Edited February 10, 2006 by arthurking83 Quote Link to comment
Sarjor Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 (edited) I'm on my third Magellan, this one is a Sportrak Pro, the last one was a Sportrak Map and it was my first Mapping GPS. I had the opportunity to get the Pro and sold the Map for the price it cost to upgrade to the Pro. The larger memory is nice with this one, I have the topo basemap loaded onto it as well as the detailed street info from Streets and Destinations, both for the entire Atlantic Provinces Of Canada. The topo info is especially cool as it enables the full features of this GPS, horizontal projection, path check while out in the woods chasing those pesky critters etc, contour lines are cool on the map giving a nice representation of the lay of the land easily seeing them on the display. I use this thing for Hunting, Fishing(fresh water on the lakes as well as off shore in the Atlantic), Floating up the Shubenacadie River, yes I said up the river just me in a lifejacket floating on my back going upriver on the Tidal Bore at 12 KPH what an unforgetable trip. We use it when hiking with the family and any time I just go for a drive I just throw it in the vechicle mount and away I go. My 6 year old likes seeing the various icons on the side of the road as we go for drives treasure hunting as he calls Geocaching. Of course it comes in handy for Geocaching, I find the accuracy great with no trouble locking onto the WAAS birds easily even thought they are quite a bit south of my location. Oh yeah I also use it in the mount while I fly myself around the Beautiful Canadian Eastern Provinces. Trips to New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and all over Nova Scotia. I download the track of my flights when I get home and save them on my PC so I can enjoy them any time on the 3d Map generated by OZI 3D. That thing tracks all 12 sats plus the two WASS birds while I'm flying Awesome!!!! I may be bias but there is no need to buy another GPS as far as I see it................. SARJOR Edited February 11, 2006 by Sarjor Quote Link to comment
+Wandering Bears Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Love my Sportrak map. Will I upgrade eventually to something better? Sure. Anytime soon? No. Quote Link to comment
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