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Magellan Handhelds - A Dying Breed?


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Warning - Long editorial.

 

I've been a big fan of Magellan since I first saw the Meridian line come out (replacing the M300 series). It had a big display, best reception of any GPS I'd used, they were very affordable and tech support was great. People were writing tools to modify this and that, tech support was outstanding, and firmware updates came out every few months to fix bugs or add features.

 

Things kinda peaked a couple years later. Around the end of 2003, we had the Sportrak series out, color units were out, and Magellan did an incredible thing - they added street-routing capability to the Meridian and Sportrak. This gave these units a second wind and they continued to be some of the best GPS units on the market.

 

But now it's 2006.

 

Real tech support is almost non-existent. Sure, they'll tell you how to use your unit or issue you an RMA to send you unit in. But report an actual bug - it can take years for them to fix it (example: Street routing erasing your track file - broken in 2003 - fixed in 2005!). Most of the time when the tech support person finally understands your problem, they say it you're right and there is no fix - good day. No solution, work around, or even a note that they'll pass it on to the engineers.

 

Website Maintained & FAQs - if you've been to their site, you'll find a hodgepodge of outdated materials mixed in with their new. Example - the new DirectRoute v3 is out, but it doesn't show up on their website online store. Still the old literature and appear to be selling the older version2. But if you call them they are selling v3, previewer is V3 maps, and V3 manuals are posted. Hmm...

 

They used to fix lots of issues, even on out of warranty units (IE, they had a manufacturing glitch that causes blue blotches on the screen, said they would fix this manufacturing flaw on any unit - even out of warranty, but now charge $95 to fix their manufacturing glitch). So much for promises.

 

The worst problem facing these units today - "Unit contains no basemap". It is incredible how I hear about this problem from people daily. Yes, every day. People are accidentally erasing their basemaps! This was never a problem until a couple years ago. This may be a bug in Magellan's update procedure that they introduced in the v5.xx firmware - and they aren't fixing it. I think they got their blinders on. Oh, and the best part is how to fix it? They say you have to send your unit in. Experience users know it is a simply file update, but Magellan won't send you that file and you have to send it in. So most users find the basemap file on the internet. I've even heard of a few users saying that Magellan wanted to charge them to fix the unit!! :lol: Um, release software that erases basemaps sometimes - then charge the customer to fix it? Now that's customer support!

 

They did release some great new hardware (the eXplorist line). I have to agree the hardware is top notch, but to my horror they did not improve DirectRoute’s very basic street routing capability. What was a great new feature for the Meridian is now an Achilles’ heal for the eXplorist. The street routing stinks compared to the competition's offering.

 

I had hoped to upgrade and continue to use Magellan products, but I'm pretty sure I've bought my last one. The completion has caught up and come out with new units that have all the features that once set Magellan apart. Add to that the better customer support and better software being offered, I can't justify staying with Magellan much longer.

 

-Skramblr

Author of the Meridian FAQ

Admin of the Meridian Yahoo Group

Once avid fan of Magellan

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Magellan is only interested in auto GPS units now.

 

The Explorist series is totally moving backwards. The software is far worse than the Meridian series & they went to a patch antenna. It's also the only GPSr units that Magellan makes today.

 

The Meridians were a great unit as you pointed out. Why they didn't simply update the Meridian line along with the Explorist line justs shows you are correct.

 

Garmin puts out plenty of GPSr units. Even Lowrance puts out more than Magellan now.

 

The money right now is in auto-GPS units as Tom Tom as discovered. Much more profit margin. I think Magellan is trying the Tom Tom approach but they are late in the game.

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A friend has three Magellan units, all of which became "paperweights." It took him forever to get a Magellan person to help him get an RMA for the newest unit that was less than one year old and covered by a two-year extended warranty. :P

 

He purchased the new Garmin GPSMap60CSx . . .

 

:lol:

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Your article on the Magellan was of special interest to me because I just bought a nearly new Meridian Platinum V 3.08 with PC cable, software and window mount for $200.

 

In your opinion did I waste my money? Did I buy the wrong unit?

 

tinytec

 

The Platinum is one of the best Meridian series out there. I highly doubt you "wasted" your money. I have the Platinum and use it for everything. Car navigation(screen is big enough for that), hiking(topo maps help), and geocaching(the 3D compass is perfect for that). The support is slwoly going away for the upgrades and such, but the existing upgrade works very well. All GPS models have limitations and they won't please everyone. IMHO I believe the Platinum is a very good unit with all of the features it has.

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And people wonder why once good companies struggle and finally go out of business...There is just one simple rule of building a strong business: Meet and exceed the needs of your customer in all areas.

 

Sounds like Magellan doesn't care that much about their customer base, especially the loyal customers who built their business using handheld units.

 

I had an old Garmin III. I was in the market for a new GPS. I read the reviews, went to the Garmin and Magellan website and it was pretty clear which way I would invest my dollars.

 

I bought the Garmin StreetPilot 2720 and last month, the GPSMAP 60CSx for geocaching....and autorouting when traveling by plane and renting a car. I just purchased a Garmin Legend Cx for my daughter. That is money that Magellan could have had, if they just had a better product, firmware updates, and support.

 

All my units are awesome. Firmware updates have been frequent and each seems to improve performance. I will say that tech support has been a bit spotty, though. I could not get my second unlock code on City Nav NA7 NT that came with my StreetPilot to unlock my GPSMap 60CSx. One tech support guy emailed me back and forth and said that Garmin only issued one onlock code for units with preloaded software.

 

I called Garmin back a couple weeks later to ask some questions abouth the Legend Cx I am buying for my daughter and was told that CN NA7NT is not compatible with handheld units, at least not the NT version.

 

When I got home, just for grins I tried to unlock one last time doing the same thing I had done many times before and magically, I got an unlock code for my GPSMAP 60CSx. Now I can view CN NA7 maps on it. I am glad I could do that, but it would have been nice to get the correct info from Garmin.

 

On other calls I have had excellent support. I guess no one can be perfect, but my units sure have been great!

 

Geofindr.

Edited by geofindr
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I think the Meridian Platinum was the best Magellan ever made, at below $400, and I had one.

The problem I had with it, was no place on the GPS to attach a wrist strap, except for the data/power cable mounting hole. I liked the big screen on it, and it had the best electronic compass of any GPS I used.

 

MY experience:

 

I always liked buying GPS units when they first come out, so I ended up with a few bad experiences with magellan:

My 4000XL 12-channel had a bad case, that would dump the batteries on the ground sometimes, and you had to remove the batteries to use any attachment like Data/Power cable or antenna.

 

My ColorTrak had a bad case, with the keyboard fallen-in and the data/power connector on back fallen-in too, and my replacement ColorTrak had the same problem also.

 

I had the GPS 315, and it was a neat simple unit, but it's accuracy was not the best.

 

When I had the Meridian Platinum, I did not have any way to convert the track data on the memory cards, to what I could use on my PC, but It was a good GPS.

 

The SporTrak Color has a funky screen on it, that turns purple when turned OFF, and sometimes hard to read unless I set the Contrast to %70.

 

- - - - - - -- - - - - - ---- - - - - -- -- ----

 

The Items I need in a GPS could be obtained with a Forerunner on my wrist, and I've seen several Magellan owners with a wrist type GPS, since the magellans do not cut it for outdoor fitness, with an accurate Trip Odometer at hiking speeds, and no Trip Timer(elapsed timer). I never liked the unsegmented tracklogs of the Magellans, I like the Garmins that start a new track segment each time you power off and on the receiver.

 

The eXplorists are good for Geocaching, and storing tons of stuff on the card, but I've seen people lately with eXplorist units that take along time to access the tracks in memory, so I'm wondering if people exceeded the limit of 5 tracklogs in main memory.

 

I'm now going to avoid the eXplorist XL because they are not designed to use the Rechargable NiMH batteries, but I still think the eXplorist XL is a better mapping choice for when out in the car, it beats having to lug around a laptop that could get stolen from the car anyway.

 

I think that the companies are headed toward a burn-out, and Garmin may burn-out at some point, but they make a bit of money on the Aviation units, Boating units, and Car units.

 

EDITED some errors

Edited by GOT GPS?
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Your article on the Magellan was of special interest to me because I just bought a nearly new Meridian Platinum V 3.08 with PC cable, software and window mount for $200.

 

In your opinion did I waste my money? Did I buy the wrong unit?

 

tinytec

 

You didn't waste your money has the MeriPlat is a good unit. But you did buy a unit that is no longer being manufactured. It's a crying shame Magellan has stopped making them.

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I think the Meridian Platinum was the best Magellan ever made, at below $400, and I had one.

The problem I had with it, was no place on the GPS to attach a wrist strap, except for the data/power cable mounting hole. I liked the big screen on it, and it had the best electronic compass of any GPS I used.

 

 

The mounting hole works pretty good for me, but it is bigger than the Garmin moels.

Edited by Big Sky Explorers
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I too have been a loyal Meridian owner who is wondering about the future. My Meriplat and Merigold are very good GPS units. Magellan does not seem to be upgrading its maps regularly enough, the menus on the units (in fact the Explorists look like a step backward in that regard) and seem only interested in their car market. A shame since the Meriplat is such a good unit.

 

The biggest issue for me is their outdated and what I think is customer hostile software licensing policy. They license there maps only to a single GPS. In my family, I have the Meriplat and my wife has the Merigold. Magellan wants two full license fees even though you cannot run more than one copy of the software on a single computer. Garmin is much more progressive allowing you to use the software on two GPSs and then you can buy additional licenses if you need 3 or more, hich seems more than fair.

 

Hate to say this, but I can't see myself staying with Magellan when the Meriplat dies (or the maps get too old) and will almost certainly get a Garmin in the future.

 

JDandDD

Edited by JDandDD
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We'll have to see what happens in the next year or so, but chances are my next unit will not be a Magellan.

Luckly neither my gold or 500 have had any problems.

I share vagabond's sentiments. I started with an eXplorist 100 and upgraded to a 400 a year later. My receivers have been troublefree, except for a gremlin that a memory clearing took care of. A friend said he was interested in a GPSr; I pointed him toward the 60Cx. :mad: Not feeling too confident about Magellan's offerings despite my good experiences so far.
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Sadly I must agree with Skramblr.

 

When I first got into geocaching, I bought a used Venture to learn about GPS and what features were most important to me. I selected a Meridian Platinum and was quite pleased. It seemed to me to represent the best value and collection of features that I deemed important.

 

At that time Magellan's customer support was pretty good; phone calls waits were short, emails were answered not right away, but within a day or two. Repairs were crackerjack: turnarounds of a week and frequently with goodies (e.g., external power chargers, spare data cables, cases) included for your trouble. There were three or four firmware releases within a year, and they often included exciting new features that significantly improved the usefulness and the useability of the unit. My recollections seem to match up with Skramblr's on this.

 

Now, well, the hardware still seems to be good (if it works right) with a promise of getting better with the proper firmware, but quality control issues seem worse and the customer support side is a mere shadow of what it used to be. Having heard that Thales, the parent company, is seeking to sell off the Magellan unit, my pet theory is that they are providing just enough resources to keep the division limping along, but aren't willing to pump it up enough to make it a competitor.

 

I can't recommend Magellans any longer, either--not without a lot of caveats so people know what they are getting into. My 500 works well enough that I will continue to rely on it for my hiking and geocaching needs, but unless there is some dramatic turnaround, I don't see myself sending any more money in Magellan's direction.

 

Max

co-moderator of the Yahoo Explorist group

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I too was a magellan fan from the start, I had the sportrak color which I though was the best unit it ever then I upgraded to a explorist 600.00 so far my unit hasn't had anyproblems. just the occasional reset once in a blue moon.

 

but as them turning only moving towards car units I would have to agree to that. I think they are completely ugly. and now people are stating that thales is wanting to sell them off. I know that first hand experience of being sold off. I'm betting too that they are barely getting by with what they got.

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I have had a Meridian Green for 3 years and it has worked very well. I have always been impressed with the recevier. I was one of the first GPSrs with an SD card memory.

I have had an explorist 500 since it first came out last year. It has worked flawlessly. I made the firmware upgrade in December and it is a good improvement. Yes, there are some additional items I would like added, but I have high confidence that it will turn on, get a fix, be accurate, and keep reception everywhere.

When introduced last year and currently, it has the most advanced file storage/management system of any GPSr. The lithium battery with its charging are similar to cell phones and PDAs, and is also unique amoung GPSrs. With a price under $300, it seems like a good value.

 

Based on my experience I would recommend this unit. (I have not had to deal with Magellan with a problem.) I have had more problems with my Garmin Legend, which I have had over 3 years.

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I was just thinking about the exact same problem with Magellan!

 

Not the products!

The products are great! I believe they have the BEST products...... but unfortunately covered by possibly one of the worst customer support crews and business philosophies I've ever heard about.

 

I have had a great run with my Magellan GPS products, and all my GPS freinds have too, all have been reliable, but the stories of Magellan wanting to charge to repair an item their software broke!! :D

 

I had a problem with the current Meridian firmware, and the latest topo maps now available for my region, and their response was that there were no plans to update the firmware!

I understand that one complaint form one customer doesn't justify a full scale re-write, but no offer to send in the unit, or to check if they can reproduce the same problem on another.......nothing!

Basically...... you bought the unit, we got your money now, and we don't give a stuff :D

 

Magellan was once a good company, that became a porn in international one-up-manship.

That's my understanding...they got bought by this mob, and then this mob merged with that mob, and another mob came in to realign themselves with another mob that all became one great big "We Don't Care" corporation, that sells billions of dollars in missile guidance products to rich folks!

 

Over the last couple of months I've been scouring every iota of info on what makes the explorist XL work/or not, and what bugs it has/had/got fixed/or not......etc.

 

Finally came to the desicion to get one despite some shortcomings, and watched the prices online for some time.

But I kept hearing horror stories of Magellan' bad customer support (which entails all aspects of the products) and changed my mind at the last minute.....so I bought a Toshiba PDA instead(brand new, old model, kinda cheap!!)

 

I didn't buy the explorist XL based on the fact that Magellan are on a quick path to extinction (as a supplier of something I want), the XL was 99.9% everything I 'needed' (with a large emphasis on that screen!! :D )

 

So, Magellan missed out on my ~AU$1000, and I don't care if.... THEY "don't care".......but they should care because it signals the beginning of the end for them!!

 

Now I'm the first to admit that a PDA is no substitute for a real handheld, and I would never go out in public with my spankin' 4" screen Toshiba (for fear of it breaking in a stong wind or getting stolen)..... but in the car...... :D it's great!

And now with all manner of portable battery devices, and power saving techniques in these micro computers......I get about 8 hours use running Oziexplorer and tracklogging the entire way, occasionally using the backlight to see this or that!

 

Bye bye Magellan..........see you in another life! :D

Edited by arthurking83
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... But report an actual bug - it can take years for them to fix it (example: Street routing erasing your track file - broken in 2003 - fixed in 2005!).

This bug is still not fixed for the SporTrak series! The current firmware (V 5.34) is almost 2 years old and I guess there will be no further update. :D

 

Cornix

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Well, since we're all flaming Magellan (a.k.a, Thales Navigation).... :D

 

I've been in this game for a much shorter time period than most of you, but Magellan was able to turn me off to them very quickly. I sent my eXplorist 600 back to them 3 times on account of freezing issues before I learned from this board that it was a bug existing in every 600. Not once did Magellan tell me to just hold on to the unit and that they were trying to address this in a firmware update. Instead, they just kept playing dumb and making me ship the darned things back and forth for months (and in the meantime, no firmware update :D). Needless to say, I was pretty upset when I found out the truth about the situation and promptly demanded a full refund for the unit and all of my software. 2 months later ( :D ), I finally had the check in hand and used it for a 60CSx. Since then I've had no problems, 2 firmware updates and 2 software updates :D.

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All I can say is my eXplorist 600 is perfect for my purposes today.

 

I use it daily.

 

My Garmin 2720 has spent the last year living in my desk drawer...

 

I will reevaluate the situation if my Magellan fails or my needs change;

neither company has me locked in.

 

I am hoping at this point that Magellan does get sold off, to a company

that has an interest in staying around.

 

Robert

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Instead of whining here.... Send Magellan (Thales) your thoughts... Maybe they need a wake up....

 

Dale

That suggestion usually would have merit, but I've sent many suggestions and firmware requests over the years. As the years have passed, I've sensed less and less response. That last year in particular has been especially exasperating.

 

Rightly or wrongly, I feel now like it's a waste of my time and effort to channel further customer feedback. With other options available to me, I see it as Magellan's problem more than mine.

 

P.S. This was longer, but my bitter ramblings were sounding pretty whiney even to me. It's a little hard to leave a long-term relationship--even with a hunk of electrical technology--without coming off as a character in The War of the Roses.

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Having heard that Thales, the parent company, is seeking to sell off the Magellan unit, my pet theory is that they are providing just enough resources to keep the division limping along, but aren't willing to pump it up enough to make it a competitor.

Thales selling Magellan might be the good news silver lining in the whole thing. A new owner might re-vitalize the line. As others have said, Magellan products have been at the top of the grade and the XL and 500 look very good. Its the support, licensing policies and slow upgrade cycles that are hurting them.

 

Lets hope what you are hearing is true because Garmin also needs the competition to encourage it to keep improving. Thales is a big force in the professional GPS side and never appeared to be that interested in the consumer side. A new owner focussing solely on consumers might just keep the line alive.

 

JDandDD

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Today I called the sales department for Magellan and asked if Magellan was a real company for Thales. Not just a tax right off thing and do they employ anyone. I said that I have contacted the tech support about the firmware updates and that they only do them when needed. I also said that theres a lot of unhappy customers on the Yahoo groups & Geocaching forums. I mentioned that if she was in sales, they might want to have happy customers or they might be looking for work some place else. I bent her ear for some time and she said a supervisor would call me back.

 

Maybe if others call it might help?

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Maybe Garmin will buy them out and adopt some of their technology! Looks like Garmin might have the cash for such.

 

What technology? Garmin can already do everything a Magellan can do & so much more. Including the file management if they would want. Tom Tom is way ahead of Magellan in the car navigation market.

 

Garmin would have nothing to gain by buying Magellan. Tom Tom or Lowrance maybe would.

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Maybe Garmin will buy them out and adopt some of their technology! Looks like Garmin might have the cash for such.

 

What technology? Garmin can already do everything a Magellan can do & so much more. Including the file management if they would want. Tom Tom is way ahead of Magellan in the car navigation market.

 

Garmin would have nothing to gain by buying Magellan. Tom Tom or Lowrance maybe would.

 

They haven't done the 3-axis compass, which is the only thing that has kept me from upgrading so far.

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I called everyday for the past week. Alot of good it did me, I sat on hold everyday for atleast an hour or longer each time and never got a human on the phone. I've decided to bombard them with e-mails. I've sent emails (with links to forums like these) to each of the locations listed here: http://www.magellangps.com/en/about/locations.asp Eventually they have to open thier eyes. Maybe?!

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Hardware top notch - neck and neck with Garmin (IMHO). But the software. Egad! It's not just the firmware bugs that they don't fix.

 

Mapsend! I have a very old copy of Mapsend Streets (earlier than Mapsend S&D) - the original mapsend (I think). The software looks identical to today's latest releases. They've done almost nothing to it over the years. Just stick a feature in here and there. I really wonder if they fired all the software engineers....

 

I think it's apparent, when you see all the posts about how people are having issues even getting it to run. You click on it to run it and for many people it just won't run (unless you start closing down other open apps). Many of these people try to get assistance from tech support - but of coarse they don't know anything about this problem and are no help. :D

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I'm right in line with Skrambler & Embra: Love my Meriplat, but can't see myself buying a newer Magellan at this point. Many, many hours and miles on my Meriplat. Maybe I should get a spare Meriplat & "archive" it.

 

Anyone remember the AMC-Jeep / Renault debacle? Good hardware, loyal customer base. Bought by large French company, not understanding of US market or customer needs. Sound like Magellan / Thales? You bet. This is not an anti-French or anti-foreign rant / ramble. The problem is a large, uncaring parent corporation, not supporting or understanding the needs of small foreign subsidiary (Magellan). :P

 

Thank goodness AMC-Jeep was rescued by Chrysler, who was later bought by a GOOD foreign company (Daimler), and all is well for the Jeep product line [the AMC designs are history, as they should be]. Is there a White Knight out there for Magellan? If I had a spare $10+ million or so laying around, I would leverage buy out Magellan and give Garmin some good competition. [OK, in my dreams!!]. :ph34r:

 

It's not too late to turn Magellan around yet, but I have a feeling it is getting very close to it. :D

 

{rant off}

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For a while all I was using were magellan units. I started with a GPS 2000, to a ColorTrak, to a MAP410 then finally I got my hands on a magellan Meridian gold. Loved the big screen and all the features. Then my dad bought a Garmin Etrex Vista the screen was too small for his old man eyes to see so he gave it to me to use. I parked the Magellan and used it only in my truck because of the big screen. I liked the garmin it for its size. But the Meridian did get a better signal & had expandable memory, which took Garmin forever to come out with. I was sooo close to buying a 60C then I saw the 60CSx wth SiRF, glad I waited!

 

I do think now that Garmin does make a superior GPS unit. I think their technology is trickeling down from their aviation department. While Magellan is focusing on Car Navigation. I have spent many hours in my airplane with my 196 (which I have recently upgraded to a 296) and my GNS430. For recreation I now have a 60CSx. All these units are so similar in operation its incredible. All their units have operation standard. I can use the same shortcuts with my 60CSx as I do with the 296 or even the GNS430! Ive havd such good experience with Garmin's aviation GPS systems that I didnt even consider a Magellan for my next recreational GPS.

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Maybe Garmin will buy them out and adopt some of their technology! Looks like Garmin might have the cash for such.

 

What technology? Garmin can already do everything a Magellan can do & so much more. Including the file management if they would want. Tom Tom is way ahead of Magellan in the car navigation market.

 

Garmin would have nothing to gain by buying Magellan. Tom Tom or Lowrance maybe would.

Lowrance has already been bought. Their stock stopped trading last week. In fact, Garmin tried to buy Lowrance but didn't prevail. BTW - Garmin's stock has risen in value about 32% (if I recall correctly) since I started keeping track back in December.
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I also am waning as a fan of Magellan. Got my first one (MAP 330x) Christmas 2000, used till moving up to a Meridian GOLD. Have suffered through a few buggy updates on it, still waiting on an ALARM/BACKLIGHT fix. Unit can use a 1Gig SD card but still only use 500 waypoints, LESS than half of those can have comments. Emailed about getting Geocaching Icons like Garmin but never got em, even thought the website BRAGS about their support of geocaching and cachers. BALONEY!

 

No one can tell us when the next update will come out (eXplorist seems no better), much less what the update actually UPDATES!! When DirectRoute came out I was sure this was to be the Holy Grail, but alas we got a Dixie cup. No clear indicator of versions, updates taking way too long.

 

And as far as PRICING :laughing: For the life of me I can't understand why the manufacturer would be TWICE as high OR HIGHER for accessories and software... seems that the retailers would be higher due to costs, profit margains, shipping from manufacturer, etc. But it ain't the case.

 

I had too much invested to switch when I got my GOLD so I stayed with em, now if I switch to eXplorist those accesories (Windshield mount, data/power cables, software) are useless, can't afford to trash it all.

The Geocache manager looks usefull but I can't see basically starting over...

 

Looks like I agree with Robert and Embra.

Edited by sledgehampster
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I had too much invested to switch when I got my GOLD so I stayed with em, now if I switch to eXplorist those accesories (Windshield mount, data/power cables, software) are useless, can't afford to trash it all.

The Geocache manager looks usefull but I can't see basically starting over...

 

Looks like I agree with Robert and Embra.

 

Speaking of Investing...

 

Thales.. (Magellin)

 

thales1fj.png

 

and then Garmin:

 

garmin4lj.png

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Instead of whining here.... Send Magellan (Thales) your thoughts... Maybe they need a wake up....

 

Dale

 

Don't waste your time, tried it with the CEO at that time, Dean Senner, and Mr. Castro...NOTHING. Take you money and support someone else, that is all companies seem to understand. BUT, if everyone reading this did and not only a few of us, they might get a message that they are making a hole in their pocket!

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Who is the current CEO and where is corporate located???

 

 

 

Instead of whining here.... Send Magellan (Thales) your thoughts... Maybe they need a wake up....

 

Dale

 

Don't waste your time, tried it with the CEO at that time, Dean Senner, and Mr. Castro...NOTHING. Take you money and support someone else, that is all companies seem to understand. BUT, if everyone reading this did and not only a few of us, they might get a message that they are making a hole in their pocket!

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I started with a Magellan Meridian Platinum and loved it. Until I was on a backpacking trip and looked at the screen to see that I was moving in straight line at about 50 miles an hour. Then on the next trip it showed I was flying all over within a 250 mile radius or so.

 

So then I tried the Explorist 600, 2 of them actually - pure crap.

 

Now I have a Garmin 60Csx and life is peaceful again. If Magellan doesn't pull their head out soon, I doubt they will stay in the handheld business much longer. So sad.

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Here is a responce regaurding an email below it. ???????? Wow!

 

I have passed on your request, but that is all I can do. You will need to be patient and await for an update to see if the exact option you want will be there. I do not know what more I can do. You will just have to wait for any firmware updates to be released.

 

Thanks again

tec support

 

From: Don Forman

Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 8:32 PM

To: Magellan Support

Subject: RE: Magellan Support Request Form : eXplorist XL North America

 

Hi,

 

I thought all the eXplorist units would/should be doing the same thing. How much different can these units be? Color/non-color? More bells or whistles? Take the update from the 500, tweek it and make it for the XL. This is not rocket science. You only do an update once a year or only when needed? What are you guys doing the rest of the time? Dude………we need the updated firmware!

 

The eXplorist 500 can now delete a geocache. That is a needed thing on the other units to. And to have only 200 geocaches at 1 time/load seems a bit small. I can not believe this? Make it 400-500.

 

You can do this, I know you can. They said you were the smartest one in the class. All you have to do is tell the boss you have unhappy customers and you have to make them happy. Take the day off, make the fix and everyone will be happy. I will send you a pizza. Come on!

 

Your consideration in this matter will be GREATLY appreciated, Don

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Instead of whining here.... Send Magellan (Thales) your thoughts... Maybe they need a wake up....

 

Dale

 

Actually, that is what brought me here. Emails to Magellan are either answered by people can't solve the problem. Or the emails are totally ignored after the first reply and you never hear from them again.

 

Example reply received today:

At this point all I could do is pass it along to my supervisor to forward to the appropriate department.

 

After such comments in the past, the requested changes almost never happen.... You also are never given the chance to correspond with possibly mythical 'the supervisor'.

 

BTW, my brother worked in tech support for a computer company for a while. They almost never forwarded anything on to a supervisor. Just makes more work.

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FIRST as a Magellan Meridian Gold owner since June of 2001 I have to say a HUGE thank you to Skramblr. For three years I enjoyed reading my daily dose of "how to own a Meridian" in the Yahoo user groups. I also relied upon his web page to get good information about the Magellans. Some of you may not realize that Skramblr spent thousands of hours moderating this group and becoming a self taught expert of a product that he truly enjoyed. For years I too loved my Meridian Gold and proudly wore my Magellan baseball cap that I won at a Georgia Geocacher's Association meeting. Unfortunately everything Skramblr, RobertLipe and many others said is true. Magellan just doesn't give a d*mn about their loyal owners. At one time they may have. Robert said it best in an e-mail exchange we had together. "It isn't just one thing but rather a death by a thousand paper cuts."

 

I still have my Meridian Gold but haven't put a battery in it since purchasing my Garmin 60csx last month. Is my Garmin perfect? NO!!!!! Do I have a reasonable expectation that after a few more firmware releases they will answer many of the "requested changes". Yes. I quit believing a long time ago that Thales was even listening. I hate thinking that because I also believe that a strong Thales makes Garmin and Lowrance strive harder to put out a better unit. We win when manufacturers compete for our dollars.

 

THALES: Wake up. I just spent over six hundred dollars on a new gpsr, software, power adapter and car mount. None of it went to Thales. When a couple thousand prospective gpsr purchasers read this thread and vote with their wallets then and only then will Thales get a clue. Hope it isn't too late.

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Just to add my few cents to this thread...

 

I've been a loyal Magellan owner since 2002 - started with a Garmin Venture, bought a MeriGold as an upgrade. Like the interface, the reception was great, mapping was just "OK." Won a SporTrak Color in a Magellan contest, but the screen and the slow interface made it impractical to do anything but load a map once and let it sit in the car. Adding autorouting via a software/firmware update was a real plus, then the disappointment sent in... I don't have anything to add that hasn't been mentioned above.

 

Actually, I do. My Gold is on it's second screen, and is showng blue spots yet again...

 

I'll be upgrading - my decision is between the 60CSx and the 76CSx.

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I quit believing a long time ago that Thales was even listening. I hate thinking that because I also believe that a strong Thales makes Garmin and Lowrance strive harder to put out a better unit. We win when manufacturers compete for our dollars.

 

This sums up the biggest downside to this situation. No serious competition, no need to improve.

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I have not bought a GPSr of my own yet. Consider to buy the Explorist XL, but are having my thoughts after reading this tread.

 

In Sweden - you know, this little country far up in the northern parts of Europe, inhabited by very nice people :D - I have experienced the opposite while contacting the Swedish general agency of Garmin and Magellan.

 

I wrote an email to Garmin in Sweden and I had to resend it three (3) times before they answered my simple question and it took one and a half month to get some answer (sent the first email by the January 17, the second by the January 31 and the third by the February 7, and got the answer February 28).

 

When I have sent an email to Magellan here in Sweden, I have got an answer the same day or the day after. So it seems to me that we are having a total opposite situation here in Sweden.

 

But anyway, I get scared by reading that Magellan (Thales) do not seem to care about their customers or about their products. It gives me a bad feeling and I'm not 100% sure what to buy.

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This whole thing is one big war, where my Magna Carpa Autorouter, is better than your Gummyjellen GPS, and you can't have my secrets.

 

The market economy can be a crazy thing, and it takes alot of money to get out the good stuff, and lots of manpower, and sharp minds.

 

Would have been neat, if there was a way to even out the technology between the GPS companies, but it would be like a Boxing Match, where the opponent picks up the other boxer, and then he comes too, then knocks out the the boxer that picked him up, for good, and never wakes up.

 

Competitiveness is so crazy that there is no solution, since in the OPEN-Source community, there is not much money or drive toward high-end products, without the resources to do so.

 

I've seen a russian site do some messing around with the Meridians, with their own firmware, and that sounds interesting. The Magellan Meridians are really good for this capability to be hacked, but I can't remember the russian site.

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