Help With First Purchase!

[bwien]

I am trying to choose between a Magellan Explorist XL, Lowrance Expedition C and a Garmin Legend cx for my first gps purchase to use primarily for hiking. My concerns are qualiity of topo maps available, reception (possibly under trees) and battery life. These three seem comparable in price and features to me, but some things can only be learned from experience, so I'd appreciate any advice. I am planning to use for navigation while hiking and also to track what trails I have been on and distances by linking up to the computer at home. I'd like to start geocaching too.

 

I know the Legend has the other two beat cold on battery life, but I am concerned about some reception issues that I read here. I heard some negative reviews of the Lowrance's accuracy and I've not heard too many things about the XL.

 

Thanks!

[+Miragee]

I am not familiar with the other two units, but I really like my Garmin Vista C, and if I were upgrading, I would probably get the Garmin Legend Cx, or the Vista Cx. I like the small size for hiking, but the screen is not too small when I use it for auto-routing with the City Select software installed.

 

I have a friend who has had terrible experiences with Magellan reliability and Magellan "Customer Support." He ended up replacing the Magellan with the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx.

 

Although it is quite a bit more money, that is the unit you should look at if you are going to be using the GPSr under dense tree cover.

[+blkhawks]

I can't speak for the Lowrance or Megellan but I own 2 garmins (Etrex and 60Csx) and I can tell you that they are excellent units. My Etrex was the first European model that came out (8-9 years old) and is still working good (buttons are getting worn out), this is good for a unit that has been bounced around on my work truck and quad, been hunting, fishing, searching and now geocaching. I expect my new 60Csx will prove to be just as reliable.

 

Hope this helps

Blkhawks

[+synergicity]

I am trying to choose between a Magellan Explorist XL, Lowrance Expedition C and a Garmin Legend cx for my first gps purchase to use primarily for hiking. My concerns are qualiity of topo maps available, reception (possibly under trees) and battery life. These three seem comparable in price and features to me, but some things can only be learned from experience, so I'd appreciate any advice. I am planning to use for navigation while hiking and also to track what trails I have been on and distances by linking up to the computer at home. I'd like to start geocaching too.

 

I know the Legend has the other two beat cold on battery life, but I am concerned about some reception issues that I read here. I heard some negative reviews of the Lowrance's accuracy and I've not heard too many things about the XL.

 

Thanks!

 

Interesting about the negative reviews of the Lowrance accuracy. They have reception on par with the new "x" Garmin units and are generally known for getting and keeping satellite lock in all kinds of cover. I use my Expedition in the deep redwood forests (can't get much more difficult reception than that) and it does great. All consumer (i.e., non-pro) units have approximately equal accuracy unless there is a problem with the unit. Garmins are known for an optimistic EPE while Lowrance is generally much more conservative. Both will put you right on top of the cache quite often as will the Magellan. Accuracy is usually a function of $$ spent. Each meter you gain in accuracy can cost $1000 or more.

 

Hopefully some of the other happy Lowrance owners will chime in. We are few but very satisfied. Plus for around 300 bucks I got my Expedition and the MapCreate topo software. Not gonna happen with a Garmin C$X.

 

You will be missing autorouting (turn by turn driving instructions) with the Lowrance units. If that is important, I hear that Garmin is the one to beat for a dual purpose caching/autorouting handheld. But to do both you will need to make 2 software purchases, one for topo and one for routing.

[+k0rpl]

I have the Lowrance Expedition C and I love it. I only wish I could connect it to the computer and upload waypoints without having to pull out the SD card. I don't have a problem with doing that, however I don't think the Little gold connectors will hold up forever.

 

The only complaint that I Have with the Lowrance is that I registered a 2.0 Gig SD Card with the software, and it will only the use of 1.0 Gig. So I have 2.0 card that is only 1.0 GB.

 

Justin

[bwien]

Thanks for your replies. Korpl, that's good info to know about it only recognizing 1.0 gig of space, I wonder if that is the limit for both the H20c and the Expedition C? I have liked everything I have read about Lowrance units, how are the topo maps that are available for them? It seems that available maps for all GPS is like looking the lesser of evils, but do the Lowrance maps compare well to others?

 

Also (sorry for rambling on..) does anyone know if the only difference between the H20c and the Expedition C the lack of MP3, microphone barometer and compass? I think I can live without all of those without losing any sleep.

[+Team JSAM]

I can tell you that magellen has the worst customer care known to man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eXplorist 200 user....

[+munro290]

All I can say is that my eXplorist works great under tree cover , ant the customer support does suck, but

the topo map for the eX is also better as I have found out. A friend of mine purchased a Garmin Legend CX two weeks ago and the map isnt as detailed (up here in Canada anyway) and it looses sat lock all the time under the trees.

[+synergicity]

Thanks for your replies. Korpl, that's good info to know about it only recognizing 1.0 gig of space, I wonder if that is the limit for both the H20c and the Expedition C? I have liked everything I have read about Lowrance units, how are the topo maps that are available for them? It seems that available maps for all GPS is like looking the lesser of evils, but do the Lowrance maps compare well to others?

 

Also (sorry for rambling on..) does anyone know if the only difference between the H20c and the Expedition C the lack of MP3, microphone barometer and compass? I think I can live without all of those without losing any sleep.

 

I think you are right about the difference between the h2oC and the Expedition. I have the Expedition and don't really care about the music playing and altimeter. I do like the compass though. lowrance.com has a good comparator so you can line up several models side by side.

 

As far as the MapCreate software, the topo has 50 ft divisions. I have some not so great photos of it here:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtinseth/sets...57594063528727/

 

so you can get an idea what the display looks like (which is amazing on the Expedition). It has the highest resolution of any handheld with 240 x 320 in 2.83 inches diagonal. And the color is great. I use rechargeable NiMH Powerex 2500 mah batteries and get close to 12 hours with the backlight on continuously.

 

For the SD card, I have all of Oregon, Washington, California, and parts of Nevada and Arizona which take up 700 MB. And you can have tracks with up to 9999 points, several of them. And I have several files with up to 1000 waypoints each on the card. The tracks and geocache waypoints take up very little space. Also Lee Rimar has outlined a way to avoid the hassle of registering SD cards with the MapCreate software, so that is no longer an issue either.

 

The bottom line is unless you need autorouting, there is no better value in GPS than the H2OC and Expedition. They have the same SIRF III chipset as the new Garmins, better topo software, higher screen resolution, standard SD cards, great customer service with real people from Oklahoma, all at less than 2/3 the cost of Garmin. For $350 you get the Expedition, the topo software and card reader, and a 1 gb card (which you buy yourself).

Edited June 14, 2006 by synergicity

[+scavok]

I've owned an explorist and now a garmin 60cs. The magellin has it beat on reception under trees (and under power lines) and lasts longer on batteries, but the garmin is much better at accuracy for caching and tracks/routes for hikes.

 

IMHO

[+GOT GPS?]

The mapping on the eXplorist XL with TOPO 3D, is so much better than Garmins, at 320x240 pixels. The only problem, is the eXplorist XL can be a little heavy, but Ive taken it on long hikes, and it is neat to track myself on a huge screen.

[bwien]

Thanks for all the feedback. It seems to me that the best value for me would be the Expedition C with the PLUS package, which includes topo maps (About $320), the H20 with the same package is only about $20 cheaper, so I can't see any reason not to go with the Expedition, I may want the extra features in the future. Is there any downside to the Expedition over the H20C?

 

I know it's been debated quite a bit, but has there been any definitive word from Lowrance on whether the Expedition or H20c have the SIRF III chip? It seems like they'd come right out and advertise it if it did as that would give them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

[+synergicity]

Thanks for all the feedback. It seems to me that the best value for me would be the Expedition C with the PLUS package, which includes topo maps (About $320), the H20 with the same package is only about $20 cheaper, so I can't see any reason not to go with the Expedition, I may want the extra features in the future. Is there any downside to the Expedition over the H20C?

 

I know it's been debated quite a bit, but has there been any definitive word from Lowrance on whether the Expedition or H20c have the SIRF III chip? It seems like they'd come right out and advertise it if it did as that would give them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

 

I have a standing offer to open mine up if you will paypal me the replacement cost.

[bwien]

I was hoping someone might have done that already, I'll have to pass on your offer... Thanks for sharing your Lowrance experience. I would like to have topo maps on the unit, but it seems like the H20c Plus packages do not include topo maps, can anyone confirm this? Do I have to buy it seperately or go for the Expedition C Plus package which clearly says it includes topos?

[+synergicity]

I was hoping someone might have done that already, I'll have to pass on your offer... Thanks for sharing your Lowrance experience. I would like to have topo maps on the unit, but it seems like the H20c Plus packages do not include topo maps, can anyone confirm this? Do I have to buy it seperately or go for the Expedition C Plus package which clearly says it includes topos?

 

That's interesting, the Lowrance website states that the Expedition and the HuntC come with MapCreate 6.3 but the H2OC links to the older version of MapCreate. However if you use the "Plus package" link from the H2OC blurb on the outdoor unit page you get this description:

 

http://www.lowrance.com/Outdoor/Products/Plus/plus.asp

 

So I bet you get the Topo with the H2OC. Call them if you have doubts.

[bwien]

I just ordered an Expedition C Plus from TigerGPS ($323 with free shipping). Thanks a lot for all of your help and advice on this, I'll be sure to report back how it works out.