Magellan V/s Garmin

[+lostinthewuds]

Howdy gang!

 

I just had a thought, has anyone ever done any side by side comparison of Magellan and Garmin GPSr? I thinking of upgrading my old Lowrance globalnav12 to either a Magellan Explorist 400-500 or a Garmin 60CSX.

 

I've read both good and bad about both units. The garmin seems IMHO to have a bigger following as it's antenna seems to be superior to the Magellans.

 

However, the magellans run almost $200 cheaper than the Garmins.

 

I'm curious about easy of use on both units and reception. The globalnav blinks out in the woods alot, I wouldn't know how to act if I were able to go into the woods and not loose the signal.

 

 

lost

[robertlipe]

Sidebar: 60CSX is more comparable to 600 than to 400-500. Be sure you're comparing similar fruits.

 

There are two sites in the FAQ at the top of this group that can help: GPSInformation.net has reviews of each. In my collection of tech articles is a side-by-side reception comparison.

 

Of all the complaints in this group about Explorist, reception is almost never one of them.

 

Of those two products, If auto routing is in your future, I give an emphatic nod to the Garmin product http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=111250

 

It's subjective, but I think the UI on the C models is much nicer than that of the Explorist. Explorist gains a lot of its perceived simplicty by just not offering as many features. For example, there are screens on the Garmin to let you customize the font size of the labels and whether the compass kicks on only below certain speeds. Some consider the Magellans "simpler" becuase they just plain don't have that level of customization.

[+Airmapper]

Why not stick with Lowrance? Lowrance units hold their own next to Garmins. The units do not have Auto-routing, but in place have more features for a lower cost.

 

Compare some Lowrances in while your looking. They have large color screens and excellent antennas.

[+budd-rdc]

I run Magellan vs Garmin side-by-side all the time. Unfortunately, they are old units, so not too helpful here.

 

However, I've seen eXplorist 500/600 side-by-side against GPSMap 60cx/60csx in deep forest cover, most recently at an event. Reception and accuracy are the least of your worries for these units. User interface is probably more important, echoing roberlipe's comments above.

 

Older Magellan units used quadrifilar helix antennas. Garmin GPSMap series use that, too. Garmin eTrex, Magellan eXplorist, and Lowrance use patch antennas. You can search on the web to see what they look like - the former looks like a tower, while the latter looks like a flat metal plate.

 

This means you can't do a simple "Garmin vs. Magellan" for comparing antennas.

[misteraceman]

I ran a comparison test in June, for about 3 weeks using a Magellan 500 vs my Garmin GPSMap60CS. Quite frankly, I do not think that you can compare these units against one another. If you compare the Legend Cx to the Magellan 500, I think you have a fair comparison since both units are similar size, weight and functions. The reason there is $200 difference when comparing the 60Cx or 60CSx is that the Garmin has more to it, but don't take anything away from the Magellan because if you rate the Magellan 500 to the Legend Cx then I might give the nod to Magellan and this might be a very fair comparison. The tiny buttons are my biggest complaint. Rechargeable batteries on the Magellan are a non factor since it seems everyone is getting around 15 hours to a charge. If camping then you would need an extra battery pack or the new battery clip for NIMH batteries for the Magellan.

 

The Magellan's antennae is quite good for reception and would compare favourably to the Garmin 60Cx series for holding satellites, but the screen is really much smaller and the tiny buttons are my complaint. Point in favour is that the backlight is always on in dim view which means that you can walk into a dark place and without fumbling around you can still view your map, so considering that there is always a backlight on, you do get very decent battery life.

 

Another point. The Garmin 60 series have lighted buttons for night use and that is really bonus, even when using the unit in the cradle for navigating etc, you can find the proper button immediately.

 

So if you then compare the Legend Cx to the Magellan 500 then price for price and feature for feature the comparison will be close with my nod going to the Magellan.

 

Just a personal view and I have tried to be unbiased as much as possible since I have owned both Magellan and Garmin and had fun with both. I might add though that the new 60Cx series will blow away the old C or CS for locking onto satellites and holding them, especially when you use the most recent updates.

[+lostinthewuds]

You all made good points about comparing apples to apples. I didn;t know how they all compared as my unit is really old. I may hve to look into the Lowrance modles out there too. Maybe the iFinder series.

 

Now as for the aples to apples part. After snooping around the net a little, do you think the Explorist XL is better for comparing to the 60CSX? I have looked at both on *bay and they are about $100-150 apart in price. I know someone mentioned the screen size on the 400-500 series and the XL certainly doesn't have that issue. The buttons appear to be larger but pictures can be deceiving.

 

Thanks for all the help!

 

lost

[+briansnat]

You all made good points about comparing apples to apples. I didn;t know how they all compared as my unit is really old. I may hve to look into the Lowrance modles out there too. Maybe the iFinder series.

 

Now as for the aples to apples part. After snooping around the net a little, do you think the Explorist XL is better for comparing to the 60CSX? I have looked at both on *bay and they are about $100-150 apart in price. I know someone mentioned the screen size on the 400-500 series and the XL certainly doesn't have that issue. The buttons appear to be larger but pictures can be deceiving.

 

Thanks for all the help!

 

lost

 

I think comparing the eXplorist XL and 60CX is more reasonable than comparing it with a 60SCX.

[+hogrod]

personally I would never consider the explorist XL because it take 4 AA batterys. I like my gpsr to be light weight. I guess you can argue that the XL has an awesome large screen but I would also feel that would give you more of a chance of scratching it. also i checked out the screen size VS resolution of the explorist XL and the lowreance expeditionC, the expedition screen is slightly smaller but has a much better resolution(also the lowrance only used 2 AA batterys).

 

I also slightly disagree with the above statements that you can't compare a explorist 500/600 to a 60cx/60csx. I own a legendC and a 60cx and I will compare them to a explorist, the legendC looses to the explorist only because you have to hold it properly to get signal(screen up facing the sky). now I think comparing the 60cx to the explorist 500 is a great comparision, both get signal in very poor enviroment, and both have similar features. for me the garmin units win because of there icon based user interface(they also have slightly more features and are more customizable).

 

I should also say that ALL the magellans I have owned(6) I had issues with so I am very biased toward them. also the seemingly never ending garmin warranty is well worth any extra money you spend.

[robertlipe]

I was trying to ensure the user compared units with compass/barometer to units with compass/barometer. A 60CSX is more like an X600 than an X500. A 60CX is more like an X500 than an X600. That's all.

[+lostinthewuds]

Thanks for the input all. I read someone's Magellan Faqs (can't remember who it was,,,,sorry) and the Magellan seemed to be a pretty good unit for reception?

 

As to the 4 AA batteries........ I carry a unit that will run about 6 hours on 4 AA now. So I guess the weight isn;t really an issue. Man just think, if I get a newer unit........ I could use the "hey honey think of the money we'll save on batteries" ploy? lol

 

Several have mentioned the Lowrance units too. I may even look into them. From what I've read they seem to be pretty Non User Friendly. But I spoze it's all in what you're used to.

 

Thanks for all the help, please feel free to chime in on my rantings.

 

So many different units so little time!

 

lost

[+budd-rdc]

Magellan eXplorist XL is similar to Garmin GPSMap 76 series in size, very large for a handheld. I've seen it in the hands of a cacher, and also on store shelves.

 

Lowrance's user interface is highly customizable, which is both its strength and weakness. I got used to it, so no problem for me. You can do neat things like having a direction arrow and distance in the map window.

 

Good luck on your decision and purchase!