Magellan vs Garmin for schools

[+baileyhk]

Also posted on education board:

 

I am looking to ourchase 20 or so GPS units for my school, to use in PE. I am looking at the magellan 100 and 210 and, having use both the Etrx and explorist 100 I prefer the magellan.

 

Can anyone tell me which they prefer and why and if you think one or the other brand is better suited for schools?

 

thanks

[+Timpat]

Also posted on education board:

 

I am looking to ourchase 20 or so GPS units for my school, to use in PE. I am looking at the magellan 100 and 210 and, having use both the Etrx and explorist 100 I prefer the magellan.

 

Can anyone tell me which they prefer and why and if you think one or the other brand is better suited for schools?

 

thanks

I'll put in my thoughts. Garmin GPSrs are more compatible with GIS. How do you plan to use them, and what general age group are you working with? For one example, if you plan to record tracklogs of a cross-country running course to create maps or export data to databases, I'd say Garmin.

[ossumguywill]

The 210 is probably the best gps for education. It is cheap but has everything you need. Garmin is more geared towards hiking/driving. The 210 can download coordinates from a computer, so you don't have to waste valuable class time keying in coords.

[+Night Stalker]

I don't know what you are planning on using them for so cannot be sure how to answer this question, but from what I have read if you are planning on using them to determine how far or exactly where everyone is going they will not be 100% accurate. That is because information is entered at a timed interval so you don't get a 100% accurate view of what is going on.

[+briansnat]

What is your planned use? I think that would have a lot to do with the answer.

[+baileyhk]

I will be using the units for geocaching, hiking, camping, and basically anything we can do with them outdoors. After another suggestion I will also try to use them for mapping cross country routes out but this will be more personal than class use.

[+gpsblake]

Garmins are good units but with buttons on the side and a slightly more learning curve to them, I'd go with the Explorist units for your class. Explorist 100 units are priced around 80 bucks on the web now. The 210 will cost you about 50 more bucks per unit ($1,000 for 20 units) if budgeting is a consideration.

[Vlad]

wow holy bunch of magellan fans here batman...!

 

garmin's are easier to use, their company provides much better after-sales support, they have a wider selection of maps available, they have a wider array of third-party maps available, they are more widely supported by third-party software manufacturers (garmin is the defacto standard) and much more.

 

look at the wide range of products that garmin makes - they are spending huge amounts on r&d - they are fanatical about the technology and delivering innovative and interesting products - this is a company that is not likely to lose their #1 position in the consumer gps marketplace anytime soon.

[+gpsblake]

wow holy bunch of magellan fans here batman...!

 

I'm actually a Garmin owner right now.

 

However, the Explorist is a much easier unit to teach people to use than Etrex Garmin series if you are introducing them to a GPS.

 

One example, you are telling the class to press the MENU button. On the Explorist units, the MENU button is marked MENU on front of the unit making it real easy to find. On the Etrex, there is no button marked MENU and the instructor will have to probably go to 5 or 10 in the class who can't figure out which button on the Etrex is the MENU button.

 

http://www.importercorp.com/images/EXPLORIST-100.jpg

 

Shows how well marked the buttons are on the Explorist. That along that the Explorist only has a small amount of screens makes it real easy for the novice to use.

 

I'm not saying the Explorist is better. For me, The Explorist is not better because of why I use a GPS. But for teaching newbies, it's a simple unit to master.

[+pghlooking]

I think it would depend on whether they drink Coke or Pepsi while riding in their Ford or Chevy to school.

[ArtMan]

The 210 can download coordinates from a computer, so you don't have to waste valuable class time keying in coords.

I believe all Garmins can download to a computer (and upload, too). I have never used a Magellan GPSr, but I believe I have read that some of their lower-end models — though not the 210 — lack a computer interface.

 

-ArtMan-

[carpetking]

The explorist 210 has a wonderful computer interface. We have used ours for about 3 months and it is great at doing uploads of maps, cache information and such. IM me if you have any other questions.

[+Renegade Knight]

My experience is that Garmin has an easier interface than Magellan.

[+geognerd]

However, the Explorist is a much easier unit to teach people to use than Etrex Garmin series if you are introducing them to a GPS.

 

One example, you are telling the class to press the MENU button. On the Explorist units, the MENU button is marked MENU on front of the unit making it real easy to find. On the Etrex, there is no button marked MENU and the instructor will have to probably go to 5 or 10 in the class who can't figure out which button on the Etrex is the MENU button.

I've seen this exact thing first-hand. A couple of summers ago I was invited to present at a workshop introducing GIS, GPS, and geocaching to a group of K-12 teachers. We went outside to use some yellow eTrex receivers and the person doing the GPS demo had to go around one-on-one explaining the buttons.

 

Two weeks ago I met with a couple of middle school teachers to demonstrate GIS and GPS. I took them outside and let them use my eXplorist 210 and 400. Since there were only two teachers, I was able to show them individually how to mark and go to POIs. After showing them just once how to do these things, they walked around marking and going to POIs without any problems. The eXplorist is at least as easy to learn as the eTrex.

[+YuccaPatrol]

I'd get a bunch of Garmin Rhinos. . .

 

so you can find the kids!

[egorny]

I taught with Magellans for years before they changed to the eXplorist.

We taught classes mostly to teachers. We loved the SporTrak and the Meridians which are out of production.

 

Magellan sent me a 210 to play with and since we teach GIS as well we had some requirements the new series just didn't have/address.

 

So we switched to the Garmin GPS 60 series and we love them. They met all our requirements etc.

In teaching them to teachers, we found them easier then the Magellan use to be. They do come with the built in games the teachers actually enjoyed trying as well.

 

We found that depending on the unit, they have software that lets you do live screen captures which you can save for manuals etc.

 

We also had students and teachers who were taught on the SporTrak and they in general preferred the new Garmins. Great screen size, helix antenna etc.

 

We do have a Garmin dealer we work with that extends a nice discount to educators and schools. Email me if you want the forms for him. In general he gives you govt prices.

 

egorny@gis2gps.com

 

Ed

[+gpsblake]

The reason I didn't mention the 60 series.

 

Buying 20 Garmin 60 series units will cost the school THOUSANDS more than buying 20 Explorist 100 units.

 

I'm sure the school is on a real strict budget as are all schools.

[egorny]

The GPS 60 for education runs $134.99. comes with USB cable, software etc

The eXpolorist 100 list for $109.00. - not sure how cheap you can get it.

$1,000 more ??

Since we need the computer connection and want the good antenna system the 60 covers all our issues.