Magellan eXplorist 210

[WanderingGirl]

I see a lot of people recommending the eXplorist 100 and 500. Does anyone use the 210 and like it? The 210 is the one that I am looking at the most, because it is inexpensive but has computer hookup. I would love to see some pros and cons that others have found.

[+JTA]

This is a similar thread in another forum section. It may help a bit.

 

LINK

 

JTA

[+Curious Technology]

I purchased an explorist 210 a few weeks ago, and I love it. I use it specifically for geocaching, and it's been a great unit for that. I've heard that if you are looking to use it for turn by turn navigation (requires purchasing additional software) it's not that great compared to other solutions. I don't use it for this so it's not a deal breaker (i use tomtom on a PDA for car navigation).

 

The USB ability of the 210 is a true timesaver and works well. If you are looking for a geocaching/hiking gpsr i think the explorist is exceptional. If you additionally want auto navigation, you are probably best looking at other (more expensive) models.

[+biosearch]

I love my 210. I purchase the outdoor bundle so I got the maps, geocaching software, power adapter and case for a decent price. It is pretty much built with geocaching in mind. Not having a color screen doesn't bother me. Once you get used to the controls it just becomes automatic. I haven't used up all the memory yet (detailed maps can get to be a problem if you load really big ones, I've never had that problem and if I did I can always upload new ones from the laptop in the car). Rechargeable battery is not an issue as I use rechargeable AA.

 

I highly recommend this unit if you're going to be backpacking, geocaching or using it as a hand-held help while traveling by automobile. If you want something really high-speed for the automobile you're going to spend far more and may never use the additional features.

 

Check out theGPSStore, they probably have a deal on the outdoor bundle.

[WanderingGirl]

Thanks! I am going to be using the GPS unit just for geocaching. I have been looking at the outdoor bundle as well. I am glad someone brought that up. Now, I have a stupid question, when you download so much info and maps onto the GPS, is there ways to delete them?

[wprv935]

I've had the 210 about two weeks now and truly love this unit . I purchased the bundle that came with topo software,usb cord,cig plug power cord, and a very nice case that clips on your belt or pocket. Mine was intially purchased for hunting, plotting of game animal movements ect but also in the near future plan on geocaching. So far this unit and software have worked great ! I would recommend the 210 Bundle.

JD

[WanderingGirl]

Well, I have ordered my eXplorist 210 from Staples.com! I can't wait.

[+embra]

Now, I have a stupid question, when you download so much info and maps onto the GPS, is there ways to delete them?

Yup. The Explorist sets itself up as an external hard drive on the computer when you connect to it. You can delete files in the same way as you do any other file on your hard drive.

[+rhelt100]

The 210 is a great unit. I've had mine since late january of this year. I use it pretty much exclusively for geocaching (except when I'm lost in the car while geocaching and use it to find roads). I've really only found one negative and that's the 200 limit on geocache files. I've taken to just inputting the coords by hand straight from GSAK when I'm far from home. The only other issue...the rubber covering wore off of the joystick on mine this last weekend. It's been pretty heavily exposed to the elements for 9 months now, so that's something that doesn't surprise me.

[+tango_&_cache]

I see a lot of people recommending the eXplorist 100 and 500. Does anyone use the 210 and like it? The 210 is the one that I am looking at the most, because it is inexpensive but has computer hookup. I would love to see some pros and cons that others have found.

 

We have the Explorist 200 and love it. Friends and family have opted for the 210 and I find it much slower to respond than the 200. The 200 switches from screen to screen without a hiccup but for some reason the 210 seems to take a while and for me, I'd rather stick with the 200 because frankly, I don't have the patience hehe. For the first while, when only my parents had the 210 I thought something was wrong with it because it took so much longer to switch views. That said, the 200 doesn't have the computer hookup.

[+tango_&_cache]

The 210 is a great unit. I've had mine since late january of this year. I use it pretty much exclusively for geocaching (except when I'm lost in the car while geocaching and use it to find roads). I've really only found one negative and that's the 200 limit on geocache files. I've taken to just inputting the coords by hand straight from GSAK when I'm far from home. The only other issue...the rubber covering wore off of the joystick on mine this last weekend. It's been pretty heavily exposed to the elements for 9 months now, so that's something that doesn't surprise me.

 

As far as the joystick, the rubber wore off mine too, and now we're having to replace because the joystick is becoming more and more finicky to the point where you have to really force it to get around your screens.

[+Roaming Empire]

I have a 210 and I have almost 400 geocache locations downloaded on it now. My downloads consist of 13 files ( named 1-13 ) with each file holding 30 caches or two pages of a cache index from geocache.com.. I can display 30 caches at a time on the map and with a few clicks display 30 different. I have heard that it is only suppose to hold 200, but I know from my experience, that that number is wrong.

[topografix]

I'll provide a different experience:

 

I just purchased an eXplorist 210, and I absolutely hate it. The buttons are too small and so close together you have to use a fingernail to press them. The display is hard to read and the nav screens don't seem to have changed since the 1990s. The USB connector requires several tries to line up and attach. The battery compartment needs a coin or screwdriver to open.

 

Data on the geocaching page goes right off the right edge, and there's no way to scroll. Selecting a geocache using the cursor on the map page seems to work, except (from what I can tell) it creates a new waypoint at the cursor position and takes you there. The cursor position may not be exactly at the same coordinates as the geocache, meaning you're searching at the wrong location.

 

Every command seems to result in "sorting... please wait"

 

I own almost 10 different GPS receivers, and I've never had as many problems as I had getting started with this one.

[+stillwaters]

I'm looking at the Explorist 210 also, but am a little concerned about the two entries that identified problems with the rubber wearing off on the joystick. How did you folks deal with this. Did it render the GPS unusable, or do you just learn to live with it?

[+parker313]

I found the menus to be a pain. I know that the Windows-style folders and menus is supposed to be a positive thing, but it was more annoying than anything to me. I also didn't care for the fineagling required to get the unit to go to each point as a geocache, showing the icon on the navigation page. I lost mine and I ended up buying a different unit, with a larger screen and easier navigation for a comparable price. The 210 works just fine, but I was able to get proficient at using my new GPSr much faster.