explorist XL,

[Howling/Pepper Chef]

I currently have a meiplat and was thinking about getting an XL for autorouting and for car navigation with Direct route. I will use the meriplat for ggeocaching and use the XL for getting there. Think this is a good idea? I wound also like to use the XL on the motorcycle? What do you guys think?

thanks

[+embra]

That sounds workable, although if you are going to be using one unit for road navigation and the other for handheld duties, you might want to think about getting something more specialized. I had a plat, too, and ended up with a Garmin Quest for road duty while using the plat (replaced now with an Explorist 500) for hiking.

 

This thread goes into the details of Garmin vs Magellan autorouting. The bottom line for me is that DirectRoute provides only minimal autorouting abilities, and I much appreciate the refinements that a better autorouting unit can provide--in particular the ability to customize the route by inserting via points. That might be something you would especially appreciate on a motorcycle; I've heard some bikers express frustration with DR's limitations in this regard.

 

The Quest represented very good value, since it includes the detail mapping software. JamieZ is one longtime DR user here who got the Quest2 and I think likes it overall, although he has noted that the processor sometimes seems overtaxed in screen redraws (I've not seen that on my Q1). But you might also look at Magellans Roadmate series, as well as other Garmin and TomTom offerings.

 

Most of them do cost more bucks than an XL, and if you've already got DirectRoute that's a consideration. Also, the large screen size of the XL is a plus. Voice prompts on something like the Quest are of little use on a bike without earphone...though I do so and I can usually hear the alerting beep easily enough.

 

Whatever you get, make sure it can load waypoints if you want to use it for any aspect of geocaching. Some of the Roadmates, for example let you search addresses, but don't accept waypoints.

 

This appears to have been another in a series of rambling thoughts...

[+eltee1]

Why wouldn't you use the Explorist XL for Geocaching as well as for the Direct Route navigation? The XL has a great Geocaching management system built in and is very accurate for caching.

The only issue I have with the XL so far compared to the Meridian Gold I was using is that I can't seem to find how to do a projected waypoint on the XL while this is a simple command on the Meridian series. Otherwise, being able to store tons of seperate pocket queries with cache details of each cache including hints on it is great.