Qestion about Garmin vs Magellan

[+Gadget_Cacher]

I see a lot of people talking about the garmin gps units, but i don't see much about the Magellan. I know many have horror stories about the Magellan customer service, but i am curious as to why every one prefers garmin gps units.

 

I recently purchased the Magellan Explorist 400 because it can take an SD card, found a 1 gig one from walmart for 15.00. I also, thanks to the coupon on the box, was able to purchase the Topo 3D USA Map send software for 10.00. So all in all i have spent about 200 total on everything give or take.

 

From what i have been able to do so far the magellan has really good accuracy, signal (even in my bomb shelter of an office i get 3 satellites) and the map send software makes the entire experience that much better. With the 1 gig SD card i have been able to load several detailed maps to the point where i have the entire mid-Atlantic region of the US in full topographic detail on my GPS all in all i am pleased. I found my first three geocaches this weekend and i was elated at how much fun this sport is.

 

I am not trying to start a magellan vs garmin war, but i am curious as to why so many people prefer garmin over the magellan units. I have seen many reviews about the garmin units having issues with signal when there is just a little tree cover and such and many threads here about accuracy being an issue. I have some friends who are looking to get a GPS of their own and I want to give them the best advice i can. Since i have only used the explorist 400 i have no real bench march to go by in recommending any other type of GPS to them.

 

Any input you guys can offer is much appreciated.

 

Thank you

[+DoubleBogie6]

We have used several Garmins: emap, 76S, Etrex Legend, and Etrex Legend Cx. Have owned two Magellan SportTrak Pros'. Currently I am using a new Delorme PN-20. Have found the Magellans more satisfactory for geocaching than the Garmins; accuracy, stability, and sensitivity, etc.. Now, the Delorme PN-20 blows them all away. First, it has a 10 ft scale that is dead accurate, the Delorme topo software is vastly superior to either Mapsend or Map Source topo. Additionally the package is considerably cheaper than the Garmin 60 and 70 series color models. The Garmin crowd will probably assert otherwise...

[+Cardinal Red]

I am a Garmin owner. It's what I got drawn to when I didn't know anything about GPS, and just bought one advertised as a "Map" unit by Garmin. Certainly Magellan customer service (or the lack of it) is the strongest argument against them. There have been hints that is going to improve. Until recently the ability to plug in a Memory Card was a plus for Magellan. Eventually enough pressure was put on Garmin that they also offer that now. There is a fundamental difference between them when determining a Lat/Long position. A Garmin position is NOT averaged (although you can average a MARKED position on demand). A Magellan ALWAYS averages the Lat/Long position. Which way is better is subject to personal preference and familiarity. Another plus for Magellan (on the models that offer it) is that they have a better (3 Axis) built in magnetic compass. A Magellan does not have to be held flat to use the magnetic compass. A Garmin will complain if you do not hold it flat when the compass is turned on. Garmins are reported to have better autorouting capability.

 

I think both companies make an occasional lemon. Users complaining that their company x unit doesn't get good reception, might have one of those lemons. Magellans have been accused of showing a signal lock even after that lock has been lost. Sense of false security? I know when I find a cache with bad coordinates, it runs through my mind that it was placed by a Magellan. Even if that is not true, it's obvious I have a bias against them.

 

I think most users still like what they originally got accustomed to. I have a friend who is having problems with his Magellan. I loaned him a pretty nice Garmin. Basically he likes it better than nothing. But he wants his Maggie back. I have no desire to switch. I hope both companies stay healthy. Competition between them will make both better. I hope Lowrance and Delorme start offering more competition.

[+Renegade Knight]

My take:

 

Garmin normally has the "Best in Class" GPS. A high percentage of geocachers seem to have disposable incomes that let them get the best.

 

Garmin at least in the past was easier to use.

 

Garmin had an early lead in auto routing, and retains the lead. Magellan didn't auto route as quickly as Garming and now that it does, it's still kludgy.

 

Garmin also already had a larger market share BG: (Before Geocaching) and was able to build on that lead.

 

Also BG: There were studies that showed that Garmin Kicked Magellans butt in accuracy. I had stumbled upon one of those studies when I was trying to figure out what to get in a GPS. A lot of Magellan owners would disagree but I trust studies over opinion.

 

Magellan makes a good GPS and they have some strong points that Garmin would do well to learn from and adopt. However as noted Garmin was stronger in what I'll call the "major selling points" while Magellan is strong in some of the minor selling points.

 

Other companies are working to break into the GPS market with some great new ideas. Lowrance, Delorme, Bushnell. Delorme and Bushnell are more into new features to set them apart. They have some great ideas but just have not payed enough attention to actually implementing them correctly along with the basics that both Magelland and Garmin do well. However I think they are on the right track for the future of GPSs.

 

Speaking of studies and opinion, this post is my opinion.

[+egami]

...I am not trying to start a magellan vs garmin war, but i am curious as to why so many people prefer garmin over the magellan units...

 

When I went to buy a unit I picked a price range. I ended up with the Garmin 60CSx. I studied reviews and some online field tests of the units out there at the time. I conducted my own test between a few units of people I knew that owned them and to me the 60CSx prevailed.

 

I don't prefer Garmin over any company...kind of like vehicle shopping, I'll buy what I feel is the best product for my money. We currently own a Honda and a Dodge for our main two vehicles. That might change next time we shop.

 

It's really more of a unit by unit comparison to me...there are units from both manufacturers I like. Company versus company is really too broad to do the issue justice except for on a handfull of issues...ie. customer service.

[+GeoXterra]

I've had my Meridian Color for several years now and have been very happy with it. Lately it's been acting up a little with it's accuracy, and then a new mount I had broke. When contacting Magellan customer service regarding the issue, well lets just say that I will NO longer be using a magellan. I will have no part of that again. Not sure if I'll go with the Garmin 60cx, a Delorme PN-20, or even a Bushnell, but it will not be magellan.

ps, anybody want to buy a Meridian Color?

[+Knight2000]

Bought a Magellan. For the most part like it and have had little problems.

 

But due to their customer service issues i will never buy a Magellan again. Why take the chance??

[+briansnat]

I own a Magellan Meridian Gold and 4 Garmin units (Geko 201, Vista, 60CS and 60CSX).

 

Before the 60CSX came along, the Magellan's edge was in reception under tree cover and the SD card. Garmin had an edge in the user interface, screen resolution and autorouting software.

 

Since the 60CSX came along, Magellan's edge is gone. The reception blows away my Meri Gold and it also has an SD card.

 

I use my 60SCX most of the time and the Geko 201 the rest of the time. My wife inherited the 60CS for her car.

I still use the Vista when I'm backpacking and want something small and light. The Meri Gold sits under the seat of my car collecting dust. Well I guess it's still there. I haven't checked on it in a few months.

 

I've found no real difference in accuracy between the Garmins and the Magellan, but the Magellan's slingshot effect annoys the hell out of me when I have used it for geocaching. I wind up 150 feet and more past the cache sometimes.

 

And customer service is big. Garmin replaced my Vista for free when my wife accidently fell on it and smashed the screen. They also replaced my old Legend for free when the rubber gasket came loose after the warranty expired.

 

Another Garmin edge is in the variety of models. Garmin sells models in many shapes and sizes with a wide varity of features. Garmin gives you the tiny Fortrex and Geko, the the Larger 76 series, as well as the eTrex line, the 60 line, the Quest line and the Rino line. Garmin has a handheld for everybody. Magellan has the eXplorist.

Edited April 3, 2007 by briansnat

[+kf4oox]

Many companies make GPSr now (or put their name on it). Things you have to look for is what that unit does and how it does it. Does it work for you. Does have the functions you want. To me how is support from the company.

 

Many moons ago when I was working and living on Antigua Island I would go out diving with a local dive shop and he had a Magellan GPSr unit on his boat. It was a big white one (model 1000 or something like that) no mapping, no auto routing, just a basic GPSr. But this is when GPSr first came out. We liked that GPSr. It worked great for him. And please note, in a commercial dive operation you do not have the time to be playing hunt and find of the dive spot. You have paying customers on board who want to go diving.

 

Once again this unit did its job. It got us to the dive spots that we wanted to go and had allot of waypoints so we could store all the dive spots.

 

I now own 3 Garmin units and they do what I want of them. I bought a Garmin GPS III when it first came out and the reason why? I like the package. Yep that was it I really like the case form of the Garmin GPS III, III+, & V. That was the reason I bought the GPS III many moons ago. I looked at Magellan and Garmin and picked the GPS III. Now I have purchase more Garmin's and I am used to them and the way Garmin does things.

 

The purchase of a unit is a personal choose. No matter what anyone else here says it comes down to you and what works best for you.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Paul L Hutley

kf4oox

[+Renegade Knight]

... No matter what anyone else here says it comes down to you and what works best for you....

 

But the question is, why is the answer to that mostly Garmin?

 

For what it's worth the Magellan Customer Service issue appears to have cropped up in the past couple of years. Before that I heard a lot of good things.

[+Duckfart]

I have no preference on the brand.

I have the Magellan Explorist XL and chose it over the other because of the screen size.

When I was in the market, all I was seeing was Garmin, I had a garmin on my boat but I have no loyalty to one brand. Get what you like.

[+Duckfart]

I have no preference on the brand.

I have the Magellan Explorist XL and chose it over the other because of the screen size.

When I was in the market, all I was seeing was Garmin, I had a garmin on my boat but I have no loyalty to one brand. Get what you like.

[+Gadget_Cacher]

one difference i have noticed by looking at both websites is price. The magellan does seem to offer more advanced features, such as SD card, at a cheaper price point than the garmin.

 

In all honesty if i had 500.00 to blow i would have gotten the garmin 60csx...some on in my family has that and from the few minutes that i got to use it i liked it. But since i couldn't justify throwing 500.00 at this i went with the magellan. There are nice garmins on their site, but the cheaper ones lack the features that the like priced magellans offer.

[+bigdog999]

I have used both. I currently use a Magellan Explorist 500. The 500 gets better signal and lock than the 60C that I've used before, but the 60C has much better graphics and software. When I bought the 500, I couldn't afford the newer 60CX. For geocaching, either brand will work, but the graphics and software of the Garmin is superior.

[+46er man]

I have used both. I currently use a Magellan Explorist 500. The 500 gets better signal and lock than the 60C that I've used before, but the 60C has much better graphics and software. When I bought the 500, I couldn't afford the newer 60CX. For geocaching, either brand will work, but the graphics and software of the Garmin is superior.

 

I have the Magellan Explorist XL and its my second Magellan. I did call support over a map issue and they did help me resolve it. They seemed very helpful. I'm new to geocaching. I bought my first magellan for hiking. It always brought me home when needed. The Explorist XL, seems to work very well and so far I am happy with

its performance.

[+JockoPablo]

I spent entirely too much time researching the Magellan v Garmin issue when I was choosing my first GPS. It's like Mac vs PC -- each has it's loyal fans who dislike the other. Therefore you will find no shortage of praise and criticism for both brands.

 

From what I read here and elsewhere both brands work fine for geocaching, so in the end for me it came down to one thing: value. The Magellan units I looked at simply had more bang for the buck, especially considering you have to buy a USB cable or adapter separately for the Garmins if you want to connect them to your computer, because for some reason they think it's still 1993 so they ship most of their units with serial cables.

 

I admit I'm a bit worried about all the horror stories I've read concerning Magellan's customer service, but I've seen a few positive reports too so part of me wonders if some of the negative stories are of the "my cousin's husband's barber's nephew's teacher had a bad experience" variety that just keep getting passed on by those who dislike Magellan.

 

The fact that I chose Magellan doesn't mean I don't like Garmin. If the Garmins were better values I would have picked them, and if the 210 turns out to be a P.O.S. then I'll probably try a Garmin unit next.

Edited April 13, 2007 by RedZeppelin

[+bigdog999]

OK after a winter of alot of overtime, I went and purchased the Garmin 60cx. I have all the adapters for it as well as the mounts(car/motorcycle/bike) and I really like the software and display of the Garmin over the Magellan. Especially since the garmin does a much better job of autorouting and can handle 1000 waypoints instead of 200.

[+HDxFATBOYxHD]

I just bought my first GPS and it is a Garmin 76CSX I chose Garmin simply because everyong I know uses Garmin. If they all had Maggelan I would probably have a maggie But When I want to learn about my unit I want to know there are tons of people around who know about it.

[+Thrak]

Two big reasons I bought Garmin:

 

1. I read a LOT of posts before buying and everybody said that Garmin had excellent support and Magellan had crummy support. (I've since discovered for myself that Garmin DOES have extremely excellent support.)

 

2. Garmin used AA batteries and Magellan used a built-in rechargeable battery. I preferred to purchase a couple of sets of rechargeable AA batteries and also have the option of using off-the-shelf AA batteries if needed.

 

I've been EXTREMELY happy with both Garmin's i've owned. I first bought a 76CS and then sold that and replaced it with a 76CSx. I'm now, quite definitely, a Garmin man.

[+Paulsan]

I spent entirely too much time researching the Magellan v Garmin issue when I was choosing my first GPS. It's like Mac vs PC -- each has it's loyal fans who dislike the other. Therefore you will find no shortage of praise and criticism for both brands.

 

From what I read here and elsewhere both brands work fine for geocaching, so in the end for me it came down to one thing: value. The Magellan units I looked at simply had more bang for the buck, especially considering you have to buy a USB cable or adapter separately for the Garmins if you want to connect them to your computer, because for some reason they think it's still 1993 so they ship most of their units with serial cables.

 

I admit I'm a bit worried about all the horror stories I've read concerning Magellan's customer service, but I've seen a few positive reports too so part of me wonders if some of the negative stories are of the "my cousin's husband's barber's nephew's teacher had a bad experience" variety that just keep getting passed on by those who dislike Magellan.

 

The fact that I chose Magellan doesn't mean I don't like Garmin. If the Garmins were better values I would have picked them, and if the 210 turns out to be a P.O.S. then I'll probably try a Garmin unit next.

 

Which Garmins don't come with a cable other than the Venture?

 

Edited for spelling.

Edited April 16, 2007 by Paulsan

[+cajunabear]

I went through two Magellan 500 LE' I liked the interface and features but after trying to get either of them to work with the PC and mapping software for a few hours with "Customer Support", I brought back the second unit to take the money and brought a Garmin Etrex Venture Cx. So its alright now. I guess I just had two lemons in a row, but I don't have time enough to make a product work.

[+Miragee]

<snip> . . . especially considering you have to buy a USB cable or adapter separately for the Garmins if you want to connect them to your computer, because for some reason they think it's still 1993 so they ship most of their units with serial cables.

<snip>

Which Garmins don't come with a cable other than the Venture?

 

Edited for spelling.

That previous statement is not exactly true . . .

 

Of the current Color models, I think the Venture Cx is the only one that does not come with the cable. The Venture Cx is priced lower than the other models which makes up for the lack of a cable.

 

All the other popular Garmins, the Legend, the Vista, the Legend Cx, the Vista Cx, and the GPS Map models come with cables.

 

The Venture Cx uses a mini USB cable that comes with other items like Olympus and Fuji, and probably other brand, cameras.