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Magellan Explorist 500LE


tangerineman

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The Canadian tire special is not a great deal . Le Baron in Ottawa has the full 500 model for $208

 

I don't know why people keep referring to the LE as, "Not the full 500 model." There is no difference, and most of the LE's come with the Li-Ion battery or have the coupon for the battery.

 

The CT sale is a tremendous deal.

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The Canadian tire special is not a great deal . Le Baron in Ottawa has the full 500 model for $208

 

I don't know why people keep referring to the LE as, "Not the full 500 model." There is no difference, and most of the LE's come with the Li-Ion battery or have the coupon for the battery.

 

The CT sale is a tremendous deal.

 

Got me one yesterday. Other than the *very* sparse basemap it seems like a real nice unit. Quite compact!

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I picked up one of these also. I love it, especially now that I found out that Motorola T720/730 series batteries fit the unit! No more sucking through AAA batteries for me!! lol

 

I just happened to have an old Motorola T731C kicking around, and found 2 spares @ Princess Auto for 4.99+tax!!

 

I'm debating picking up topo Canada, anyone have this/use this?? Any thoughts?

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I picked up one of these also. I love it, especially now that I found out that Motorola T720/730 series batteries fit the unit! No more sucking through AAA batteries for me!! lol

 

I just happened to have an old Motorola T731C kicking around, and found 2 spares @ Princess Auto for 4.99+tax!!

 

I'm debating picking up topo Canada, anyone have this/use this?? Any thoughts?

 

Topo Canada is a fantastic resource; make sure that you pick up an SD card first, and check e-Bay, etc for a better price or acquire a copy of it. The software will run anywhere around $100.00. I also suggest getting yourself a screen protector.

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I saw this in the flyer the other week and ran out and bought it even though it was a "final sale". BUT I did not like it at all :ph34r: I did not like it at all because I was used to using my dad's Gramin eTrex Legend C with the nice user interface and nice icons. The Magellan had none of this. Although I managed to return the GPS back to Canadian Tire the next morning as soon as they opened. This difference in Magellan GPS's and Garmin GPS's changed my mind forever... and now I will always go with a Garmin over a Magellan.

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I picked up one of these also. I love it, especially now that I found out that Motorola T720/730 series batteries fit the unit! No more sucking through AAA batteries for me!! lol

 

I just happened to have an old Motorola T731C kicking around, and found 2 spares @ Princess Auto for 4.99+tax!!

 

I'm debating picking up topo Canada, anyone have this/use this?? Any thoughts?

 

Thanks for the battery tip - I will be heading out to our local Princes Auto to take a look.

 

Update - no cell phone batteries there of any type.

Edited by battscrew
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I picked up one of these also. I love it, especially now that I found out that Motorola T720/730 series batteries fit the unit! No more sucking through AAA batteries for me!! lol

 

I just happened to have an old Motorola T731C kicking around, and found 2 spares @ Princess Auto for 4.99+tax!!

 

I'm debating picking up topo Canada, anyone have this/use this?? Any thoughts?

 

Thanks for the battery tip - I will be heading out to our local Princes Auto to take a look.

 

Update - no cell phone batteries there of any type.

 

You can always check e-bay! Same thing for a power adaptor, PSP power adapter will work. Check the GPS thread FAQ for eXploris, it has a lot of good info there!

Edited by bassmig
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I picked up one of these also. I love it, especially now that I found out that Motorola T720/730 series batteries fit the unit! No more sucking through AAA batteries for me!! lol

 

I just happened to have an old Motorola T731C kicking around, and found 2 spares @ Princess Auto for 4.99+tax!!

 

I'm debating picking up topo Canada, anyone have this/use this?? Any thoughts?

 

Thanks for the battery tip - I will be heading out to our local Princes Auto to take a look.

 

Update - no cell phone batteries there of any type.

 

You can always check e-bay! Same thing for a power adaptor, PSP power adapter will work. Check the GPS thread FAQ for eXploris, it has a lot of good info there!

 

if you don't like shopping on ebay Walmart caries the topo Canada for 109.00 :lol:

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I ended up buying just the Ontario topo map from the Magellan website. Considering 99.9% of my caching will be done in Ontario, the $50 download price was a little more appealing to me than $100+ for the full version. Plus the current exchange rate on the USD makes things a little easier too! Thanks for the tip about the battery, I'm going to be checking the nearby Princess Auto and other surplus places for one of those....

Edited by Forts
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I ended up buying just the Ontario topo map from the Magellan website. Considering 99.9% of my caching will be done in Ontario, the $50 download price was a little more appealing to me than $100+ for the full version. Plus the current exchange rate on the USD makes things a little easier too! Thanks for the tip about the battery, I'm going to be checking the nearby Princess Auto and other surplus places for one of those....

 

Just a followup to this... I wasn't able to find any batteries at the London Princess Auto store, so I checked a few phone/cellular store. On average they wanted about $50 to order me in a battery. Forget that. So off to Ebay I went, and picked up 2 batteries for $0.99, plus $6 shipping to Canada. I received them yesterday and they work great. Highly recommended to anyone that is tired of swapping out AAA's all the time!

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I ended up buying just the Ontario topo map from the Magellan website. Considering 99.9% of my caching will be done in Ontario, the $50 download price was a little more appealing to me than $100+ for the full version. Plus the current exchange rate on the USD makes things a little easier too! Thanks for the tip about the battery, I'm going to be checking the nearby Princess Auto and other surplus places for one of those....

 

Just a followup to this... I wasn't able to find any batteries at the London Princess Auto store, so I checked a few phone/cellular store. On average they wanted about $50 to order me in a battery. Forget that. So off to Ebay I went, and picked up 2 batteries for $0.99, plus $6 shipping to Canada. I received them yesterday and they work great. Highly recommended to anyone that is tired of swapping out AAA's all the time!

 

Which battery number did you purchase?

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I can confirm with 100% certainty that Motorola Model SNN5588A, SNN5582B and SNN5595B work with this model as those are the ones listed in the FAQ and I am using the SNN5582B and SNN5588A in my unit currently. I'm certain that there are other models that will work in the unit. I know that there are some aftermarket ones that are also compatible. I had to glue a small piece of ribbon to make it easier to remove the battery because once it's in there is is quite hard to get out. I currently have 3 batteries for my unit, in case I run out of power in the field. I took and old samsung phone charger I had and replaced the tip to be compatible to the tip needed for the unit and now have a wall charger for it also. There are other wall chargers that are compatible to the unit without modding them(for example a PSP charger) which I purchased for 4.99$ for a car adapter. I found it to be a cheaper way to have most of the accessories that I need for the unit instead of dishing out a fortune to buy them from Magelan. If you have abny other questions don;t hesitate to post and I'll help to the best of my knowledge.

Edited by bassmig
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As a newbie I happened to pick up this deal when buying my first GPS. I am finding it a little frustrating because I can't get the Mapsend software that came with it to work. Does anyone have any advise about this? I haven't been successful loading waypoints from the Geocache website either. It tells me only Garmin is supported. Wish I had known this before. If anyone has any suggestions I'd appreciate it. <_<

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Don't get discouraged. I think you'll be quite pleased with your Explorist once you get used to it. There's just a little learning hump to get over at first, but nothing too horrendous.

 

Are you using Pocket Queries (available if you're a Premium Member)?

 

For the most part I do like the Explorist. I find it very accurate. We did quite a few caches this week and are getting use to it. I just wish I could figure out how to load maps onto it.

 

No, I'm not a premium member at this time, and no I didn't use Pocket Queries. Maybe that's the secret. For now I don't mind entering them by hand.

 

thanks for trying to help ^_^

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As a newbie I happened to pick up this deal when buying my first GPS. I am finding it a little frustrating because I can't get the Mapsend software that came with it to work. Does anyone have any advise about this? I haven't been successful loading waypoints from the Geocache website either. It tells me only Garmin is supported. Wish I had known this before. If anyone has any suggestions I'd appreciate it. ^_^

 

I use a Garmin model, so I'm not exactly sure how you might load your software onto your GPSr... I know that it wasn't very intuitive when I put Topo Canada on mine. I ended up finding a quick demo on the Garmin website to help me out. did you try looking Magellan's website at all?

 

As far as downloading waypoints, the type of GPSr you use shouldn't matter... unless you click on 'send to GPS' in the cache listing (which only supports Garmin models). I often use the "LOC Waypoint File" button to download cache info to my computer, then I used the waypoint manager software that came with my GPSr to upload the caches to my GPSr. If you don't have software capable of doing that, I think something like EasyGPS (?) can work too. I'm sure there's free software you could find to help out.

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Hi, I picked this up because of its price. Its my first handheld one. I have a car one which I use for geocaching. So far, the magellan is not doing so good. but my question is on battery life. I didn't get a lithium-ion with my unit and have to send away for it, so I've been using the 3-AAA's. For some reason, with the backlight off all the time, I can only get it last less than one day. and its not even on all the time. I've run it for 5 seperate days since I got it (on and off throughout the day) and have gone through 3 sets of batteries. Has anyone else seen this with theirs?

 

The lithium-ion batteries listed above seem to be 760mah to 1100mah, how long do they last?? The one that Magellan offers is 1300mah. Do these GPS's usually need new batteries after 5-6 hours?

 

Brain21

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I'm going through AAA batteries like there's no tomorrow. Although mine seem to be lasting a bit longer than you have mentioned.

I have ordered the Lithium-ion battery from GPSCentral.ca but it is on backorder. I'm hoping it shows up soon. I'm getting tired of going through the batteries.

Other than that it's a great unit. I'm really enjoying it.

Cheers!

Bill

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Hi, I picked this up because of its price. Its my first handheld one. I have a car one which I use for geocaching. So far, the magellan is not doing so good. but my question is on battery life. I didn't get a lithium-ion with my unit and have to send away for it, so I've been using the 3-AAA's. For some reason, with the backlight off all the time, I can only get it last less than one day. and its not even on all the time. I've run it for 5 seperate days since I got it (on and off throughout the day) and have gone through 3 sets of batteries. Has anyone else seen this with theirs?

 

The lithium-ion batteries listed above seem to be 760mah to 1100mah, how long do they last?? The one that Magellan offers is 1300mah. Do these GPS's usually need new batteries after 5-6 hours?

 

Brain21

 

your lucky I go through 3 sets per geocaching day, I'm using rechargeables (ni-mh) they're total junk they go the most 1/2 way on the battery status, maybe getting an hour of useful time, the backlight is on 1 min timer

 

anyways thanks for the tip on the motorolas crossing over to fit this unit. there cheap enough to try from ebay

I hate changing batteries in the middle of a hunt

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As a newbie I happened to pick up this deal when buying my first GPS. I am finding it a little frustrating because I can't get the Mapsend software that came with it to work. Does anyone have any advise about this? I haven't been successful loading waypoints from the Geocache website either. It tells me only Garmin is supported. Wish I had known this before. If anyone has any suggestions I'd appreciate it. :)

 

I use a Garmin model, so I'm not exactly sure how you might load your software onto your GPSr... I know that it wasn't very intuitive when I put Topo Canada on mine. I ended up finding a quick demo on the Garmin website to help me out. did you try looking Magellan's website at all?

 

As far as downloading waypoints, the type of GPSr you use shouldn't matter... unless you click on 'send to GPS' in the cache listing (which only supports Garmin models). I often use the "LOC Waypoint File" button to download cache info to my computer, then I used the waypoint manager software that came with my GPSr to upload the caches to my GPSr. If you don't have software capable of doing that, I think something like EasyGPS (?) can work too. I'm sure there's free software you could find to help out.

 

I returned my Magellan 500LE to Canadian Tire today. Too much headache for me. Tried getting support from the website and they were no help. My computer "geek" son couldn't even help so that was it. Now I'm shopping for a Garmin. Think I'll go with the Legend Cx

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Wan2look: What was wrong with it? I've been using it for about a month now and it seems ok. I've been able to use the software for geocaching. It makes things easy. The file structure isn't that complex. Its just several folders.

 

[after reading your other posts]

I think you have to download a pocket query to your computer first and then use the software to download the caches into your magellan. I did this for an event a couple weeks ago and it worked.

Edited by brain21
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Wan2look...it's unfortunate that you didn't like your Magellan. I've had mine since the beginning of this year and swear by it. I don't quite understand why you found it so difficult to use as I can attest that it's no more difficult than using a Windows OS. I'd be curious to know what you did and why you believe that the unit is that complicated.

 

My questions:

- did you set up your Pocket Queries?

- did you have GSAK set-up properly to upload your queries to your GPSr?

 

Even though Geocaching is supported by Magellan, that doesn't necessarily mean that the caches appear in the unit after 10 minutes of trying. I think, and I may be wrong, that you may have missed a couple of steps when trying to upload to your GPSr, and I'm not so sure those steps were brand related.

 

PS: don't be so quick to dump one brand for another, you may find the grass isn't always greener.

 

Mind you I'm a die-hard Magellan user.

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I haven't been successful loading waypoints from the Geocache website either. It tells me only Garmin is supported.

 

The geocaching site does support direct downloading to Garmin GPSr's but not Magellan. You have to go through the geocaching manager that's provided with the Magellan or use "GSAK" like "2happy2gether" says.

 

Brain21.

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Wan2look...it's unfortunate that you didn't like your Magellan. I've had mine since the beginning of this year and swear by it. I don't quite understand why you found it so difficult to use as I can attest that it's no more difficult than using a Windows OS. I'd be curious to know what you did and why you believe that the unit is that complicated.

 

My questions:

- did you set up your Pocket Queries?

- did you have GSAK set-up properly to upload your queries to your GPSr?

 

Even though Geocaching is supported by Magellan, that doesn't necessarily mean that the caches appear in the unit after 10 minutes of trying. I think, and I may be wrong, that you may have missed a couple of steps when trying to upload to your GPSr, and I'm not so sure those steps were brand related.

 

PS: don't be so quick to dump one brand for another, you may find the grass isn't always greener.

 

Mind you I'm a die-hard Magellan user.

 

The main problem was that I couldn't get my computer to recognize the device. It said we needed to upgrade, but we couldn't upgrade because it wasn't being recognized. Maybe it's a computer glich, but we were going in circles with it.

The second thing was the DVD software that came with it. We had it up on the computer but we couldn't do anything with it. Magellan support said I needed an unlock code and to call 1-866-whatever. There I got a guy who couldn't speak English and he told me to call back in September as they were out. Ok. Then I asked how much the code would cost and he said $250. I found it a bit ridiculous since that's more than the unit cost me.

I was going to just go buy the software from walmart but then I was back to the PC problem. For this same reason I hadn't tried the GSAK and pocket queries yet. I only tried EasyGPS.

On the other hand...I did like using the unit. It was usually very accurate and I don't think I ever lost a connection. All I had on it was the basemaps it came with, so in that sense it was useless. I was starting to draw the maps on paper from google so we wouldn't get lost!

I am a rookie, and just learning so I probably was missing something. Hopefully I won't run into the same problems with another brand.

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Wan2look...it's unfortunate that you didn't like your Magellan. I've had mine since the beginning of this year and swear by it. I don't quite understand why you found it so difficult to use as I can attest that it's no more difficult than using a Windows OS. I'd be curious to know what you did and why you believe that the unit is that complicated.

 

My questions:

- did you set up your Pocket Queries?

- did you have GSAK set-up properly to upload your queries to your GPSr?

 

Even though Geocaching is supported by Magellan, that doesn't necessarily mean that the caches appear in the unit after 10 minutes of trying. I think, and I may be wrong, that you may have missed a couple of steps when trying to upload to your GPSr, and I'm not so sure those steps were brand related.

 

PS: don't be so quick to dump one brand for another, you may find the grass isn't always greener.

 

Mind you I'm a die-hard Magellan user.

 

The main problem was that I couldn't get my computer to recognize the device. It said we needed to upgrade, but we couldn't upgrade because it wasn't being recognized. Maybe it's a computer glich, but we were going in circles with it.

The second thing was the DVD software that came with it. We had it up on the computer but we couldn't do anything with it. Magellan support said I needed an unlock code and to call 1-866-whatever. There I got a guy who couldn't speak English and he told me to call back in September as they were out. Ok. Then I asked how much the code would cost and he said $250. I found it a bit ridiculous since that's more than the unit cost me.

I was going to just go buy the software from walmart but then I was back to the PC problem. For this same reason I hadn't tried the GSAK and pocket queries yet. I only tried EasyGPS.

On the other hand...I did like using the unit. It was usually very accurate and I don't think I ever lost a connection. All I had on it was the basemaps it came with, so in that sense it was useless. I was starting to draw the maps on paper from google so we wouldn't get lost!

I am a rookie, and just learning so I probably was missing something. Hopefully I won't run into the same problems with another brand.

 

Your computer not recognizing the device may be a faulty USB connection. I had the same problem, changed ports and it works beautifully. Basically the USB port that I was using had worn out and was too loose. I would look into the port first off and determine whether or not it's defective. I also found that you need to follow the directions for installation to the tee, any deviation can cause problems.

 

I don't understand what unlock code they're referring to. The unit is good to go for geocaching right out of the box. You'll need Mapsend Topo Canada, but I'm sure that you can find that easily enough on the internet without having to fork out too much. I agree that the Basemaps are awful. I did invest in the topo software and it's amazing. I'm pretty sure that this is the case with whatever brand GPSr that you buy. If you would like more information on Mapsend Topo please feel free to message me.

 

Customer support for Magellan is lousy. But I've only had to deal with them once. The second time I went straight to the repair guy here in Ontario and he had me a brand new unit back in less than 5 days. There are ways around dealing with customer support. These forums are usually your best bet.

 

GSAK is free to try for 21 days. It will work past that, but there is a really effective nag screen built into it. You will find that paying the $30 is worth it. You will need GSAK no matter what device you use. It's the standard for uploading caches. I've never used the website for uploading and I don't think that I would knowing what I know now.

 

It seems to me that (this is my opinion) if you maintain the same methods for uploading caches you are going to run into the same problems. I would like that verified by a Garmin user.

 

Remember that rookies have to start somewhere, so don't get too frustrated with things until you check into what's going on here. There's a lot of folks with just as much experience and can help you with most of your problem solving. If in doubt, join a local organization, see what everyone is using, weigh the odds, look at the solutions, and make your determination off of that.

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I currently own both Magellan and Garmin units. I love my maggie and my Garmin. Both have their strong and weeker points. I personally don't think one is easier to work with than the other. Typically the more bells and whistles are on a unit, the more difficult they are to master. The 500LE is one of the more feature rich units vs price. If you can pick up a cheap li-ion battery for it, it is(in my opinion) an awesome unit. There are a few things that I prefer Garmin to Magellan but for the price I cannot complain. I have found a version of TOPO and I find they work great together!!

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Wan2look...it's unfortunate that you didn't like your Magellan. I've had mine since the beginning of this year and swear by it. I don't quite understand why you found it so difficult to use as I can attest that it's no more difficult than using a Windows OS. I'd be curious to know what you did and why you believe that the unit is that complicated.

 

My questions:

- did you set up your Pocket Queries?

- did you have GSAK set-up properly to upload your queries to your GPSr?

 

Even though Geocaching is supported by Magellan, that doesn't necessarily mean that the caches appear in the unit after 10 minutes of trying. I think, and I may be wrong, that you may have missed a couple of steps when trying to upload to your GPSr, and I'm not so sure those steps were brand related.

 

PS: don't be so quick to dump one brand for another, you may find the grass isn't always greener.

 

Mind you I'm a die-hard Magellan user.

 

The main problem was that I couldn't get my computer to recognize the device. It said we needed to upgrade, but we couldn't upgrade because it wasn't being recognized. Maybe it's a computer glich, but we were going in circles with it.

The second thing was the DVD software that came with it. We had it up on the computer but we couldn't do anything with it. Magellan support said I needed an unlock code and to call 1-866-whatever. There I got a guy who couldn't speak English and he told me to call back in September as they were out. Ok. Then I asked how much the code would cost and he said $250. I found it a bit ridiculous since that's more than the unit cost me.

I was going to just go buy the software from walmart but then I was back to the PC problem. For this same reason I hadn't tried the GSAK and pocket queries yet. I only tried EasyGPS.

On the other hand...I did like using the unit. It was usually very accurate and I don't think I ever lost a connection. All I had on it was the basemaps it came with, so in that sense it was useless. I was starting to draw the maps on paper from google so we wouldn't get lost!

I am a rookie, and just learning so I probably was missing something. Hopefully I won't run into the same problems with another brand.

 

Your computer not recognizing the device may be a faulty USB connection. I had the same problem, changed ports and it works beautifully. Basically the USB port that I was using had worn out and was too loose. I would look into the port first off and determine whether or not it's defective. I also found that you need to follow the directions for installation to the tee, any deviation can cause problems.

 

I don't understand what unlock code they're referring to. The unit is good to go for geocaching right out of the box. You'll need Mapsend Topo Canada, but I'm sure that you can find that easily enough on the internet without having to fork out too much. I agree that the Basemaps are awful. I did invest in the topo software and it's amazing. I'm pretty sure that this is the case with whatever brand GPSr that you buy. If you would like more information on Mapsend Topo please feel free to message me.

 

Customer support for Magellan is lousy. But I've only had to deal with them once. The second time I went straight to the repair guy here in Ontario and he had me a brand new unit back in less than 5 days. There are ways around dealing with customer support. These forums are usually your best bet.

 

GSAK is free to try for 21 days. It will work past that, but there is a really effective nag screen built into it. You will find that paying the $30 is worth it. You will need GSAK no matter what device you use. It's the standard for uploading caches. I've never used the website for uploading and I don't think that I would knowing what I know now.

 

It seems to me that (this is my opinion) if you maintain the same methods for uploading caches you are going to run into the same problems. I would like that verified by a Garmin user.

 

Remember that rookies have to start somewhere, so don't get too frustrated with things until you check into what's going on here. There's a lot of folks with just as much experience and can help you with most of your problem solving. If in doubt, join a local organization, see what everyone is using, weigh the odds, look at the solutions, and make your determination off of that.

 

I doubt it was a USB problem since I tried them all. The computer new a device was attached, just didn't know what it was. I'm pretty sure it was a driver problem. I now have a Garmin Legend Cx and it was no problem setting it up and attaching it to the computer. I've downloaded GSAK and it works wonderfully with the garmin. I'm not saying it wouldn't have worked with the Magellan, I just couldn't get to that point.

 

I do agree wtih bassmig that there are good points about the Magellan unit that the Garmin doesn't have and it's taking me some time to adjust to the Garmin, but the main thing is that it's working.

All I need are some maps and I'm away!

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