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Magellan Triton series


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thegpsstore.com is listing the 300's now, in stock and shipping for $146

Here you go

 

...interesting, they are showing the 300 specs as having a maximum or 500 waypoints... :D

 

edit to add: REI is also showing the 300 as available - and the 500 waypoint limit. here

 

while tigergps shows the 200 as in stock for $129 - here

Edited by Jhwk
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Newest version of the Triton 200-500 Manual

 

Looks like the Triton's map screen doesn't show any data like MPH or odometer, just the map. If so, that's a very very bad oversight.

 

The location and speedometer screens seem to have a lot of empty space on them.

 

Looks like the cable is supposed to come with all the units except for the 200. A very smart move, Magellan is learning from the mistakes of the Explorist 100/200/300. Considering the 300 is only 20 bucks more than the 200 plus you get mapping capability & the cable... it makes no sense to get the 200.

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On the 1500 you can customize the screen to show this. I assume you can on the other models as well.

 

Maybe....

 

I see that on the manual for the 1500, you have to touch the bottom right part of the screen with your stylus pen where an icon is to bring that up, you can have up to 4 data fields on the map screen.

 

I see no such option on the manual for the 200-500 although it could be there, it's just not documented. The 200-500 do not have the touch screen of the 1500.

Edited by gpsblake
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Are they still going to honor the $150 price point? If so I will definitely wait until Jan...

 

 

When I spoke to two different reps both indicated that the sale price would be honored... But unless it's in writing... I can't be sure.

 

Regardless the non sale price for the 500 is $199. Which is cheaper than anyplace else. And returns can be handled at the local Costco for a no questions asked refund .

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I just bought a Triton 400 at the Sports Chalet in Tempe,Arizona. The only thing I can report so far is it did come with a cable to communicate with a PC.(almost the same cable used with the Explorist models,just a little bigger 6 pin connector) I just got home from the store so I'll be playing with it over the next few days.

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I just bought a Triton 400 at the Sports Chalet in Tempe,Arizona. The only thing I can report so far is it did come with a cable to communicate with a PC.(almost the same cable used with the Explorist models,just a little bigger 6 pin connector) I just got home from the store so I'll be playing with it over the next few days.

 

Thanks for posting this. It's been so weird with websites giving conflictin information as to whether the cable comes with the 200 through 500 models.

 

I'm sure we'd all love to hear your opinions on it once you get a chance to play with it. I am supposed to be getting a 400 in the next month or so.

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I just bought a Triton 400 at the Sports Chalet in Tempe,Arizona. The only thing I can report so far is it did come with a cable to communicate with a PC.(almost the same cable used with the Explorist models,just a little bigger 6 pin connector) I just got home from the store so I'll be playing with it over the next few days.

Thanks for posting this. It's been so weird with websites giving conflictin information as to whether the cable comes with the 200 through 500 models.
I think we might be able to put the cable issue to rest about the 200-500 models. The reports continue to come in about these units having the cable in the box. Today I was at Cabela's and saw a 300. The outside of the box said it came with a cable. I opened the box and it did have a cable inside. Good to know we won't have to pay extra for the cables. Unfortunately I didn't think to push the buttons to see how they felt compared to the eXplorist. Edited by geognerd
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Got my 1500 from Joes.

Everything works great except transferring a map using TOPO was a pain in the butt. Also, no description on the Triton for caches, but every other field is there.

Can you be more specific - Why was it a pain to transfer Topo maps?

What did you mean that there is no description on the Triton for caches? In the manual or the cache descriptions can not be loaded in?

 

From what I've seen here, cache descriptions can be loaded in using the 3rd party program that is supposed to come with the unit (the name eludes me at the moment)....

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I just purchased a 300 at Sports Authority . They have 25% all handheld GPS's plus there is a 10% discount coupon in the newspaper flyers. I know it was for FRI, SAT, Not sure about today. It did come with cable and software CD. Real simple to use Not alot of menu items. It has 50MB of internal memory but only 10 MB is set for map uploads. I was able to upload maps from Topo 3D and also Direct route 3 trough Vantage Point. The only thing is that it will not street route the maps from Direct Route it will point to point route. The map graphics look much better than the explorist. Maybe I'll get a 400 or 500 with SD capability when available. a 10MB map is good size though.

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I just bought a Triton 400 at the Sports Chalet in Tempe,Arizona. The only thing I can report so far is it did come with a cable to communicate with a PC.(almost the same cable used with the Explorist models,just a little bigger 6 pin connector) I just got home from the store so I'll be playing with it over the next few days.

Thanks for posting this. It's been so weird with websites giving conflictin information as to whether the cable comes with the 200 through 500 models.
I think we might be able to put the cable issue to rest about the 200-500 models. The reports continue to come in about these units having the cable in the box. Today I was at Cabela's and saw a 300. The outside of the box said it came with a cable. I opened the box and it did have a cable inside. Good to know we won't have to pay extra for the cables. Unfortunately I didn't think to push the buttons to see how they felt compared to the eXplorist.

 

Thanks for the info. I haven't kept up with forums (until yesterday since its snowy here) in the past week or so and I didn't know that many had reported the cables as being included. I had only seen one person with a cable vs. many websites indicating it was not included. That makes me feel much better about it to not have to buy the cable seperately! :-)

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I just purchased a 300 at Sports Authority . They have 25% all handheld GPS's plus there is a 10% discount coupon in the newspaper flyers. I know it was for FRI, SAT, Not sure about today. It did come with cable and software CD. Real simple to use Not alot of menu items. It has 50MB of internal memory but only 10 MB is set for map uploads. I was able to upload maps from Topo 3D and also Direct route 3 trough Vantage Point. The only thing is that it will not street route the maps from Direct Route it will point to point route. The map graphics look much better than the explorist. Maybe I'll get a 400 or 500 with SD capability when available. a 10MB map is good size though.

Was this a newly purchased DirectRoute or one you were using in an eXplorist? It's not of much use if it won't street route. That's really the main point.

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I just purchased a 300 at Sports Authority . They have 25% all handheld GPS's plus there is a 10% discount coupon in the newspaper flyers. I know it was for FRI, SAT, Not sure about today. It did come with cable and software CD. Real simple to use Not alot of menu items. It has 50MB of internal memory but only 10 MB is set for map uploads. I was able to upload maps from Topo 3D and also Direct route 3 trough Vantage Point. The only thing is that it will not street route the maps from Direct Route it will point to point route. The map graphics look much better than the explorist. Maybe I'll get a 400 or 500 with SD capability when available. a 10MB map is good size though.

Was this a newly purchased DirectRoute or one you were using in an eXplorist? It's not of much use if it won't street route. That's really the main point.

I purchased it last Spring. Its Direct Route V3 DVD. To bad they can't make some firmware change to make the street routing work. The graphics on the map I uploaded look great.

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Right now I can certainly not recommend buying the Triton 400 because I can not get a pocket query to load on

 

the 2 different units I that I have attempted to load a query on using the vantage point software.

 

Both units just froze up that I tried to load a query on ! Has anyone else experienced this ?

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I just purchased a 300 at Sports Authority . They have 25% all handheld GPS's plus there is a 10% discount coupon in the newspaper flyers. I know it was for FRI, SAT, Not sure about today. It did come with cable and software CD. Real simple to use Not alot of menu items. It has 50MB of internal memory but only 10 MB is set for map uploads. I was able to upload maps from Topo 3D and also Direct route 3 trough Vantage Point. The only thing is that it will not street route the maps from Direct Route it will point to point route. The map graphics look much better than the explorist. Maybe I'll get a 400 or 500 with SD capability when available. a 10MB map is good size though.

Was this a newly purchased DirectRoute or one you were using in an eXplorist? It's not of much use if it won't street route. That's really the main point.

 

Street routing is the main point of a hand held? 10 MB is not a lot for detail maps. The Explorist 210 has 22 MB, for heaven's sake! Seems like a step backward. :rolleyes:

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Right now I can certainly not recommend buying the Triton 400 because I can not get a pocket query to load on

 

the 2 different units I that I have attempted to load a query on using the vantage point software.

 

Both units just froze up that I tried to load a query on ! Has anyone else experienced this ?

Got the 400 yesterday. Have not been able to connect to computer. I have managed to freeze it a couple of times requiring battery removal. (My Explorist 500 connects just fine, and exchanges maps, and all types of files with VantagePoint.)

The other problem I have is not being able to retrieve saved tracks. This is a big problem because track usage and management is my main use of a handheld GPSr. I also do not see a file/folder system similar to eXplorists, which gives me reduced utility compared to them.

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Street routing is the main point of a hand held? 10 MB is not a lot for detail maps. The Explorist 210 has 22 MB, for heaven's sake! Seems like a step backward. :lol:

The main point of DirectRoute, not handhelds per se. I agree that 10MB would be pretty limited, although it might be large enough to be useful for local use. IT does seem to suggest that SD capability is important for this model line.

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I just purchased a 300 at Sports Authority . They have 25% all handheld GPS's plus there is a 10% discount coupon in the newspaper flyers. I know it was for FRI, SAT, Not sure about today. It did come with cable and software CD. Real simple to use Not alot of menu items. It has 50MB of internal memory but only 10 MB is set for map uploads. I was able to upload maps from Topo 3D and also Direct route 3 trough Vantage Point. The only thing is that it will not street route the maps from Direct Route it will point to point route. The map graphics look much better than the explorist. Maybe I'll get a 400 or 500 with SD capability when available. a 10MB map is good size though.

Was this a newly purchased DirectRoute or one you were using in an eXplorist? It's not of much use if it won't street route. That's really the main point.

 

Street routing is the main point of a hand held? 10 MB is not a lot for detail maps. The Explorist 210 has 22 MB, for heaven's sake! Seems like a step backward. :lol:

A handheld is not for street routing. It is primarily for outdoor use. If you want street routing you use a vehicle navigation unit. Like mixing apples and oranges.

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Well, embra was right, it was DirectRoute that was being discussed, and yeah, even though I haven't tried it yet, it can do routing (not sure if street or point-to-point) on the eXplorist line. No fancy-schmancy talking directions, but a beep and an arrow for upcoming turns anyway.

 

10 MB would definately be local. I have a little over half of PA on my 400, and it's 29 MB, and MD-VA-DE is like 44 MB (Topo 3D maps). I guess you could get two states on there... if they were Conn & Rhode Island! :lol:

Edited by geowizerd
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Right now I can certainly not recommend buying the Triton 400 because I can not get a pocket query to load on

 

the 2 different units I that I have attempted to load a query on using the vantage point software.

 

Both units just froze up that I tried to load a query on ! Has anyone else experienced this ?

You running Vista on your computer?

I'm running Win xp pro !

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The main point of DirectRoute, not handhelds per se. I agree that 10MB would be pretty limited, although it might be large enough to be useful for local use. IT does seem to suggest that SD capability is important for this model line.

 

I remember loading the 2MB "small basemap" on my MAP 330 to free up space for a larger detail map using MapSend Streets...

Then DirectRoute came out making the Meridian the "Holy Grail" at that time. Turn-By-Turn routing on a handheld that was not originally designed for it, that was HUGE!!!

 

Am watching the Triton roll out with baited breath. When they will do Turn-By-Turn, show Geocache info well enough to ditch the PDA (or printouts) and be stable, it will be the new "Holy Grail."

 

Magellan still has a chance to shovel out of the "pile" the botched intro created and smell like roses, IF they do it right.

 

Just my 2 cents as I ponder buying my 3rd Magellan GPS...

Edited by sledgehampster
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Right now I can certainly not recommend buying the Triton 400 because I can not get a pocket query to load on

 

the 2 different units I that I have attempted to load a query on using the vantage point software.

 

Both units just froze up that I tried to load a query on ! Has anyone else experienced this ?

You running Vista on your computer?

XP home and XP Media, both up to date, on the two home machines I have been unsuccessful in connecting to Triton 400.

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Right now I can certainly not recommend buying the Triton 400 because I can not get a pocket query to load on

 

the 2 different units I that I have attempted to load a query on using the vantage point software.

 

Both units just froze up that I tried to load a query on ! Has anyone else experienced this ?

You running Vista on your computer?

XP home and XP Media, both up to date, on the two home machines I have been unsuccessful in connecting to Triton 400.

You can get to to communicate with the vantage point software if you read the Vantage point manual. You need to select vantage point in the communications options under settings in the view setting.

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Good news: I was able to connect Triton 400 to VantagePoint. Seemed to take 300 geocaches and 126 waypoints. Sync procedure took a saved track from Triton to VP.

Bad news: right after closing VP and disconnecting cable, unit is hung/frozen on a white acreen. Numerous times of removing battery does not help. Overnight with no battery and tried in morning not working. I do not see a reset button/pin. Taking SD card out did not help. (waypoints and cachepoints did not end up on SD, must be in internal mem.) Maybe 300 cachepoints is too many......

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Good news: I was able to connect Triton 400 to VantagePoint. Seemed to take 300 geocaches and 126 waypoints. Sync procedure took a saved track from Triton to VP.

Bad news: right after closing VP and disconnecting cable, unit is hung/frozen on a white acreen. Numerous times of removing battery does not help. Overnight with no battery and tried in morning not working. I do not see a reset button/pin. Taking SD card out did not help. (waypoints and cachepoints did not end up on SD, must be in internal mem.) Maybe 300 cachepoints is too many......

That's because you disconnected the cable without turning off the unit first. This will hang (freeze) many applications.

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Good news: I was able to connect Triton 400 to VantagePoint. Seemed to take 300 geocaches and 126 waypoints. Sync procedure took a saved track from Triton to VP.

Bad news: right after closing VP and disconnecting cable, unit is hung/frozen on a white acreen. Numerous times of removing battery does not help. Overnight with no battery and tried in morning not working. I do not see a reset button/pin. Taking SD card out did not help. (waypoints and cachepoints did not end up on SD, must be in internal mem.) Maybe 300 cachepoints is too many......

That's because you disconnected the cable without turning off the unit first. This will hang (freeze) many applications.

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I'm lost as to how people are saying that they purchased the 400s and up. I've checked at the stores you all listed, and they don't even have them as an item to purchase, much less have them in stock. Everywhere I see online says that the Tritons (not including the 300) are only for sale for pre-order to be shipped when they get them. I've spoken to Magellen who says that the stores have received the tritons but have not put them out to sell yet. From what I understand, REI will be the first to be selling them in the next week. So how are you purchasing them? Is there some secret I've missed out on?

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Good news: I was able to connect Triton 400 to VantagePoint. Seemed to take 300 geocaches and 126 waypoints. Sync procedure took a saved track from Triton to VP.

Bad news: right after closing VP and disconnecting cable, unit is hung/frozen on a white acreen. Numerous times of removing battery does not help. Overnight with no battery and tried in morning not working. I do not see a reset button/pin. Taking SD card out did not help. (waypoints and cachepoints did not end up on SD, must be in internal mem.) Maybe 300 cachepoints is too many......

That's because you disconnected the cable without turning off the unit first. This will hang (freeze) many applications.

No problem disconnecting my eXplorist without turning it off first. I always do this.

And by the way, there is no procedure explanation on connecting to computer, included in the PDF manual on the CD in the box.

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I just purchased a 300 at Sports Authority . They have 25% all handheld GPS's plus there is a 10% discount coupon in the newspaper flyers. I know it was for FRI, SAT, Not sure about today. It did come with cable and software CD. Real simple to use Not alot of menu items. It has 50MB of internal memory but only 10 MB is set for map uploads. I was able to upload maps from Topo 3D and also Direct route 3 trough Vantage Point. The only thing is that it will not street route the maps from Direct Route it will point to point route. The map graphics look much better than the explorist. Maybe I'll get a 400 or 500 with SD capability when available. a 10MB map is good size though.

Was this a newly purchased DirectRoute or one you were using in an eXplorist? It's not of much use if it won't street route. That's really the main point.

 

Street routing is the main point of a hand held? 10 MB is not a lot for detail maps. The Explorist 210 has 22 MB, for heaven's sake! Seems like a step backward. :(

A handheld is not for street routing. It is primarily for outdoor use. If you want street routing you use a vehicle navigation unit. Like mixing apples and oranges.

Wow! Silly me! I didn't know a handheld "is not for street routing." I've been successfully using my eXplorist 500 with DirectRoute for both street routing and offroad for almost two years now. I like being able to use the same unit for both purposes.

When you loaded the DirectRoute maps to the Triton, did it at least show the line from your present location to the cache on the map screen? At least that way the maps would be somewhat useful (But still not worth purchasing for geocaching purposes.)

edited to add: I have a suction cup mount for the 500 that has held up for as long as I've had the unit. I was concerned when I got it that the screen wouldn't be big enough, but that's not been a problem at all. As for storage of the maps, changing SD cards takes about 20 seconds.

Edited by hukilaulau
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I just purchased a 300 at Sports Authority . They have 25% all handheld GPS's plus there is a 10% discount coupon in the newspaper flyers. I know it was for FRI, SAT, Not sure about today. It did come with cable and software CD. Real simple to use Not alot of menu items. It has 50MB of internal memory but only 10 MB is set for map uploads. I was able to upload maps from Topo 3D and also Direct route 3 trough Vantage Point. The only thing is that it will not street route the maps from Direct Route it will point to point route. The map graphics look much better than the explorist. Maybe I'll get a 400 or 500 with SD capability when available. a 10MB map is good size though.

Was this a newly purchased DirectRoute or one you were using in an eXplorist? It's not of much use if it won't street route. That's really the main point.

 

Street routing is the main point of a hand held? 10 MB is not a lot for detail maps. The Explorist 210 has 22 MB, for heaven's sake! Seems like a step backward. :(

A handheld is not for street routing. It is primarily for outdoor use. If you want street routing you use a vehicle navigation unit. Like mixing apples and oranges.

Wow! Silly me! I didn't know a handheld "is not for street routing." I've been successfully using my eXplorist 500 with DirectRoute for both street routing and offroad for almost two years now. I like being able to use the same unit for both purposes.

When you loaded the DirectRoute maps to the Triton, did it at least show the line from your present location to the cache on the map screen? At least that way the maps would be somewhat useful (But still not worth purchasing for geocaching purposes.)

edited to add: I have a suction cup mount for the 500 that has held up for as long as I've had the unit. I was concerned when I got it that the screen wouldn't be big enough, but that's not been a problem at all. As for storage of the maps, changing SD cards takes about 20 seconds.

It would do everything but the turn by turn directions.

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I just purchased a 300 at Sports Authority . They have 25% all handheld GPS's plus there is a 10% discount coupon in the newspaper flyers. I know it was for FRI, SAT, Not sure about today. It did come with cable and software CD. Real simple to use Not alot of menu items. It has 50MB of internal memory but only 10 MB is set for map uploads. I was able to upload maps from Topo 3D and also Direct route 3 trough Vantage Point. The only thing is that it will not street route the maps from Direct Route it will point to point route. The map graphics look much better than the explorist. Maybe I'll get a 400 or 500 with SD capability when available. a 10MB map is good size though.

Was this a newly purchased DirectRoute or one you were using in an eXplorist? It's not of much use if it won't street route. That's really the main point.

 

Street routing is the main point of a hand held? 10 MB is not a lot for detail maps. The Explorist 210 has 22 MB, for heaven's sake! Seems like a step backward. :(

A handheld is not for street routing. It is primarily for outdoor use. If you want street routing you use a vehicle navigation unit. Like mixing apples and oranges.

Wow! Silly me! I didn't know a handheld "is not for street routing." I've been successfully using my eXplorist 500 with DirectRoute for both street routing and offroad for almost two years now. I like being able to use the same unit for both purposes.

When you loaded the DirectRoute maps to the Triton, did it at least show the line from your present location to the cache on the map screen? At least that way the maps would be somewhat useful (But still not worth purchasing for geocaching purposes.)

edited to add: I have a suction cup mount for the 500 that has held up for as long as I've had the unit. I was concerned when I got it that the screen wouldn't be big enough, but that's not been a problem at all. As for storage of the maps, changing SD cards takes about 20 seconds.

It would do everything but the turn by turn directions.

that just seems really weird. Did you select the detailed map as your active map?

 

from the maggie web page on the 500

"Magellan Triton 500

Question:

How do I select a detailed map for use on my Triton?

 

Answer:

Select a detail map that has been loaded to your Triton by pressing the MENU key. Select “View” and then “Maps.” Use the scroll keys to highlight the detailed map you wish to use and press the Enter key.

The red stripe “not viewed” indicator will disappear.

Press the Escape key (esc) to return to the map screen. The region covered by your detailed map will have a red outline around it. ZOOM – (out) to locate the red outlined area. ZOOM + (in) to view the detailed map."

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I have some questions for those with the units in their hands....

 

Are the file types the same as on the eXplorist?

That is:

waypoint = .upt

geocaches = .gs

maps = .imi

 

Has anyone tried putting old eXplorist files onto the SD card of the Triton via a card reader to see if they work?

Does it look like there might be a way to get digital raster graphics on the unit without using the Magellan software?

 

I'm not sure why these GPS manufacturers think the way they do.

That connector is just plain stupid. Didn't they learn that from the eXplorist? The 4-pin connector on the Garmins like my old 12XL and the modern 60 series is so much easier. You can get power from your car, then just pull it out and go. No stupid unscrewing. The cable for my eXplorist was falling apart from the procedure. They could have just used a standard mini USB connector like on cameras and cell phones. Why this dumb six pin thing?

 

And when are they going to wake up and get a person to write Mac software? How hard can it be to make a program to transfer simple data to a GPS receiver? It's not like they're creating Photoshop or anything. I bought the eXplorist because it was the lesser of two evils. At least I could transfer POI and geocache waypoints using GpsBabel and a card reader. I could also make maps on a PC and store them on my Mac since they were only text files. Garmin's promised Mac mapping software is a year and a half overdue.

 

Did you notice that for NMEA data you have to use a serial cable according to the Magellan website?! Robert proved that the eXplorist was receiving continuous tracking data via USB. There's no reason why you couldn't use the USB cable to track. I was testing this for various program writers when my eXplorist died. They don't even seem to know their own machine's data transfer features.

 

The touch screen is cool, but who needs a camera that's no better than on my RAZR? The added features on the top models are kind of cheesy... kind of like those free gifts promoters give you that have calculators, pens, post-it notes and little LED flashlights in them. I'd rather be able to put in entire cache descriptions a la CacheMate or have more waypoints. Some obvious features like Bluetooth are still missing. I transfer waypoints to my Palm TX and TomTom with no cables. Is Magellan so backward they can't figure it out?

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You can upload waypoints and geocaches from upt, gs and many other formats on Triton using VantagePoint.

You can use imi, mgi, lqt and rmp maps.

If you put old explorist files on SD card - you won't see them, except for maps (may be).

 

Regarding connector, I saw a lot of complaints about Magellan connectors, but as didn't see anyone trying to think why Magellan makes such connectors for eXplorists and Tritons when it's much cheaper to make regular miniUSB connectors and Magellan uses them on all CarNav devices.

 

Correct answer is IPX7. It's also an answer to a question why dedicated GPS devices is better then all PDA/smartphones.

 

NMEA output doesn't exist for laptops, that's why it uses serial.

NMEA output through serial cable is an industrial standard and there are lots of equipment that use serial cable for NMEA input (i.e. Nikon D2X, D2H).

 

And what would you like to do with Bluetooth?

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The touch screen is cool, but who needs a camera that's no better than on my RAZR? The added features on the top models are kind of cheesy... kind of like those free gifts promoters give you that have calculators, pens, post-it notes and little LED flashlights in them. I'd rather be able to put in entire cache descriptions a la CacheMate or have more waypoints. Some obvious features like Bluetooth are still missing. I transfer waypoints to my Palm TX and TomTom with no cables. Is Magellan so backward they can't figure it out?

 

Good points, I carry a digital Nikon SLR so I have no need for a low quality 2 mega pixel camera, I have no need for a for an LED flash light I own several real flashlights, and what is the need for a voice recorder unless you need to record your last words after you get bitten by a rattle snake or attacked by a mountain lion or bear.

 

I can only guess these features are direct toward those customers that do not really know what is required in a GPS.

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Had to return the 400 today. Someone on another forum stated he had

two do the same as mine. The problem seems to be loading waypoints

and/or geocache points from VantagePoint to the Triton. What happens

is that the unit freezes on a white screen and stays. No reset

pin/hole that I could find. Tried numerous button combos at power-up.

Consider the unit a beta, so try at your own risk.

 

Some observations after only one day:

The menu system seems made for the touch screen models 1500 & 2000.

For example, the Go To button does not take you to anything, it moves

you to the next page/screen. The only way to access the menu is while

you are on the map page. Pushing menu on any other page does nothing.

You can move through the screens in one direction, but when going the

other, it stops on the map page.

 

The satellite page shows the constellation and signal strength for

each sat, and colors change as they are received and used. I did not

see the two local WAAS sats in the constellation, and nowhere did it

show evidence that WAAS corrections were being used. The receiver

seemed about the same in display as my eXplorist500 which makes sense

since they use the same chipset (according to magellan's site.)

 

As for Tracks, it lets you set the breadcrumb interval in time as well

as distance and automatic (previous Magellans had distance and

automatic, no time.)It lets you save individual tracts, but I could

not access them in the unit. I was able to copy them to VantagePoint

(VP) and see them on the map on PC(I had copied Mapsend TOPO 3d from

Ex500 unit to VP previously.)

 

As for file system, I cannot say with certainty, but I believe it is

not the same as the eXplorists. When you put an SD card into the

eXplorists, it created the basic folders (which you could then change

or add sub-folders.) The Triton did not do this. I believe that it

depends on VP for file management. Before freezing, VP seemed to

indicate that it loaded waypoints to the Triton. Taking out the SD

card, they were not there. Looks like a type of "working memory"

similar to the Meridians.

 

It uses 2 AAs, but I cannot comment on the battery life expectancy.

Quirks include the compass page with its two fields you can choose,

that reset to default every time you take out batteries. When you

scroll through the list of waypoints, it shows the name only (on the

eXplorists, you see the file and directory on the page top, and the

bearing and distance to the waypoint on the bottom of the page. When

you highlight a waypoint, you have the choice to edit or delete

(compared with choice to edit, delete, copy or move on eXplorists.)

This may be more proof on non-similar file system. The geocache

points seem to have the same info as the eXplorists, and I do not know

if the hint size is larger (since it froze after loading my PQ of

caches from VP.)

 

On the plus side is the screen resolution and color which is very

nice. I loaded a couple of photos (.jpg) and they were viewable. You

can attach them to a waypoint. Even more than the use of other

maps/National Geo, I believe that the number one concept of the

Tritons is the ability to attach photos and sound to waypoints. Once

again Magellan is advancing over the competion (I believe the

eXplorsts leaped over the competion when they were introduced with the

superior file and battery systems.) Maybe they will set the standard

in this type of waypoint, and the future when high-end cameras

wirelessly interface with GPS units in the field, for creating

multi-media waypoints and tracks.(or maybe it will all be done in the

camera.)

 

As for my use now, the eXplorist has great utility in my creating and

managing tracks several times a week for a couple different uses. One

of these is geotagging my photos using a couple of programs in the PC.

I will probably get another Triton when it is out of beta, and will

lean toward the 1500 or 2000, and see if it is am improvement for my

purposes.

 

(I posted same on the Yahoo Triton Group)

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