Magellan Triton 500?

[+KvPhoto]

I found an article about geocaching not too long ago and thought it would be an interesting thing to do with my 6 and a half year old daughter. I am looking into purchasing a GPS unit and have found the Magellan Triton 500 within our budget. Does anyone have any thoughts on it? (Good and Bad please!)

Or the Magellan eXplorist 210?

Thanks so much!!

Kristina

Edited November 27, 2007 by KvPhoto

[+Miragee]

If you peruse these Forums, you will find a long discussion about the Magellan Triton and its delayed delivery . . . You will also find many people reporting very poor response from Magellan if they need Customer Service.

 

A Garmin GPSr would probably be a better choice. Check out the Legend HCx or Vista HCx. The latter was selling for $219.00 at REI this past weekend. Garmin is known for excellent Customer Service, should you need it.

[+geowizerd]

Another Magellan basher... geeze. I have indeed read bad customer service reports about Magellan, but I have read some very good ones, too. I have also read some bad ones from Garmin owners. And I guess it is all a moot point, if nothing goes wrong with your unit. I have a Magellan eXplorist 400 and couldn't be happier. Yes, the Triton 500 looks like a very nice unit to me. Very good feature set and capabilities for the price. Try finding a Garmin that will do what it will for the money - you probably won't. I may end up upgrading to one myself, in a year or two... You might want to wait a couple weeks for the first reviews to come out.

Edited November 27, 2007 by geowizerd

[+HyperactiveGirl]

I just ordered a Triton 1500 last night. I should hopefully receive it later this week, so when I do I will play with it for a bit and let you know what I think.

[CacheNCarryMA]

I just ordered a Triton 1500 last night. I should hopefully receive it later this week, so when I do I will play with it for a bit and let you know what I think.

 

What makes you think you're going to receive it later this week?

 

The Triton is not yet in stores and not in stock online. For you you to get one later this week, they'd have to be shipping now?

Edited November 27, 2007 by CacheNCarryMA

[+KvPhoto]

all Tritons are listed as shipping in 3 to 5 weeks on dell and most other places as well.

[CacheNCarryMA]

all Tritons are listed as shipping in 3 to 5 weeks on dell and most other places as well.

 

I'll believe it when I see them in the stores. I plan on buying a Triton 400 from REI. If I have any issues with it, I'm hoping REI's stellar service will negate Magellan's poor service.

Edited November 27, 2007 by CacheNCarryMA

[+geognerd]

I've gotten comments from an NG Topo staffer on my blog that the Tritons are available for sale. I have yet to confirm what e-tailers / retailers have them though.

Ok I took the plunge because my Garmin Nuvi car GPS is just not cutting it out in the woods. I just placed my order on NewEgg.com for the Magellan Triton 1500. They are also selling on RadioShack website too, but I have had a good relationship with NewEgg for the past several years so I trust them.

 

Wish me luck!!! I will answer anyone's questions as soon as I have it in hand. I got overnight shipping, so if they ship within the next 48 hours if they truly have them in stock then I should have it before the weekend to go play outside with. I will let you know if/when I get it.

They're out there. NewEgg has had them in-stock since last week, and they are one of the most reputable online retailers.

[+HyperactiveGirl]

A couple stores like Radio Shack and New Egg have only the Triton 1500 models in stock at the moment. I ordered one from NewEgg, since I have done business with them for several years successfully. I placed my order last night, and this morning they did charge my credit card, so they must truly have them or they would not have charged me until they did. I got overnight shipping, and their site says it should ship within 48 hours. So I should have it by the end of the week I hope, so I can go play in the woods with it this weekend.

Edited November 27, 2007 by jenwardwell

[+geowizerd]

REI is showing Triton 300's & 500's in stock.

[+redtailforester]

DO NOT ( I repeat ) DO NOT ORDER A TRITON FROM DELL!!!!

 

They wrote have been advertising that the Triton 500 would be available online since November. Needless to say, my order has been delayed at least three times. Can we go for four??? Crappy outsourced, overseas service reps have no idea what they are talking about (when you can understand their English). Is Magellan or Dell to blame here?

 

Any comments?

[+embra]

Is Magellan or Dell to blame here?

Oh, I think it's all on Magellan's plate. The retailers are just going by what they had been promised by Magellan, same as all the rest of us. I've got a few Dell complaints in my hopper, but I don't think I'd add this one.

 

Edit to add: a cautious retailer familiar with the Explorist rollout would probably be prudent to wait until they had units on the shelves before the started advertising them, so as to minimize antagonizing their customers. I guess that's not how just-in-time retailing works these days. But if we're seeing customers and customer service centers turning their backs on Magellan, I won't be surprised if retailers start to do so, too. (OTOH, if the Triton ultimately turns out to be a winner, All Will Be Forgiven).

Edited December 12, 2007 by embra

[sakko]

Meh.. well I personally try not to be a brand loyalist, if a competitor has something good, then I will go for it, provided the "good" criteria are met. That is, easily obtainable, easily supportable, and the product does what I want it to (and more would be nice).

 

I'm a new consumer to the GPS game. I have a lot of options out there. I have to admit, so far I'm not liking what I'm seeing with this Triton deployment. With the recalls, disinformation, question marks I have about price (costco flat out won't say what they are going to charge, not necessarily magellan's fault though) I am very skeptical of having a happy ending to this ordeal.

 

I am VERY interested in the Triton 500. The features/cost ratio is shocking. It's got a nice high res (for a GPS unit that is) color screen. It's shiny... I'm a gadget nerd, this thing is like nerd candy!

 

Anyway my personal plan is probably to not buy the sucker until I see it in a good store with a good return policy (major sporting goods store, REI, something). I will likely unbox it in front of the clerk as well to see if it has everything and boots up okay as well.

[tywen]

REI in San Francisco had the Triton 300 on display and had a couple in the back (last Saturday). I asked to

see the display model as well as the packaging. It runs on 2 AA and comes with a USB cable.

 

It looks pretty nice. I had a eXplorist 500 which I liked very well.

[+3MudDogs]

I found an article about geocaching not too long ago and thought it would be an interesting thing to do with my 6 and a half year old daughter. I am looking into purchasing a GPS unit and have found the Magellan Triton 500 within our budget. Does anyone have any thoughts on it? (Good and Bad please!)

Or the Magellan eXplorist 210?

Thanks so much!!

Kristina

Sorry that everyone seems to have gotten off track on your original post. There is a lot of interest in the Tritons, so everyone wants to talk about them.

 

I've been geocaching for almost 5 years with my Magellan Sportrak Pro. I love it. I also love that you have selected caching as an activity for you and your daughter. I'm not a mom, but am known as the "cool aunt" in my family and have cached many times with my niece. She loves it and I enjoy our time together in the outdoors. One of our caching days became her "most fun adventure" story for a school assignment.

 

To answer your question, I have recomended the Explorist 210 to the last two friends that have purchased GPSs to cache with. And personally, I plan to purchase a Triton 500 once they have been out awhile and have good reviews. (See other posts for all the news regarding the software and distribution issues.) So I think you are right on track with your selections. If you are in a hurry, get the Explorist 210; if you can wait 2-3 months, wait for the Triton 500.

[+Mr.Moo]

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I would add my experience with the Triton 500:

 

I bought a 500 to replace my dead eXplorist 500. I almost wish I had gone for Garmin (but only almost). Being able to view full cache descriptions and hints is great. No need for the iPod Touch anymore, right? Wrong. There is no way to mark a Geocache as found. You have to delete them. The GPS is a little slow, but I like having the SD card slot on the side.

 

Adding Geocaches to it is a disaster! The desktop program (which is required to load anything) is a clunky piece of Windows software. It only works on certain virtualazation prgrams (Parallels 5) and has hard to use.

 

Overally, I would recommend the eXplorist 500 over the Triton 500. If you are a Mac user (good for you), this GPS will be a lot of work.

[+Denis et Doris]

If your pc uses windows, get a Triton. I had 2 explorists (still have) before the Triton 500, and now that I know how to load caches it's easy. You just have to know how to do it. If you have any questions, e-mail me through the website.

 

Denis.

[+Outlandish Traveler]

If your pc uses windows, get a Triton. I had 2 explorists (still have) before the Triton 500, and now that I know how to load caches it's easy. You just have to know how to do it. If you have any questions, e-mail me through the website.

 

Denis.

 

Hi Denis,

I am just getting started with geocaching, and I decided to go with the Triton 500 also. Any tips on how to transfer the info from the web site to Vantage Point so it will include all of the other info with the download? I am able to download the cache, and its location... but the other detail is not included. Things that would help make it a "paperless" system. One of the caches I had downloaded included the information the others did not... I have upgraded to become a premium member, but I am still having problems getting the information to cross over. Any tips?? Anyone?

 

Thanks!

[+jopasm]

If your pc uses windows, get a Triton. I had 2 explorists (still have) before the Triton 500, and now that I know how to load caches it's easy. You just have to know how to do it. If you have any questions, e-mail me through the website.

 

Denis.

 

Hi Denis,

I am just getting started with geocaching, and I decided to go with the Triton 500 also. Any tips on how to transfer the info from the web site to Vantage Point so it will include all of the other info with the download? I am able to download the cache, and its location... but the other detail is not included. Things that would help make it a "paperless" system. One of the caches I had downloaded included the information the others did not... I have upgraded to become a premium member, but I am still having problems getting the information to cross over. Any tips?? Anyone?

 

Thanks!

 

Make sure you are downloading the .gpx file not the .loc file - only the .gpx file has the extra info.

[+SkellyCA]

You have to use Magellan's VantagePoint software.

 

You need to be a premium member to download gpx files. If you are not a premium member, follow the same procedure using the .loc files, except for the use of pocket queries; and you will not get the info listed at the bottom, only the location of the caches..

 

You can use either step 2a, 2b or 2c to get the caches from the website in VP.

 

1. On the page of a cache, click GPX eXchange File(or LOC Waypoint File) and save it to your hard drive; I organized mine into different folders, basically by city(I usually name them the same as on the website; make sure that the file name ends in .gpx or .loc(accordingly))

 

2. Choose option a, b or c.

a. Upload the .gpx/.loc file into Vantage point; from Vantage Point software, click the Import Icon, 3rd from the left; then select the file from your hard drive. You can only do one file at a time, pain in the butt.

 

b. To import multiple gpx/loc files at once, open the folder that contains the gpx/loc files and open VP. Select the files(hold down CTRL and click the ones you want); then drag them into VP

 

c. Create a Pocket Query; unzip zip it; then import in into VP.

 

3. Transfer the file to GPSr. Connect your unit the the computer via usb. Then Click the Transfer From PC to My GPS icon where it says Snyc. Then a window will popup and to can select waypoints or geocaches; I uncheck both boxes. Then click the plus sign next to geocaches; then chech the boxes next to all the caches you want to transfer; it'll do how many ever you select. Then click OK and let it do it's thing.

 

What you will get on your Triton(if using .gpx files) is…

 

1. Name

2. Short Description

3. Long Description

4. Cache Type

5. Coordinates

6. Hint

6. Short Description

7. Long Description

[+Outlandish Traveler]

Thanks SkellyCA, I found your other posts, after I had posted this one... I guess I should have looked a little further

 

I am running Windows Vista, so I am having a bit of an issue with the files being extracted before they get loaded onto VP... I appreciate the help! I will keep working on it..

[+Outlandish Traveler]

Thank for all the tips and pointers everyone! I appreciate the help.

 

I did find that I had been downloading the ".loc" files versus the ".gpx" I also had not selected when I wanted the pocket query to run... so I wasn't even using the pocket query function (did I say I was new? )

 

So I checked the correct box and went to bed, with visions of being able to actually get out and go geocaching dancing around in me sputnik like head...

 

Then I woke bright and early this morning (like a little kid on Christmas morning) to find my first pocket query had been delivered to my email! wooo whooo just what I had wanted!

 

I was able to open the pocket query with my Vantage Point software... and the new caches and waypoints did seem to transfer to VP with out any hitches...

 

However...

 

I Wish I could say I experienced the same when I tried to transfer the information from VP to the GPS... Things started out OK, then I started to get duplicate caches, and then several error messages, and then the Triton 500 locked up with an "internal error" message... WTF?

 

Unfortunately, my time ran short, and I had to leave for work... (Don't you just hate it when "work" gets in the way of more important issues!) I felt I was soooo close to finally getting this figured out and thought for sure I would have everything up and running... But, not quite yet...

 

Looks like I now know what I will be doing tonight...

 

Wish me luck!