www.tritonforum.com... Expect no real help there.

[swales]

Unfortunately it appears www.tritonforum.com was supposed to be the 'place' to go for Triton help. Well expect that the moderator will remove any posts that refer to the failures on the triton series... I suspect it is being run by Magellan.

 

I posted a message recommending the users investigate a Class Action Lawsuit for all the issues experienced with the unit. I am more concerned that someone may get hurt... or there be a fatality because of the unit.

 

My experience was one that I was in the desert 30 miles out.. and the unit locked up on me... fortunately I was able to get back... but it could have been bad. This cannot be allowed to happen..

 

BTW... it only took www.tritonforum.com about 10 minutes until they deleted my account there because of my comments toward Magellan.

Edited March 25, 2008 by swales

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

My experience was one that I was in the desert 30 miles out.. and the unit locked up on me... fortunately I was able to get back... but it could have been bad. This cannot be allowed to happen..

 

Wow, I'm impressed! You have not been able to find a single cache or benchmark since you joined GC, but you were able to find your way out of the desert.

 

Were you on foot, a dirt bike, or in a 4X4? What part of the desert were you in when this life threatening event occurred? Hopefully you were fully prepared to be in such a hostile environment, plenty of water, paper maps, compass, extra food & supplies. Were you lost with no roads around and you had to find your way out on your own?

 

Let's hear the details of how bad it really was.

 

John

[swales]

My experience was one that I was in the desert 30 miles out.. and the unit locked up on me... fortunately I was able to get back... but it could have been bad. This cannot be allowed to happen..

 

Wow, I'm impressed! You have not been able to find a single cache or benchmark since you joined GC, but you were able to find your way out of the desert.

 

Were you on foot, a dirt bike, or in a 4X4? What part of the desert were you in when this life threatening event occurred? Hopefully you were fully prepared to be in such a hostile environment, plenty of water, paper maps, compass, extra food & supplies. Were you lost with no roads around and you had to find your way out on your own?

 

Let's hear the details of how bad it really was.

 

John

 

Sorry, I am not in the habbit of updating my cache findings.. don't really do it for the stats... but the Triton has been so unreliable... I doubt it could find the trash can even after I threw it in... and thats where its heading.

 

As for the specifics... I was on an ATV.. had water and food.. all the necessities... I was not on a road... a river bottom.. otherwise I could have used my Maestro right? it's supposed to know the roads... well at least some of the time , but thats another story...

 

Point is it is very easy to get lost.. especially in a river bottom... lots of turns and tributaries.. do you turn back.. or are you almost to the next road? thats where the GPS should help... let you know where you are and how far you have traveled... it is a vital piece of equipment.. however an experienced traveler should know not to rely on it completely... but many people ARE relying on this equipment... the manufacturers sell it this way.

 

Was my experience life threatening... could have been... but luckily wasn't. But it is a very bad feeling when you look at your GPS and it is locked up... there are a couple minutes of.. oh SH*^ how do I get back?

 

Maybe you have been lucky with your unit so far... I was for about 3 months... but once it happens to you... your tune will change.... mine did.

[+miniwhip]

BTW... it only took www.tritonforum.com about 10 minutes until they deleted my account there because of my comments toward Magellan.

 

It would have been faster if I wasn't on a flight. I will not allow talk of a lawsuit on my forum. Period. There are plenty of other rants on the site that are still there, untouched, and commented on by me! He was banned for signing up and immediately talking lawsuit. If you need help working on an issue with the Triton, there is quite a bit of knowledge on the forum. If all you're there to do is bash a unit you've allready "thrown in the trash", we don't need you.

[+hogrod]

BTW... it only took www.tritonforum.com about 10 minutes until they deleted my account there because of my comments toward Magellan.

 

It would have been faster if I wasn't on a flight. I will not allow talk of a lawsuit on my forum. Period. There are plenty of other rants on the site that are still there, untouched, and commented on by me! He was banned for signing up and immediately talking lawsuit. If you need help working on an issue with the Triton, there is quite a bit of knowledge on the forum. If all you're there to do is bash a unit you've allready "thrown in the trash", we don't need you.

 

Sounds like you do work for magellan, otherwise his comments wouldn't have been an issue. He found your forum and you could have redirected his post with helpful comments but instead you chose to delete his post and account? by your actions it does look like you work for magellan, otherwise your just a complete $@.

 

I have pointed ALLOT of unhappy triton users to your forum I won't be doing that anymore, maybe I should tell them to sue magellan instead.

[+tangative]

BTW... it only took www.tritonforum.com about 10 minutes until they deleted my account there because of my comments toward Magellan.

 

It would have been faster if I wasn't on a flight. I will not allow talk of a lawsuit on my forum. Period. There are plenty of other rants on the site that are still there, untouched, and commented on by me! He was banned for signing up and immediately talking lawsuit. If you need help working on an issue with the Triton, there is quite a bit of knowledge on the forum. If all you're there to do is bash a unit you've allready "thrown in the trash", we don't need you.

 

Actually, other postings besides those from swales have been deleted or modified.

[+coggins]

I found this forum to be a lot of help. When looking into getting a 2000, they had the manual on their website! I downloaded it and the 1500 manual to see the differences and found out that the 2000 manual was really just a 1500 manual with a different part number and different cover, and had no info on the additional features of the 2000. After REI pulled the unit, I purchased a Garmin. I'm not looking into bagging on Maggie, many of my friends are happy with theirs, it just wasn't in the cards this time.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

Miniwhip,

 

I looked but couldn't find any prominently posted board policies. Maybe I'm just blind!

 

If they aren't there, perhaps this is a good time to consider some. It's your forum, and you have a right to handle it however you wish, but it's good for folks to know what the rules are.

[gps004]

I have personally visited a lot that forum and found the information was great. That forum saved me from buying a triton 500. Thanks to them I bought a Garmin Vista HCx. I cannot be more grateful for that.

 

Now concerning the banishment without previous warning in the post and the deletion of the posted information, I find is a kind of censure you find in some part of the world but that should not happen in our countries. There have maybe been some background communication but the reason should have been stated in the original post as an information for all members.

[+tangative]

There is more correspondence on this topic at the TritonForum site. It has not been censored (yet?)

 

My posting follows:

 

This harkens back to the censoring of a post regarding an impending update.

 

I don't remember this, refresh my memory

 

gulo posted that a new update was about to be released. His post listed details regarding what had actually been fixed. It also stated that the T500 would be included in that round of updates.

 

Shortly thereafter, the post was edited: The details of what was fixed were removed and the posting no longer referred to the T500.

 

I posted a comment at the time stating clearly that (I paraphrase) replies to posts that left the initial comments intact were very helpful but the deletion or editing of already posted material undermines free discussions.

 

I am unable to find the original thread. Was it deleted?

[+tangative]

I am unable to find the original thread. Was it deleted?

 

I have found the original thread that was censored.

 

I have found the thread which I previously referred to. It includes my original comments.

 

I apologize for questioning that there were more edits and or deletions to the thread than those that are currently discussed in that thread.

 

----

 

This is the thread:

http://www.tritonforum.com/forum/viewtopic...mp;p=2732#p2732

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

I am unable to find the original thread. Was it deleted?

 

I have found the original thread that was censored.

 

I have found the thread which I previously referred to. It includes my original comments.

 

I apologize for questioning that there were more edits and or deletions to the thread than those that are currently discussed in that thread.

 

----

 

This is the thread:

http://www.tritonforum.com/forum/viewtopic...mp;p=2732#p2732

 

It looks like the OP in that thread is the one that did the editing of his post and not the forum operator.

 

 

Looks like this is just another bash Magellan thread. No useful information included concerning the unit or what efforts were made to find a solution to the problem. Did they even seek help for the specific problem they had? The unit worked for 3 months then "Bam" a "Life Threatening" problem occurs and they are ready to file a lawsuit?

 

Sounds like someone should avoid leaving the house and play it safe by staying indoors. Oh wait, so many accident happen in the home, that it is not safe to stay there, even!

 

Suggestion, when heading into the desert to enjoy the day, plan ahead, look at the maps ahead of time so you will have some idea of where you will be and where you will be headed. Take along a regular map and compass (they don't take up much space and don't weight very much at all), that is if you know how to use them. If not, it may be a good time to learn, before something really does happen.

 

John

[+Captain Spalding]

My experience was one that I was in the desert 30 miles out.. and the unit locked up on me... fortunately I was able to get back... but it could have been bad. This cannot be allowed to happen...

Point is it is very easy to get lost.. especially in a river bottom... lots of turns and tributaries.. do you turn back.. or are you almost to the next road? thats where the GPS should help... let you know where you are and how far you have traveled... it is a vital piece of equipment.. however an experienced traveler should know not to rely on it completely... but many people ARE relying on this equipment... the manufacturers sell it this way.

So, if you know that an "experienced traveler should know not to rely on it [their GPS] completely" then why did you?

 

And how do manufacturers sell GPSr's with the claim that they can be relied upon completely? I've owned 5 GPSr's. Before each purchase I thoroughly reacquainted myself with the market. In all that research, I never once read "Still hanging on to those old-fashioned paper maps? Buy our GPS and use those old maps for kindling!"

 

Look, it's okay to have buyer's remorse. But you can let your rant get just so far out onto a limb before you start to look bad. It's a known industry standard that GPSr's are beta tested by the early adopters, and that issues are subsequently resolved with a string of firmware updates. If you don't want to be a part of that process, then wait until the bugs are all worked out before you buy. But bandying about terms like "class action" about a piece of equipment that has only been out for a couple of months is going to get you nowhere.

 

Happy caching. (Oh, and don't be bashful about logging those caches. Logging is not all about the stats. It helps those who are hunting but not finding to know that the guy who was here yesterday found it or didn't. It helps the custodian of the cache to know that the log book is missing, or that the cache is constantly wet, or in disrepair. It's just common courtesy to log your finds. And one more thing, it buys you just a little credibility on a Geocaching Forum if you actually geocache. You indicate that you geocache by logging.)

[+miniwhip]

It looks like the OP in that thread is the one that did the editing of his post and not the forum operator.

 

Yes, and I still do not know why.

 

Did they even seek help for the specific problem they had?

 

NO. Besides the post about the CAS, there were no questions asked. If there were, he would have answers, possibly even a direct contact with Maggie for a swift resolution.

 

The unit worked for 3 months then "Bam" a "Life Threatening" problem occurs and they are ready to file a lawsuit?

 

It does seem a little funny, doesn't it?

 

Suggestion, when heading into the desert to enjoy the day, plan ahead, look at the maps ahead of time so you will have some idea of where you will be and where you will be headed. Take along a regular map and compass (they don't take up much space and don't weight very much at all), that is if you know how to use them. If not, it may be a good time to learn, before something really does happen.

 

John

 

Very true. Anything can happen. Besides an equipment failure, what if you drop it? I always have a backup, no matter how far I venture. Oh, I log my finds too.

[+Sileny Jizda]

It appears to me the OP has a legitimate gripe about the Triton. Reading his other posts here he seems to have stayed on top of the ball in regards to updates and I found his reviews and others very useful in deciding whether or not to purchase a new Magellan or not. I don't think it is entirely unreasonable to expect something you pay a good amount of money for to work correctly out of the box either. Imagine purchasing a new tv only to find out you can watch it you just can't put it on channel 45 because it'll turn everything green including the channels that worked fine before. Think about being told an update will come out soon to correct the tint problem only to find out when you update it that it fixed the tint problem only to cause you lose channels 2-15.

 

It seems to me that he had reasonable expectations that his Triton would work as advertised. It's also not unreasonable to ask if any other users intend to seek legal action be it through his State AG, BBB, or other avenues. Fortunately, for myself and others, looking at Magellan and Garmin over their snafu's with their respective units we didn't spend the money to find out we bought a bunch of issues and problems.

 

I would also think that of the 361 members of TritonForums they only represent a drop in the bucket of actual Triton owners that know of the forum very existence. Most individuals are going to call Magellan for help and unless Magellan is directing individuals to that forum for tech support there are a lot of unhappy Triton owners out there asking if legal action is the right way to go.

 

I know as it stands right now Garmin is looking really good and that's coming from a lifelong multi-unit Magellan owner. Censorship and some of the 'fanboy' reactions here isn't making Magellan look much better either and is holding more weight in my future purchase decision more so than a lawsuit.

[+rpestes]

I find it interesting that so many people that have never visted the forum have an opinion. If you have not visited and studied it, your opinions are worthless. For those of us that have been members of Tritonforum.com for a long time we know how helpful it has been. Everybody on the forum tries to help each other and it is a great community of people except for the one or two that have a personal grudge. Get over it already.

Edited March 26, 2008 by rpestes

[+Evshro & son]

I must say that the folks at the forum were very helpful to me when I was considering my purchase of the Triton. Miniwhip, as well as others, responded to my questions and even sent me an e-mail of a screen shot.

[friscotodd]

edit-decide this horse dead horse is ..dead..

Edited March 26, 2008 by friscotodd

[+Captain Spalding]

It appears to me the OP has a legitimate gripe about the Triton. Reading his other posts here he seems to have stayed on top of the ball in regards to updates and I found his reviews and others very useful in deciding whether or not to purchase a new Magellan or not. I don't think it is entirely unreasonable to expect something you pay a good amount of money for to work correctly out of the box either. Imagine purchasing a new tv only to find out you can watch it you just can't put it on channel 45 because it'll turn everything green including the channels that worked fine before. Think about being told an update will come out soon to correct the tint problem only to find out when you update it that it fixed the tint problem only to cause you lose channels 2-15.

 

It seems to me that he had reasonable expectations that his Triton would work as advertised. . . . I know as it stands right now Garmin is looking really good and that's coming from a lifelong multi-unit Magellan owner. Censorship and some of the 'fanboy' reactions here isn't making Magellan look much better either and is holding more weight in my future purchase decision more so than a lawsuit.

You seem pretty level headed, so I'll risk speaking my mind. I recently got a Garmin Colorado 400t. It's a great unit. It does not, however, work correctly right out of the box. My unit has experienced battery charge monitoring issues, as well as issues with the unit shutting off when certain geocaches are referenced. There's a very comprehensive list of issues with the CO here. Am I ready to sue? No. Garmin is working feverishly to resolve these issues. There have been three new firmware releases just since the middle of January, and little by little the issues get addressed. It's been a while since I had a Magellan GPSr, but Magellan has as good a reputation as Garmin, as I recall. I bet they're working on resolving all the issues just as hard as Garmin.

 

I hear lots of whining along the lines of "I didn't pay all this money just to be a beta tester!" If these products were beta tested to the level of your expectations, it would drive up the price so high you might not be able to afford it. It's the same with lots of things - computer operating systems come to mind. Every version of Windows has been released with tens of thousands of bugs, fixed later in updates. Lest I start a Mac vs. PC flame war, I'll also point out that the Mac OS has had two maintenance releases since its last big "feature" release last October. I have a couple of high-end cameras that have both received firmware updates. Even my car has gotten a software update. Like it or not, it is the way of things. And it is the industry standard, which is what will make the difference in a legal dispute.

 

So where does that leave us? Well, for those of us who just have to live on the bleeding edge of technology, we have the opportunity to help with the maturation of a great piece of gear. It will take patience and some suffering, but that's the price we pay for being able to say we're the first one on the block with that shiny new gadget. Personally I like to be in at the ground floor. I get some small satisfaction thinking that I have helped to shape the final product.

 

Others among us, who have the expectation that things should work right out of the box, had better stifle that first-guy-on-the-block urge and wait until a few software revision cycles have elapsed and the multi-page "Why-this-new-gadget-sucks" forum posts migrate way down in the topic list. That will prevent a lot of the aggravation and negativity that has been expressed recently.

 

All this, IMHO, of course....

[swales]

My experience was one that I was in the desert 30 miles out.. and the unit locked up on me... fortunately I was able to get back... but it could have been bad. This cannot be allowed to happen...

Point is it is very easy to get lost.. especially in a river bottom... lots of turns and tributaries.. do you turn back.. or are you almost to the next road? thats where the GPS should help... let you know where you are and how far you have traveled... it is a vital piece of equipment.. however an experienced traveler should know not to rely on it completely... but many people ARE relying on this equipment... the manufacturers sell it this way.

So, if you know that an "experienced traveler should know not to rely on it [their GPS] completely" then why did you?

 

And how do manufacturers sell GPSr's with the claim that they can be relied upon completely? I've owned 5 GPSr's. Before each purchase I thoroughly reacquainted myself with the market. In all that research, I never once read "Still hanging on to those old-fashioned paper maps? Buy our GPS and use those old maps for kindling!"

 

Look, it's okay to have buyer's remorse. But you can let your rant get just so far out onto a limb before you start to look bad. It's a known industry standard that GPSr's are beta tested by the early adopters, and that issues are subsequently resolved with a string of firmware updates. If you don't want to be a part of that process, then wait until the bugs are all worked out before you buy. But bandying about terms like "class action" about a piece of equipment that has only been out for a couple of months is going to get you nowhere.

 

Happy caching. (Oh, and don't be bashful about logging those caches. Logging is not all about the stats. It helps those who are hunting but not finding to know that the guy who was here yesterday found it or didn't. It helps the custodian of the cache to know that the log book is missing, or that the cache is constantly wet, or in disrepair. It's just common courtesy to log your finds. And one more thing, it buys you just a little credibility on a Geocaching Forum if you actually geocache. You indicate that you geocache by logging.)

 

You can't be serious... so you say that it is ok for companies to put out faulty products and take no responsibility? That is what the lawsuits are all about. How about next time Ford or Chevrolet forego doing any crash testing on their vehicles and let YOU do it in the field? Not acceptable!

 

BTW.. I don't recall any statements from Magellan indicating I was being employed as a beta tester for their products. However I did spend the last 4 months doing exactly that. I guess I finally had enough. I can handle the little quirks... but once I had a COMPLETE failure of the unit... that was it. But yes... I can send back to Magellan... AT MY COST and they will see about sending me a replacement. I see I am not alone... it looks like many of the suppliers have pulled the units off the shelf.

 

So what have we learned here... first... don't rely on this unit.. it needs alot of work to be a solid unit. Don't rely on TritonForum as they edit their users posts... do they work for Magellan... who knows.. who cares... there are other reputable places to get your information. It is just me being a Magellan basher... you decide... I tried for 4 months to help make this product solid... I also told people to just wait... it will get better... but I was like many of these guys defending a defective product... I wasn't using it for real... just as a toy.. a new gadget that looked cool... once I used it for real... I found it to be unreliable and possibly dangerous.. yeah these guys are right... everyone should carry maps and a compass and a telescope and a cell phone and one of those water finding sticks.... just to be safe.... but does that mean we should all just roll over and accept defective products... nope... return them...

[+Sileny Jizda]

Speak your mind, Captain, no ruffled feathers on my part. I do realize there are two groups of people when it comes to purchases. You have the Testers and the Users. I swing between the two in those regards. I don't mind beta testing different things. That's why I'm signed up as an HP product tester. I also beta test various software on a regular basis. A few days ago I jumped into the IE v8.0 beta bandwagon to test the new version of IE. So far it's a rough road going not being able to get much of anything working. Doesn't other me because I opted for it and expected it.

 

That leads into the other group, Users. Users want to be able to purchase an item and go on the good faith that the product has been tested completely by folks like myself. They know there will be a few bumps on initial release but the things that both the Garmin and Magellan units are setting out should have been caught in beta programs. It seems to me the two groups got into a who's going to release it first fight that has given both a black eye. Had I been given a pre release unit from either company I'd worked the ever loving he double toothpicks out of it and as a result listed the bugs, and errors.

 

I can't see how using your customers to beta test and shake out the bugs though is a good thing. Of the things you've listed those items were most likely 80-90% usable in their initial release state. These gps units though didn't fit that bill nor did they stack up to their claims of advertising. That being the case I can see where some feel legal action would be needed. In regards to both companies handling of the situations I'd give Garmin a 4/5 while Magellan is 2.5/5 respectively. As a Magellan user I was hot to trot up to the counter up until a day after the release and the problems were getting posted. I was set to get the 1500/2000 to replace my aging 400 eXplorist. At present though I can't justify spending almost $500 on a beta unit. Test it for free and shake out the bugs then send the unit back and purchase the finished product yes. But not a purchase to test program. The trade off is free time working the units for finding the issues.

 

Magellan and Garmin would be best advised to use such a program. Other tech companies do it and it works well. Some even allow the tester to keep the test units or exchange them for a working production model. I'm sure Garmin and Magellan would find many many willing participants in GC.com. However, they are banking on the fact that some people will pay for an incomplete product and pay beta test products accepting the bugs to be on the cutting edge in their neighborhood. I'm not a pay beta tester. Because there are though we can continue to expect inferior untested products on our shelves.

[swales]

It looks like the OP in that thread is the one that did the editing of his post and not the forum operator.

 

Yes, and I still do not know why.

 

Did they even seek help for the specific problem they had?

 

NO. Besides the post about the CAS, there were no questions asked. If there were, he would have answers, possibly even a direct contact with Maggie for a swift resolution.

 

The unit worked for 3 months then "Bam" a "Life Threatening" problem occurs and they are ready to file a lawsuit?

 

It does seem a little funny, doesn't it?

 

Suggestion, when heading into the desert to enjoy the day, plan ahead, look at the maps ahead of time so you will have some idea of where you will be and where you will be headed. Take along a regular map and compass (they don't take up much space and don't weight very much at all), that is if you know how to use them. If not, it may be a good time to learn, before something really does happen.

 

John

 

Very true. Anything can happen. Besides an equipment failure, what if you drop it? I always have a backup, no matter how far I venture. Oh, I log my finds too.

 

MiniWhip... why do you spend your time on here if you are running THE premier triton site? Go back and read my posts.. I have probably provided more information about the Triton in one thread than you have on most of your site.... but I will answer the questions above to clear the air...

 

Q. Did I contact Magellan?.

A. Yep... spent alot of time on the phone talking to someone with very broken english... no help... then was transferred to someone for an RMA.

 

Q. Did I post questions on TritonForum?

A. Nope. Read all the threads.. discovered there was little to no information there that wasn't here... but some users here were saying that is where to go... so I figured I would put a post out there about a CAS and see what kind of response it got... Unfortunately the moderator... you... decided not to let your users voice their opinions. Too bad... it has caused your site to lose alot of credibility.

 

Q. The unit worked for 3 months then BAM...

A. The unit has NEVER worked correctly. Take a look at my First Impressions thread as well as the threads from others. Don't even try to sell that this unit works reliably. ... again a credibility issue for you.

 

Q. The life threatening experience...

A. I did not buy a television... a blender... or a household appliance... I bought a navigation device. I did not indicate I was lost for days in the desert.. I stated it 'could have been bad' if I was lost and my GPS was locked up... as it was.... still is...

 

I understand.. you are upset because you made a mistake by censoring your users. Mistakes happen.. let bygons be bygons. My beef was with Magellan.. unfortunately you involved yourself and made it your battle... don't see the point in continuing that. I hope your site can provide help to the users.. they need it. As for I.. I will continue my GPS adventures and post my true, honest findings for those who chose to benefit.

[+gpsblake]

tritonforum.com is a good forum. I've posted a lot of the shortcomings of the Triton unit and never have been edited or deleted. A good number of people there will try to answer and resolve Triton questions.

 

If you have followed the postings of some of the users over there, they haven't been edited or deleted either. A simple search will reveal a lot of people complaining about the units and some who really like the unit.

 

I've also praised the Triton for being a really good paperless geocaching unit compared to all the Garmins etrex, 60, and 76 series. And like I said, I've posted it's shortcomings and that unless you are a geocacher, I don't recommend the Triton right now.

 

I post here on Groundspeak also and I do try to answer Triton questions here but I do try to also redirect them to tritonforum.com where more Triton owners can be found.

Edited March 26, 2008 by gpsblake

[Keystone]

It sounds like this is a discussion about another forum, which needs to take place... in another forum.

 

Also, we don't tolerate potty language and attacks under the forum guidelines posted for this forum.

 

I am closing this thread. Don't open another one about tritonforum here. Thanks.