Triton 500 vs. Vista HCx vs Colorado 300

[+websherpa]

Thank you in advance for reading this and helping me out....

 

Bewildered as many over the options, the hype and the raspberries, I am hoping some opinions from experienced users will help guide my way.

 

I am a casual geocacher, with young son (8) and have been using my PPC (Asus696) and Geoscout, and have become rather fond of paperless caching (not that I didn't enjoy it with a Garmin GPSMap76). I don't do it a lot, I'm not worried about getting lost in the deep woods or topigraphical details, etc. I do like my ASus696 for Vehicle Routing, but I'd give it up for a handheld GPS with some similar capabilities.

 

I am the early adopter sort, I don't mind fussing with things and uploading new firmware, etc. so long as it does what it is supposed to do eventually. But I will purchase under circumstances where, if it really doesn't work, I can return it. I don't expect to have to deal too much with "Customer Service". And I don't really want "Go Garmin, Magellan S*cks" kind of advice.

 

I would have preferred to keep my budget at around $270 max.

 

I would like to graduate to a unit with an electronic compass.

 

It would be nice if I could supplant my ASus696 with Navigator software (Destinator 6) for the car (since I don't use the PDA for more than auto GPS routes and paperless geocaching at the moment, and then not that successfully since it's fragile, and I don't get a good fix without Static Navigation, and no compass.)

 

In any case, I have been looking at, but unable to try; the Garmin eTrex Vista HCx and the Magellan Triton 500, both are about the same price, but I am assuming that the Paperless Geocaching abilities of the Triton and the new Garmin Colorado's approach each other. So I'm waffling between the first two based on my pricepoint and desire for features, and then considering maybe upping my budget for the Colorado, but very likely I won't go there because of the price (I have better places to put even $200).

 

What will I be able to see from the GPX files on the Vista HCx vs the Triton 500?

How would they compare in the geocaching department, and paperless specifically.

Pros vs. Cons?

 

Anything else you think I should consider?

 

Thank you for any and all the information you can give to my specific choice.

Edited March 26, 2008 by websherpa

[+Miragee]

Check past threads in these Forums about the problems with Customer Support from Magellan . . . Because of that, I doubt if very many people would recommend going with the Triton, or any other Magellan GPS unit.

 

I have the Vista HCx and like it very much. I like the small size for hiking, but it also works just fine for auto-routing me around unfamiliar areas with the City Navigator maps installed. I also have some older Topo maps I bought on eBay installed on it.

 

I carry a Palm m515 in my lumbar pack for "paperless" caching, but by using Garmin's POI loader, I put the caches on my GPS unit as POIs and get more information in the POI description.

[+verdugan]

I would have preferred to keep my budget at around $270 max.

 

If that's your budget, you can rule out the Colorado. I don't think it can be had for less than $420-ish. Great unit though.

[sanramonhunter]

At your price point you only have one choice. If you want paperless caching on the gps or not. If you do get the triton. If your fine carrying the palm for the cache info than the Vista is the better more stable GPS at this time.

[+Maingray]

At your price point you only have one choice. If you want paperless caching on the gps or not. If you do get the triton. If your fine carrying the palm for the cache info than the Vista is the better more stable GPS at this time.

 

^what he said. I'd personally go for the HCX. i have one and they are very good. Nice form factor, reception, power usage, screen brightness and with some jiggery-pokerey you can get limited cache info on the unit. A PDA would be a necessity for full info.

[+Red90]

I am the early adopter sort, I don't mind fussing with things and uploading new firmware, etc. so long as it does what it is supposed to do eventually.

 

With this sentence in mind.....find a local with a Colorado and go caching with them........before making a decision.

 

You may change your mind after that. It is THE caching machine. Don't listen to the complainers. For a caching device it is a generation beyond everything else out there.

 

If it is just for GPS use, get a Legend HCX. The Garmin compasses are garbage. It is hard to tell if you really do much caching as your profile shows no activity.

[+websherpa]

I am the early adopter sort, I don't mind fussing with things and uploading new firmware, etc. so long as it does what it is supposed to do eventually.

 

With this sentence in mind.....find a local with a Colorado and go caching with them........before making a decision.

 

Always good advice.

 

If it is just for GPS use, get a Legend HCX. The Garmin compasses are garbage. It is hard to tell if you really do much caching as your profile shows no activity.

 

This statement kind of makes me want to lean in favour of the Triton though. For $200 less I can tangle with some of the changes to firmware ... so long as it does what I need it to, but what I can't find is just what information the Triton reports from a GPX file and whether it allows recording of Found Caches (I'm assuming that trying to enter a log, if it has that capability, like GeoScout does, would be difficult from a non-touch screen version).

 

IT's funny, as much negative info as I've read about the Tritons I'm still intrigued in their feature set vs. price which seems more squarely aimed at my type of casual GPS use.

 

I am trying to get away from carrying both a PDA and another GPS (since the GeoScout capabilities are what hooked me into paperless geocaching). Otherwise I would say that the Vista Hcx is more in my range.

 

Thank you all for good advice ... I'm still not convinced one way or another yet.

[+gpsblake]

I own a Triton 500. I also own Garmin units.

 

If your primary use is paperless geocaching, Triton is really a good unit for just that. The only flaw they have in them with geocaching is you can't mark a geocache as found (workaround, change the icon) and it doesn't give the last 5 logs. Other than that, it performs well at geocaching & gives all the information you really need including the hint, description, ratings etc. I haven't had any issues with the magenetic compass on the unit, that to me is a real asset in finding benchmarks.

 

If you get the any Garmin except the Colorado, you can't paperless geocache with them unless you get a PDA.

 

If you need a unit that auto-routes get a Garmin.

[+websherpa]

I own a Triton 500. I also own Garmin units.

 

If your primary use is paperless geocaching, Triton is really a good unit for just that.

 

Thank you, great feedback, it sounds like the Triton 500 is "almost" everything I want, except for the auto-routes. So obviously to replace my PDA as the paperless cache keeper, it's a +$200 decision whether to go Colorado (and get the added bonuses) vs. Triton (and what goes along with it being a Magellan).

 

About the Log thing, are you saying that it gives you all logs except the 5 most recent? That's strange, has to be a fixable bug (as does marking found caches) at some point.

 

The electronic compass is something I have been wanting as I find myself walking back and forth at times trying to get better bearings and it annoys the kids (big and little) no end... not that we expect to walk right up to a cache...

 

Thank you!

[+EScout]

Why are you not considering the Delorme PN-20. If I were considering going to a GPSr with next generation mapping, this is a serious contender. The Colorados and Tritons have both had major problems, and I would not consider either at this time ( I returned a Triton, and I have heard of individuals returning 3 to 4 Colorados each person.)

Edited March 27, 2008 by EScout

[+Red90]

Why are you not considering the Delorme PN-20. If I were considering going to a GPSr with next generation mapping, this is a serious contender. The Colorados and Tritons have both had major problems, and I would not consider either at this time ( I returned a Triton, and I have heard of individuals returning 3 to 4 Colorados each person.)

 

He is in Canada. The Delorme is no use outside of the USA.

[+websherpa]

I've decided to dip my toe into the waters (rather than plunge whole hog for the Colorado) and have ordered a Triton 500. If I regret it, it will go back, and I'll post here. If I like it, I'll post why.

 

Thank you for all your help!

[+geognerd]

I'm with EScout. I am weighing replacing my beat-up no-longer-waterproof eXplorist 400 with either an eXplorist 500 or a PN-20.

 

About the logs comment by gpsblake, he is saying that the Triton does not display any of the previous logs. A pocket query typically has the last 5 logs from a cache, and that is where he is getting the 5 number from. As for marking caches as found, I suspect Magellan will eventually get around to that, as the eXplorist 4/5/600 initially didn't allow caches to be marked as found. The lack of autorouting on the Triton so far is also killing the deal for me.

 

Edit: Didn't realise the PN-20 only came with US data instead of North America.

Edited March 27, 2008 by geognerd

[+IVxIV]

Personally I haven't yet seen any company come up with a SINGLE RUGGED UNIT that combines all the needs a Geocacher desires. Good luck with the Triton hope it works out for you.

 

Personally I'd recommend getting just a decent mapping/autorouting GPSr like an Etrex or Explorist, and grab a cheap used PDA from Ebay for your paperless needs. Keep your Ausu safe in the car!

 

By the way, I purchased an Asus 636 when they first came out, and was wondering if they've worked the bugs out of that unit?? Mine would lock up if I was using the GPS at walking speeds.. Mind you Windows Mobile 5 was also pretty new then so, am not sure if my problem was with the hardware or software lol

[+websherpa]

Personally I haven't yet seen any company come up with a SINGLE RUGGED UNIT that combines all the needs a Geocacher desires. Good luck with the Triton hope it works out for you.

 

Personally I'd recommend getting just a decent mapping/autorouting GPSr like an Etrex or Explorist, and grab a cheap used PDA from Ebay for your paperless needs. Keep your Ausu safe in the car!

 

By the way, I purchased an Asus 636 when they first came out, and was wondering if they've worked the bugs out of that unit?? Mine would lock up if I was using the GPS at walking speeds.. Mind you Windows Mobile 5 was also pretty new then so, am not sure if my problem was with the hardware or software lol

 

I'll experiment with the Triton 500 for now, though I'm disappointed it won't let me see the Cache descriptions from geocaching.com like Geoscout does.

 

I MAY keep the Asus, I'm debating it now.

 

Hope this helps: The problem with the Asus 6** when using walking speeds (for me) was not lock-up (you'll note that Destinator works when set to Pedestrian Mode), it is that the Sirf chip set defaults to "Static Navigation" mode, which keeps the unit from reporting any movement if it detects movement less than 5km/hr. If you use a utility like SirfTech to manually turn off the Static Navigation (not for the light hearted), then it works properly, though I find it a bit erratic. I've tried working with the Track Smoothing feature of the chip, but results are inconclusive. Ideally it would be good if programmers of Geoscout, and others, directly addressed the Sirf settings to determine whether Static Navigation is on or off, set it off, and then do it's own "software smoothing" in order to help calm down the "wander" of the position reports.

[+gpsblake]

I'll experiment with the Triton 500 for now, though I'm disappointed it won't let me see the Cache descriptions from geocaching.com like Geoscout does.

 

Sure it does, you've just got to update the latest firmware.

 

When looking at the coordinates of the geocache, just press the page key and VIOLA!!! you've got the hint, long description and short description at your fingertips.

 

Edit: You must also be a premium member of geocaching.com in order to download the gpx format needed for the description and tons of other info. loc files can only be imported into the Triton as a waypoint.

Edited March 28, 2008 by gpsblake

[+peiguy]

Don't confuse the compass that points to magnetic North, with the compass that points to the cache. They are two different things. Most times you don't really need a magnetic compass (or the electronic variety in the GPSr).

 

Garmin has the much better customer support, and Grounspeak cache information is geared to Garmin.

 

Get the least expensive Garmin GPSr with a coloured screen. Get a cheap Palm handheld from ebay. Get TOPO Canada and put it on your GPSr.

 

Or, save up and get a Colorado. In the meantime, get a cheap Garmin, and a clip-board to hold cache print-outs, forgetting paperless till you get the Colorado.

[+redtailforester]

I started out using Magellan GPSr's at work over a decade ago and started out using them when I found geocaching. When I heard about the Triton, I jumped on it and purchased a 500. Now keep in mind, I am very Magellan interface savvy and have had a lot of experience with them (at work and caching). After a run-around with Magellan I finally received my unit. Took me a while to figure out how to just do a manual GOTO without a pre-loaded waypoint. I took the Triton on its field-trial on a friend's cache that I had already logged. Still wouldn't work without paging through numerous screens, pulldown menus, etc. RIDICULOUS!!!!!

 

If this is your first receiver, DO NOT BUY A TRITON!!!!! If anything, get on eBay and find a used eXplorist or better yet, go all out and get a Garmin 60Cx. I bought mine after returning the Triton and 5 minutes out of the box (after no experience with Garmin), I was navigating.

 

As a disclaimer, I could care less if someone uses Magellan or Garmin. I have had a lot of success and experience with both brands. Also, I have a good friend that has had good luck with his PN-20. My complaint is with the Triton.... Best of luck!

[+play outside!]

I JUST bought a new GPS. Suckered into buying the pretty nat' geo' map software when I moved out to CO, I originially thought I'd have to go with the Magellen Triton 500. Like you, a digital compass and altimeter were incredibly appealing to me (I like gadgets and information!). The triton 500 was going to be about $250 (for the unit alone). After browsing through GPS forums and stores all over town, I found that the Magellen triton 500 has SERIOUS problems at the moment (though they are supposedly trying to fix them). Though it has the advantage of being compatible with the national geographic map packages, its functionality sounded sketchy at best.

 

Instead of going with the Garmin Vista, I chose to go with the Garmin Summit HC because I could get the GPS unit, AND a set of TOPO maps for 250ish. This is a MUCH better deal than the vista because there's currently a "Garmin Summit HC Bundle" in the shops. This bundle ranges in price from appx $250 (REI.com) to 300. Either way, it's a good deal (the unit itself can go for as much as 250 is you look in the wrong places). With the bundle, you get the GPS unit, the Garmin topo maps for the entire US, and a carrying case. If you want to spend less than 270 for the unit+maps+accessories, I would recommend going with the Summit. With the summit, you will loose the memory expansion ability and turn by turn directions that the Vista has. I wasn't interesteed in either of those features, so the sacrifice was minimal.

 

I've put my little Summit through its paces over the past two weeks. So far I'm VERY satisfied.

 

Happy shopping!

[+websherpa]

Don't confuse the compass that points to magnetic North, with the compass that points to the cache. They are two different things. Most times you don't really need a magnetic compass (or the electronic variety in the GPSr).

 

 

I'm assuming that an electronic compass model (which I haven't used before) will help point you to the cache after you stop moving and are standing still? Is that not the case? In the other GPSr units I've used, the satellite wander can have the compass spinning around until you walk back and forth trying to triangulate the general cache area. I am all ears...

[+Miragee]

The GPS units with the compass will continue to point towards the cache even after you slow down, or stop. The 'Go To' Arrow on the ones without the compass, like the Legend HCx, will 'spin' around. To get it to point to the cache, you have to start moving at a brisk pace again.

[+websherpa]

Well, after doing a short day of testing and a couple geocaches (two of which were under water), I have to say that with the exception of some quirks, the Magellan Triton 500 is a package of incredible value for the newbie geocaching crowd.

 

It lacks really functional turn by turn auto routing or ease of Cache update info or direct interaction with geocaching.com (like my GeoScout program does) so it won't replace my Asus 696 the two will co-exist. I did discover that apart from no built-in compass, my Asus 696 with GeoScout and Static Navigation tweaked off (Memory Map Sirf Set-up utility, SirfTech works but is risky if you don't know what you're doing), is nearly as accurate at assiting me to find a cache, but much more fragile to be in the hands of a child.

 

Magellan Triton 500

 

Pros

- appears to work well on Energizer "AA" 2500mAh NiMh rechargeables, though I don't have a specific life to report

- easy to use

- compass is useable

- screens easy to see, in full sunlight it is possible the to see LCD without the backlighting

- map interface is well designed and works well

- mine came with latest firmware and map software

- haven't had any "burps" so far

- easy to upload and maintain caches

- cache information and logs are up-to-date on the mapping software

- downloads all the logs (not missing the last 5 anymore)

- can store and show media hints (pics, etc.) on the GPS

 

Cons

- battery life appears poor, I need to do some specific testing. Certainly every device should be shipping with Lithium Ion rechargeables these days - but I can see the arguement for the widespread availablilty of "AA" Alkaline and NiMh.

- there appears to be a problem turning off the Barometer (even after tweaking the Profile I was using), I can't get it turned off, which may account for my poor battery performance.

- no way to mark cache found (except change icon)

- the joystick interface seems a little flimsy

- it is very difficult to enter information in the field via the on screen keyboard, touch screen would be the obvious upgrade (higher models) for this.

- on the GPS unit, the hint comes through un encrypted as the first item in the description

- exported GPX format seemed to cause my geoScout to burp, need to re-test that.

- PATHETIC manuals

 

So far, I'm quite happy with it. But carry a spare set of batteries.

Edited April 8, 2008 by websherpa

[+Blevdeb]

Don't confuse the compass that points to magnetic North, with the compass that points to the cache. They are two different things. Most times you don't really need a magnetic compass (or the electronic variety in the GPSr).

 

I was so happy to see someone discussing this issue. I have a Colorado 300 and I've been working to "learn" to use it. One of the issues is how to set the settings so that it points from where I am to which way the cache is - I had it on True North for a while and that wasn't right, changed it to user orientation, but still don't seem to be correct. Can anyone offer a bit of simple advice to me I'm sure I am overlooking it and feel quite dumb, but just want to cache thanks.