Anubis93611 Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 Thinking of purchasing this unit from Costco.com 199.99 First time handheld.. however, i have used garmin unts in my vehicles... How is this unit for geocaching and all around outdor fun?? think it will do the trick?? http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?...p=C&topnav= Quote Link to comment
Anubis93611 Posted September 12, 2008 Author Share Posted September 12, 2008 Thinking of purchasing this unit from Costco.com 199.99 First time handheld.. however, i have used garmin unts in my vehicles... How is this unit for geocaching and all around outdor fun?? think it will do the trick?? http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?...p=C&topnav= com on guys... and gals... some feedback for noob!! Quote Link to comment
+goaliegirl38 Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 It's a tempting deal, but... The Triton series has not lived up to expectations... That being said, I was chatting with someone on the weekend that quite likes theirs and finds it easy to use. I have an Explorist, and love it, very reliable and easy to use! I had high hopes that the Triton would be my upgrade unit... That is on hold right now while I let all these new units get their bugs out. Check out the threads in this forum, there is lots of chatter about the Triton line, along with the other units that would be comparable. I chatted with the Magellan rep at GeoWoodstock VI about the Triton, and while he admitted they jumped the gun with it, he said to be patient, they were working on making it a better unit.... Looks like Triton owners are still waiting... This may be noteworthy for you as well... http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=203276 Good luck! Quote Link to comment
+woffles Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 (edited) It's actually not a bad unit. You will hear all sorts of bad things about it but the majority of the issues have been fixed. It still has a little ways to go though. When it first came out not much worked yet from what I understand. I run National Geographic TOPO maps at 1:24000 scale and also Accuterra maps for street level information on mine. I just got it recently so haven't had it for too long yet. I've loaded about 1000 local caches into it. Most of the information transfers over when using gpx files. The hints transfer to VantagePoint which is the software for your PC that comes with it but not to the unit yet. There is a field for it so hopefully that will be fixed in the next update. You do get the short and long description in the unit, difficulty and terrain ratings also. Date hidden and person that placed the cache also show up in the unit. Size doesn't show up yet either. They also haven't implemented a found feature on it yet. People currently switch the icon on caches they find to the frog icon, sync with VP, delete all frog caches and re-sync again to delete them in one go. It has a three axis electronic compass that works when you are standing still and doesn't have to be held exactly level. It will point out North, the sun and moon locations and also the direction to the next waypoint or cache. You can save the "breadcrumbs" you leave as a trail and download them back into Vantage Point. I don't think that worked when it first came out. I've downloaded pre-made trails from localhikes.com with no issues and backpacker.com also. One gotcha here is if you make a trail from a route you traversed make sure to give the waypoints a custom starting prefix. I lost some waypoints on a trail cause the unit reused them for another trail. Some people still seem to have problems downloading maps to it but I just downloaded a 500+ MB map to mine today from TOPO with no issues. It takes a while cause TOPO has to churn out a lot of info to build the map when you make them big but once on the unit it scrolls quickly around the map. It isn't the most intuitive unit but if you spend some time learning where everything is it's easy to use. There is a dedicated forum for it also if you want to read the good and bad about it. It's tritonforum.com Be aware that not all features are implemented yet but hopefully the last of them will be fixed soon. I don't think WAAS works currently but that honestly isn't a big deal. They units are still accurate. It got me to within three feet of a micro cache the other day using the compass. My previous unit was a Garmin Legend but I got this so I could download my TOPO maps and not have to spend like $400 dollars on a unit to do it with. Whoever you buy it from just make sure they have a good return policy so you can try it out and see if you like it. The current firmware for it is 1.44 I believe. Vantage Point will update it for you if needed. Edited September 12, 2008 by woffles Quote Link to comment
+nameless301 Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 The triton series is nice but it is not great. It is very very slow when trying to add waypoints or navigate to them, I had problems keeping my screen options from changing, I would changed them one way and they would just reset back to the defaut mode. Also, it is very confusing when actually trying to route to something. For the same price you can get the Garmin Vista HCx on walmart.com. Quote Link to comment
+gpsblake Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 Things the Triton 500 still needs to fix. I own both the Triton and Garmin units. * - no data fields on the map screen (200-500 series) * - no auto-routing on the units * - no way to mark a geocache as found * - takes a whole lot of button pushes to move from cache to cache * - trip stats disappear when unit is turned off... only the main odometer remains on * - no way to store geocache information on the SD card - so you're limited to the free memory * - almost no 3rd party software like EasyGPS etc works with the Triton, you're stuck with VantagePoint * - No WAAS on the 200-500 series showing on screen * - AccuTerra and NatGeo are very expensive & don't cover the whole country * - **VERY** horrible battery life, around 5 hours using 2500mah, about 1/4th of the Garmins * - unit can't be be read unless backlight is on * - alarms are impossible to hear unless your ear is against the unit * - Barometer above 5,280 feet will only show as 1 mile in elevation (or 2 miles if you are above 10,560 feet etc) * - if you own a Mac or use Linux, you're totally out of luck * - Triton support is out of India * - NO night viewing screen * - rumors that Magellan is quitting the consumer GPS market * - when downloading updates, Magellan doesn't tell you what was updated or fixed And on and on and on...... Quote Link to comment
+woffles Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 The triton series is nice but it is not great. It is very very slow when trying to add waypoints or navigate to them, I had problems keeping my screen options from changing, I would changed them one way and they would just reset back to the defaut mode. Also, it is very confusing when actually trying to route to something. For the same price you can get the Garmin Vista HCx on walmart.com. Curious as to when you last used a Triton. Settings on screens stay where they are now except for finding waypoints. It defaults toFinding a waypoint is easy. Creating a waypoint is easy. Just click on the map to make one. Screens scroll very quick. That's why I said you will get negative feedback. They had major issues when they first came out. A lot of it has been fixed. It still does not have turn by turn routing. I think that's a feature they are still going to implement but not sure on that. Battery life could be better. I haven't pushed mine yet to see how long I can get but at best you can expect 10 hours of use using good rechargeable batteries. You may be better served by buying a Garmin simply because there is more support for them on forums like these. I've had experience with a few GPS units over the years so am well equipped to deal with the idiosyncrasies of the Triton. It does still have an update or two to go I think. Good luck. Quote Link to comment
+woffles Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 Things the Triton 500 still needs to fix. I own both the Triton and Garmin units. * - no data fields on the map screen (200-500 series) True, but I shut these off on this size screen anyways. * - no auto-routing on the units If you try to use a unit like this in a car you are asking for an accident. I use my Garmin C330. * - no way to mark a geocache as found Workaround is use the frog icon, sucks but hopefully fixed soon. * - takes a whole lot of button pushes to move from cache to cache I'd like to see them implement the selection button for this in an update, hopefully. * - trip stats disappear when unit is turned off... only the main odometer remains on yep * - no way to store geocache information on the SD card - so you're limited to the free memory I have over 1000 geocaches in mine with memory to spare. How many do you want? * - almost no 3rd party software like EasyGPS etc works with the Triton, you're stuck with VantagePoint It does what is needed. * - No WAAS on the 200-500 series showing on screen I don't think it actually works right now. We'll see on the next update * - AccuTerra and NatGeo are very expensive & don't cover the whole country If you want you can get NG Explorer and have full US coverage for around 50$ with local downloads of higher detail plus arial maps also. * - **VERY** horrible battery life, around 5 hours using 2500mah, about 1/4th of the Garmins I'm using 2700mah and I think I'll get about 8-10 hours, not great but I don't geocache for 10+ hours. Hiking, I'll be carrying extra batteries and a compass * - unit can't be be read unless backlight is on Inside true, outside point it almost into the light and it's pretty easy to read actually. * - alarms are impossible to hear unless your ear is against the unit I don't think all the alarms work yet. Don't know if firmware update can correct this or not. * - Barometer above 5,280 feet will only show as 1 mile in elevation (or 2 miles if you are above 10,560 feet etc) Hopefully they fix this one, I live around 6000 ft. * - if you own a Mac or use Linux, you're totally out of luck Yep, minor percentage of people use them though. Emulators might work * - Triton support is out of India Who's isn't nowadays * - NO night viewing screen That would be a nice addition * - rumors that Magellan is quitting the consumer GPS market I hope they stick around for a while at least to fix the issues with this system * - when downloading updates, Magellan doesn't tell you what was updated or fixed They are an odd company aren't they? And on and on and on...... That mostly covers the issues it has left. Probably was another page worth there about a year ago. Running Windows as an OS the capabilities of these units haven't been reached yet. I'm sure they could add Wherigo support and whatever else is out there. Whether they will or not is another matter. Of course, Garmins don't have any issues. :-0 Quote Link to comment
sanramonhunter Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 DO NOT BUY! You have been warned. Quote Link to comment
+D0T-C0M Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 DO NOT BUY! You have been warned. I second this Quote Link to comment
+goaliegirl38 Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 * - no way to mark a geocache as found this was the same on the Explorist when I first got it, frustrated the heck outta my garmin friend trying to figure out how to do it... It was fixed in an update. Quote Link to comment
ryguyMN Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 I would stay away from Magellan until they show a commitment of continued support of its products. Quote Link to comment
ryguyMN Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 (edited) Duplicate post. Edited September 13, 2008 by ryguyMN Quote Link to comment
Anubis93611 Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 Ok, I am now looking at the GARMIN Etrex Vista HCx...230 bucks... Little high.... for me.. but costco has a Legend for 139... Quote Link to comment
+Barnie's Band of Gold Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Ok, I am now looking at the GARMIN Etrex Vista HCx...230 bucks... Little high.... for me.. but costco has a Legend for 139... There are many variations of the "Legend". Make sure you are looking at the colour version at a minimun. Ideally it is the HCX. H = high sensitivity, C = colour and X = microSD memory card slot. Anything in the Legend C and up supports USB and better battery life than the original Legend. Congrats on taking a pass on the Triton - the best decision you made regardless of which Legend you end up with. Quote Link to comment
+gpsblake Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 There are many variations of the "Legend". Make sure you are looking at the colour version at a minimun. Ideally it is the HCX. H = high sensitivity, C = colour and X = microSD memory card slot. X if you are going to buy the mapping for the unit. Otherwise, the Venture HC is an excellent choice for the value. I will also add this, while I did say a lot of negatives about the Triton, the one positive is that you can paperless cache with them, it gives you all the information except for the last 5 logs... Even the Triton 200 will do this and it's 99 bucks at the Walmart in West Columbia, SC. Quote Link to comment
+embra Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 If you're on a limited budget, and you have Garmin units for automobile routing, you might find the refurb Delorme PN-20 units at TigerGPS for $170 suits your needs. That price includes the TopoUSA 7 map software. Quote Link to comment
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