Magellan Merigold still suitable, especially for a senior?

[ubern000b]

Hi, my Dad's friend wants to join him geocahing. She's 60 something. I ask this because I'm an etrex user and have no serious experience with merigold. My g/f is going to donate her merigold to my Dad/s friend if it's suitable. If my dad's friend doesn't like the sport my g/f will take back the merigold. In any case, we don't want to buy any more gear until this is settled.

 

I gather the Merigold is still a decent unit. Basic, but does what's needed. My g/f first finds as many caches as I do.

 

Are seniors here who have or have used a merigold happy with it in terms of screen size, readability & contrast?

 

How do you feel about the control layout? Buttons large enough, easy to push, easy enough to remember?

 

Finally, was it confusing to learn or fairly easy to get the hang of it?

 

Personally, I feel the etrex is a tad small control wise. And the controls take a fair bit of effort to press. I think the joystick would be a stumbling block if a senior doesn't have good motor control skills. I've played with my g/f's merigold and find it quite easy to use physically but I.m not a senior with less than perfect sight and motor skills. Fwiw, my dad will be using a Venture cx but his motor skills and sight are better than his friends.

 

So seniors, tell me how you like/d your merigold. Would you recommend it for another senior? What feature, if any, gives you trouble?

 

Thanks

[+dakboy]

My father is 65 and has a Magellan SportTrak (I think) which is basically the Meridian's guts in a different case. He previously had a Meridian Gold. He doesn't use it heavily, but seems to be just fine w/ the screen & controls.

 

The bigger challenge may be in getting data into the unit. If the cord for the unit is Serial, and he only has USB ports, he'll need an adapter. Or load the data onto an SD card and pop that in. For someone not computer-savvy this may prove tricky, and the SD card slot is sometimes tough for me to get at, at only 31.

 

For someone who isn't sure they'll even be into caching, it's a cheap & quick way to get into it, and if he decides he wants to pursue it, maybe he'll want to upgrade.

 

My biggest issue with the unit isn't anything about it physically, it's the accuracy, or lack thereof. It's sent me on several wild goose chases because of the rubberband effect, or just plain bouncing around under cover where other (newer) units lock right in. Once my tax refund comes in the spring, the Meridian will be going into storage.

Edited December 3, 2008 by dakboy

[+embra]

I think the Meridian is fine for getting her feet wet. Every model will have pros and cons; I don't think there's anything about the Meridian that makes it a rather poor choice...dakboy did a good job pointing out the limitations that may need to be overcome.

[+dakboy]

2 things to tell the recipient to keep in mind when using the Meridian (at least mine):

 

1) It gets better reception when held upright

2) When the "distance to waypoint" gets to about 150', stop for about 2 minutes, especially under cover. Else you're very likely to walk right past it.

[+MuckSavage]

Yep, exactly what dakboy said. Especially walking right by it!

[+trainlove]

2) When the "distance to waypoint" gets to about 150', stop for about 2 minutes, especially under cover. Else you're very likely to walk right past it.

If you like to wait a shorter time then perhaps turn the GPS off at about 150 feet, then turn it on. It wil be about 10 seconds to re-acquire the satellites and give you the correct distance, instead of 2 minutes.

[+embra]

IIRC (and it's been a while) one has to re-set the route after turning off the GPS. It's still faster than waiting around for the Meridian to settle down, though.

[+dakboy]

IIRC (and it's been a while) one has to re-set the route after turning off the GPS. It's still faster than waiting around for the Meridian to settle down, though.

You recall correctly. Fortunately, it does remember your last known position, so looking up the WP in the database is pretty quick if you sort by "Near Position". Aside from the fact that the sorting with more than 100 or so WPs is glacially slow.

 

You can go to the map, put the cursor on the WP, and hit "go to" instead of going back to the WP listing to get around that.

[vagabond]

I used to cut my walking speed down when I got within 200 feet, worked great for me, and like others have said carry it in the up position it's still a good unit

[ubern000b]

Thanks everyone for the input and hints.

 

We go hunting this weekend for the first time as a group.

 

Hope we have fun.

Edited December 6, 2008 by ubern000b

[+reg3]

I used to cut my walking speed down when I got within 200 feet, worked great for me, and like others have said carry it in the up position it's still a good unit

 

Another trick I use with my Sportrak is to stop and back up a few steps when I get to around 50 feet. Seems to help some...