Can anyone tell me about the Magellan Triton 500

[+kaylac6500]

:huh:Tomorrow we are meeting a man who is selling his Magellan Triton 500. We are new to this sport and so we are not sure if this would be a good GPS unit for us. The Magellan we have is for cars only. I do not want to spend a lot of money and his price seemed to fit our budget.

Like I said we are just starting out geocaching and if we really get into this sport than we can upgrade later if need be.

I was just interested if anyone could give us the inside scoop about this unit before we lay the cash out for it.

Thank you for your time

Edited October 6, 2009 by kaylac6500

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

The early Tritons were beset with many problems. I haven't tried one lately, but I still hear of people who have problems with the Vantage Point software, bricked units, etc. You might want to check the prices online for a used or refurbished Garmin eTrex Venture HC.

[+Rockin Roddy]

What's the asking price?

 

I too would be a bit cautious about buying one...

[+kaylac6500]

He is asking $100.00. Now we are thinking about getting the geomate jr since it would get us started at least and it is less than $100.00. Plus we can get that new from REI. Geocaching.com is out of stock.

[+Rockin Roddy]

He is asking $100.00. Now we are thinking about getting the geomate jr since it would get us started at least and it is less than $100.00. Plus we can get that new from REI. Geocaching.com is out of stock.

 

Hmmm....I'm a bit cautious about recommending the GeoMate JR as well. While it IS a great starter GPS for say...kids and such, I don't see it as a good idea for someone who wants to get started in caching. I'll outline why:

 

At present, you cannot do multi-caches. While this might not matter to you in the here and now, it might later...but you're already stuck then.

 

You cannot pick and choose the caches you want on the unit, you are limited to only what GeoMate JR has chosen. This means that, if you are adventurous and would like a 5/5 (kayak, underwater, mountainous etc), you couldn't get that choice.

 

In order to update the unit, you'll need to spend more money for the kit. What happens if you find all the recommended caches in your area?

 

The unit isn't the best in a receiver in that it needs for you to be moving in order for it to know where you are and where you're going. Likewise, if you stop and then turn around (like if you're searching ec), it may not know where you are going until you move fast enough for it to "find" you again...this could be confusing.

 

People tend to want to try their hand at hiding...is this unit hider friendly? Might not matter to you now....

 

 

I'm not putting the GeoMate JR down, just pointing out what could be a turn-off for some. I myself have thought to add this unit to my arsenal since it would be great fr unexpected trips and such (but truly, how often does this happen). I just don't see this as a practical starter unit. A great unit for kids and those who absolutely tech ignorant souls who can't figure out how to load caches and such, but...

 

IMHO, the Triton would be a better choice for you than the GeoMate JR.

 

Personally, before spending ANY money, I'd search out a fellow cacher and ask to accompany them on a cache run or two just to see if I was interested enough to fork over money for a good unit! If that's not an option, go to an event and ask someone if you can cache with them while there...there's usually plenty of cachers willing to show a newb the ropes. And, while waiting for an event or such, you could start saving money, do some research and have a head start toward figuring out what you will want should you find caching IS all the fun you had imagined it would be and decide to stick with it! Oh, and at events, you'll get a chance to see other cachers' units and may even get some buyers' advice as well!!

 

Just my two cents...

[+Deadelm]

Triton 500 at that price is very good. Problems and complaints have become minimal after the August updates for all Triton models. For more in-depth information from Triton owners you might want to visit Tritonforum

[+gpsblake]

I own the Triton 500

 

Magellan has worked out a lot of the bugs in the Triton 500. It will make a fine geocaching unit. It doesn't auto-route though. Make sure you update the firmware to the latest before you use it. Everything goes through the software Vantage Point and make sure you run that program under ADMIN in Vista.

 

Also hold off on registering the unit until Magellan has another free map giveaway. Then register it and get the free maps.

 

A great site for helpful info is www.jungleghost.com which will give you step by step on how to make sure your unit is up to date.

 

Good luck.

[+SkellyCA]

I have a Triton 400. Works great for me and it's paperless!

[+Rockin Roddy]

There you go! I'd feel better recommending the Maggie over the GeoMate JR. Mapping, paperless, capable of multi's and likely a better receiver? (although, I recall my Maggie acted all silly on me needing me to move to tell me what direction to go)

 

If the Maggie owners agree that's a good price, I'd jump on the Maggie. No need to upgrade in the near future since it does paperless...looks like a win/win!

[+Surferjo]

My Explorist 600 Bricked on me a while back and Magellan replaced it with a Triton 500 (for free). I was not happy but after a few days with it out in the field I love it. So much so I went out and picked up a Triton 1500 and I use the 500 as my backup. As others have said Magellan has really made some major improvements with these latest firmware upgrades. It doesn't have all the whistles and bells you can find on some other manufactures units but that's fine for me since all I use it for is Caching.

 

Also ill put the accuracy of my Maggie against any other GPS out there.

 

There is a great site where you can download Full Street level and Topo maps from for $8. http://www.maps4me.net/

 

He doesn't have all the states loaded yet but there is an "I want" list over on the Triton custom map forum and he gets to your choices pretty quickly. My buddy and I asked for Texas on a Wednesday and he made it and had it loaded up a week later.

Edited October 7, 2009 by Surferjo

[+The Cache Checkers]

I have that model Magellan and I love it, although the only one I have to compare it to is my TomTom One, which isn't a handheld.

 

OK - I lied. The only thing I don't like about it is, while using the Vantage Pro software, you put the cache info in there, but when transfered to the GPS, the size of the cache doesn't go. I have to manually enter the cache size in the info section, but that's really not a big deal. Just learned about it the hard way when I couldn't remember what the size of the cache I was looking for was.

 

How old is the model? Will he let you play with it first? My unit was close to $400 w/tax. If you can get it for $100, go for it!

[+Surferjo]

I have that model Magellan and I love it, although the only one I have to compare it to is my TomTom One, which isn't a handheld.

 

OK - I lied. The only thing I don't like about it is, while using the Vantage Pro software, you put the cache info in there, but when transfered to the GPS, the size of the cache doesn't go. I have to manually enter the cache size in the info section, but that's really not a big deal. Just learned about it the hard way when I couldn't remember what the size of the cache I was looking for was.

 

How old is the model? Will he let you play with it first? My unit was close to $400 w/tax. If you can get it for $100, go for it!

 

you can fix that if you run your GPX file through this little app. it will add the container size to the description.

 

http://www.picosaan.de/app/spoilertogpx.jnlp