Jump to content

eXplorist 610 first impressions


Recommended Posts

This won't be very in depth for functionality as I just got the package today.

 

An irrelevant history blurb: I bought my first handheld in 2007. An eXplorist XL. I really liked it for the screen size and was easy to view in direct sunlight without backlight. Magellan let me down with lack of Vista support for geocaching. Horrid support....or lack thereof.

 

This past July I bought a Garmin Oregon 450t, more for hiking trips than Geocaching but do occasionally geocache. This past weekend I realized my 450t was nowhere to be found and after turning my house and car upside down 3 times gave up and plasticated the 610.

 

I scoured the net (especially here) and Youtube hoping for some insight or prelease video before ordering with no luck.

 

So here we go:

In the box: Quick start manual, data cable, the unit and 2 Energizer lithium AA.

 

I'm impressed by the quality feel of the unit. No cheapo feeling bits like the battery door eXplorist 500 I handled and battery contacts falling out like a 200 I witnessed firsthand new out of the box. The 610 has a very solid feel. The battery door release is easy to operate. I would prefer the leverage type the Oregon 450t had for durabilty but the 610 does work well. Theres a healthy rectangular seal that meshes with a rigid sill on the lid arond the batteries. Not sure how the speaker and camera is sealed off as they are outside the o-ring. Design flaw possibly. I don't plan on intentionally dunking it to test it. If someone else wants to then knock yourself out B)

 

The unit feels very similar to the Oregon series but I'm still more impressed with the Oregon because of the machined aluminum content. Aluminum may be no better but does give you the sense of quality. The USB plug door is a little easier to pull open and put back into place than the 450t.

 

I'm on the 3rd floor of a 5th floor office building. Standing in the window I clocked 36.5 seconds from power button to topo screen with signal bars showing. I never clocked the Garmin but if memory serves it was faster booting.

 

The menu's are laid out to my liking. I've not had to search for anything so far. Some of the simplest of options on the Garmin 450t found me searching for awhile. The UI seems very user friendly so far.

 

The touch screen seems more responsive and more colorful than the 450t. The swiping motion to scroll thru menus on the Oregon 450t was frustating and i ended up using just the < > software buttons to navigate. So some of my perceived "respsonsiveness" on the 610 may be from the way the menu is designed but a light finger tip touch works for the onscreen buttons and so far no problem with accuracy.

 

Most people would wonder about the screen in bright sunlight. It's been varying from cloudy to sunny today due to some incoming storms. On break I stood outdoors for a few minutes to catch some rays on the screen. I would say it's every bit as readable as the 450t while looking smoother at the same time.

 

I was a little let down by the included topos on the 450t as well as ones I downloaded. I'm a bit of a sucker for eye candy though so that's just me. So far the Summit Series 1:24000 on the 610 look really awesome. As I explore some I'll know more about useful detail etc.

 

Camera. A nice inclusion but didn't influence my purchase much as I crave high end full frame Nikon dSLRs... the pic quality is comparable to any cell phone made within the last year, possibly two. That's viewing the picture on a 24" Samsung LCD. About what I expected but as usual a dedicated digicam will make much clearer pictures, expecially in low light.

 

Connection to a Windows XP system for synced up quick and easy to view the pictures. I'm sure it will work the same on Windows 7 but will post back if there's an issue.

 

I can't think of much else to share at the moment as I've yet to field test it. I think it's a good replacement so far for my MIA Oregon 450t (for my uses).

 

For about the same money it has a camera for those that care. It's not accomodating for custom maps and orthos out of the box. I love aerial photos but fine without them as long as I have a good quality topo. There may be support for custom maps in the future but it's limited as far as I know for now.

 

If anyone has any questions I'll try to answer. It may be a few days before I get to do much with the unit though. Cheers all.

Link to comment
I scoured the net (especially here) and Youtube hoping for some insight or prelease video before ordering with no luck.

Sometimes NDAs actually work. :-)

the lid arond the batteries. Not sure how the speaker and camera is sealed off as they are outside the o-ring. Design flaw possibly.
The camera is behind a clear lens that's sealed to the case. The speaker has holes in the battery cover and actually has a waterproof cone. I asked Magellan "really?!?!" when I saw that and they were confident that it was IPX7. I assume Nuvi 500 has something similar.
Connection to a Windows XP system for synced up quick and easy to view the pictures. I'm sure it will work the same on Windows 7 but will post back if there's an issue.
For those wondering, it's a mass storage device, so it shows up like any USB disk drive on any (interesting) operating system. You copy PQs to it. Archived and saved tracks are in GPX; the active track is not.
Link to comment

Quick note on Tech Support. I called them last week but wanted to wait until the issue was resolved. Nothing major...

 

I went to register the unit on their website and there the x10 units weren't on the drop down product list yet. I figured it would be a good time to find out what Tech Support was like. I called and got a typical automated operator. Chose my language and within a couple of minutes I had an American on the phone talking to me. He assured me the website was being updated within a couple of days and to check back online. He seemed a bit nervouse and "new" but was very poilte and helpful. No complaints. This morning I checked and product registration went off without a hitch.

 

A huge improvement from my one other call to Magellan when I got someone half way around the world and she had as much trouble understanding me as I did her. :santa:

 

People that haven't dealt with the Magellan from years ago may wonder why I bothered posting this.... :santa:

Link to comment

The Magellan web page for the VantagePoint software lists the eXplorist 510,610, and 710 along with the Triton series as supported models. If the x10 units work as generic mass storage devices that would be a real PLUS!!

If this is confirmed I may be looking for a 710 in the future.

 

It would be nice as a parting gift when the triton series are discontinued if Magellan would release a firmware upgrade that adds mass storage device support on the tritons.

Link to comment

Are you seeing any issues with saving profiles? I played with a 610 yesterday, and after setting up the geocaching profile to my liking, I turned the unit off. When I turned it back on, it had reset to the defaults.

 

I've not messed with the profiles extensively as far as customizing. I only noticed that it retained the "geocaching" mode as default that I set it to. I'll try and confirm this evening and get back to you.

Link to comment

The Magellan web page for the VantagePoint software lists the eXplorist 510,610, and 710 along with the Triton series as supported models. If the x10 units work as generic mass storage devices that would be a real PLUS!!

If this is confirmed I may be looking for a 710 in the future.

 

It would be nice as a parting gift when the triton series are discontinued if Magellan would release a firmware upgrade that adds mass storage device support on the tritons.

 

The 610 functions normally as a mass storage device. I've copied pictures and videos from it via usb. Works just like a jump drive or external hdd so far. So far I've only used a 4GB MicroSDHC card in it. I've downloaded VantagePoint and used it to view the Summit Series topos on my computer (you have to to transfer them from the 610 over to VP of course)

 

I have to say I like BaseCamp / Garmin software better. BaseCamp may not be as user friendly but seems more flexible. I'm a noob on both of them so take that opinion with a grain of salt. Robert could give much insight on the inner workings and benefits of each.

Link to comment

This won't be very in depth for functionality as I just got the package today.

 

An irrelevant history blurb: I bought my first handheld in 2007. An eXplorist XL. I really liked it for the screen size and was easy to view in direct sunlight without backlight. Magellan let me down with lack of Vista support for geocaching. Horrid support....or lack thereof.

 

This past July I bought a Garmin Oregon 450t, more for hiking trips than Geocaching but do occasionally geocache. This past weekend I realized my 450t was nowhere to be found and after turning my house and car upside down 3 times gave up and plasticated the 610.

 

I scoured the net (especially here) and Youtube hoping for some insight or prelease video before ordering with no luck.

 

So here we go:

In the box: Quick start manual, data cable, the unit and 2 Energizer lithium AA.

 

I'm impressed by the quality feel of the unit. No cheapo feeling bits like the battery door eXplorist 500 I handled and battery contacts falling out like a 200 I witnessed firsthand new out of the box. The 610 has a very solid feel. The battery door release is easy to operate. I would prefer the leverage type the Oregon 450t had for durabilty but the 610 does work well. Theres a healthy rectangular seal that meshes with a rigid sill on the lid arond the batteries. Not sure how the speaker and camera is sealed off as they are outside the o-ring. Design flaw possibly. I don't plan on intentionally dunking it to test it. If someone else wants to then knock yourself out :santa:

 

The unit feels very similar to the Oregon series but I'm still more impressed with the Oregon because of the machined aluminum content. Aluminum may be no better but does give you the sense of quality. The USB plug door is a little easier to pull open and put back into place than the 450t.

 

I'm on the 3rd floor of a 5th floor office building. Standing in the window I clocked 36.5 seconds from power button to topo screen with signal bars showing. I never clocked the Garmin but if memory serves it was faster booting.

 

The menu's are laid out to my liking. I've not had to search for anything so far. Some of the simplest of options on the Garmin 450t found me searching for awhile. The UI seems very user friendly so far.

 

The touch screen seems more responsive and more colorful than the 450t. The swiping motion to scroll thru menus on the Oregon 450t was frustating and i ended up using just the < > software buttons to navigate. So some of my perceived "respsonsiveness" on the 610 may be from the way the menu is designed but a light finger tip touch works for the onscreen buttons and so far no problem with accuracy.

 

Most people would wonder about the screen in bright sunlight. It's been varying from cloudy to sunny today due to some incoming storms. On break I stood outdoors for a few minutes to catch some rays on the screen. I would say it's every bit as readable as the 450t while looking smoother at the same time.

 

I was a little let down by the included topos on the 450t as well as ones I downloaded. I'm a bit of a sucker for eye candy though so that's just me. So far the Summit Series 1:24000 on the 610 look really awesome. As I explore some I'll know more about useful detail etc.

 

Camera. A nice inclusion but didn't influence my purchase much as I crave high end full frame Nikon dSLRs... the pic quality is comparable to any cell phone made within the last year, possibly two. That's viewing the picture on a 24" Samsung LCD. About what I expected but as usual a dedicated digicam will make much clearer pictures, expecially in low light.

 

Connection to a Windows XP system for synced up quick and easy to view the pictures. I'm sure it will work the same on Windows 7 but will post back if there's an issue.

 

I can't think of much else to share at the moment as I've yet to field test it. I think it's a good replacement so far for my MIA Oregon 450t (for my uses).

 

For about the same money it has a camera for those that care. It's not accomodating for custom maps and orthos out of the box. I love aerial photos but fine without them as long as I have a good quality topo. There may be support for custom maps in the future but it's limited as far as I know for now.

 

If anyone has any questions I'll try to answer. It may be a few days before I get to do much with the unit though. Cheers all.

 

Nice write-up.

A few questions:

Is there anywhere online where one can view screen shots of the Summit Series topos? I'm interested in the amount of detail displayed at various zoom levels.

Can GPX trails be uploaded to the unit and displayed on the maps?

Do the units allow the user to modify the shape/color of tracks?

Link to comment

Will try to get to some more questions shortly.

 

On the profile saves. I set the profile to "user 1" and then changed map view to 3D. Turned screen brightness down to about 25%, enabled button sounds, backed out to main menu and turned the unit off. I removed the batteries, counted to 10, replaced them and powered the unit on. It came back up with the profile and settings intact.

 

A note on batteries and the level indicator:

The unit came with two Energizer lithiums. I had to replace them today which is one week since I got the unit. The battery meter had only dropped to 90% or so when i last noticed it yesterday. Today the unit wouldnt even power on. I was a bit worried there thinking it had died on me. I replaced the batteries and good to go. Will have to keep an eye on the accuracy of the battery meter.

 

A note on boot up and signal:

Sometimes from a cold boot it takes about a 1m:40s to acquire birds. Most times it's been 35-40s

Link to comment

This won't be very in depth for functionality as I just got the package today.

 

An irrelevant history blurb: I bought my first handheld in 2007. An eXplorist XL. I really liked it for the screen size and was easy to view in direct sunlight without backlight. Magellan let me down with lack of Vista support for geocaching. Horrid support....or lack thereof.

 

This past July I bought a Garmin Oregon 450t, more for hiking trips than Geocaching but do occasionally geocache. This past weekend I realized my 450t was nowhere to be found and after turning my house and car upside down 3 times gave up and plasticated the 610.

 

I scoured the net (especially here) and Youtube hoping for some insight or prelease video before ordering with no luck.

 

So here we go:

In the box: Quick start manual, data cable, the unit and 2 Energizer lithium AA.

 

I'm impressed by the quality feel of the unit. No cheapo feeling bits like the battery door eXplorist 500 I handled and battery contacts falling out like a 200 I witnessed firsthand new out of the box. The 610 has a very solid feel. The battery door release is easy to operate. I would prefer the leverage type the Oregon 450t had for durabilty but the 610 does work well. Theres a healthy rectangular seal that meshes with a rigid sill on the lid arond the batteries. Not sure how the speaker and camera is sealed off as they are outside the o-ring. Design flaw possibly. I don't plan on intentionally dunking it to test it. If someone else wants to then knock yourself out :huh:

 

The unit feels very similar to the Oregon series but I'm still more impressed with the Oregon because of the machined aluminum content. Aluminum may be no better but does give you the sense of quality. The USB plug door is a little easier to pull open and put back into place than the 450t.

 

I'm on the 3rd floor of a 5th floor office building. Standing in the window I clocked 36.5 seconds from power button to topo screen with signal bars showing. I never clocked the Garmin but if memory serves it was faster booting.

 

The menu's are laid out to my liking. I've not had to search for anything so far. Some of the simplest of options on the Garmin 450t found me searching for awhile. The UI seems very user friendly so far.

 

The touch screen seems more responsive and more colorful than the 450t. The swiping motion to scroll thru menus on the Oregon 450t was frustating and i ended up using just the < > software buttons to navigate. So some of my perceived "respsonsiveness" on the 610 may be from the way the menu is designed but a light finger tip touch works for the onscreen buttons and so far no problem with accuracy.

 

Most people would wonder about the screen in bright sunlight. It's been varying from cloudy to sunny today due to some incoming storms. On break I stood outdoors for a few minutes to catch some rays on the screen. I would say it's every bit as readable as the 450t while looking smoother at the same time.

 

I was a little let down by the included topos on the 450t as well as ones I downloaded. I'm a bit of a sucker for eye candy though so that's just me. So far the Summit Series 1:24000 on the 610 look really awesome. As I explore some I'll know more about useful detail etc.

 

Camera. A nice inclusion but didn't influence my purchase much as I crave high end full frame Nikon dSLRs... the pic quality is comparable to any cell phone made within the last year, possibly two. That's viewing the picture on a 24" Samsung LCD. About what I expected but as usual a dedicated digicam will make much clearer pictures, expecially in low light.

 

Connection to a Windows XP system for synced up quick and easy to view the pictures. I'm sure it will work the same on Windows 7 but will post back if there's an issue.

 

I can't think of much else to share at the moment as I've yet to field test it. I think it's a good replacement so far for my MIA Oregon 450t (for my uses).

 

For about the same money it has a camera for those that care. It's not accomodating for custom maps and orthos out of the box. I love aerial photos but fine without them as long as I have a good quality topo. There may be support for custom maps in the future but it's limited as far as I know for now.

 

If anyone has any questions I'll try to answer. It may be a few days before I get to do much with the unit though. Cheers all.

 

Nice write-up.

A few questions:

Is there anywhere online where one can view screen shots of the Summit Series topos? I'm interested in the amount of detail displayed at various zoom levels.

Can GPX trails be uploaded to the unit and displayed on the maps?

Do the units allow the user to modify the shape/color of tracks?

 

Thanks, I looked for examples of screenshots with no luck. The unit lets you take screenshots and i grabbed a few in my area here. If you have a specific location you want me to navigate to on unit I'll try and get to it the next day or so. PM me with an email addy and I'll send you some images if you want.

 

No idea yet on the GPX trails but will se what I can find out. There is an option for importing from the unit or SD card but I don't what formats are supported.

 

The tracks are in 5 different colors depending on type. Active track routing to, not routing to, Origin Destination line-computer multi-leg and Point Destination line. No way to change the linetype or color from default that I can find.

Link to comment
www.exploristforum.com
Been there but couldn't find any screen shots showing off the Summit Series maps. Got a link to the right discussion?

 

---

edit to add... found some, thanks

http://www.exploristforum.com/index.php?op...d=29&id=594

 

@lee_rimar. I sent you some screenshots.

 

Unrelated note:

Something I don't care for is the angle of the USB cable when it is plugged in. It's pretty much a 45 degree angle to the unit's screen, which makes it awkward to lay the unit flat on a desk when it's connected to the pc.

Link to comment
I scoured the net (especially here) and Youtube hoping for some insight or prelease video before ordering with no luck.

Sometimes NDAs actually work. :-)

the lid arond the batteries. Not sure how the speaker and camera is sealed off as they are outside the o-ring. Design flaw possibly.
The camera is behind a clear lens that's sealed to the case. The speaker has holes in the battery cover and actually has a waterproof cone. I asked Magellan "really?!?!" when I saw that and they were confident that it was IPX7. I assume Nuvi 500 has something similar.
Connection to a Windows XP system for synced up quick and easy to view the pictures. I'm sure it will work the same on Windows 7 but will post back if there's an issue.
For those wondering, it's a mass storage device, so it shows up like any USB disk drive on any (interesting) operating system. You copy PQs to it. Archived and saved tracks are in GPX; the active track is not.

As far as storage does the 610 have the ability to store several cache files such as the early explorist series ?

Link to comment
I scoured the net (especially here) and Youtube hoping for some insight or prelease video before ordering with no luck.

Sometimes NDAs actually work. :-)

the lid arond the batteries. Not sure how the speaker and camera is sealed off as they are outside the o-ring. Design flaw possibly.
The camera is behind a clear lens that's sealed to the case. The speaker has holes in the battery cover and actually has a waterproof cone. I asked Magellan "really?!?!" when I saw that and they were confident that it was IPX7. I assume Nuvi 500 has something similar.
Connection to a Windows XP system for synced up quick and easy to view the pictures. I'm sure it will work the same on Windows 7 but will post back if there's an issue.
For those wondering, it's a mass storage device, so it shows up like any USB disk drive on any (interesting) operating system. You copy PQs to it. Archived and saved tracks are in GPX; the active track is not.

As far as storage does the 610 have the ability to store several cache files such as the early explorist series ?

 

Not sure what you are asking (im slow lol). If I'm understanding you and remembering correctly from my old eXplorist XL you could have several caches/individual gpx files under one "folder" or "directory" and another folder with different caches? i'll have to make sure but from what I've read it should work that way but I've yet to get an experience with the geocaching end of it yet.

Link to comment

There's a 3.22 update out that I just applied. Unit shipped with 2.62. Seems to have kept any custom settings I made. I haven't used the unit enough to encounter the issues so i can't comment on fixes of course.

 

Improved Software Performance

Resolved Media Issue Where Users Were Limited to Capturing 700 Images

Improved Barometric Altimeter Calibration

Resolved Issue with “Degree/Minute/Second” Coordinate Entry

 

Update was quick and painless as it should be.

 

For anyone who wants to download the manual. No account needed.

 

Magellan explorist download page

Edited by Edison.Starfire
Link to comment
I scoured the net (especially here) and Youtube hoping for some insight or prelease video before ordering with no luck.

Sometimes NDAs actually work. :-)

the lid arond the batteries. Not sure how the speaker and camera is sealed off as they are outside the o-ring. Design flaw possibly.
The camera is behind a clear lens that's sealed to the case. The speaker has holes in the battery cover and actually has a waterproof cone. I asked Magellan "really?!?!" when I saw that and they were confident that it was IPX7. I assume Nuvi 500 has something similar.
Connection to a Windows XP system for synced up quick and easy to view the pictures. I'm sure it will work the same on Windows 7 but will post back if there's an issue.
For those wondering, it's a mass storage device, so it shows up like any USB disk drive on any (interesting) operating system. You copy PQs to it. Archived and saved tracks are in GPX; the active track is not.

As far as storage does the 610 have the ability to store several cache files such as the early explorist series ?

 

Not sure what you are asking (im slow lol). If I'm understanding you and remembering correctly from my old eXplorist XL you could have several caches/individual gpx files under one "folder" or "directory" and another folder with different caches? i'll have to make sure but from what I've read it should work that way but I've yet to get an experience with the geocaching end of it yet.

Yes that is wnat I meant. Multiple folder for seperate PQ. The Triton 500 did no offer that feature. but then again the trition 500 is a pile of crap. I went back to using my old Expl. 500, now my triton is just a paper weight, I still have one in the box that has never been used.

THey got some of the new Magellans at one of my local REIs. looked at them but the person there did not know anything about them. (This is typical at the REIs in Sacramento, the employees now niothing about magellan products. Then the stores pull them off the shelves.

Link to comment

THey got some of the new Magellans at one of my local REIs. looked at them but the person there did not know anything about them. (This is typical at the REIs in Sacramento, the employees now niothing about magellan products. Then the stores pull them off the shelves.

 

Well, I'm not trying to be mean, but there's no way REI could afford to train it's employees on every single of electronic equipment that comes through the store, nor take the time to do so. If anything, Magellan should be going around and training the REI employees.

 

The problem Magellan still suffers from, even though it's had 4 different owners, is they treat their discontinued products like they don't exist. As soon as the GC came out, Magellan stopped all support for the Triton. When the Triton came out, they stopped all support for the Explorist. And it appears, Magellan has been ignoring all the flaws and bugs of the GC and only focusing on the x10 explorist.

Link to comment

THey got some of the new Magellans at one of my local REIs. looked at them but the person there did not know anything about them. (This is typical at the REIs in Sacramento, the employees now niothing about magellan products. Then the stores pull them off the shelves.

 

Well, I'm not trying to be mean, but there's no way REI could afford to train it's employees on every single of electronic equipment that comes through the store, nor take the time to do so. If anything, Magellan should be going around and training the REI employees.

 

The problem Magellan still suffers from, even though it's had 4 different owners, is they treat their discontinued products like they don't exist. As soon as the GC came out, Magellan stopped all support for the Triton. When the Triton came out, they stopped all support for the Explorist. And it appears, Magellan has been ignoring all the flaws and bugs of the GC and only focusing on the x10 explorist.

I know how the training works. I was a GPS buyer for a large GPS dealer until I retired about 7 years ago. The company I worked for was selling Magellan even before geocaching was around, and before Garmin was around.

The person at REI knew nothing at all about the new Magellans. It is not that expensive to train the staff that sells GPS gear, you do not have to train the entire store staff. The company I worked for made sure that the staff was brought up to speed on every new piece of gear without waiting for reps to stop in for clinics. The pattern I have seen in REI stores is that they will get the new magellans in stock but the staff never knows anything about them. But the person I talked to yesturday did mention that the 610 did not include any maps-butit would shot video.

 

I went to one REI many years ago after I retired with a freind that was interest in a Magellan that had been

stores for almpost a year. The words out of the REI sales person mouth were and I quote "Oh Magellan GPS's do not work" At that point I took the I had in my pocket out and should him what it could do. He responed. " well we have nbot been trained on any Magellan products" Keep in mind this was a model that they had in store for several months.

 

As far as Garmin. they may treat the retail customers great, but I cannot say the same for the way they treat there brick and mortor retailers. We had to carry the Garmin stuff, but if we did not need them I would have never stocked any of their products.

Edited by JohnnyVegas
Link to comment

From what I'm seeing so far caches have to be stored in the geocache folder and can't be in subfolders. For me it's no big deal as you can sort your caches by distance, type etc but folder navigation on the old explorist did have a certain geeky windows feel to it :laughing:

The advantage for me in my old explorist is that I could have cache file set up for the areas I would cache in. But that was when I was caching every day in different cities in the Sacramento and San Francisco area.

I looks like the new explorist can only hold 10,000 caches. That might be a problem.

Link to comment

G'day all,

 

Just received my eXplorist 610 yesterday and I was told by our distributor (Next Destination) that I was the very first to be issued with a 610 in Australia! Not sure if that is a good or bad thing ;) Time will tell I suppose.

 

After playing with it for a few minutes I was getting more and more confused as to how it worked (I had a 600 which was pretty simple compared to this unit). I couldn't even get it to stay on the street zoom level that I wanted - kept zooming out to the whole of the Asia/Pacific region, just in case I wanted to know where we live in relation to Africa :rolleyes: I switched off "Auto Zoom" and I think that fixed that.

 

I was then confounded with the most simple of functions. After selecting a cache or a WPT, how the heck do you cancel it? In the 600 there was a simple selection in the "GoTo" screen called "Cancel GOTO" After a lot of screen tapping (the manual doesn't mention a word about it) I discovered that you have to "Cancel the Route" Now I ignored that for a while because I didn't set up a "Route", but I guess if I had the Routing map installed (an extra $149) then when you select any WPT - you automatically create a route.

 

After getting over some simple hurdles like that (which look pretty big at the time - let me tell you!) I started to really enjoy this unit. Loved how I can select a geocache and quickly zoom in onthe map to seewhere it is and tap on the surrounding features to quickly pick up names of roads, mountains, facilities etc. However not so pleased that when you select a geocache after looking at it on the map, unless you zoom right in - the zoom remains at the high level that you originally looked at it.

 

Another issue I am dealing with is how to cancel a "geocache route" without accidentally tapping the "Found It" button. When you tap on the bottom RHS Menu button the Options screen comes up. Then to scroll down to "Cancel Route" you put your thumb on the bottom of the screen to drag it up - and guess where the "Found" it button is :laughing: I suddenly realised that I had found half a dozen caches and I hadn't even moved from my desk :) I need to practice that "window drag " maneuver before I don't have any more caches to do.

 

I love how I can load up all of my state's caches - however I originally loaded all of my unfound caches - about 5,500 and just was amazed at the detail - although I wish the Child WPTS wereon the same file and that we could import the images as well - makes some multis and puzzles a little easier to do when you can see the instructions if they are in image form.

I then loaded "all" of the state's caches and thought that I could filter out all of my found caches on the unit - but I am not sure what is going on there - there maybe a distance parameter for "nearest to" because I can't see any caches "unfound" on the screen.

 

Anyway - this is just my first impressions and I am loving other aspects of the unit and will get the hang of it in a few days or so. For instance it is so cool to have the compass superimposed on the map screen. But the compass is different from the 600 which had a large indicator highlighted in red showing the direction of the cache. Again I guess I will get used to the tiny red arrow head on the 610.

 

One other issue - I wish I could alter the size of the position indicator arrow. It is way too big and hides too much detail at certain zoom levels - like the cache! However - because of the very quick ability to zoom in and out I am getting used to it.

 

I now need to work out how to add WPT's for multis and one last thing - actually go and find a cache!

 

Hope to visit this thread regularly to see what others are thinking and if there are any tips that may improve my enjoyment of this unit.

 

Thanks all.

Link to comment

G'day all,

 

Just received my eXplorist 610 yesterday and I was told by our distributor (Next Destination) that I was the very first to be issued with a 610 in Australia! Not sure if that is a good or bad thing :) Time will tell I suppose.

 

After playing with it for a few minutes I was getting more and more confused as to how it worked (I had a 600 which was pretty simple compared to this unit). I couldn't even get it to stay on the street zoom level that I wanted - kept zooming out to the whole of the Asia/Pacific region, just in case I wanted to know where we live in relation to Africa :rolleyes: I switched off "Auto Zoom" and I think that fixed that.

 

I was then confounded with the most simple of functions. After selecting a cache or a WPT, how the heck do you cancel it? In the 600 there was a simple selection in the "GoTo" screen called "Cancel GOTO" After a lot of screen tapping (the manual doesn't mention a word about it) I discovered that you have to "Cancel the Route" Now I ignored that for a while because I didn't set up a "Route", but I guess if I had the Routing map installed (an extra $149) then when you select any WPT - you automatically create a route.

 

After getting over some simple hurdles like that (which look pretty big at the time - let me tell you!) I started to really enjoy this unit. Loved how I can select a geocache and quickly zoom in onthe map to seewhere it is and tap on the surrounding features to quickly pick up names of roads, mountains, facilities etc. However not so pleased that when you select a geocache after looking at it on the map, unless you zoom right in - the zoom remains at the high level that you originally looked at it.

 

Another issue I am dealing with is how to cancel a "geocache route" without accidentally tapping the "Found It" button. When you tap on the bottom RHS Menu button the Options screen comes up. Then to scroll down to "Cancel Route" you put your thumb on the bottom of the screen to drag it up - and guess where the "Found" it button is :laughing: I suddenly realised that I had found half a dozen caches and I hadn't even moved from my desk :wub: I need to practice that "window drag " maneuver before I don't have any more caches to do.

 

I love how I can load up all of my state's caches - however I originally loaded all of my unfound caches - about 5,500 and just was amazed at the detail - although I wish the Child WPTS wereon the same file and that we could import the images as well - makes some multis and puzzles a little easier to do when you can see the instructions if they are in image form.

I then loaded "all" of the state's caches and thought that I could filter out all of my found caches on the unit - but I am not sure what is going on there - there maybe a distance parameter for "nearest to" because I can't see any caches "unfound" on the screen.

 

Anyway - this is just my first impressions and I am loving other aspects of the unit and will get the hang of it in a few days or so. For instance it is so cool to have the compass superimposed on the map screen. But the compass is different from the 600 which had a large indicator highlighted in red showing the direction of the cache. Again I guess I will get used to the tiny red arrow head on the 610.

 

One other issue - I wish I could alter the size of the position indicator arrow. It is way too big and hides too much detail at certain zoom levels - like the cache! However - because of the very quick ability to zoom in and out I am getting used to it.

 

I now need to work out how to add WPT's for multis and one last thing - actually go and find a cache!

 

Hope to visit this thread regularly to see what others are thinking and if there are any tips that may improve my enjoyment of this unit.

 

Thanks all.

I found that when I have purchased new GPSrs in the past that what worked for me when learning was to just focus just on one or two features at a time. Otherwise I have found the learning curve to be more of a challenge.

In some cases I have even read the directions (so farI have not lose my man card for doing that, but who knows when the man card police might show up) ;)

Link to comment

Changed post to can't load caches from Geocaching.com. I downloaded Magellan Communicator, but I get a message that I need to download a Plug-in? Don't know which one though?

 

any ideas? Also the manual states that if the "Download" and "Check Device" buttons are greyed in the "Send to GPS" box (which they are), then I need to run Active X. However I know what that is?

Edited by pprass
Link to comment

Has anyone tried to see if it is possible to import any of the files that can be found on the gpsfiledepot and how they work on the new magellans?

 

The files on gpsfiledepot are in a different format and not compatible from my understanding. I read that custom map support is being developed but of course that depends on how many people with the knowledge to make custom maps feel like contributing their time. It's only my opinion but I don't expect there to be much for the Magellans anytime soon, at least not for free.

Link to comment

Changed post to can't load caches from Geocaching.com. I downloaded Magellan Communicator, but I get a message that I need to download a Plug-in? Don't know which one though?

 

any ideas? Also the manual states that if the "Download" and "Check Device" buttons are greyed in the "Send to GPS" box (which they are), then I need to run Active X. However I know what that is?

 

Heya ppras. Hows it going in Australia? Thanks for sharing your experiences with the new unit. I'm glad you mentioned the "cancel goto" option for people who may be thinking of a new unit. Small details like that can be annoying. I had a heck of a time with navigating the XL I had. One of things that JohhnyVegas found to be a major plus was a headache for me at the start. Like him, it turned out to be handy. Less so for me but handy.

 

The touch screen is a double edge sword. So far I don't seem to be having as many issues as i did with the 450t. With the 450t i would tap the screen to get the backlight on and end up flagging a point on the map.... with the 610 you have to remember mostly not to touch the corners where the quick menu buttons are. I'll have to be careful on cache selecting this weekend if i make it out on a run. Thanks for the heads up. lol.

 

I'm trying to find something on the "send to" issue. Mine worked fine a couple of days ago but now its just giving me "checking magellan communicator...." and not downloading. Are you using Internet Explorer? Dunno if alternative browsers would cause an issue but just a thought.

Link to comment
It's only my opinion but I don't expect there to be much for the Magellans anytime soon, at least not for free.

 

Just the oposite :laughing:

You can find a lot's of maps for Magellan handhelds on http://www.maps4me.net/index.php?language=en for a small registration fee.

 

Wow, thanks for the link DavorF. Now I'm wondering why I thought the new series used a different format. haha. Alzheimers !! Glad you were handy to correct me. Thanks

Link to comment

...Are you using Internet Explorer? Dunno if alternative browsers would cause an issue but just a thought.

G'day Edison.Starfire - interesting that you can't download using Magellan Communicator either. I am using Mozilla Firefox V 3.6.12. I'll try with Internet Explorer tonight and see if there is any difference.

Thanks

Link to comment

...Are you using Internet Explorer? Dunno if alternative browsers would cause an issue but just a thought.

G'day Edison.Starfire - interesting that you can't download using Magellan Communicator either. I am using Mozilla Firefox V 3.6.12. I'll try with Internet Explorer tonight and see if there is any difference.

Thanks

 

XP and IE 8 on this machine. I reinstalled the Communicator and it's working today. Coincidence maybe...maybe not. I have 2 Win 7 machines at home and it worked fine on the the one (laptop) that I tried it on.

 

Has your luck changed any ?

 

On the custom maps subject I was thinking of aerial photos instead of topos. I stay confused in case nobody is aware. B). Hoping for a cache run this weekend.

Link to comment

I reinstalled the Communicator and it's working today. Coincidence maybe...maybe not.....Has your luck changed any ?

 

Same here! I used Internet Explorer this time and the plug-in was listed (couldn't see it before) and easily downloaded. The caches then downloaded straight away. I then went back to Mozilla Firefox and it works fine?

 

So now that that little glitch is out of the way (don't think we really fixed any thing there though) and I am onto the next one!

 

I can no longer read the GPX files that I create out of GSAK. Originally I created a GPX file of around 4,500 caches. Loaded it up and there on the GPS screen were all of the caches listed - just marvelous. However the next time I switched the machine on they had gone. I could see the Top 1,000 USA caches that came with the unit, but not my caches. I also could see the GPX file in the "Geocaching" folder of the unit. I created another file - downloaded it a few times - worked once, but then gone again.

 

The distributor here suggested that I try creating a GPX file from VantagePoint to see if that works - and guess what it does! So creating a GPX file from GSAK, loading it onto VantagePoint and then loading it from VantagePoint onto the GPS works. However from GSAK direct to he GPS doesn't?

 

I have left a message on the GSAK forum to see if anyone else has the same issue or if Clyde can help.

 

Anyone here have the same problem?

Link to comment

Any progress on the GSAK pprass ? I haven't messed with that in a few years so I'm of no help there.

 

I have the Oregon 450t handy again for comparison. Bootup time on the 450t is 18 seconds - doesn't include a satellite lock of course. Shuts off pretty much instant.

 

Raining and can't really make any other comparisons other than the screen sure does look dull compared to the 610 indoors.

 

The Oregon is smaller in the hand. The units look very similar in size until you hold them. Both fit well but the Oregon is a little easier to hold on to for me.

 

Going back and forth between the two units finds me searching for certain things on both of them....

Link to comment

Any progress on the GSAK pprass ? I haven't messed with that in a few years so I'm of no help there.

 

No not really. I can download caches direct from the GC site using "Send to My GPS" and it works ok - pictures are there. Others who are having a similar problem can download a pocket query direct into VantagePoint and then onto the GPS and can see the pictures (most of the time - some just don't appear?)

 

We just can't download a Pocket Query through GSAK and then onto the GPS or onto VP and then onto the GPS.

 

I have set out the problem on the GSAK Forum and have had a few suggestions, but nothing so far is working.

 

I use GSAK for all of my cache management, so don't really want to use VP as well.

 

In the meantime - if I need the image for my caching, I just need to plan for that and download the individual cache from the GC site. Unfortunately what happens in that instance is that it appears twice on my list of Geocaches and I have to decide which one has the image - no big deal I guess - just something else to remember.

 

I have the Oregon 450t handy again for comparison. Bootup time on the 450t is 18 seconds - doesn't include a satellite lock of course....

Gosh - with 3 maps to load and about 95mb of geocaching details, my 610 takes about 1 min and 15 sec to boot up. But when it does it immediately has a satellite lock - even indoors!

Link to comment

It is standard USB mini-B.

 

You won't find a GPS or camera or anything else that lets you recharge commodity AA for safety and liability reasons. THe ones that do require special batteries like the RCRv3. These explorists, like just about everything in the market, don't do it.

 

The Delorme handhelds are the only ones I know of that will recharge installed RCRv3s over the USB cable.

Link to comment

I'm really struggling to decide between the eXplorist 610 and the Garmin Oregon 450 (or 550) .... one of the things that caught my eye was that the explorist holds 10k caches .... what I read on the Oregon is only 1000?? is that true??

 

I want this almost exclusively for geocaching, and I don't want to have to plan every outing by updating small batches of caches, I'd like to have a big selection already saved in the memory.

 

Also, do either or both of them allow you to filter the list of geocaches you have saved? For example, if I want to only see size=small, can I do that from within either GPS, or do I have to sort it in GSAK before I upload it?

 

Can you save off the GPX files on the memory card and load/unload them as you need to? I've done that on my blackberry .. where I have several queries saved, and only load the one for what I'm looking for.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give .. I have read all the reviews and done lots of research, but it has seemed to be more confusing and every time I read another one I change my mind. lol

 

Thanks!

Link to comment

Any progress on the GSAK pprass ? I haven't messed with that in a few years so I'm of no help there.

 

No not really. I can download caches direct from the GC site using "Send to My GPS" and it works ok - pictures are there. Others who are having a similar problem can download a pocket query direct into VantagePoint and then onto the GPS and can see the pictures (most of the time - some just don't appear?)

 

We just can't download a Pocket Query through GSAK and then onto the GPS or onto VP and then onto the GPS.

 

I have set out the problem on the GSAK Forum and have had a few suggestions, but nothing so far is working.

 

I use GSAK for all of my cache management, so don't really want to use VP as well.

 

In the meantime - if I need the image for my caching, I just need to plan for that and download the individual cache from the GC site. Unfortunately what happens in that instance is that it appears twice on my list of Geocaches and I have to decide which one has the image - no big deal I guess - just something else to remember.

 

I have the Oregon 450t handy again for comparison. Bootup time on the 450t is 18 seconds - doesn't include a satellite lock of course....

Gosh - with 3 maps to load and about 95mb of geocaching details, my 610 takes about 1 min and 15 sec to boot up. But when it does it immediately has a satellite lock - even indoors!

 

lol - yeah the Magellan is slower for startup and shutdown but it seems to vary. I took both units outside this morning and the Garmin took longer to get a lock. I shut them down and left them sit for a couple of hours and took them back out. 13 seconds from power button the Garmin was on the menu screen and had birdies. At 35 seconds it had settled to down to a claimed 10ft accuracy from the initial 30. The Magellan had map screen in 35 seconds and claimed 21 ft which didnt change. Both were tracking the same number with the new 46 satellite going on and off for some reason. Boot time, in practice is a little different than initial perception then. Shutdown is instant on the Garmin for sure though.

 

As mentioned on the cable, it's a standard mini-USB. I've used the same cable between both units as well as a Seagate external hard drive.

 

Indoors the screen on the Magellan looks much better. Outdoors they are pretty evenly matched. The Garmin is slightly better in some situations but mostly due to thicker drawn contour lines/outlined text and not the screen itself. The Magellan has a slight more reflectiveness also.

Link to comment

I'm really struggling to decide between the eXplorist 610 and the Garmin Oregon 450 (or 550) .... one of the things that caught my eye was that the explorist holds 10k caches .... what I read on the Oregon is only 1000?? is that true??

 

I want this almost exclusively for geocaching, and I don't want to have to plan every outing by updating small batches of caches, I'd like to have a big selection already saved in the memory.

 

Also, do either or both of them allow you to filter the list of geocaches you have saved? For example, if I want to only see size=small, can I do that from within either GPS, or do I have to sort it in GSAK before I upload it?

 

Can you save off the GPX files on the memory card and load/unload them as you need to? I've done that on my blackberry .. where I have several queries saved, and only load the one for what I'm looking for.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give .. I have read all the reviews and done lots of research, but it has seemed to be more confusing and every time I read another one I change my mind. lol

 

Thanks!

 

Hi CacheChick

 

Sorry it took me awhile. I'm not the best source of info on either of these unit as both are new to me. You can sort the caches on each unit by Name, Difficulty, Terrain, Type and Size

 

I'm not sure about saving queries and switching them out. On the 610 the gpx files do have to be in the "geocaching" folder on the unit for them to show up. I imagine you could swap files from your computer to the unit in storage mode though.

 

If you haven't found it already here is a site for the Garmin units.

 

Garmin Wiki

 

In my opinion there will be a strength or weakness of each unit that makes or breaks it for some users. Magellan's biggest hurdle is poor support in the past. Hopefully things have changed with the new ownership (MiTAC) although I'm guessing owners of previous gen devices are still left out in the cold. It would be a hard choice for me between the units from what I know so far. If I get to spend time on a hike the coming weeks I'll give a more detailed opinion. I'm more of a gadget addict / hiker than a geocacher so I apoligize for being much help there. Let me know how your decision goes. :laughing:

Link to comment

We use both an Oregon 450 and a Explorist 610. Both units have nice features which make them attractive geocaching / outdoor units.

 

For the Oregon - well, it's a Garmin. Sorry for the generalization here, but almost everyone uses a Garmin. As such, it's really easy to get your questions answered either here or on the Oregon Wiki site: http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/. The Oregon does have some minor downsides (i.e., some reproducable crashes) but Garmin tends to update their firmware regularly - although sometimes, it is argued that they do this just to introduce new bugs. Garmin sells countless maps (I think it's upwards of the number of Nuvi variations that they sell). Pretty much anything you want to buy, Garmin will sell it. Don't get the 450t - it uses the 100K topo. Depending on the area, I've found the TIGER/road data to be upto 1/2 a mile off. Fortunately, gpsfiledepot.com has a good selection of free topo maps.

 

Now for the the 610/710. You get 2x the number of paperless caches (10,000, vs. 5,000). The 610 comes with really nice topo maps (more on that later). The 710 comes with topo plus street/route navigatable maps. Clyde just patched GSAK to allow cache page pictures (not gallery photos) to be displayed as part of the cache description - very nice! There's been talk here about Magellan's tech support for their products - most of it has been negative. I haven't had any problems with the unit yet (nor have I owned it long enough to see how often the firmware gets patched)... so I can't comment on that.

 

A big selling point for the x10 is the amount of FREE map data you can throw onto it. Unlike Garmin's custom map limit of 100 tiles, you can pack a 32GB memory card full of the highest resolution satellite images available from Google Earth (typically much nicer/sharper than Garmin's BirdsEye) using Mobile Atlas Creator. Only caveat is that if you need to break up your maps if you go over a 2GB file size. BirdsEye limits the download size to around 100MB per BirdsEye map. You can also create very pretty MyTopo 24K raster maps using Mobile Atlas Creator (although you don't get the 3D data you do with Garmin's 24K maps).

 

One suprising thing I've found is the amount of detail in Magellan's Summit Series that isn't even on my Garmin 24K West TopoDVD (+$100.00 or so, retail). For example, ALL of the Aliso/Wood Canyons trails located here on OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=33.57065&lon=-117.7485&zoom=15&layers=M) are present on the x10's Summit Series. Garmin's 24K West Topo has no trails in this park.

 

Both units are nice - and I don't think you'll be bummed out if you get a 610/710 or a 450. :laughing:

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...