+BigNick Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 Today I stopped in at the Boat Expo here in Christchurch to have a look at the GPSr gear that they had on sale and ended up having a very interesting chat with John from Electronic Navigation Ltd (he is based in Nelson, but it is an Auckland company) and he showed me a very nice Magellan SporTrak GPSr unit but much more interesting was the Magellan Meridian Platinum GPSr, the reason that it was so interesting (apart from the great features and fantastic user interface - better than my basic eTrex) was the fact they they are about to do a big push in New Zealand of their land based products (Electronic Navigation Ltd is primarily involved in boat navigation) because their R&D division are just finishing up a New Zealand base map for the Magellan mapping range of GPS units - he has seen a beta version that was Auckland only and said that it went all the way down to street level, the full NZ coverage version is due out soon (initially ENL were hoping for an October release, but some delays have pushed this to the New Year (though I would imagine that they would be trying to get it out in time for Xmas purchases) so that should be something to look forward to if you are planning on upgrading your GPSr. It will be interesting to see if this prompts Polymedia and Integrated Mapping to release Magellan compatible upgrades to NZMapped and TopoMapPro as currently I don't think either support the upload and download of waypoints from any GPSr other than Garmin (I guess because Magellan is pretty unknown here in NZ)(hopefully they do, as the Magellan interface protocol is easier than Garmins from the look I have had at the SDK) Cheers Nick Quote Link to comment
+BigNick Posted September 10, 2002 Author Share Posted September 10, 2002 I have some more information from Warren at ENL: 1) The maps will be available on both SD card and CD (the SD card will be writable so you can store WP/Tracks as well) 2) There will be maps for both sea (for boats - available end of year) and land (streets and topos - still in development 6-8 months away ) 3) Price has not been yet been fixed Cheers Nick. Quote Link to comment
+BigNick Posted September 10, 2002 Author Share Posted September 10, 2002 I have some more information from Warren at ENL: 1) The maps will be available on both SD card and CD (the SD card will be writable so you can store WP/Tracks as well) 2) There will be maps for both sea (for boats - available end of year) and land (streets and topos - still in development 6-8 months away ) 3) Price has not been yet been fixed Cheers Nick. Quote Link to comment
+BrentC & Pam Posted September 11, 2002 Share Posted September 11, 2002 Get a Garmin Mapping GPS I really like my 76S [This message was edited by brentc on September 11, 2002 at 02:18 AM.] Quote Link to comment
+BrentC & Pam Posted September 11, 2002 Share Posted September 11, 2002 Get a Garmin Mapping GPS I really like my 76S [This message was edited by brentc on September 11, 2002 at 02:18 AM.] Quote Link to comment
+BigNick Posted September 11, 2002 Author Share Posted September 11, 2002 quote:Originally posted by brentc:Get a Garmin Mapping GPS I really like my 76S Yes, the 76S is very nice, built I much prefer the price of the Meridian Platinum ($253USD vrs $449USD) for very similar features (except option for external antenna) Cheers Nick. Quote Link to comment
+BigNick Posted September 11, 2002 Author Share Posted September 11, 2002 quote:Originally posted by brentc:Get a Garmin Mapping GPS I really like my 76S Yes, the 76S is very nice, built I much prefer the price of the Meridian Platinum ($253USD vrs $449USD) for very similar features (except option for external antenna) Cheers Nick. Quote Link to comment
+The Hornet Posted September 15, 2002 Share Posted September 15, 2002 Please permit someone from England their small addition to this thread. Although I'm not familiar with NZ mapping (although I hope to make use of some in the next year or two!) I am familiar with the Magellan Platinum. I've had one for a couple of months having previously had a Garmin e-Trex Summit for a year or so. Both are good but the Magellan wins hands down for both its mapping ability and perhaps more importantly it much superior reception, particularly under tree cover. It's true that Garmin units are much more widely supported by software vendors but there's no problem importing/exporting waypoints using EasyGPS which has the added benefit of being free. Hope this helps your decision, Peter _________________________________________________________ It is better to regret something you did, rather than to regret something you didn't do. Quote Link to comment
+BrentC & Pam Posted September 16, 2002 Share Posted September 16, 2002 quote:Originally posted by BigNick: quote:Originally posted by brentc:Get a Garmin Mapping GPS I really like my 76S Yes, the 76S is very nice, built I much prefer the price of the Meridian Platinum ($253USD vrs $449USD) for very similar features (except option for external antenna) Cheers Nick. Plus the NZ$500 to NZ$600 for NZ Maps for the Meridian when they become available - paid US$375 for the 76S. Quote Link to comment
+BrentC & Pam Posted September 16, 2002 Share Posted September 16, 2002 quote:Originally posted by BigNick: quote:Originally posted by brentc:Get a Garmin Mapping GPS I really like my 76S Yes, the 76S is very nice, built I much prefer the price of the Meridian Platinum ($253USD vrs $449USD) for very similar features (except option for external antenna) Cheers Nick. Plus the NZ$500 to NZ$600 for NZ Maps for the Meridian when they become available - paid US$375 for the 76S. Quote Link to comment
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