Magellan SporTrak Series

[kathy88]

Has anyone tried any of the SporTrak Series GPS's?

We're still trying to decide on what our first GPS will be. With my husband's experience as a land surveyor [but not using GPS for doing it] he is familiar with the concept. We know we want a unit with a mapping feature and also that we want one we can use for travelling [downloading routes, etc. for trip].

The SporTrak series looks pretty good with SR pricing from $170-$300 [on Magellan's website] but would like to hear some geocaching experiences with them.

Kathy in WV

 

Kathy in WV

[+Njal]

I'm recently new to geocaching and have been buying and returning GPS units so I could the right one for me. I've checked out the Garmin etrex legend, magellan gold, and the magellan sportrak pro. I found that the Sportrak acquires sattelites faster than the Magellan gold and seems to hold signal strength a bit better (noticeably better than the eTrex Legend). I slimmer size is nicer (slightly bigger than the eTrex, slightly smaller than the Mag. Gold). Overall a great unit. I think the question that you've got to answer is "how important is autorouting?" None of the GPSs at this level do "turn-by-turn" routing, they merely show a line "as the crow flies" from current location and the destination. To get "autorouting" you'll need to step up to something like the Garmin GPS V, which runs ~$400+.

[+GeoCraig]

I'm very happy with my SporTrak Pro. Has all the whistles and bells (actually proximity alarms) that I need. Quite accurate--has WAAS. I haven't used it in the trees, but other reports I've read say that it holds a signal quite well.

 

Good luck.

 

PS I got mine for $230, MapSendTopo for $68, and then a $50 rebate at gpsonsale.com

[+AngryElf]

I bought a Sportrak Pro a few months ago. It is my first GPSr. It has been great. Very good reception under tree cover. I have been happy with it. It is easy to use also. Great deals on the internet for them now. Mine was 239 including shipping off of eBay. You should be able to find one cheaper now.

[+azmark]

Check out....

http://www.gpsinformation.net/mgoldreview/sportrak-pro-rev.html

 

The best resourse on GPS......

 

The Sportrak Pro GPS appears to represent a significant step forward in WAAS enhanced GPS position accuracy. In experiments the Pro was able to achieve 95% confidence accuracy of less than one meter on two out of the three tests we made in the open. It also achieved its specification accuracy of 3 meters 95% of the time under moderate tree cover on all tests. No other consumer handheld GPS we have reviewed has achieved this accuracy.

 

Other tests show that this stationary accuracy is not achieved at the expense of position lag at highway speeds or in overshoot on sharp turns. We consider the Sportrak Pro to be the most accurate consumer GPS receiver that we have reviewed.

[Titanium]

I have had my SporTrak Pro for about a month now. It is the first GPSr that I have owned, but I have been very pleased with it. I have had it under fairly heavy tree cover and it kept receiving a signal the entire time. It isn't as accurate under the trees as it is under open sky, but at least it continues receiving a signal, which evidently, is better than some units.

 

I would say that the only thing it lacks is autorouting (driving directions). But you have to spend twice as much to get that feature in a handheld unit.

 

Titanium

 

"Some people see the glass as half empty, some see it as half full. I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be."