Meridian Color or Platinum

[+ru2pid]

It looks to me like all features are identical except I am not sure if the color compass is as good as the platinum. Am I correct?

Please share thoughts and recommendations on which I should buy.

This is my first GPS purchase.

[+GeneralBracket]

I don't own either so I have no first hand knowledge, but based on my experience in these forums I think you'll probably find most people recommending the Platinum.

 

Search the forums and you'll get a better idea. This has come up before I'm sure.

[+Buccaneer55]

I thought about getting the Color before I bought my Platinum. The Platinum has the electronic compass and the barometer, the Color doesn't. I don't use the barometer much, but I couldn't live without the electronic compass. It points you in the right direction everytime. If you get the Platinum the only thing you're giving up is the color screen, which to me is a luxury. But, you'll be gaining the better electronic compass and the barometer.

 

You'll find that once you get close to a cache you'll be standing still trying to figure your heading, the Color's compass won't work standing still while the Platinum's will. Therefore, a compass is a necessity; so with the Color you'd also have to buy a seperate compass for caching.

[+DustyJacket]

It depends what uses other than caching that the GPSr will be used for.

 

Since I use mine driving, I have the color and love it.

 

If I was only caching, I'd get the platinum.

The platinum has a real compass, so that it will point to the cach, even when standing still and just turning around to locate the cache.

 

The color, like most GPSrs, determines direction based on the direction you were last moving, be it forwards, sidewards, or backwards.

 

DustyJacket

Not all those that wander are lost. But in my case...

[+Cache Hunter D]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the color can use an external antenna, the Plat can't.

 

Hope this helps.

[+Marky]

quote:

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Originally posted by Buccaneer55:

the Color's compass won't work standing still while the Platinum's will.

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This is not entirely true. The meridian and sportrak compass screens include a 'sun' and a 'moon' icon (if they are visible in the sky), so you can orient the compass so that the 'sun' icon is pointing at the sun. This works better than the plat's electronic compass, which I got fed up with and eventually turned off because I got tired of recalibrating it all the time, and then have it freak out on me and go into backwards mode. When I got my Sportrak Pro, which I use all the time for caching now, I never missed the fact that it didn't have an electronic compass.

 

However, to answer the question at hand, like DustyJacket said, if you are going to be using it mostly on the trail, the plat would probably do you better. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the color screen technology used by the MeriColor. I'm looking forward to checking out the Sportrak Color, which sounds like it has a far superior color screen. Maybe the next rev of the MeriColor will get this new tech as well.

 

--Marky

"All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer with a backlit GPSr"

[+DustyJacket]

quote:

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Originally posted by Marky:

Maybe the next rev of the MeriColor will get this new tech as well.

---

 

Well, since my color is bought and paid for, I can guarantee that there will be a newer, better, longer lasting Meridian color.....

 

DustyJacket

Not all those that wander are lost. But in my case...