Magellan vs Garmin

[Guest Lanier]

I'm looking to buy an GPS receiver and am looking at the either a Garmin Summit, Vista, or Legend or either a Magellan 410. Does anyone have any experience with either of these units or would you recommend one over another. It will be used for geocaching and general navigation/hiking for fun, etc.

[Guest Eubi]

I don't mean to trash any brand, but I'll tell you what I experienced. I purchased a Garmin eTrex and found it to have some difficulties finding its way over an out and back course. It was typically 75 to 100 ft off. I tested the unit in three different locations and the error was always there. Even worse, the error was not necessarily in the same direction! I bought a Magellan 315 and ran it over the same courses. So far it has given me accuracies of about 3 ft. I took the eTrex back to the store!

[Guest Moun10Bike]

quote:

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Originally posted by Eubi:

I don't mean to trash any brand, but I'll tell you what I experienced. I purchased a Garmin eTrex and found it to have some difficulties finding its way over an out and back course. It was typically 75 to 100 ft off. I tested the unit in three different locations and the error was always there. Even worse, the error was not necessarily in the same direction! I bought a Magellan 315 and ran it over the same courses. So far it has given me accuracies of about 3 ft. I took the eTrex back to the store!

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You have to be careful about making comparisons like this with so few data points and without additional information. While I don't own an eTrex, I have owned several models of Garmin (GPS 40, 12XL, GPS III, GPS III+) and have found them all to be much more accurate on out-and-backs than you have experienced (at least since SA was turned off). You also have to consider what satellite geometry was like when you ran each test -- it sounds to me like you were experiencing low DOP each time with the eTrex, which is not the receiver's fault.

 

As for 3 foot accuracy with the Magellan, that is not typical of ANY consumer-grade receiver. It is more like 15 meters (49 feet).

[Guest Cape Cod Cache]

Ah, the old G vs M question, plenty of old posts if you look far back enough. It's basically Ford vs GM. Go to a couple different dealers at a slow business time and spend some time with a sales person. I used to bring customers out to the parking lot to show the how the like-priced units compared. Figure out your needs and shop is my advice. ( I prefer Garmin, but haven't played with the eTrex units yet, the other Garmins fit the hand like a good remote control though)

[Guest Anton]

Greetings,

 

Don't forget that Brunton has a nice, new GPS reciever with lots of extra features: Magnetic compass, barometer/altimeter, and even a bubble-level on the face.

 

Bruton GPS Receiver

http://www.gps4fun.com/brn_mns.html

 

Another consideration is to look at the map software from each company...the maps that come on CDs and which can be downloaded into the GPS unit. Which ever GPS you buy, you will be locked into that companies map software, so you should know what it is, and know that you like that brand best.

 

Anton

 

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Anton Ninno, N2RUD

Syracuse, NY 13210