Meridian Gold: some brief impressions...

[Guest SergZak]

Hello fellow GPS nuts. I'm a new user here and thought I'd start off with posting some of my brief impressions of the Magellan Meridian Gold. I don't think I'll match ClayJar's very nicely done review (with some *great* pics BTW) but I'll just speak my mind and give a few impressions about the new gizmo that suddenly found it's way into my hands.

 

First off, I've been using GPS for quite some time now and have the following units so I think I can make some fair comparisons between units...

 

Magellan GPS 315 v3.14

Magellan MAP 330 v2.08

2 Garmin eMaps v2.73

Garmin eTrex Vista v2.23

 

First off is the size of the Gold....this unit is quite large and I wasn't really expecting it to be as large as it is. It's even bigger than the eMap but the screen size is about the same. Compared to the Vista, the Gold is a giant but that may be because the Vista is so small. Screen resolution is a bit better than the MAP 330's but it's larger which is of course better for viewing, especially while driving. And much like the eMap, the controls are on the front which is a plus again for use while driving. Like ClayJar mentioned, the raised ridge around the screen seems to be built for protection which is a very good thing.

 

OK...I will come right out and say it. The Gold really seems like a sooped-up MAP 330 with a few extra navigation screens added. And now that the MAP 330's newest firmware v2.08 adds a "road screen", the units are very similar to one another. For me at least, the main advantage of the Gold is now the use of Secure Digital data cards for map storage which is a BIG advantage over the MAP 330...I can now predefine/create maps that I can save on hard disk/CD-R/etc and simply copy to the SD card using my USB SD card reader which is very cool. I currently have a 32MB SD card which approx half of California fits onto. Transferring the map file from hard disk to SD card takes about a minute and a half and beats the hell out of waiting ages via the serial port. Plus SD cards are *standard* unlike Garmin's proprietary data cards and pricing is very reasonable unlike Garmin's outrageous prices.

 

I won't get heavily into the quality of the maps/maps data here but I do favor Garmin's maps over Magellan's for accuracy and just being overall better and cleaner looking. But then again, I'm comparing MapSend Streets to MetroGuide II (the new version) which MGII has POI's and other valuable info. Maybe the newer MapSend Streets & Destinations would be a better comparison...

 

The Gold has a nice flat back unlike the MAP 330 which will allow it to be mounted in a better variety of areas using simple Velcro and other home-brewed mounting techniques.

 

The Gold has *no* provision for using an external antenna...this seems like a big oversight but considering the sensitivity of the internal antenna, this may not be much of an issue to most users. I can consistently lock onto a couple of sats from inside my house which I've never been able to do with any of my Garmin units. The antenna sensitivity is very comparable to the MAP 330 and should be more than adequate for most users.

 

Another thing I've noticed is the use of actual *screws* (remember those?) holding the Gold together. Although I have not tried to actually dismantle the unit, I would think this would make repairs much easier and cost effective when/if they are needed. Sure beats the "hermetic sealing/plastic welding" that other recent units have used.

 

The battery compartment door & SD card access is a breeze to open with the two sliding latches instead of that captive screw used on the MAP 330/GPS 315.

 

Now the basemap...with it's actual size of 14,329,210 bytes it dwarfs the MAP 330's basemap. The thing is, I simply cannot tell any difference between basemaps between the Gold and the MAP 330. I've scrolled around quite a large area (Los Angeles, CA mostly) using both basemaps along with the same zoom setting and have yet to see *any* difference between the two basemaps. With the Gold's basemap being almost twice as large as the MAP 330's, I would expect to see at least some differences. Have any other users here compared basemaps between the two units? Have you seen any differences? I'm still scratching my head on this...

 

Another thing is there is no onboard memory available for uploading maps...with the price of memory as low as it is, they could've included at least 8MB or so within the unit itself so at least the user could upload even just a small detail map, but this is just nitpicking on my part...the use of industry standard SD cards for user map data is to be commended and is a huge improvement over Garmin's proprietary policy and having only a fixed memory chunk within the unit.

 

I've also noticed that the backlight is much brighter than the MAP 330's with the Gold's lowest setting being equal to the MAP 330's brightest setting.

 

The audible alarm is much louder compared to the MAP 330's meager little sqeak but is still kind of weak compared to the eMap's alarm.

 

To end, I will say the following...in my opinion, the Gold is not that big of an improvement over the MAP 330. The main advantages of the Gold are the larger screen size and the use of SD cards for pretty near unlimited detail map storage. As far as I can tell, the basemap is basically the same as the MAP 330s basemap (if someone can show me otherwise...). If you're in the market for a new GPS, I would highly recommend the Gold but if you're looking for a huge upgrade from your MAP 330 besides the extra NAV screens, SD card detail map storage and larger screen (among other minor advantages I may not have mentioned), you may wish to re-think your upgrade. If on the other hand you have to have the newest/latest/greatest GPS/adult toy, the Gold is a great piece of engineering.

 

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Serg

 

[This message has been edited by SergZak (edited 29 November 2001).]

[Guest phantom4099]

The only diffrence I noticed is that the meridian has detailed cost lines, the cost lines look very much like the ones one would download off of mapsend.

 

Wyatt

[Guest prv8eye]

clumsey .

 

Gus Morrow

Oceanside, CA

[Guest ClayJar]

Really nice review. With the 2.08 firmware, the MAP 330 is indeed pretty close, firmware-wise. The SD card capability, the wonderful size and shape, and the better water resistance were what got me to go MeriGold. (And I still have my MAP 330 for backpacking tracklogs, cache placement verification, and emergency backup.)

 

quote:

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Originally posted by prv8eye:

I also love the rubber coating.

While a guy with your apparent wealth doesn't need to worry about dropping his GPS, I am poor and clumsey .

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I second that emotion. (Incidentally, the Meridians hold up really well in the midst of repeated falls. Not a scratch on my MeriGold, and not too many on me.)

[Guest SergZak]

quote:

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Originally posted by prv8eye:

My only question is why TWO Map 76's?

You must be rich.

 

Gus Morrow

Oceanside, CA

---

 

Thanks Gus and ClayJar for your comments...

 

Gus, I have 2 eMaps (not Map 76's) simply because I think this is a fantastic GPS...very expandable with a nice large screen along with the most important controls right on the front of the unit (simply awesome for driving). Having 2 data cards and the low price that I purchased the second unit for ($149 I think it was) really pushed me into springing for a second unit.

[Guest SergZak]

quote:

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Originally posted by prv8eye:

My only question is why TWO Map 76's?

You must be rich.

 

Gus Morrow

Oceanside, CA

---

 

Thanks Gus and ClayJar for your comments...

 

Gus, I have 2 eMaps (not Map 76's) simply because I think this is a fantastic GPS...very expandable with a nice large screen along with the most important controls right on the front of the unit (simply awesome for driving). Having 2 data cards and the low price that I purchased the second unit for ($149 I think it was) really pushed me into springing for a second unit.

[Guest philipTB]

Great review but this has really thrown a spanner in my works!

 

I had just made the decision to upgrade my 315 to a Meridian and now I'm not so sure. I dismissed the 330 on the grounds that it missed some of the screens of the 315 and had fixed flash memory size. Buying a 330 would have saved me spending about $100 on replacing my PC cable, car power cable, leather case etc.

 

The attraction of the Meridian to me is the extendable and interchangeable memory. My somewhat simplistic way of looking at things is

 

megabytes = coverage x detail

 

But there seems a very real limit to the amount of detail that can be sensibly portrayed on a 120 x 160 display even at high zoom factors. Does this mean that cheaper and bigger SD cards will simply allow me greater and greater coverage? Do I really need to carry around a detailed map 1000km x 1000km?

 

Can someone convince me that I'm going to get some real benefit from all these megabytes. Go on - nudge me - it won't take much to persuade me.

[Guest DigitalFudge]

quote:

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Buying a 330 would have saved me spending about $100 on replacing my PC cable, car power cable, leather case etc.

---

 

The PC cable is included with the Meridians!

 

I am not sure if the power cable of the 315 is compatible with the 330, but I do know that you can use the power cable of the 330 with the meridians (the only thing is that you can't use the 330 cable with the meridian while the meridian is mounted in its bracket.)

 

Hope this helps!

 

DigitalFudge

[Guest SergZak]

quote:

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Originally posted by philipTB:

Can someone convince me that I'm going to get some real benefit from all these megabytes. Go on - nudge me - it won't take much to persuade me.

---

 

A couple of great things about having a Meridian as far as the RAM issue goes is that you can predefine regions you will be using and save them to your hard drive/CD-R and simply copy the regions to the SD card when you need them. Copying a ~32MB file to an SD card takes ~1.5 minutes. If I remember correctly (it's been a long time since I've done it), it takes about 20-30 minutes to upload a ~8MB detail map to the MAP 330. In addition, you can buy multiple SD cards and have regions already saved on them and simply swap cards when you need the new region. But of course, these cards cost $$$ and you also need to purchase an SD card reader (~$20-$30) to read/write the cards and to take advantage of the time savings when reading/writing...using the serial port interface on the Meridian to write ~32MB to the card would take an awfully long time and if you get an error during the transfer, you get to start all over again. Uploading the small ~2 Meridian basemap to the MAP 330 (I mentioned this in another post) will net you ~6MB more detail map memory (~14MB) so you may want to think about that extra RAM that can be gained on the MAP 330.

 

Just a note...I purchased a 64MB SD card yesterday and have the same problems others have mentioned here...if you stay under ~32MB of data, all is fine but once you go over that is when the zooming/scrolling/lockup problem starts to rear it's ugly head. I hope this gets fixed very soon so I can actually use the full 64MB on the card...as it is now, it's simply a 32MB card to the Meridian.

 

 

[This message has been edited by SergZak (edited 02 December 2001).]

[Guest alexm]

quote:

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Originally posted by DigitalFudge:

I am not sure if the power cable of the 315 is compatible with the 330, but I do know that you can use the power cable of the 330 with the meridians (the only thing is that you can't use the 330 cable with the meridian while the meridian is mounted in its bracket.)

---

 

The power and data cables are, indeed, interchangeable. But as you mentioned, I don't think the old 315/320/330 cables will fit in the yet-to-be-disclosed meridian mounting bracket. Time will definitely tell..

 

I've managed to make a few "nonstandard" modifications to my 315/320/330 power cable and vehicle mounting bracket and have managed to successfully vehicle-mount the meridian without ruining the functionality of the bracket/cable for a 315/320/330. It's a bit ugly though... Needs black rubber bands.

 

...

alexm

[Guest alexm]

quote:

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Originally posted by DigitalFudge:

I am not sure if the power cable of the 315 is compatible with the 330, but I do know that you can use the power cable of the 330 with the meridians (the only thing is that you can't use the 330 cable with the meridian while the meridian is mounted in its bracket.)

---

 

The power and data cables are, indeed, interchangeable. But as you mentioned, I don't think the old 315/320/330 cables will fit in the yet-to-be-disclosed meridian mounting bracket. Time will definitely tell..

 

I've managed to make a few "nonstandard" modifications to my 315/320/330 power cable and vehicle mounting bracket and have managed to successfully vehicle-mount the meridian without ruining the functionality of the bracket/cable for a 315/320/330. It's a bit ugly though... Needs black rubber bands.

 

...

alexm