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Magellan Vs Garmin


aka Monkey

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Ok, after wading through this episode of the Jerry Springer show here is my opinion (and for info, I believe opinions are like *ssholes, everybody has one and most of them stink). I personally have only used Garmin products, and most likely won't be changing any time soon. Mainly because it is what I started with and it is what I am used to, and I have an investment in mapping software. GPS units are like anything else, one side makes something better and the other side has to come back and top that. That's what got us to where we are with GPS units now.

 

I could tell you about last Thursday when I went out with a friend who has a Magellan and how I zeroed out directly on top of almost every cache and he was 80 feet off on most of them. Is it because my Garmin is better than his Magellan? No! We didn't really figure out the problem, but the fact is whenever we have set them side by side, after a minute they both said almost exactly the same thing. Most of the time it has been the opposite when I used my Vista. It all depends on the time of day, the position of the satellites, the antenna type, the foliage, the canyon walls, etc. One may go better in one set of circumstances and the other in a different.

 

I say get whatever unit has the features you are looking for. Hold them in your hand and see what feels good. Push the buttons and see what tickles you. Check the map software and see if they have what you want (if you want map software). They are both excellent products and will both always have their following, so don't ever believe anyone here who gives you an "A is better than B." Listen to reasons they may give as they may apply to you, but a plain "mine is better than yours" is pretty much always a worthless load of...

 

Having said all that...Canons Rule...Nikons Suck! Oh, wait, wrong board! :blink:

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Quackin' Up - Thanks for the info, I need all the mappin' space I can get. :D

 

IndyStef & Volwrath - Nix the Windows CE reference... I went back to check where I picked up that tidbit.

 

Around 1998 - '99 I worked for a company that was looking for an operating system to manage a set-top box we were going to produce, and part of the documentation that we got from Microsoft gave examples of possible applications for the Win CE operating system, the eTrex and eMap line of GPSes being one of them. I assumed that this had happened, yet can't substantiate it now (ya' know what happens when you assume :D ). Still looking, tho.

 

Sorry 'bout that. :blink:

Edited by gbeast
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Being a Kraut in the US, I am constantly faced with all these Americans . And yes, Desert Warrior, I do respect your decision - as I do respect the views of all who think differently from me (including the French at times)

 

IndyStef

Actually, I married a German - from Schweinfurt.

 

You should have seen her face the day I came home and told her that due to the French/German boycotts I was going to have to send her back to Germany.

 

:D

 

Dinner was something else that day!

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IndyStef & Volwrath - Nix the Windows CE reference... I went back to check where I picked up that tidbit.

 

Around 1998 - '99 I worked for a company that was looking for an operating system to manage a set-top box we were going to produce, and part of the documentation that we got from Microsoft gave examples of possible applications for the Win CE operating system, the eTrex and eMap line of GPSes being one of them. I assumed that this had happened, yet can't substantiate it now (ya' know what happens when you assume :D ). Still looking, tho.

 

I thought you might be thinking about the Trimble Geo XM and XT lines. They are runing a version of CE. We have a couple at work that our GIS people play with.

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You should have seen her face the day I came home and told her that due to the French/German boycotts I was going to have to send her back to Germany.

:D

 

Well, thank goodness the importers continue to import ... wouldn't know how to survive without my German beer.

 

:wub:

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---I could tell you about last Thursday when I went out with a friend who has a Magellan and how I zeroed out directly on top of almost every cache and he was 80 feet off on most of them. ---

 

This is exatly what I experienced with my SportTrak. I'm not sure what the problem was, it was afternoon, cloudless, in fields, or at most VERY light cover. I could not get in under about 75-80 ft. I tried 4 different locations, all the same result. I was getting good reads on satallites, but the accuracy was way off.

 

I didn't have my Garmin there, so I could not compare the readings(it broke), so I don't know if there was some kind of interference, or user stupidity, involved. I took it back the store.....

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Basically Garmin owns the Handheld market with the 60c and 60cs, no other company can compete.

 

While I have no desire to get into a brand war, it depends on the person. For someone who travels a lot, NOTHING will compete with a Meridian. If the person needs many megs of maps loaded, the 60 will hardly give them what they need. While the 60s are awesome, I don't know if I would say they "own" the market. For some people yes, for others, Garmin is still "behind" because they won't give you enough storage space.

 

---I could tell you about last Thursday when I went out with a friend who has a Magellan and how I zeroed out directly on top of almost every cache and he was 80 feet off on most of them. ---

 

I like Garmin's and Magellans both, so I am not defending just Magellan, just trying to keep it even.

 

"I could tell you about a few months ago, when I went out with a friend who has an eTrex Vista, and how I zeroed out directly on top of almost every cache and he was 80 feet off on most of them."

 

This happened. He was actually 80 feet away also. It's funny how the numbers are the same. He was ready to throw his Vista off the cliff, and take my sportrak. He couldnt believe how inaccurate it was.

 

Different strokes I guess...

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"I could tell you about a few months ago, when I went out with a friend who has an eTrex Vista, and how I zeroed out directly on top of almost every cache and he was 80 feet off on most of them."

 

This happened. He was actually 80 feet away also. It's funny how the numbers are the same. He was ready to throw his Vista off the cliff, and take my sportrak. He couldnt believe how inaccurate it was.

 

Different strokes I guess...

The opposite is true here too.

 

My friend is buying a Meridian because he is usually searching the wrong place when we hunt together.

We went on a 4000 mile motorcycle trip. He was very upset that he had no maps for the entire trip. No waypoints. He did load the queries I made to his PDA.

I went with thousands of waypoints and the entire western US on a couple of SD cards.

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I just returned from a nearly 1,000 mile trip that involved extensive street navigation in my case as there are no interstates that got me from where I was to where I wanted to be without excessive overhead and foot navigation involving racing to navigate to 20 waypoints while in the difficult terrain that were effecdtively in the suburbs of the Ozark Mountains and I'll say that none of my three Magellans nor any of the Garmins that I heard users talking about delivered satisfactory results for BOTH speed caching in the hills _and_ actually getting you back home. In cases where I had two Magellans, another dude had two Garmins, and a third dude had a Lowrance, the only consitent winner was Geo-Instinct!

 

On one hand, it was easy to feel smug at Land Between the Lakes in KY becuase my Meridian could hold both Topo (with park road detail) and DirectRoute (with turn-by turn direction) maps -and why should I have to buy two different programs to get accurate maps, anyway - but on the other hand, when you had to wait 2 minutes while racing between waypoints for the unit to settle down from the 250 foot overshoot, it was tempting to throw the receivers into a limestone cliff.

 

OTOH, the Gamin users that relied on separate units to get them here and that were without satellite lock for 20 minutes at a time during a competition weren't any happier. They were ready to chuck their 76's, Vistas, Summits, Legends, and 60's downt he same cliff.

 

In the end, I think neither company is _really_ paying attention to this corner of the market...

Edited by robertlipe
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HAHAHA!!! You're hole post is hilarious. It's great to know that all these expensive toys can't do anything to perfection. At least I don't feel left out having a Meridian. They all seem to suck equally, in their own way.

 

Maybe Magellan's new GPS's will be what we all have been waiting for...

 

Too hopeful? Probably.... :o

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They all seem to suck equally, in their own way.

In the sense that one brand would lose lock for two minutes out of five and the other would lie to you about your position for two minutes out of five, that's correct. Even when I teamed with a pair of brothers from WI (I think), one with a Garmin and one with a Lowrance, the only consistent 'winner' was a tie between luck and experience.

 

Mind you, I'm one of the relative few that's found > 2,000 caches with a Magellan, and I'm normally OK with that overhshoot thing - get me within 200 feet of that fallen tree and I'm all over it - but when you're chasing a business card sized tag in an undescriptit area in the woods in a race, waiting 2-4 minutes for it to settle down is maddening.

 

And lest it be thought this is sour grapes, I realize that I'm a slightly tubby pencil-neck computer geek that is sneaking up on middle age and deserves to get my butt ground-pounded when racing around int he suburbs of the Ozarks - I'm not blaming Magellan for my "loss"; I'm pointing out that on EVERY waypoint, the overshoot was an issue, even though it really wasn't an issue for normal caching for me in my teeny little bit of geocaching experience. But I could hear the swearing of nearby Garmin users and they weren't any happier.

Maybe Magellan's new GPS's will be what we all have been waiting for...

 

Too hopeful?  Probably.... :o

Probably. I haven't exactly seen an outpour of customer responsiveness from them, either. Problems reported in late October/early November with the 5.x firmware have still apparently gone unnoticed, so I don't exactly feel any Nobel Prize For Customer Responsiveness Award nominations coming on.

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I've always thought it was somewhat strange about all the comments about the "overshoot" of Magellan's. I really haven't ever noticed it with my SporTrak Map or my MeriGold. Maybe it's because I always walk slower as I get up to the cache. My MeriGold has always brought me within a reasonable distance, and there was rarely any waiting around.

 

I guess I'm just lucky, or very unobservant...

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I haven't exactly seen an outpour of customer responsiveness from them, either. Problems reported in late October/early November with the 5.x firmware have still apparently gone unnoticed, so I don't exactly feel any Nobel Prize For Customer Responsiveness Award nominations coming on.

From my limited observations. They put out a firmware update on the web once or twice a year regardless of the bugs in the current update. All other "interim" updates are placed on their Map CD and GPS CD.

 

The overshoot in the latest firmware doesn't seem to be as noticeable as it was in v4.xx, but that's purely anecdotal and has no basis from a methodological viewpoint.

 

Anyway, for all intents and purposes, if I were to buy a new unit, I would probably go after the Garmin 60cs. I have a 128MB SD card in my MeriPlat and have yet to use more than 30MB. This is not to say I'm unhappy with my Magellan. I'm using it more now than I anticipated a year ago.

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The Meridian Platinum was the best one I had caching, and no overshoot, because I took my time and would stand near the cache, turn on the compass, get a reading and turn it back off. Tracklogging is the issue why I switced to GPS V, and 60C. Me no like Etrexes since my Vista had reception problems. Stand still to get your bearings to the cache with the GPS, don't be running around while watching the number of feet count down, since that can contribute to large error.

Edited by GOT GPS?
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I should mention that my preferred unit is a Plat, it does have 5.12, and the overshoot is definitely there. When caching it's noticable, but not normally a deal breaker. Yes, I do the tricks of shorting the approach, taking compass bearings at ground zero, hanging it in a tree to let it stablize while I begin the search, and so on. When essentially racing in the woods, the overshoot is worse and the incurred time loss is a real problem. I pulled out a spare STMap from my backpack running 4.06 and it showed equally annoying behaviour.

 

But there were also a large number of folks with Legend and Summit that had broken cases. The click sticks had almost universally torn rubber, the rubber bumpers were flopping around, the lanyard and/or battery covers had failed, and so on. Even the folks showing off their shiny new 60's were seeing spontaneous reboots and battery life closer to 5 hours than the promised 30.

 

In short, if both vendors would have been at an event like this to talk to the crowd that USES these products, they'd have both gotten an earful.

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Well, I had a StreetPilot lll thrown in my lap. My brother-in-law made me an offer I couldn't refuse. :P It came with lot's of goodies... (2) 128 MB data cards, external speaker/12v power adapter, a Mapsource CD set that he hasn't given me yet, (so I'm not sure which one(s)) the beanbag and permanent automobile mount, etc... He sold me the whole setup for $300.00! (He has always been very generous to me and my family) I'm not sure what he might be getting to replace this unit, if anything.

Anyway, I have been using (playing with, really) the unit to get around town (the voice prompts make it easy) and I even used it to find and guide me to a park to go caching. However, I haven't been able to determine how (if) I can use this unit to geocache. I used the Legend once we set out on foot. I wasn't able to figure out how to enter coordinates on the Pilot. (Finding cities, addresses, intersections, Cracker Barrels, no problem) I haven't received the manuals yet, so maybe I can figure it out after I get them. But even if (when) I figure it out, it seems to be a battery hog, and I think I would look rather silly wandering through the woods with this unit! :ph34r:

So my question has changed a little. Since I now have a unit that makes street navigation a breeze, (at least so far) which unit should I replace my Legend with? Is the Meridian Color still a good choice? Or is there something cheaper that would serve me better? (Strictly for geocaching!) Should I stop whining and just keep the Legend?

P.S. How much could I expect to get for a used (but well cared for) Legend with Mapsource CD, and computer cable? I'm thinking $150-$200. Is this reasonable?

Wow, I've asked a LOT of questions! :rolleyes: Thanks to everyone who has already given advice and thanks in advance to anyone who gives me more! :)

Edited by Trinity'sCrew
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You can probably get around 150 for your Legend. I would just keep it (Well, not me personally, but, more if I were you) :rolleyes:

to save all the trouble of trying to sell it.

 

I'm not a big eTrex fan. I have Meridian Gold, and it's awesome. For geocaching, you really don't need the color. You can find a MeriGold for around 200 new.

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I use two, My Meridian Gold and the Sport trak color. The color can be hard to read in sun light. I got a real good deal on the Sport trak when the shop is working in went under, they marked it way down to sell while I was there :)

It worked out great for me as I was going to quit the next month, I had even given my notice.

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Trinity's Crew - if you stick to the same manufacturer of gps then you may be able to share software (maps) across different units. If you buy units from different vendors you may find yourself purchasing the same software more than once as none of the map software sold by these vendors is compatible with any units other than their own.

 

Don't use the SPIII for caching - yes, you would look... unusual...

 

To enter specific coordinates/waypoints hold down the mark/enter button and then move the highlight to the coordinates field, press enter, and then you can change the values by pressing up and down, left and right...

 

If you do decide to go with Magellan the Meridians are excellent units - the Mericolor is quite nice but if i was going to spend that kind of money I'd get a Garmin GPSMap60C or CS for a few more $$$.

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:huh: I have owned many GPS units and of the latest are the Magellan SporTrak Map, Meridian Gold, Meridian Color and Garmin 60CS. Out of these units the Garmin GPSmap 60CS is a phenomenal piece of equipment. The 60CS hasn't, for the most part, come up with anything new, but has fine tuned and polished what makes an all round GPS unit extremely dependable and exciting to own. Memory may not be infinite, but 56mb is quite substantialby any means. The Magellans are very difficult to read in the sunlight needing the assistance of the backlight . . . which drains the battery. The 60CS is beautiful in or out of the sunlight. The screen on the 60CS has a daytime, nightime mode which automatically switches according to the sunrise and sunset information. It is truely a thing of beauty. When I have to depend on the accuracy of what I see on my GPS screen, the Magellans have failed in that aspect. I still have the Magellans, but I have taken the batteries out of them for storage purposes. The Garmin GPSmap 60CS is working overtime. I depend on my GPS unit to do it's job . . . and do it well, my life or the lives of others may depend on it someday.I feel secure with the Garmin 60CS. Buy the 60CS, try it out for 29 days and keep your receipt. You'll see what I mean. :huh:
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And, of course, no matter what brand of car you own, 90% of the gasoline you use in it comes from oil from the Middle East.  Then the oil is refined by Exxon, BP, etc which are owned by stockholders in hundreds of countries...

FYI: Only about 15% of the oil North America uses comes from the middle east. We get the rest from other places.

 

I would also like to add that using a Vista as an example of a Garmin is a bit waek because they are the worse designed units Garmin has made (IMHO). I know there are people out there who love their Vistas, but I think they are useless for nothing other than a GPS feed for a laptop running mapping/tracking software. My old GPS 12XL was better than my Vista.

I use my GPS V and GPSMAP 60CS, sticking with garmin beause it is what I started with and know.

Edited by we3dements
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Is it just me, or does it somewhat appear that most of the people who have a fair bit of experience with both brands, while prefering one over the other don't necessarily see things as completely black and white. Those with experience in just one brand or the other however seem to see things in somewhat more absolute terms.

 

Having personally owned units from both manufactures, and even taken a eTrex Legend and sportrak map out side by side for over 100 caches, and a little more than 200 miles of trail time, I can see why people like both. Interestingly, while the eTrex is supposed to be at the bottom of the reception range, and the sportrak at the top, overall, in the conditions I'm in most of the time I felt the Legend performed slightly better reception wise. Of those 100 plus caches, I had one DNF (No one ever found it) I only had two caches where I felt there was enough error with one or the other receivers to where I wouldn't have found it with just that unit. One was on a mountain top, the other on the side of a steep canyon. In both cases, it was the Sportrak that was lost which surprised me at that time. It had a lock, but was off by enough I could tell it was in error just by looking at the map, and the units behavior. Having said that, if most of my hiking and caching were in say Louisianna, I'm sure my preference would be different. I tended to prefer the sportrak in flat heavy treecover.

 

Overall, I think any of them work fine for Geocaching. Just pick something that you like, with features that fit your own use patterns. In the end, dare to like and enjoy it.....

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wow, this whole topic started with the Magellan Vs. Garmin, and now its all so political.

 

lets get a whip here and keep everyone straight....

 

i believe that Garmin is better than magellan. Especially for me who lives in California. their customer service reps are just amazing. They helped me troubleshoot my system onsite. It crashed on our trip to yosemite national park. I called them good thing it was a saturday (free weekend minuites haha) and with that in mind we were able to step by step restarting the whole system. Iam completely satisfied with the superiority of Garmin. Not because they are from kansas or whatever state, simply because they are relaiable. I have not encountered a lot of people who are even considering magellan as an option. People are having a hardtime which garmin product to make, they have a wide wide variety of chocies and options. They have covered sea, land and air navigation. Iam impressed. I the dealer i bought my unit from ( getfeetwet.com ) even gives out free 2nd year warranties, just because they have confidence in garmin that they will have no big issues with the product breaking down.....

 

But at the end of the day its up to you buyer(s) to decide, we can just all give feedback here. Just like fat people blaming others because they are fat... at the end of the day its up to you buyers to make that judgement

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All Magellan handheld GPSr has quadrifiler helix antennas, Most all Garmin handheld GPSr has a simple patch antenna. With this info it is understood that a magellan will be much more accurate.

Magellan customer service has been great so far as I'm sure Garmin probably is too.

As far as Magellan being the Wal-Mart GPS, the comment is way off. Garmin has better marketing and promotions, but it does not have the same quality as a magellan. The one thing I like about the Garmin is the compass seems to work better when on foot, but this is easily offset by using the coords screen on the Magellan.

It is usually much easier to find a Garmin than a Magellan. Thus more people own a Garmin. Most of the people I've talked to who did the comparisons, end up buying Magellan GPSr.

But then it's just my opinion. It's the way I see it, it may or may not be the most accurate assessment.

If someone gave me a Garmin, I wouldn't turn it down.

Edited by Doc Gilbo
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All Magellan handheld GPSr has quadrifiler helix antennas, Most all Garmin handheld GPSr has a simple patch antenna. With this info it is understood that a magellan will be much more accurate.

 

all explorist series magellan have patch antennas. the 60/76 series garmins have quad helix. Also antenna type isn't the only thing that makes a gpsr accurate. the other hardware/chipset used makes a difference, as well as the firmware you running.

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Darn and I was peed that my radio was built out of the country.

 

I had Magellan, and their customer service sucked right up there with AOL; however, I might have given them another chance, except my Sportrak TOPO fell apart, when I removed the battery holder. So, I didn't even look at them, it was Lowrance or Garmin. (However, I will say until the Sportrak fell apart, it worked great.) I felt Garmin gave me a better GPS and more convenience with the TOPO software. I will say that after purchasing the unit, and found I couldn't load the CDs completely on the laptop as their owner manual state, I was peed. But info on this site allowed me to load it, and then, to my surprise, Garmin answered my complaint with instructions on how to load the complete set of 3 CDs on the laptop and run the software without a CD. That, in my opinion, was great customer service.

 

As for the discussion on where things are built isn't this buy American made stuff going too far? I have learned to buy what you want, and not base it upon where it was made. Our economy is too global for that anymore. GM makes a bigger profit in overseas sales than they do with US sales. Toyota makes more money in the US market than in the Japanese market. In a few years, Toyota will employ more Americans than GM, Ford and Chrysler together (or it sure looks like they will). So, what does buying American really mean?

 

Isn't it more like buy UAW? And I have no problems with that, since both of my vehicles were built by UAW folk, but where were these same Union brothers and sisters when the US electronics industry was collapsing and they were purchasing Sony, Panasonic, etc.?

 

Just for the record, I have two vehicles built in the US. One was built in Bowling Green KY, but from what I have heard, the engine was built in Canada. My other vehicle was built in Indiana, with an engine designed by a Japanese Company, but built in Ohio, with a trans built in Indiana. Not sure where the axles and transfer case were built, but the lockers were designed by Eaton.

So, I'm not bashing the UAW worker, only their philosophy. Both of my vehicles are very well made and I have absolutely no gripes about the quality.

 

But I have to tell everyone, if the Japanese could build vehicles similar to these two I have, I would look at them in a second.

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I've used both Garmin and Magellan. Some of my first Geocaching adventures were done with a Meridian Gold. The Meridian seemed to perform very well... at least compared to my cell phone GPS that I had also been caching with.

 

I found my caches no problem at all... The problems I did have with it were linking the thing up to the computer. Sometimes it worked... most of the time it did not. I had to transfer waypoints and maps directly to the SD card to get them into the unit. Streaming NMEA data seemed to work fine, but connecting to load or unload data was just plain out.

 

The other issue I had was with thick tree cover... The thing just didn't cut it as was the case with almost every other GPS on the market.

 

After some research on the features I wanted, I purchased a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx. I was mainly looking for a more sensitive GPS unit that could handle the heavy tree cover and would be a reliable unit. I have to say that I love my new Garmin and wouldn't go back to Magellan.

 

Aside from a few minor quirks in the unit, it perfoms exceptionally well. It has all the features I wanted... USB connection, Expandable memory, external antenna connection, feels comfortable, easy to read, fast lock and exceptional reciever sensitivity!

 

The SiRF III Chipset is just beyond compare... I can maintain a lock on 6 satellites in my upstairs bathroom... mind you, there are no windows in there.

 

BTW... 12 channels vs 14 channels does not necessarily mean better reception... it just means that if 14 satellites are in view of the antenna, the unit can get a little better accuracy... a 14 channel reciever does not even compare to the high-sensitivity SiRF III chipset. They are not even in the same league.

 

Slewfoot

Edited by Slewfoot.
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;)

Let me start by saying I haven't used a Magellan. Let me continue by saying I probably won't, based on what I read in these forums.

 

Just in the past month, I've read complaints about Magellan not filling rebates, about them lying to customers about cracked cases, about firmware updates that add stupid features to units.

 

I'm beginning to think Magellan is the Wal*Mart of GPS (with Cobra being the fleamarket). Aside from price, can anyone who has used both units tell me what they prefer about the Magellen over the Garmin?

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I've used both Garmin and Magellan. Some of my first Geocaching adventures were done with a Meridian Gold. The Meridian seemed to perform very well... at least compared to my cell phone GPS that I had also been caching with.

 

I found my caches no problem at all... The problems I did have with it were linking the thing up to the computer. Sometimes it worked... most of the time it did not. I had to transfer waypoints and maps directly to the SD card to get them into the unit. Streaming NMEA data seemed to work fine, but connecting to load or unload data was just plain out.

 

The other issue I had was with thick tree cover... The thing just didn't cut it as was the case with almost every other GPS on the market.

 

After some research on the features I wanted, I purchased a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx. I was mainly looking for a more sensitive GPS unit that could handle the heavy tree cover and would be a reliable unit. I have to say that I love my new Garmin and wouldn't go back to Magellan.

 

Aside from a few minor quirks in the unit, it perfoms exceptionally well. It has all the features I wanted... USB connection, Expandable memory, external antenna connection, feels comfortable, easy to read, fast lock and exceptional reciever sensitivity!

 

The SiRF III Chipset is just beyond compare... I can maintain a lock on 6 satellites in my upstairs bathroom... mind you, there are no windows in there.

 

BTW... 12 channels vs 14 channels does not necessarily mean better reception... it just means that if 14 satellites are in view of the antenna, the unit can get a little better accuracy... a 14 channel reciever does not even compare to the high-sensitivity SiRF III chipset. They are not even in the same league.

 

Slewfoot

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Let me start by saying I haven't used a Magellan. Let me continue by saying I probably won't, based on what I read in these forums.

 

Just in the past month, I've read complaints about Magellan not filling rebates, about them lying to customers about cracked cases, about firmware updates that add stupid features to units.

 

I'm beginning to think Magellan is the Wal*Mart of GPS (with Cobra being the fleamarket). Aside from price, can anyone who has used both units tell me what they prefer about the Magellen over the Garmin?

 

I own a magellan roadmate 2200t I upgraded the software wich was supposed to offer me extra features and Windows Vista Compatability. The new features are nice, but the unit still wont sync with my computer. THe tech support and Customer Service advise was to purchasea new computer that didnt have Vista I know Vista has its problems but what kind of customer support is this? :D

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(disclaimer: I have never used a Magellan, and have no personal beef with Magellan. I have only ever owned a Garmin, and my next GPS will be a Garmin.)

 

Range of a Magellan – depends on how strong your throwing arm is.

 

Garmin’s new ad slogan: Garmin, for those who like to Geocache even when it is cloudy.

 

Magellan’s new slogans: Magellan, for those people who aren’t afraid of getting lost. OR Magellan, for those who need more of a challenge.

 

If you can find a cache with a potato, then I am glad for you. Have a great time. Maybe we should argue coke over pepsi.

 

I really think GPSrs are all about the same. Caching is less about finding with a GPS and more about searching with eyes and hands, and getting dirt under your nails. Users of both brands of GPSrs end up with an arm full of briars, because sometimes we walk straight to a cache instead of walking along a circling trail. Both users end up with a face full of spider web because we look down at the screen in the palm of our hand instead of looking where we are walking. I could care less about what GPS someone uses.

 

The fact someone has more finds than I do, meant they go caching more often than I am able to. Just because someone has thousands of finds, does not mean their equipment is the standard, just like a teenager’s parents paying top dollar for their child a GPS for their new hobby and they quit after 5 finds, doesn’t mean their equipment is bad. My first find was without a GPS anyway. So just because someone uses a sextant and tape measure to find a cache, does not mean they did not have fun. Some people who take their GPS way to seriously. Much in the same way you poke fun at the mean uncle who is one of those this-truck-brand-only people (Ford, Dodge or GM product). You talk about it just to see his blood boil. When I first started caching, several caches were found by my nephew, who seldom holds the GPS. While I was busy looking at the device, he was looking for the cache.

 

In the end caching is not about what is in your hand, but what is between your ears. (please do not let my wife read this, as I am trying to justify buying a new GPS)

 

All this being said Magellan has been in the navigation business much longer than garmin. The Tates Watch Co. which became the electronic company which makes Magellan GPS’s started in the 1800s. The Tates Watch Co. wanted to diversify. Since it already made watchcases, (pocket watches) it decided to manufacture compasses for pioneers traveling to California. But the compasses were so bad that people often ended up in Canada or Mexico. This is the origin of the expression, "He who has a Tates is lost!"

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A frustrated Magellan user is in a field looking for a cache. Another geocacher comes along and says "why are you searching in the field when the cache page says it's in the woods."

 

The Magellan geocacher replied, "The reception is better out here".

 

 

I know all GPSr’s are wonderful and am only posting Magellan because I have a Garmin. I find the whole Magellan/Garmin debate as dumb as Chevy/Ford argument. So please Magellan users do not flame me. If you want to fight because I posted something bad about Magellan, I would post the coordinates to my house, but am afraid it may be cloudy and you would wind up beating up my 70 year old neighbor.

Edited by casey97
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A frustrated Magellan user is in a field looking for a cache. Another geocacher comes along and says "why are you searching in the field when the cache page says it's in the woods."

 

The Magellan geocacher replied, "The reception is better out here".

 

 

I know all GPSr’s are wonderful and am only posting Magellan because I have a Garmin. I find the whole Magellan/Garmin debate as dumb as Chevy/Ford argument. So please Magellan users do not flame me. If you want to fight because I posted something bad about Magellan, I would post the coordinates to my house, but am afraid it may be cloudy and you would wind up beating up my 70 year old neighbor.

I don't like Magellan, and I like beatin' on trolls even less, so I'll leave ya alone!

 

Norm

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I was one of the earliest testers of the Magellan GPSR units for use in the military. 4 out of 6 units on average failed in the field. Magellans were then dropped from further service use because they were not reliable. The person who is in combat should be able to rely on his equipment, and Magellan didn't deliver. They went with other GPSR units after that, and to this day I will not own a Magellan GPSR.

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Wow... I am so confused :huh: !! Forgetting the whole "where the gps is made or what country it is from", I just want to know what is the easiest handheld GPS for new cacher to use? I have been looking at the Magellan eXplorist! It has the cache information easily available when you upload it. I have a friend who uses it, so I already know how to use it and seem to like it! However once you are under very little tree coverage it makes you walk in circles. I was just wondering if there was another Handheld GPS that loaded the cache info onto it and was about the same price range. I am a newer cacher and need something simple and inexpensive but able and accurate! Does any of the Garmins upload the cache menu like the explorist?? I am just not that familiar with GPS's!!

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Wow... I am so confused :huh: !! Forgetting the whole "where the gps is made or what country it is from", I just want to know what is the easiest handheld GPS for new cacher to use? I have been looking at the Magellan eXplorist! It has the cache information easily available when you upload it. I have a friend who uses it, so I already know how to use it and seem to like it! However once you are under very little tree coverage it makes you walk in circles. I was just wondering if there was another Handheld GPS that loaded the cache info onto it and was about the same price range. I am a newer cacher and need something simple and inexpensive but able and accurate! Does any of the Garmins upload the cache menu like the explorist?? I am just not that familiar with GPS's!!

 

Yes an old topic and the issues have changed. Now what explorist are you talking about? :rolleyes: And what is your price range?

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