Garmin Legend Vs. Magellen Explorist 200

[Where's_South]

Ok, here's my position...my team of 3 has but 1 GPSr amoungst us (Garmin Legend), severly impacting our ability to enjoy the sport. I was given a Cobra 500 as an early Christmas/birthday present, and was so dissapointed that I called my thoughtful QVC-loving mother and asked for her to mail me the return labels. They actually charged her $150 for that junk!!!

 

So, after much debate and a sudden suprise of $170 extra in tax money, I have decided to reward myself with my own GPSr this Friday (while the wife's out of town and I am free to cache!!). My local Best Buy has a couple of good deals, but I am stuck between another Garmin Legend that my buddy has, or venturing out on my own with the Magellen eXplorist 200. The $20 price difference is of no matter (the Garmin being $160, Magellen $140), and I will probably never buy the overpriced cables/mapping software for either model. I have tried to find review info on the web, and am reduced to 2 Internet Explorer screens showing each model.

 

All recommendations are welcome. My problem with the Cobra was no refresh rate, no satellite lock, absolutely worthless. Thank you.

[peter]

I'd go for the Legend, which comes with a PC cable, and there's lots of freeware to let you make use of it - G7toWIN, USAPhotoMaps, EasyGPS, etc.

 

I'd also recommend getting some of the "overpriced" mapping software like MetroGuide for it - it can greatly expand the usefulness for activities beyond geocaching. Getting slightly dated versions on eBay is a way to do this inexpensively and versions 4 and 5 of MG-USA would still be highly useful even if they're missing some of the newer subdivisions and road changes. I wouldn't go any earlier since version 3 had much bigger regions and that's a problem with the 8 MB limit of the Legend.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

The Explorist (models 100,200,300) do not even have the option to connect data cables. You have to manually enter every set of coordinates. The user interface is not as friendly as the Garmin. Plus, while both the Legend and Explorist are small, the Explorist is hard to hold onto unless you have tiny hands. This is because the buttons are below the screen where the back of the case is the smallest. Stick with the Legend.

[Where's_South]

So far, I'm leaning toward the Legend, but one thing I wonder about is satellite lock. My friend who has a Legend gets pretty good reception just about anywhere except a local mountain park. Just wondering how the Magellen measures up in holding/acquiring satellite locks and accuracy of final destination (the Legend is accurate to about 15' or so). Thanks for your input/feedback.

[+Sputnik 57]

Here is a good review of the Legend. Surprisingly, I don't see a review of the 200 on gpsinformation.net.

[+justybug]

not sure how well the explorist series compares, i just picked up a sportrak at christmas instead of the explorist, because of the ability to connect to pc, etc..

i get decent coverage, but weird bounces occassionally. seem to have a bit better coverage in trees etc.. but have also had the chance to go caching with garmin users lately (76c, etc.) and their recovery time going from coverage to non- and back seems to be better, settle down quicker, etc..

although i can still find things just fine.

and all models now seem to have WAAS capabilities, which should put them all at 3m accuracy (theoretically).

i'd go check them out physically and see what fits your hands better, etc.. check out the menus.

the only other complaint i've got is on my unit, the pics on the buttons seem to be wearing off fairly quickly.

minor, but still a consideration..

.02

[+GrnXnham]

It's nice to at least have the option of connecting your GPSr to a computer. You might want to later. Get the Legend.

[+GOT GPS?]

There is a Magellan Meridian Gold GPS in The used section of Amazon.com, for only $179, which is $19 dollars above your upper limit, and it may still be available.

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/store...0439857-3579954

 

This is a GPS with a Cable, and the ability to save lots of waypoint files, tracklog files, to a relatively cheap small memory card that you can get easily at many stores. The ones you mentioned are not as rugged. Reason for mentioning this GPS is the future expandability, and the fact that it does come with a PC cable.

Edited February 9, 2005 by GOT GPS?

[4x4van]

Oftentimes, I see people state that the lack of PC connectivity is not a big deal to them because they don't input too many waypoints at a time, so they don't mind doing it by hand, and/or they have no desire for additional maps. Unfortunately, they are missing a couple of very important considerations. First, while you may not mind inputting coordinates by hand, it is still quite easy to make a typo when doing that, which could put you off by a significant distance. And while you may not think you want maps right now, your opinion on that could easily change. Since purchasing Mapsend Topo for my ST Pro, I now know that I'll never go back to just the standard basemap. Finally, and probably more important, is the fact that any firmware upgrades/updates will be impossible without sending the unit back to the factory. I've updated firmware in my ST Pro 3 times since I've owned it, and while I'm not necessarily fully satisfied with every new feature of newer firmware, overall I'm glad I updated. I'm getting better satelite signal strengths, better position accuracy, and one may never know what other bugs/glitches were addressed.

 

Even though I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Magellan fan, I'd go with the Legend over the Explorist 200 just because of the PC-connectivity issue.

Edited February 9, 2005 by 4x4van

[Dale_Lynn]

I would boycott the Magellan 100/200/300 as they don't have usb or com ports, you are stuck to a life of manually entering waypoints . And it becomes a real pain after the first two or three waypoints. And it also mean no firmware upgrades from over Internet.

 

I bought a new Magellan Meridian GPS for under $200 (new) a while back...

 

Shop wisely...

 

Dale

Edited February 9, 2005 by Dale_Lynn

[+briansnat]

Legend vs. eXplorist 100/200/300, Legend wins. The eXplorist has no PC connection so its not suitable for any but the most casual geocachers. Anybody who gets into the sport even a little will want to hook up their GPS to their PC to dowload waypoints and software upgrades. I also don't think the eXplorist has field replacable batteries which would be a major deal breaker for me.

 

BTW, you can find the Legend for a lot less than $160 if you shop around. It was $131 at Amazon.com last time I looked.

 

I'd also recommend getting some of the "overpriced" mapping software like MetroGuide for it - it can greatly expand the usefulness for activities beyond geocaching.

 

With a Legend I'd recommend Mapsource Topo rather than MetroGuide or City Select. Topo takes up a lot less memory than the other two. With the 8 meg of memory in the Legend you'll want to get the most coverage you can. 8 meg using MG or CS would barely hold one large city. With Topo you can fit some entire states into the Legend. Topo has most roads so it can be used for finding your way around.

Edited February 10, 2005 by briansnat