Any Comments On The Magellan Nav 6000?

[+AngelaSeely]

I am trying to find a good GPS and came across one of these for a decent price. Is there anything the matter with this GPS that would make it not a good choice for a newbie? Thanks, Angela

[+IVxIV]

Yup that unit should work fine for Geocaching, perhaps a little too "feature rich" for a newbie if this is your first GPSr unit. But, if you can get a good deal on it & learn to use it,, you'll find caches with it

 

Here's the owners manual for the Nav 6000 in case you don't already have one.

[peter]

Is there anything the matter with this GPS that would make it not a good choice for a newbie?

It's relatively large and heavy (takes 6 AA cells), doesn't support WAAS, is made for C-map cartridge charts rather than more useful MapSend Topo CDROMs, and is only rated as 'splash-resistant' by Magellan. I wouldn't recommend it compared to more current models unless you get it for a really good deal.

 

Weren't you looking at a basic Meridian? That strikes me as a much more suitable model.

[+AngelaSeely]

Peter, I am looking to buy a Magellan Meridian but I was also given the option to buy a Nav 6000 for $100. We are really looking forward to Geocaching and want to get the best bang for our buck. I would rather upgrade now then later if the 6000 was the better buy. I was also given an option of buying a garmin GPSMAP 76. The asking price is $299 but they said they would haggle. I got that offer from a local pawn shop.

[peter]

The Meridian you're looking at has none of those drawbacks that I listed for the Nav6000 and would make a much better GPS receiver for geocaching and most other applications. While the Nav6000 was originally far more expensive, it's an older design and geared almost entirely to marine applications for people who would also buy the expensive C-map cartridges with detailed marine chart data (essentially what Magellan now sells as BlueNav). I'd consider the basic Meridian to be a good bargain at $50, but wouldn't consider paying $100 for the Nav6000 unless I was trying to start a museum collection of the history of GPS receivers. That's not to say you wouldn't be able to use it for geocaching (since it would certainly work for that), just that there are better choices available.

 

As for the Map76, they'd better be willing to haggle quite a bit. They're available brand new for less than $250. The memory is severely limited at 8MB and they lack any option for auto-routing. It would have a higher resale value than the Meridian, but I don't think it would be as good or versatile overall.

 

So if I were offered the choice of getting one of the three you mention free but with the condition that I use it rather than resell it, the one I'd pick would be the basic Meridian.

[+AngelaSeely]

Peter, You have been a great help! I thank you for all of your information. I feel much better about getting the Magellan Meridian now. Thanks, Angela