Magellan eXplorist 200 Water Resistant Hiking GPS
by Magellan
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List Price: Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Magellan eXplorist 200 Water Resistant Hiking GPS
Customer Review: Terrific GPS for Family Geocaching
Summary: 5 Stars
My 8-year old son read an article about Geocaching and really got excited. I wanted to get a GPS handheld that offered great value and ease-of-use. I tried the Garmin eTrex, eTrex Legend, Geko and the Magellan eXplorist 200 (a local Geocaching club let me field test the units) and I downloaded the manuals from the Garmin/Magellan websites and poured over them.
The verdict -- I bought the eXplorist 200. The base map gives you the major freeways, highways, and cities -- even parks and national landmarks. The buttons and functions were the most intuitive of any of the models tested -- very important when you have children operating the unit. The LCD screen is as big as the expensive models and highly legible in ambient light. My son loves it and the entire family is getting lots of hikes and geocaching done in the great outdoors.
What happens next? I will save up for a more powerful unit with a PC connection, map software, etc, now that we are hooked on GPS navigation. The eXplorist will remain with my son -- like cell phones, it is always a good idea to have an extra one around...
Customer Review: Undetailed, and a bit slow
Summary: 3 Stars
My best friend owns two of these GPS system things. So, yeah, I'm a newbie at this GPS thing. I turned it on, and it took 10 seconds for it to go to the map. Then, 10, 20, 30...60...100 seconds...why aren't the satellites connecting?...200, then finally a satellite was connected, and I was outside. I zoomed all the way in, and it was very confusing. I could only see three roads, one being the I-10 freeway. And no, Tucson is not a small city. Actually, it's pretty big, the second biggest city in Arizona, and Phoenix being the biggest, and due to all of the northwest area construction, that's not saying much. The map was very unclear, showing two main roads, I-10, and this big circle saying Flowing Wells. And Flowing Wells was actually misplaced, and should have been a little more southern.
It does have it's high points. At least you have specific numbers, on how far and fast you are walking, but once again, slow.
It does what it's supossed to do, but it does it in such a below-average way that I can not recommend.
Customer Review: Perfect starter and then some
Summary: 5 Stars
The first thing that amazed me about this unit is it is so light weight, compact, and fits in the palm of your hand. I purchased a Magellan GPS unit back in 1997 and wanted to update and upgrade. GPS has come a long way since my first unit. This unit was easy to setup and navigate. The onscreen menu system is easy to understand, and the navigation buttons are easy enough to use with one hand. The screen was sharp and clear, and the backlight is more than enough for low light and dark areas. The built in maps of North America (while not side street detailed) are very detailed and accurate for major highways and throughways. It acquired a 4 or more satellite signal within about 1 minute after a cold boot up. It got signal inside my condo unit which is under another second story condo unit!! In the car it worked just as good laying on the seat next to me. I used the built in maps to navigate to another city perfectly. Overall I'm very pleased, recommend this unit, and I'm looking forward to using it for some Geocaching soon.Customer Review: Great Starter GPS
Summary: 4 Stars
I just started Geocaching a few months ago and after doing research on available GPSs in my price range, I decided to choose this one. It is a great starter unit that does not have so many functions that the directions on usage overwhelm you (we all know about VCR programming!) It has great screen readout, easy-to-program waypoints, and a nice size.
On the downside, it can be a bit slow initiating at startup and there is no PC connection capabilities. But then again, it's supposed to be a simple unit and with 16MB it should serve you well. However, I wouldn't recommend it for driving since it's not designed for that and there are models out there better suited for that purpose.
All in all, if you're looking for a great basic model, I would recommend it. The Garmin eTrex Legend is comparable but this Magellan has better accuracy, more channels, and more route capabilities.
I haven't regretted this purchase.
Customer Review: Explorist 200 has no PC interface
Summary: 3 Stars
Why does this handheld need 16 mb of memory when the unit only comes with 10 mb of maps loaded and no PC interface. The specs are misleading and I feel stupid having not done more research before purchasing this unit. The Explorist 210 has a PC interface and 22 mb of space to load more maps if needed. My main gripe is that I work with GIS and I wanted to be able to grab my waypoints off the unit via a usb, but now I have to enter them manually. Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal, but I may have hundreds by the time I'm done. I recommend this unit if you want a nice, light, good display, and feature for the money, but if your looking for PC interconnectivity, then buy the Explorist 210 or 400. The Explorist 100/200/and 300 don't have this feature. Also don't buy the PC cable at the bottom of the page that Amazon recommends because it fits a different Magellan series all together.
F Scot