hoyks wrote:... new eXplorist 510 arrived in the mail...In summary, I'm impressed.
The 710 is now available in Australia and it is pretty much the complete GPSr with turn-by-turn direction (voice commands), so we now don't use TomTom.
Being able to load so many caches (10,000) including the cache page images, is fantastic and saves me a lot of time as I don't worry about filtering and loading the caches that I think I am going to do. I just load the lot! (all of my NSW unfound)
There are still a few minor issues with it though and Magellan are said to be working on (some of?) them:
1. Setting a new WPT and going to it is quite cumbersome.
2. The unit takes about 34 seconds to boot up.
3. If you use the functions that the unit offers - voice recorder, camera, video - then the battery life is seriously depleted. If you ever see a cacher walking around dragging a small cart full of batteries behind them, then you can pretty much safely say that they are using a 610/710 eXplorist
4. The direction/go to arrow on the map screen is too big and sometimes covers important detail - like the blessed cache!
What I like about the 710:
1. Loads 10,000 caches including the cache page images.
2. Has voice recorder.
3. Has turn-by-turn routing (voice commands) These two functions have eliminated the need to carry/pack two other gadgets which is a relief.
4. The mapping is fantastic - There are 3 levels of maps included in the unit. World basemap, which is quite detailed now, Geoscience Natmap and DiscoverAus streets and tracks - topo which is just brilliant. Shows all minor road tracks, walking tracks, features such as power lines etc and that is for the whole of Australia!
5. Access to the DigitalGlobe satellite mapping on Vantage Point (like Google Earth). And shortly we will be able to load the satellite image onto the GPSr.
I would definitely recommend the new eXplorist range.