New GPS - best place to buy?

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Quasar
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New GPS - best place to buy?

Post by Quasar » 18 August 06 8:11 pm

Hi All,
<p>
I'm thinking of upgrading my 6-year-old Magellan 315 to something newer, with a colour screen, mapping capability etc.
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I'm interested in either a Garmin 60CSX or Magellan Explorist 600. Can anyone recommend one or the other? (and I don't want to get into a Magellan vs Garmin slanging match here!)
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Looking at prices, I can see they vary quite a bit. We seem to get the raw end of the deal here in Oz, as I've seen the Explorist 600 on Amazon.com for US$295, but here it retails for nearly A$900! Why the ridiculous difference? But Amazon won't ship here, and I guess you'd have trouble with warranty.
<p>
Is there anywhere that imports these units for a slightly better price? I've seen a few that are a bit cheaper on Ebay. Is this what these are? And if so, is there a problem because they have the US basemap on them? Ie. the mapping functionality is lost?
<p>
Can anyone recommend which way to go?

Quasar

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GIN51E
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Post by GIN51E » 18 August 06 11:39 pm

I have a Magellan Explorist 600 and think its the greatest unit out there,
along with all the Geocaching Related software also provided by Magellan,

As for buying it off ebay yes it has the USA basemap but i don't know much about the use of these.

however it may be a little more expensive to buy it from an Australian retailer but cheaper if you have a warranty issue as the USA ones on Ebay wont be covered under warranty here in Australia.



in the top left hand corner of your screen you will find a Search button, click on that and type in Magellan Explorist or something and you should find heaps of posts on it.


here is one to get you started on the Explorist
http://forum.geocaching.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=3768

and another for Magellan related geocaching features.
http://wiki.geocaching.com.au/wiki/MapSend_Lite

if after all of that you have any specific questions about the unit feel free to contact me.

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Post by Damo. » 19 August 06 9:55 am

Yes it's a bit unfair that RRP here is double or more than in the US.
Re the base maps. They are pretty useless anyway. Even if you had the Australian one on it the accuracy and amount of information given is, IMHO to encourage you to purchase the "proper" maps to get something useable. :)

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Post by The Explorer » 19 August 06 11:59 am

GIN51E wrote:
however it may be a little more expensive to buy it from an Australian retailer but cheaper if you have a warranty issue as the USA ones on Ebay wont be covered under warranty here in Australia.
Purchasing a unit via eBay that does not have warranty (some do) is probably not as big an issue as you may think if you do the sums. Magellan factory warranty only lasts for one year anyway - it is probably possible to get two units for around the price of one if you purchase from US.

A friend of mine had an Ebay purchased unit die on him - no warranty but sent it to Magellan Aus anyway to get quote - they replaced it for Australian version for ~$470 so he ended up paying same as local price ..maybe slightly less. ie in this case nothing gained nothing lost. If it was a locally purchased unit out of 1 year warranty I doubt if they would give him a new unit for free so I assume they would have replaced it for same price?..result out of pocket extra $470.

To get proper use out of a "mapping" gps you need to get detailed maps anyway - basemap becomes almost superflous when using DiscoverAus so US basemap unit will be fine. All units are manufactured in China and apart from basemap are identical and will work world wide (despite some local dealers saying only buy "southern hemisphere" setup units to avoid problems)

Cheers
Greg

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Post by Quasar » 19 August 06 12:13 pm

The Explorer wrote:
GIN51E wrote:
however it may be a little more expensive to buy it from an Australian retailer but cheaper if you have a warranty issue as the USA ones on Ebay wont be covered under warranty here in Australia.
Cheers
Greg
Thanks I was doing those sort of calculations in my head. I basically did this last time - buying my 315 back in 2001 for about $270 second-hand on Ebay - this was back when they cost about $550 here. When it broke down 2 years later, magellan gave me a reconditioned unit for $240 (mind you it took about a month to get it to Perth and back).
<p>
The eXplorist 600s on Ebay seem to be about A$600 - is this a good price or a ripoff? If they're imported from the US I can see they've got about a $150 profit margin after shipping (and probably more as I'm sure they get bulk deals). Is there anyone who will ship directly from the US? Obviously Amazon don't.
<p>

Glenn

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Post by EcoTeam » 19 August 06 5:55 pm

Quasar wrote:
The Explorer wrote:
GIN51E wrote:
however it may be a little more expensive to buy it from an Australian retailer but cheaper if you have a warranty issue as the USA ones on Ebay wont be covered under warranty here in Australia.
Cheers
Greg
Thanks I was doing those sort of calculations in my head. I basically did this last time - buying my 315 back in 2001 for about $270 second-hand on Ebay - this was back when they cost about $550 here. When it broke down 2 years later, magellan gave me a reconditioned unit for $240 (mind you it took about a month to get it to Perth and back).
<p>
The eXplorist 600s on Ebay seem to be about A$600 - is this a good price or a ripoff? If they're imported from the US I can see they've got about a $150 profit margin after shipping (and probably more as I'm sure they get bulk deals). Is there anyone who will ship directly from the US? Obviously Amazon don't.
<p>

Glenn
TheExplorist 600 is about AU$440 Buy-It-Now delivered to Oz.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Magellan-eXplori ... dZViewItem
Power Seller, has 28 of them available, so should be almost zero risk.
AU$600 is expensive.

Make sure you use the "Worldwide" check box on the left of the eBay screen to get units from the US, otherwise it tends to only show Australian sellers.

EcoDave :)

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Post by Quasar » 19 August 06 6:52 pm

EcoTeam wrote:
Quasar wrote:
The Explorer wrote:
GIN51E wrote:
Make sure you use the "Worldwide" check box on the left of the eBay screen to get units from the US, otherwise it tends to only show Australian sellers.

EcoDave :)
Ah! That makes a difference. You can see I don't use Ebay very much.

Glenn

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Post by Chwiliwr » 19 August 06 7:52 pm

As you picked the 600 I assume that you want the extra features in the 600 over the 500. They are the same unit apart from those extra features and they do add a bit to the cost that are not necessary unless you really want them.

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Post by Quasar » 20 August 06 12:17 am

What are the features? Are you talking about the compass/thermometer etc?

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Post by Chwiliwr » 20 August 06 1:00 am

Quasar wrote:What are the features? Are you talking about the compass/thermometer etc?
Yes those are the ones. I cannot see the point of them as I carry a compass anyway and would not rely on an electronic one. The others I wouldn't use at all. It is a personal decision and you need to weigh up the cost of them when deciding on a 600.

Another anoying thing about the eXplorist range is the connector. If it goes wrong it is not covered by warranty. Taking the thing on and off a lot can expose the thread to a significant amount of wear. My daughter stripped the very top part of the thread after a short time and that is when I found out about the warranty.

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Post by GIN51E » 20 August 06 10:43 am

Chwiliwr wrote:
Quasar wrote:What are the features? Are you talking about the compass/thermometer etc?
Yes those are the ones. I cannot see the point of them as I carry a compass anyway and would not rely on an electronic one. The others I wouldn't use at all. It is a personal decision and you need to weigh up the cost of them when deciding on a 600.

Another anoying thing about the eXplorist range is the connector. If it goes wrong it is not covered by warranty. Taking the thing on and off a lot can expose the thread to a significant amount of wear. My daughter stripped the very top part of the thread after a short time and that is when I found out about the warranty.
I personally wouldn't be able to live without the electronic compass makes life so much easier and means its one less thing i have to carry around whilst geocaching,

Also being a Black unit means it does show up scratches which is a good thing as i have dropped my unit more times than i can remember on hard surfaces such as concrete and there is minimal visual damage to the unit and still works perfectly,

as for the thread for the data connection i have never had a problem and don't think anyone will have a problem with it as long as you don't over tighten it. its only there to stop the plug from falling off so it doesn't need to be done up with any force what so ever.

I've had mine for 14 months now and it still looks near new and the rubber button keypad shows no signs of wear.

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Post by Quasar » 20 August 06 2:46 pm

OK, thanks for the input everyone. I have now ordered an eXplorist 600 on Ebay, from the states, US$356 delivered with swivel mount and case. Not sure how long it will take to get here.
<p>
Now I need to get some local maps for it.
<p>
Glenn

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Post by EcoTeam » 20 August 06 5:22 pm

Quasar wrote:
EcoTeam wrote:
Quasar wrote:
The Explorer wrote:
GIN51E wrote:
Make sure you use the "Worldwide" check box on the left of the eBay screen to get units from the US, otherwise it tends to only show Australian sellers.

EcoDave :)
Ah! That makes a difference. You can see I don't use Ebay very much.

Glenn
It is one of the most powerful featurs on eBay, but one of the most commonly overlooked!
The other major feature is the "Completed Listings" check box. That shows you what stuff has sold for in the last 3 months. Very handy for actual real price comparison. It's amazing to see differences in price people pay. It's not uncommon for an electronics devices like this to sell for 2-3 times the cheapest price someone else got it for. All depends on the time of day the auction ends (peak times increase prices dramatically) and a bit of luck.

EcoDave :)

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