Garmin or Magellan - Which is better value for money.
- weewillie
- 1 or more caches found
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- Joined: 16 December 05 8:56 am
- Location: Marsden - Logan - Queensland
Garmin or Magellan - Which is better value for money.
Hi All,
I've been using a borrowed Garmin Foretrex which has been ok but I've found it a bit clunky to use. I'm looking to buy myself a GPS unit (probably off eBay) and was wondering which is the better value for money to buy and which is generally easiest to use , Magellan or Garmin
Advice please
weewillie
I've been using a borrowed Garmin Foretrex which has been ok but I've found it a bit clunky to use. I'm looking to buy myself a GPS unit (probably off eBay) and was wondering which is the better value for money to buy and which is generally easiest to use , Magellan or Garmin
Advice please
weewillie
According to Team Wibble in Is Nothing Sacred? Book 2006, Chapter 28 July, Verse 1.22pm
Our Satellites, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy GPSr come.
Thy will be done,
On OziExplorer as it is in DiscoverAus.
Give us this day our daily pocket queries.
And forgive us our no finds,
As we forgive those who muggle our caches.
And lead us not into FTF battles,
But deliver us from evil puzzle caches.
For the world is our playground,
and the power,
and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Garmin.
I mean "Magellan" just wouldn't work, would it?
Our Satellites, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy GPSr come.
Thy will be done,
On OziExplorer as it is in DiscoverAus.
Give us this day our daily pocket queries.
And forgive us our no finds,
As we forgive those who muggle our caches.
And lead us not into FTF battles,
But deliver us from evil puzzle caches.
For the world is our playground,
and the power,
and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Garmin.
I mean "Magellan" just wouldn't work, would it?
We picked up a Magellan 500 with the main reason being that the MIL from Team GraMon had one prior and we managed to take it out a few times with us. We had a look at both the Magellan and Garmin prior to purchasing, however, the places we went (Anaconda, Tricky Dickies etc) didn't really have anyone who knew what they were talking about. It was not even possible to switch the Garmin on to even have a look at the screen display as the units were practically bolted to the display units.<p>
I find the Magellan works well, but keep in mind that I have not played with a Garmin. The basic maps on the Magellan are pretty...well basic. The DiscoverAus maps are pretty good but you are looking at another $200+.<p>
The numbers wear off the Magellan buttons pretty early on, which is not detrimental but pretty poor. The firmware upgrades for the Magellan give additional functions and navigation screens but we have not found them of huge benefit. I do recommend a colour screen as I found it easier to read.<p>
Both Team GraMon and we have had problems with the power/usb cable dying after a few months and not working - flakey connection as the wires appear to work loose from the connector at the GPSr end. This may still be covered under warranty but not sure as we are still negotiating - replacement cable costs $66.00.
I am not overly excited about the screw in connector for the back of the Magellan...although waterproof it is a pain to screw in and I am worried about accidentally cross threading in it.<p>
I have found the Magellan a breeze to use since Team Rubik introduced us to GSAK and uploading waypoints. Obviously you can do this with other units as well. Cheers.
I find the Magellan works well, but keep in mind that I have not played with a Garmin. The basic maps on the Magellan are pretty...well basic. The DiscoverAus maps are pretty good but you are looking at another $200+.<p>
The numbers wear off the Magellan buttons pretty early on, which is not detrimental but pretty poor. The firmware upgrades for the Magellan give additional functions and navigation screens but we have not found them of huge benefit. I do recommend a colour screen as I found it easier to read.<p>
Both Team GraMon and we have had problems with the power/usb cable dying after a few months and not working - flakey connection as the wires appear to work loose from the connector at the GPSr end. This may still be covered under warranty but not sure as we are still negotiating - replacement cable costs $66.00.
I am not overly excited about the screw in connector for the back of the Magellan...although waterproof it is a pain to screw in and I am worried about accidentally cross threading in it.<p>
I have found the Magellan a breeze to use since Team Rubik introduced us to GSAK and uploading waypoints. Obviously you can do this with other units as well. Cheers.
-
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- Udderchaos
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having had to upload coords to 30 or so gps's at a recent event cache.
I found the any of the colour garmins the easiest. Magellans to be a little tricky to work out and the old GPS3 was a complete pita. Took us ages to delete the coords, then it was plain sailing.
The BW etrex's where fairly easy as well, but not as simple as the 60c's or ExtrexC's
we had to delete all coords stored, upload event coords, then check the upload worked.
I found the any of the colour garmins the easiest. Magellans to be a little tricky to work out and the old GPS3 was a complete pita. Took us ages to delete the coords, then it was plain sailing.
The BW etrex's where fairly easy as well, but not as simple as the 60c's or ExtrexC's
we had to delete all coords stored, upload event coords, then check the upload worked.
- caughtatwork
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- GIN51E
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I had one Magellan Unit for 5 years at one point the down arrow button stopped working, posted it to Magellan and they fixed it free of charge and even overnight posted it back to me as i was going on holidays the next day, i consider that fantastic service so when i went looking for another GPS unit i stayed with Magellan and got the Explorist 600 which I'm very happy with, had it now for 2 years and never had a problem with it, the unit has been in wet weather, spent hundreds of hours sitting in the sun on the cars dashboard and has also been dropped on concrete more times than i can remember and it still doesn't have a mark on it, hasn't faulted and none of the paint on the buttons has worn off.
I haven't used Garmin but i couldn't be any more satisfied with Magellan and the service I've received from them in the past.
I haven't used Garmin but i couldn't be any more satisfied with Magellan and the service I've received from them in the past.
- CraigRat
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