Garmin vs Magellan... like Ford vs Holden?

Team Stargazer · Post by **Team Stargazer** » 23 June 03 2:19 am

Although my experience with GPS units is still in it's infancy, one thing has become plainly obvious to me already.
It seems you either belong to the Garmin camp or the Magellan camp & some users I spoken to have sworn they would never use the other brand.

So do you believe there is really a "Ford vs Holden" type of rivalry here & if so, which "camp" do you belong to & why?

Papa Bear_Left · Post by **Papa Bear_Left** » 23 June 03 8:13 am

I think you're right and, like the "Ford vs Holden" thing, it's only because we have the luxury of completely valid choice.

I mean, there's no "Ford vs. Lamborghini" rivalry, because they're not comparable cars to choose between.

We started with a Garmin eTrex, mainly on a price basis, and we've now added a Magellan Meridien, mostly so we can cross-reference the results of different antenna technologies to reduce receiver-caused errors.

Still, it's a harmless enough way to bag your friends and rivals, and better than arguing over _real_ issues!

Mind Socket · Post by **Mind Socket** » 23 June 03 10:46 am

That's just the type of thing I'd expect a Magellan user to say!

sheesh

- Rog

The Ginger Loon · Post by **The Ginger Loon** » 23 June 03 11:13 am

Mind Socket wrote:That's just the type of thing I'd expect a Magellan user to say!

<P>
He's worse than a Magellan user, he's a TURNCOAT!!!!

<P> Note what brand GPS appears in his avatar...

<P>P.S. I'm joking of course...

Mind Socket · Post by **Mind Socket** » 23 June 03 11:23 am

yeh, me too.

- Rog
Proud Lamborghini Etrex owner

Papa Bear_Left · Post by **Papa Bear_Left** » 23 June 03 12:30 pm

The Ginger Loon wrote:He's worse than a Magellan user, he's a TURNCOAT!!!!
<P> Note what brand GPS appears in his avatar...

Ah, yes, but look what the bear in my cache logos is carrying!
In Warlock, for example, or Happily Ever After...

See? I've always been into G&M!

Mind Socket · Post by **Mind Socket** » 23 June 03 12:32 pm

It's a WMD! Quick, get 'im!!!

Papa Bear_Left · Post by **Papa Bear_Left** » 23 June 03 12:37 pm

Mind Socket wrote:It's a WMD! Quick, get 'im!!!

I'd just like to say that I have no idea what you're talking about.

swampgecko · Post by **swampgecko** » 23 June 03 1:05 pm

I bought my first garmin while overseas and back then, pregeocaching time, there wasn't much in the way of support in Australia in terms of software for either major producer, but now it is different.

I like the garmin products but Magellian have the better support software wise for Australia. So I will be getting a M product when I can afford it.

But from what I have seen from my own use and watching others there is not a big difference between them.......

Mind Socket · Post by **Mind Socket** » 23 June 03 1:11 pm

Bear_Left wrote:I'd just like to say that I have no idea what you're talking about.

ah, you must be the information minister.

- Rog

In case you really didn't know: WMD=Weapon of Mass Destruction (or Distraction in the case of some world leaders)

EcoTeam · Post by **EcoTeam** » 24 June 03 12:11 am

Here is a post I made some time ago on my first thoughts of the Magellan vs eTrex. I have an eTrex, and wouldn't trade it for anything but an upgraded eTrex at this stage. If Magellen had real competition in terms of a unit the size of the eTrex then it would be an even playing field. Until then I am far from convinced that Magellens are better for geocaching than the eTrex!

-----------------------------------------------
I'll admit that I'm an eTrex fan, and haven't really used a Magellan before (even though I work for the company that designs and manufactures them!), but after playing with a friends new Magellan Meridian ($350 brand new on eBay (imported from the US)) the other night I can offer this comparison:

There were a few negative factors to the Magellan Meridian I picked up straight away.
The first is that it's HUGE compared to the Garmin eTrex, around twice the size. This in my opinion is a big negative. A larger size is heavier, more akward to use, and will look a bit suspect when you are doing extreme urban caching. The eTrex has the advantage of looking like a mobile phone and it fits almost completely in your hand, and many a cacher has pretended to make a phone call when people walk past!

The second negative point is that the Magellan does not have a hook for a carry strap. The eTrex has a hook on the bottom for a strap, and I use a thick shoe lace in a loop so that I can hang it around my neck when climbing over obstacles etc. This is just SO handy, I don't think I could live without it.

The third negative is that the buttons on the Magellan are not designed for true one hand operation like the eTrex with it's buttons on the side. Sure you can use the Magellan with one hand, but you have to kind of shuffle it around a bit to get your thumb in the right position - really annoying. Could be easy to drop when shuffling around like this too. It's certainly not designed for small hands.

The fourth negative was that when turned on it came up with a disclaimer, and you have to press "enter" to accept the disclaimer before a set time or it switches itself off! Geeze!

Did I find anything on the Magellan that was better than the eTrex?:

I did like the larger display which seemed to have a bit better contrast than the eTrex.
Being a more expensive unit it did have a few more fancy features. I liked being able to display both UTM and DDD.MMM.MM co-ords, very handy.

I didn't actually use it under geocaching conditions, so it wasn't a really fair comparison, but I found the Magellan had too many negatives already to recommend it over the eTrex for geocaching.
That's my initial thoughts anyway.

Sorry to all you Magellan fans out there, corrections invited!

Jedda · Post by **Jedda** » 24 June 03 1:15 am

Your right, the meridian is big and not as nice to look at as an etrex, I have the meridian, it replaced my garmin after it was stolen. The reason I got a magellan unit is bizzare, when I tried to get a new model garmin, every place I went to only had magellan, and claimed that they had stopped selling garmin because everyone else sold them, therefore making it too hard to sell, yet no one actually stocked garmin anymore!. I gave up on a garmin, worried that I would get poor product support for my area, and got a magellan instead. Ive learnt to live with the size(wear jackets with big pockets!) and enjoy this unit, though as you can imagine, I miss some of the garmin features missing from the magellan unit. I think that if I need to buy another unit in the future, it will take some time to decide which one to go for... they both have really useful features

Lyn Pat and Nathan · Post by **Lyn Pat and Nathan** » 01 July 03 8:43 pm

We have an old Garmin45 and a Magellan Platinum. The old Garmin wont die and we are still fond of it even though it can only manage about 10 meter accuracy. found about 80 caches with it over the time and placed lots too. The build quality is better than the Magellan but only slightly. Its hard to point at exaclty why its better built but having used them both it just is. Maybe the later garmins arnt as well made.
We prefer to use the Magellan and we would buy the Platinum again over any other GPS as it does most things that you can think of and more. We keep changing the screens to suit what we are doing as they are all configurable...and find the accuracy is sometimes so good that it makes it possible to miss the caches that have been placed with less accurate GPS units. (we sometimes find 1 meter accuracy but its morte like 3 to 5)The old garmin couldnt get a fix under trees. the magellan gets a fix under the Tin roof of our house sometimes (via the windows)
We added a Memory card and maps. Fantastic is what they are although not Perfect but its so nice to have a good idea where things are relative to where you are.
The only problems we find with the Magellan is Finding something affordable to put it in while driving (the genuine holder is way to pricey and its huge) and the lack of neck strap. How does Magellan expect us to bushwalk one handed while climbing over logs/rocks etc ? Our Guess is they hope you drop it and buy a new one.
If you are thinking about buying a GPS get a Magellan unit which supports the cards and buy the maps.

EcoTeam · Post by **EcoTeam** » 03 July 03 9:10 pm

Just found out today that I can get 20% of all Magellan products, being an employee of the company that designs and manufactures them. Apparently it's the same discount given to the dealers.
Not much of a discount though when you can import a US model for about 50% off RRP via eBay.

Until Magellan come out with a GPS the size of the eTrex, I'll remain a loyal eTrex user.

EcoDave

Alby · Post by **Alby** » 21 December 03 4:54 am

The big factor I found in comparing the two was that Garmin does not offer the free software support or user upgrades as magellan does for their units. With Garmin you are on your own. Magellans float pretty good too.

Geocaching Australia

Garmin vs Magellan... like Ford vs Holden?

Garmin vs Magellan... like Ford vs Holden?

G v's M