Advantages: Cheap; easy to use; geocaching features Disadvantages: monochrome screen; little room for expansion; cant plan routes via postcodes or addresses
Advantages: Size, speed, colours, waterproof, SD slot Disadvantages: Reliance on poor Magellan Maps, no third party support
I wanted a small GPS unit principally for my off road mountain biking activities.
It's a real hassle stopping the bike unfolding the OS map and working out precisely where you are, on a legitimate bridle path or in a farmers backyard.
When I saw the advert for the new eXplorist 500 at £350, featuring Magellan's topographical UK map, I thought this is it, a bit expensive, but just what I've been waiting for.
The reality is somewhat different to the expectation, hence my disappointment.
Now don't get me wrong, this little GPS unit is easy to use, it's fast and accurate and will display your position on it's simple and crude basemap as good as any other Garmin or Magellan unit. It will also give you an accurate reading of latitude and longitude or OS grid reference.
But what's the use of a 16 colour TFT screen if the map on it ...
Electronic compass, bearing, distance, elevation, heading, ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival), speed, ETE (Estimated Time Enroute), time/date
Aerial
Built-in
Features
Thermometer, barometer, barometric altimeter
Built-in Memory
16 MB
Supported Memory Cards
SD Memory Card
Acquisition times
Cold
120 seconds
Warm
60 sec
Navigation
Waypoints
500
Tracks
5
Tracklog Points
2000
Routes
20
Trip Computer
TracBack, trip distance
Connections
Connector Type
Serial - USB
Battery
Battery Enclosure Type
Integrated
Technology
Lithium Ion
Run Time (Up To)
17 hour(s)
Miscellaneous
Design Features
Rugged case
Waterproof
Built-in
Environmental parameters
Min Operating Temperature
-10 °C
Max Operating Temperature
60 °C
Manufacturer's product description
Do you want all the bells and whistles? The Magellan eXplorist 600 is packed with them. You get a 3-axis electronic compass, a barometric pressure altimeter, barometer, and thermometer, plus the ability to expand your GPS mapping via a high-speed USB data port and unlimited secure digital (SD) card storage. The Magellan Geocache Manager enables you to download caches directly to your eXplorist 600 and with the PC-style file memory system it's easy to manage all of your data. Finally, the eXplorist 600 features a 16-color display so you can see everything in brilliant color. Easily navigate with the intuitive keypad and the joystick control. Add detailed street maps, topo or lake maps using optional Magellan MapSend software to expand the use of your eXplorist 600. 8 MB of built-in maps and 8 MB of additional memory means you can save up to 5 track log files, 20 routes and 500 points of interest on the internal memory, but you can store as many as you want on optional SD cards. Magellan TrueFix technology provides superior accuracy and reliability giving you the freedom to explore without concern of getting lost. Pocket-sized, powerful and full of valuable features, your Magellan eXplorist 600 gives you real GPS that can guide you in full color on every outdoor adventure.
