13 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
Magellan eXplorist 500 in the UK
Date of Review: Aug 16, 2005
The Bottom Line: It depends what your needs are. Check out what Garmin can offer and what software you want to run on the unit. Look around.
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 (nb the Ordnance Survey maps are the best topographical maps available for Britain) 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 doesn't use any of the colours?
Now this is when I bought the additional Magellan Mapsend Topo GB map for an extra #125.
This promised:-
"Map detail at 1:50,000 resolution include elevations, woodlands, parks, nature reserves, lakes, rivers, roads, motorways, landmarks, historic locations and more. Additional map features such as waterways paths and tracks appear at 1:10,000 resolution for fun and easy navigation in the outdoors"
The bad news is the roads and tracks aren't accurate they're not where they say they are and they're shown as a dotted black line regardless of them being a public footpath, a bridle way, a road used a public pathway (RUPP) or even a road!. The woodlands are rectangular blocks of green and in no way representative of their true geographical position. Off road it's as useful as the basemap.
#125 wasted.
So, I think, the next best course of action would be to get TrackLogs brilliantly detailed PC based 1:25000 OS maps, work out my routes and waypoints and upload them to the eXplorist.
If only!
Guess which is the only GPS unit that TrackLogs (or for that matter any other PC maps) won't support, yes you've got it the eXplorist.
It's unique file structure means that only Magellan's own poor quality maps can be used to upload tracks, routes and waypoints.
Talking about file structure, apart it's inability to utilise any third party software aside, this I think is one of the eXplorists good points. It has a USB connection that works well with any XP based PC. When you plug in the eXplorist your PC sees it as another hard drive and you can upload files to and from the unit to your PC.
Additionally the GPS unit will accept standard SD memory cards into its behind the battery expansion slot. In theory this gives up to 4 gig memory expansion. The bad news is the unit can only load 16 meg of map information at a time, so you have to load in a map before you can use it and if you cross the boundaries of one map to another you have to unload and load again.
What a waste of a great design feature.
The eXplorist also supports Magellan's DirectRoute maps which give road directions, I've not been able to try this.
There are four main screens. They show distance, speed, satellite information and map positions. They're clear and easy to use.
The menu system is simple and intuitive.
The eXplorist 500 uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery which will recharge from either the mains or via the USB cable from your PC in about two hours. The battery will last around 15 hours depending on usage.
It's start up and lock in time to the overhead satellites is about as good as any other unit I've tried at around three minutes.
So all in all a nice unit, overpriced for what it offers. If you really want off road mapping as yet you still won't get that anywhere. If you want interaction with some of the great third party PC map systems then get a Garmin Colour unit.
Maybe the third party publishers will support them eventually.
PS Magellans support line is poor, English is their second language and prompt isn't in the French Dictionary
Dimensions
Size: 4.7"H x 2.2"W x 1.3"D (119 x 56 x 33 mm)
Weight: 5.7 oz. (161 g) with 2 AA batteries
Display Size: 1.4" x 1.8" (36 x 46 mm)
Display Resolution: 160 x 120 pixels
Backlit Display: Yes
Backlit Keypad: No
Antenna: Quadrifilar Helix
Construction: Rubber Armored Impact Resistant Plastic waterproof to one meter for 30 minutes
Temperature Range: 14F to 140F (-10C to 60C)
Navigation:
Waypoints: 500
Trackpoints: 2000
Routes: 20
Map datums: 75
