Sunday, March 18, 2012

Magellan eXplorist 310 announced

Magellan_eXplorist 310

UPDATE: See my hands on Magellan eXplorist 310 review.

The Magellan eXplorist 310 has been announced ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show, bringing an entry-level model to the new eXplorist handheld GPS line. The 310 utilizes the same hardware as the eXplorist GC, which has a smaller, non-touch screen as opposed to the eXplorist 510, 610 and 710. As an aside, I’ll have a hands on review of the eXplorist 710 posted in the next few weeks.

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Magellan eXplorist 510, 610 and 710 unleashed

Magerllan-eXplorist-710
UPDATE 2: Read my hands on review of the Magellan eXplorist 710.

UPDATE: Here’s some screenshots and a discussion of capabilities and accepted map formats.

As expected following the success of the Magellan eXplorist GC, the company today announced several new additions to their updated handheld platform: the Magellan eXplorist 510, 610 and 710.

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Magellan eXplorist GC review

Magellan-eXplorist-GC-review

Hands on with the Magellan eXplorist GC

The Magellan eXplorist GC is a new introduction designed to do one thing well – geocache! It has a 2.2” color (non-touch) screen, 18 hour (rated) battery life and a highly detailed  worldwide basemap. And while it isn’t designed for backcountry navigation, it can accommodate 500 waypoints and a 5,000 point tracklog. Really though, the eXplorist GC is a one-trick pony aimed at geocachers, with a low and sure to be discounted MSRP of $199.99.

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Magellan eXplorist GC first looks

Magellan-eXplorist-GC

UPDATE: I’ve posted my hands-on review of the Magellan eXplorist GC.

Magellan is announcing a new handheld today – the eXplorist GC, which is designed specifically for geocaching. I’ll have a full review up soon but I wanted to go ahead and give you a sneak peek.

The eXplorist GC is set up for full paperless caching, meaning there’s no need to print out a bunch of info from geocaching.com before heading out. Perhaps the nicest feature in this respect is the ability to sort / filter caches in just about any way and combination you can imagine.

The interface is pretty intuitive. In my early testing I’ve been fairly impressed and think Magellan may have a winner here. I’ve included a couple of screen shots showing the filter feature below to whet your appetite for the full review. In the interim, is there anything specific that you want to know about the eXplorist GC? Chime in below and I’ll try to include it.

Expected to be available next month, the eXplorist GC is priced at $199.99 (MSRP).

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Magellan rolls out new firmware for Triton series

Magellan-Triton-2000 Magellan announced new firmware today for their Triton series, and a new version of VantagePoint as well. It looks like their acquisition by MiTAC has infused the company with some much needed energy. I’ve been very impressed with the improvements made to their latest auto units and have been hoping they would ramp things up on the handheld side too.

The Triton line has already seen some recent firmware updates, and it appears that these are forthcoming, adding to the improvements previously made. A discussion thread has been started on TritonForum.com.

Read on for the full news release…

 

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Magellan Triton custom maps

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There’s been a lot of progress recently on making custom maps for the Magellan Triton series. For any of you with these handhelds, here are some resources to check out…

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Aerial imagery on a Magellan Triton

Triton_aerial_imagery

It’s now possible to add aerial imagery to most of the Magellan Triton line, thanks to National Geographic’s new TOPO! Explorer application. You can download a "SuperQuad" that includes aerial imagery and a 1:24,000 scale USGS topo map for a dollar at their Map Store.

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Screen visibility problems on the new generation of handhelds

Triton_and_colorado

UPDATE: Screen visibility took a major leap forward recently with the Garmin Oregon 450, and it appears that later production runs of the 550 series now include the improved screen.

The new Garmin Colorado and Magellan Triton series (and now the Garmin Oregon too) have higher resolution screens than anything we’ve seen before in handheld GPS receivers. But those gorgeous and detailed displays come at a cost. Many early adopters have been surprised by the decreased visibility of these units in their natural habitat — the great outdoors.

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Tritons pulled from REI

Magellan Triton handhelds have disappeared from REI stores and from the REI.com website. The problematic units were pulled, depending on who you ask, at REI’s request or as a result of a Magellan recall. Since other sites are still selling them, I’m betting REI leaned on Magellan to take them back. This post on the Groundspeak forum seems to confirm this. Reportedly, the units will be back in stock after getting a firmware upgrade.

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Magellan Triton 1500 review

Magellan_triton_1500

The Magellan Triton 1500 is one of a new series of handheld GPS receivers from Magellan that can display USGS topo maps (raster imagery) from National Geographic. I’ve had the unit for over six weeks now and have put it through its paces.

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