Reviews for Magellan eXplorist 500 GPS Unit

Functional GPS unit

Strengths: Easy to use, color screen, very accurate.

Weakness: Not functional as purchased unless you just care about your latitude & longitude.

**UPDATED MARCH 13, 2007**
When I first purchased this GPS unit, it evidently had a detailed map already installed. The unit worked well and showed every street in my town. However, when I connected the unit to the computer to use the included software, it required a software upgrade, which promptly deleted the detailed map on the unit.

Now, all the unit shows me is the name of my town, and two major streets that go through the city. There are very few major roads and only large cities (above 40,000 population I would guess). After speaking to technical support, they tell me that no GPS unit comes with detailed maps and that I have to spend an additional $100 to $150 to get a detailed map.

So the gist of this is, I can use the unit to track my path, but have no way to see where I am relative to anything without a computer. Overall, I am highly displeased with Magellan for not providing a useful device. I would only recommend purchasing this unit (or any Magellan unit) if you can get it for half price so you can afford to get the maps to make it useful. Booo Magellan.


**ORIGINAL REVIEW**

I originally purchased this GPS unit so I could start some geocaching, but have found some other fun uses for it. Most recently, I took it on vacation and traced the path we took to explore some cities. When I got home, I was able to use this info to create a photo map of our adventure... VERY cool.

The only complaint I have so far was with the initial setup. It took quite a while for the GPS unit to locate sufficient satellites to verify its position. Overall, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and since this is my first GPS, this may be fairly standard. Either way, once it knows where it is, there are no delays.

The unit displays the orientation of motion as well as the position, which is cool, because it will let you know fairly accurately which direction you are pointing. This unit is also very compact and lightweight, so no problem taking it wherever your adventures may take you!

Highly recommended!

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eXplorist 500

Strengths: Display, ease of use, size, ability to pick up satelites even indoors or in a car

Weakness: Mapsend software was difficult to install on the GPS.

Overall, this is an excellent GPS. A friend of mine has a Garmin Etrex Legend and the Magellan is much easier to use. Also, the display on the Magellan is very clear, even in bright light. I am new to using a GPS so I've had to play with this a lot to figure it out, but I found it much easier to learn than my friend's Etrex Legend.

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Budget price

So far this is the best one I have found with most features that's affordable. It's not an easy thing to find one in this price that doesn't use AA batteries.

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500 GPS

Strengths: not anything as of yet

Weakness: Hard to work with computer

The unit and the software are not user friendly, perhaps because I am a first time user. However having to phone India each time I need to try to do something is only second to they only having India ready to help from 9 to 5 pacific time. I have to work during those hours. I am not a computer novice. I am often the main person to go to when keeping my company's hardware and software working. For this reason I think something is wrong with the products. I have been hung up on while being transfered to a supervisor when the Indians could not figure out why my GPS and software was not working. If I am out of line please let me know as I am ready to take a bath on the Magellin Mapsend software I had to buy and send the GPS back to Costco and buy a Garmin.

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Magellan eXplorist 500

TestSeek.com has collected 4 expert reviews for Magellan eXplorist 500 and the average expert rating is 71 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use TestSeek.com to find all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

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