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50% off at InvisibleShield!

  • Sunday, 29 May 2011 00:00

Zagg is offering a 50% off sale this Memorial Day Weekend! Not only is invisibleshield a forum sponsor, but they make a great product! 

Offer good May 30th and 31st



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GspTrackLog Reviews the 710!

  • Tuesday, 25 January 2011 18:07
Rich at GpsTrackLog has posted a detailed review of the eXplorist 710.

 
Magellan-eXplorist-710

Some excerpts from the review:

"The Magellan eXplorist 710 returns Magellan to the top tier of handheld GPS manufacturers (along with Garmin and DeLorme)."

"I have to say, the four corners idea seems well thought out."

"The eXplorist 710 feels solid and well built."


But that's all you're getting from me,
 go read the review!

Discuss in the forum




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One of the first reviews from an eXplorist 610 user!

  • Tuesday, 26 October 2010 16:17
This comes directly from Geocahing.com's forums.  Find the original thread HERE


This won't be very in depth for functionality as I just got the package today.

An irrelevant history blurb: I bought my first handheld in 2007. An eXplorist XL. I really liked it for the screen size and was easy to view in direct sunlight without backlight. Magellan let me down with lack of Vista support for geocaching. Horrid support....or lack thereof.

This past July I bought a Garmin Oregon 450t, more for hiking trips than Geocaching but do occasionally geocache. This past weekend I realized my 450t was nowhere to be found and after turning my house and car upside down 3 times gave up and plasticated the 610.

I scoured the net (especially here) and Youtube hoping for some insight or prelease video before ordering with no luck.

So here we go:
In the box: Quick start manual, data cable, the unit and 2 Energizer lithium AA.

I'm impressed by the quality feel of the unit. No cheapo feeling bits like the battery door eXplorist 500 I handled and battery contacts falling out like a 200 I witnessed firsthand new out of the box. The 610 has a very solid feel. The battery door release is easy to operate. I would prefer the leverage type the Oregon 450t had for durabilty but the 610 does work well. Theres a healthy rectangular seal that meshes with a rigid sill on the lid arond the batteries. Not sure how the speaker and camera is sealed off as they are outside the o-ring. Design flaw possibly. I don't plan on intentionally dunking it to test it. If someone else wants to then knock yourself out.

The unit feels very similar to the Oregon series but I'm still more impressed with the Oregon because of the machined aluminum content. Aluminum may be no better but does give you the sense of quality. The USB plug door is a little easier to pull open and put back into place than the 450t.

I'm on the 3rd floor of a 5th floor office building. Standing in the window I clocked 36.5 seconds from power button to topo screen with signal bars showing. I never clocked the Garmin but if memory serves it was faster booting.

The menu's are laid out to my liking. I've not had to search for anything so far. Some of the simplest of options on the Garmin 450t found me searching for awhile. The UI seems very user friendly so far.

The touch screen seems more responsive and more colorful than the 450t. The swiping motion to scroll thru menus on the Oregon 450t was frustating and i ended up using just the < > software buttons to navigate. So some of my perceived "respsonsiveness" on the 610 may be from the way the menu is designed but a light finger tip touch works for the onscreen buttons and so far no problem with accuracy.

Most people would wonder about the screen in bright sunlight. It's been varying from cloudy to sunny today due to some incoming storms. On break I stood outdoors for a few minutes to catch some rays on the screen. I would say it's every bit as readable as the 450t while looking smoother at the same time.

I was a little let down by the included topos on the 450t as well as ones I downloaded. I'm a bit of a sucker for eye candy though so that's just me. So far the Summit Series 1:24000 on the 610 look really awesome. As I explore some I'll know more about useful detail etc.

Camera. A nice inclusion but didn't influence my purchase much as I crave high end full frame Nikon dSLRs... the pic quality is comparable to any cell phone made within the last year, possibly two. That's viewing the picture on a 24" Samsung LCD. About what I expected but as usual a dedicated digicam will make much clearer pictures, expecially in low light.

Connection to a Windows XP system for synced up quick and easy to view the pictures. I'm sure it will work the same on Windows 7 but will post back if there's an issue.

I can't think of much else to share at the moment as I've yet to field test it. I think it's a good replacement so far for my MIA Oregon 450t (for my uses).

For about the same money it has a camera for those that care. It's not accomodating for custom maps and orthos out of the box. I love aerial photos but fine without them as long as I have a good quality topo. There may be support for custom maps in the future but it's limited as far as I know for now.

If anyone has any questions I'll try to answer. It may be a few days before I get to do much with the unit though. Cheers all.



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New eXplorists available for preorder on Amazon!

  • Sunday, 10 October 2010 22:34
Amazon is showing all new eXplorist models for preorder, with FREE Super Saver shipping! 

amazon

 Amazon lists the release date as October 25th


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Impression of the eXplorist 610 from an Insider

  • Monday, 20 September 2010 07:55
This was posted on Tritonforum.com.  I thought I'd post it over here.

Ok, now that I know I'm allowed the share... I been testing the eXplorist 610 as a Beta Tester for Magellan and it is awesome. It has all of the new features of eXplorist GC and the performance and accuracy of the Triton. To be honest, when I bought my GC I kept caching with my T1500 in my hand and my T400 mounted on the handlebars of my dirt bike or ATV, basically using the GC to keep track of my finds and for the paperless information. Well, the other day I went out caching and, I hate to say it, but I left my Tritons and my GC at home!!!
The only thing that I missed was my custom satellite maps, because the eX610 won't use the custom made maps, however, I've been told that there is going to be a feature for this in the future. In saying that, though, I like the preinstalled maps on the eX610 better than either AccuTerra, TOPO 3D USA, or the preinstalled maps on the Triton or GC.
As a Beta tester I've only come across a couple of minor things, however, they have been reported and are being addressed - remembering that the unit I have is a prototype beta unit!
In my opinion the unit is a 9.99 out of 10 and I haven't figured out what the .01 is :-). When I went out caching the other day I went with a friend who took his new Garmin 62sx and after almost wresting the unit away from me said, "Magellan has a winner!"

Thank you David for the writeup.  It mirrors my thoughts as well. 


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eXplorist x10 series in action!

  • Thursday, 16 September 2010 20:41

Dim lights



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