Magellan Sucks

[Roger]

I got a Magellan Meridian at work a couple of years ago and never have really leared how to use it to it's fullest extent. So i took it this weekend to the Panamints to get more familiar with it.

I admit I'm no expert when it come to GPS devices but this unit really sucks! While at The Panamints this weekend, I discovered a few short comings it has:

1. The topo map shows nothing for Death Valley & the Panamint Mtns except for the State Hwys and the Amargosa river. None of the trails, or anything else. I looked on the Mapsend CD software and there's nothing there.

2. It does not record elevations below sea level!! So if you want to go to Death Valley, The Salten Sea, or the Dead Sea, don't by a Magellen!

I wonder what else is missing...

[nwoods]

I have a Magellan Crossover and it has it's weak points, but not any of the ones you mentioned. I suppose I should count my blessings :-)

[cbrazor1]

ihave the magellion triton works great , but il admit im not to familar with it so no matter which one you gave me id probly be lost , so i think its just getting used to the machine that helps the most learning how to work it

[blackZZR]

Have you checked for updated maps?

Seemsif it is a few years old maybe there are more current maps
I use the crossover unit, I have no complaints so far it does have a few things I would like to see updated, but then my Garmin unit I have had for much longer has so many flaws it is useless compared to the Magellan. Why? older maps and stuff.
GPS is moving forward in leaps and bounds, updates are where it is at.
I mean my first Lowrence unit was so simple by todays terms it would be useless to anyone, and I mean anyone today, but it was state of teh art 10 years ago.

[4point]

I have a Magellan Crossover and it has it's weak points, but not any of the ones you mentioned. I suppose I should count my blessings :-)

I have the Magellan 2200T and was thinking of getting the crossover for it. Do you like yours? Can you post a screen shot?

[Dezertdog]

Hey Roger,
Remember this post...

http://www.myjeeprocks.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=11794

Maybe you should get one of these?

Just my :2:

Scott

[nwoods]

I have the Magellan 2200T and was thinking of getting the crossover for it. Do you like yours? Can you post a screen shot?

I don't know how to do screen shots of it like some others I've seen online. Here is a photo taken on a ridge in Utah not far from Bryce Canyon.



The Crossover was my first GPS (with the Lowrance Baja540 being the second). The Magellan is way easier to use, but it is not intuitive for me. The majority of trails I have been on have been on the preloaded Magellan map, but the topo detail is not great. The Magellan software is pretty bad, and it's tedious to enter in waypoints for route planning. It's also hard to navigate to those waypoints in OffRoad mode. You have to select each waypoint in turn, it will not automatically move on to the next one (or I haven't figured out how). It does sync fairly well and has a very good antenna strength. The built in battery lasts about 6 hours, and it's easily portable for goecaching.

Some people report that in Offroad mode (topo & tracking), that the unit will lock up frequently. I have only had it happen once or twice, and easily cleared by turning it on/off, but others report this as a serious, inhibiting problem to consider. On road it works great. Easy to enter addresses and so forth, and the screen prompts of when and where to turn are quite good.

Using a program like GPSbabel, you can tranlate GPX or many other track file formats and import them quite easily into the Crossover. However, you cannot update the actual Topo map. Magellan has promised a more detailed map, but it's been a couple of years and people have given up on them. They did release one for Mexico, but not the USA.

This is one serious reason to recommend a Garmin. 1) everyone has one, so support is widely available
2) it seems to work with all sorts of 3rd party mapping software, like National Geographics TOPO!
3) downloadable waypoints and tracks are plentiful in the Garmin format.

There is a new Garmin unit that is very similar to the Crossover. Its called the Zumo 550 and it looks pretty good. Here is a great review of it done by a user:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthrea...light=zumo+550

[4point]

Thanks for the pic, I already have the GPS like your but it is just for streets. The Crossover kit is only $50 so I think I'll get it.

[Roger]

Hey Roger,
Remember this post...

http://www.myjeeprocks.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=11794

Maybe you should get one of these?

Just my :2:

Scott

Thanks for reminding me about this I forgot! I won't be buying any toys for a while though, I just bought a new guitar amp, so my toy money is depleted.

Roger

[blackZZR]

I don't know how to do screen shots of it like some others I've seen online. Here is a photo taken on a ridge in Utah not far from Bryce Canyon.





Some people report that in Offroad mode (topo & tracking), that the unit will lock up frequently. I have only had it happen once or twice, and easily cleared by turning it on/off, but others report this as a serious, inhibiting problem to consider. On road it works great. Easy to enter addresses and so forth, and the screen prompts of when and where to turn are quite good.

I had this trouble 2twice, then I turned of my auto shutdown and the thing cleared of doing it. I think it was related to the clocking software.

[Matt2001TJ]

magellan crossover

I got a Magellan Meridian at work a couple of years ago and never have really leared how to use it to it's fullest extent. So i took it this weekend to the Panamints to get more familiar with it.

I admit I'm no expert when it come to GPS devices but this unit really sucks! While at The Panamints this weekend, I discovered a few short comings it has:

1. The topo map shows nothing for Death Valley & the Panamint Mtns except for the State Hwys and the Amargosa river. None of the trails, or anything else. I looked on the Mapsend CD software and there's nothing there.

2. It does not record elevations below sea level!! So if you want to go to Death Valley, The Salten Sea, or the Dead Sea, don't by a Magellen!

I wonder what else is missing...

Hey guys, I got a Magellan Crossover GPS off ebay for 100 bucks but it does not have the POI software installed. Does anyone have this (points of interest)software?

[Matt2001TJ]

Thanks for reminding me about this I forgot! I won't be buying any toys for a while though, I just bought a new guitar amp, so my toy money is depleted. Roger

Roger, what kind of amp did you get ?

[Roger]

Roger, what kind of amp did you get ?

Hey Matt,

I bought a Fender '59 Bassman Reissue. New w/ factory blem for $995.00 & Free Shipping.

It is sweet!