The perfect GPS for a beginner who doesn't need computer connection or extensive road atlas
Written: Mar 25 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy, inexpensive intro to GPS, clear screen, advanced features, waterproof design, battery life.
Cons: Limited street mapping, no computer link, AA batteries, skimpy printed manual, slow when acquiring satellites
The Bottom Line: If you're just beginning to discover geocaching, or GPS in general, this is a great buy. More advanced users might want to spend more on a more featureful device.
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| howardbruin's Full Review: Magellan Explorist 200 GPS Receiver |
Allow me to give some context. My family is not very outdoorsy. My father was a boyscout, and enjoyed the outdoors, but has not actually done much hiking in the last 25 years. My mother's idea of roughing it is going to a cheap hotel. My sole experience camping was during a bible-camp retreat on an island, and I hated it. Yet, even though we are not the intended beneficiaries of this technology, my entire family loves our new Explorist.
My father got the Explorist 200 as a gift from colleagues at work, and we immediately set about looking for a place to return it. However, for some strange reason we could not find it anywhere in the hermetically sealed container ours came in (for some reason all the stores carried it in a conventional box, with a different UPC code). So, it looked like it was either eBay it or keep it and not use it.
Now, fast forward a few months. Yours truly is driving in West LA and gets hopelessly lost, at night. Yours truly calls home on the cell and his father has to maneuver him home. When yours truly gets home, he decides that having the Explorist 200 with him in West LA would have saved him the trouble of getting lost and calling home. Yes, that is right, I ripped open the box right after I got home, vowing "never again."
Well, I am confident we made the right choice. The Explorist 200 is a remarkable device. It is primarily geared for a hiker (geocacher), so its built in map is skimpy on the streets. However, the map does contain major streets and the screen is so incredibly clear!
Set-up could not have been much easier. The unit has a water-tight door on the back that screws off (and if you don't have a screwdriver, there is a little handle thing that you can (with some difficulty) flip out and turn the screw with your hand. The Explorist 200 is powered by two AA batteries, which are supposed to last 12 hrs. under moderate usage (little use of the amber backlight, etc). I can't attest to that, but I will say that the unit is made a bit heavy by the batteries. Maybe my complaint is not all that valid, because you'll at least notice it in your pocket (not likely to fall out unnoticed), and all the competing units from Garmin, etc. seem to be powered by AA's, but I would have preferred a couple CR 2032 lithium batteries, like what they now have powering things like watches and flashlights. However, the quibble is minor and should not keep one from purchasing this device. Battery life, at 12 hrs. with little use of the backlight, is probably fine for most, though for extended camping, you might need/want to pack more batteries.
Once the batteries are in, all you have to do is go outside to an area that has a clear view of the sky (preferably a yard or something) and press the power button. The device immediately powers up, but you do have to press the center joystick to get past a splash screen (not sure what the purpose of this is; I just find it annoying). The device will sync to satellites in a few minutes and you can confirm that it has determined the right coordinates (and I imagine it is always accurate, otherwise why would you buy this as a GPS?). Then, you are ready to start using the GPS for whatever you want. One thing to note is that by default when it first finds you, the device displays a very zoomed out map, so you will have to zoom in to get a tighter view of where you are, but the controls on the device are very easy to use, so this is not a problem.
Using the Explorist is fun and easy. There is a menu accessible via a menu button (talk about obvious!) where you can mess with things like contrast and who knows what other settings. Among the many features offered, the device has a built in digital compass, a feature that tracks your speed, and tells you your heading and your latitude and longitude while showing a triangle that points in the same direction as the device and tracks movement down to something like 3 yards.
Advanced features are present in this device that help make your traveling much easier. You can set waypoints via easy to navigate menus, leave pointers at spots of interest, and navigate between stored points of interest by menu. Once you've gotten to your destination, finding your way back is easy. Follow like 2 easy steps, and the device will take the route you just traveled (it stores this by default) and reverse it, so you can find your way back regardless of how complicated it was to get to where you presently are. If you're a techno-geek, you can even press a button to see which and how many satellites the Explorist is currently tracking, and their relative signal strength. I'm sure there are other neat features that people will find useful, but those are the ones I am familiar with thus far.
As I said, the Explorist is geared toward outdoors/hiking, but I did find it somewhat useful for driving, sadly after my mishap the night before. Because the device can zoom in and has a very clear screen, you can quickly glance to see where you are. Because it displays major streets and freeways, finding where you want to go is pretty darn easy, if not as easy as with devices specifically designed for drivers. My family took the Explorist 200 out with us when we went to the mall, and it dutifully tracked our moves and stayed in contact. Although I haven't tested this out yet, I think that will a little velcro attacked to the back of the device and to the dashboard of your car, the Explorist 200 might be a cheap and viable, if limited, alternative to more expensive navigation systems found in cars.
Is the Explorist the last word in GPS? Probably not. While a neat device, it doesn't store nearly enough streets to be really useful for navigating streets in a city. For hikers, it will probably be a boon, though some might be put off by its inability to link to a home computer, where you might possibly download information on sites to see and trails to take or advisories, and would be able to upload routes you took to share with friends (Really I'm speculating, as I don't know if this info is out there, but at least I see the possibility of such with such a feature). However, at around $150 the last time I checked, the device will probably satisfy most beginning geocachers, and the driver who just wants to know where the interstate is.
Thus, with very little reservation, I strongly recommend this device to anyone who wants to get into geocaching or knowing where s/he is at all times without having to call home at 11pm!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
howardbruin
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Reviews written: 5
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