A limited but useful GPS for travelers on a budget
Written: Jan 04 '06 (Updated Jan 04 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of bang for the buck in a simple GPS.
Cons: No new maps. Hard to place in car in car. Dpad hard to use.
The Bottom Line: I recommend this unit to people who can accept its limitations and need a solid unit to navigate major highways and large cities.
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| lothen's Full Review: Magellan Explorist 200 GPS Receiver |
As I was about to depart on my leave from home to college (a trip of over 600 miles) I was a little nervous. This was going to be my first time on the highway and freeway system. I frantically started looking for a decent GPS unit on my limited budget. I needed all my money for college and needed something cheap but useful for my journey. My 150 dollar budget threw all the cool US road and highway GPS out the window. No touch screens or color for me at this price range! I eventually found a GPS with the bare essentials needed to provide me with the tools I wanted for traveling the highway system.
In my travels, I found that my little yellow toy was a lifesaver! There are areas where the unit could be improved, but if your needs are basic, the Magellan eXplorist will suit you just fine.
The unit is made up of an oval shaped hard piece of plastic with a rubber outline on its edges. Below the screen you will find eight rubber coated buttons to allow you to navigate its various menus. In the center is a clickable directional pad that allows you to pan over the map and directly below the D-Pad is the X button. When the X button is pressed, it will allow you to back out of whatever menu you are currently in and jump back to your directional cursor on the map. On the top left and right you have zoom in and zoom out, and below them you have the nav button, which brings up a variety of information, and the menu button. The last set of buttons are the Mark button and the Goto button.
Most of the buttons are self explanatory, but it is important that we go into detail with four of the eight buttons. When you press the menu button, you are greeted by ten options: Hide map info, customize page, map setup, reset trip, points of interest, routes, track log, preferences, contrast, help, and about. Since I don’t want to be writing all night, I will briefly describe a few of the useful menu options. “Hide map info” eliminates the customizable tray at the bottom of the screen. The tray can be configured under map setup and has a variety of useful nick nacks such as speed, bearing, ETA, elevation, time, date, distance, ect. The tray allows you to pick two of your favorite status bars to sit below the map. Map setup allows you to choose the orientation of the map from north (i.e. the top of the unit always represents north), course up (which makes the map “look” in the direction you are heading and pan accordingly), and track up (which places your “tracks” ahead of you). Track log shows you all your tracks and where you have been. You can easily erase your tracks from the screen and start anew.
The Nav button features a variety of usefull screens. First you have your compass screen, then the next screen displays location in degrees, elevation, the units accuracy, date/time, trip odometer, and a battery status bar. Push the button one more time and you have the satellite status screen which tells you how many satellites are currently being tracked.
The mark button allows you to mark a location. You can change the locations name, place a short message about the location, and customize the cursor to show up on your map to be relevant to what it is. For example, it has a cursor for houses, medical centers, trees, an anchor, a money symbol, a boat, a drum, a bed, a phone, dining, a gun and a fish in once cursor, mountains, a tow truck, and about 20 more other symbols. The goto button complements the mark button, but only plots your path in a straight line to your destination. It won’t track along highways and such to plot your path. Let’s move on to its function.
The little yellow oval features a monochrome screen with a two stage orange backlight. The settings are off, bright, and brighter. To turn the unit on you press the power button followed by depressing the Dpad. Failure to press the Dpad will make the unit turn itself off. This feature is obviously there to keep it from being turned on accidentally. Turning the unit off makes a countdown timer pop up which gives you the ability to negate the shut down by pressing any button. The unit cannot download new maps or make changes to the current map. You are stuck with what it comes with. The default map features large highways, large loops, and plenty of large local roads. I purchased the unit knowing that it would not feature neighborhood roads or small city roads. The large highway map has suited me perfectly. Used in tandem with road signs, I never felt lost. For my purposes, it has served as a computerized atlas that helps me keep track of where I am and what I am coming up to. So far, from Tulsa Oklahoma to South Texas, it has represented every small town I have passed through.
On the fly, the units Dpad is a little stiff to operate. The best way to pan on the map is to use a fingernail to nudge it in the direction you want to pan. If you press on It directly, you might accidentally push it in and activate the “local” goto button which attempts to find you landmarks that are near your cursor such as highways and your points of interest. The unit hasn’t missed a lake or river I have driven over and so far has had me happy with the general quality of the preloaded highway map.
The unit runs for about 12 hours on two AAs and is sealed to combat the elements. It takes around three to five minutes to start tracking multiple signals from startup. It does a decent job of receiving signals in places is shouldn't. As I write this review, my device is tracking 4 satelites in my room with thick window curtains. The device is all smooth plastic on top and bottom so it cant be effectivly placed on a car dash for it will roll off on the first curve. The rounded bottom makes it difficult to get a grip on any hard surface. I placed an Igrip under the unit, but the rounded shape didn't give my Igrip enough hold to prevent it from sliding off. Luckily, I found that I could wedge it in the door grip of my car.
It’s a very basic unit, but I appreciate it being around when I travel. I give this unit four stars because it is robust, has taken a few tumbles, gets me around the highways easily, and is priced right. It has flaws, but I didn't buy it expecting a robotic voice telling me when my turns are coming up. I just needed maps of the highways, and I got what I was looking for.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
lothen
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Location: Texas
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 3 members
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