A GPS Receiver with Optional "Get Lost" Database
Written: Nov 15 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great little GPS receiver
Cons: lousy manual, ill-designed accessories, and abysmal software
The Bottom Line: If you could get different navigation database software, this would be a great GPS.
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| scmrak's Full Review: Magellan MAP 330 Handheld GPS Receiver |
In another lifetime, while spending a glorious summer in a remote corner of Montana, I learned how to use compass, topographic map, and my wits to pretty much idiot-proof my wilderness ramblings. And since I've spent the better part of the last two decades of my life poring over maps on a daily basis, I feel fairly certain that, given an accurate map and a compass, I can navigate my way between just about any two points on the face of the earth (assuming I don't have to swim).
Not so my lovely but long-suffering wife, I fear. And so, when the price of GPS receivers had dropped to a reasonable value several months ago, I bought her one of the little guys as a gift. I canvassed my local stores and talked to the salesfolk. One thing I learned in a hurry - many of the people selling these things are pretty vague on what they do and how they work (at least where I shop, they are)! That's one reason why I came here to Epinions and did a bit of web research, since the cost is still enough to give one pause. And after flirting briefly with all those neon-colored Garmins, I finally settled on a Magellan. A main reason I did so was because I could get a kit including the Magellan MAP 330, a CD-ROM of street-level maps, a cigarette-lighter adapter to use in the car, and a bracket for mounting the unit in a car.
The Ms likes her toy. I'm ambivalent.
The GPS-ness of the Unit
Well, it's certainly a hand-held unit (a far cry from the first GPS I ever saw, ten years or so ago, which was about the size of a mini-boombox). The 330 fits nicely into the palm of one hand, leaving the other hand free for pushing buttons. There's a wrist strap if you're afflicted with butterfingers; as this device is not designed to withstand repeated dropping on a rocky trail. The top part of the face is taken up by the display (1.4 x 2.2 inches with 104 x 160 pixel resolution), the lower part has a disk surrounded by push buttons. The case is rugged plastic with a moisture-resistant design and the buttons are "soft-touch" rubber. Features are as follows:
Twelve-Channel Capability: The MAP 330 can track up to twelve GPS satellites simultaneously with its "sensitive quadrifilar antenna." The unit employs the US Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) satellites to attain a location within three meters (ten feet)
Five Displays: map, with pan and zoom | satellite location and signal strength | "large font" position, with odometer, heading, and speed | "small font" position, with bearing and distance to origin or mark | compass, with bearing info. Battery level is displayed on the satellite status screen.
On-Screen Help: Tips on various aspects -- setting preferences, using GOTO marks, using the internal database, and the like -- are available from the onscreen menu. The tips are, however, quite general.
Database: The MAP 330 comes with about half of its 16MB of memory taken up by a permanent database that includes major features in the US (highways, cities, bodies of water, airports, and parks) plus international boundaries. The other 8MB of data is rewritable Flash memory; you can upload highly detailed information from a CD and home computer. The database also has storage for 500 waypoints and twenty reversible routes.
Other Details: The MAP 330 includes sun- and moon-position calculators, a fishing and hunting module for calculating peak activity, two levels of backlighting for the display screen, and proximity alarms for use in backtracking a stored route. The device runs on two AA batteries.
Other Pieces
The MAP 330X kit includes the MAP 330 unit, a user's manual, a copy of MapSend Streets on CD, a combination AC adapter / PC data cable, and a bracket suitable for mounting in your vehicle.
Adapter: A truly stupid tangle of wires, the adapter attaches over metal contacts on the back of the GPS unit with a captive screw; an arrangement that wisely reduces the number of moisture-prone openings in the case. The other end, though, has an RS-232 connector on one wire and a 12-volt plug with inline transformer on a second wire. That means that when you're using it in the car, you have an extra three or four feet of wire flopping around. Vice-versa for using it to connect to a computer (and why don't they have a USB connector, huh?). Note to macanauts: interface to a Macintosh is not currently supported.
Mounting Bracket: A stiff arm with a "holster" on one end. The GPS unit screws into the holster (for stability, I guess), and the other end has two suction cups to attach to the windshield, or another smooth surface, of your vehicle. The arm is "bendy" like a Gumby doll. I've been afraid to use it so far...
MapSend Streets on CD: MapSend Streets is a navigation product that Magellan sells standalone or with its GPS equipment. They market different CDs for all of the populated continents; mine covers only the USA. The CD I received is the 2000 release; and let me tell you: if you were to rely on this software in an onboard navigation system in your car, you'd be in a ditch right now! In my neighborhood, a state highway that was built in the fifties is missing; in its approximate location is a short length state highway that is not yet under construction! Near my wife's office, a road that was abandoned and closed twenty-five years ago still shows as a through route. Not only out of date; it's also not very accurate: I stood on the intersection of two highways that are shown, and the GPS receiver returned the correct latitude/longitude (compared to an official TXDot highway map) but the map screen showed me almost 100 feet away, even though I had strong signals from seven satellites.
Manual: The manual contains much the same text as the online help, though greatly expanded. Unfortunately, it's not at all well written, with circular definitions of terms and inconsistent usage. Directions are confusing; simple concepts are over-explained and complex concepts are barely covered. This is not good documentation, in my book.
Other accessories are available that weren't included in the kit, such as a bicycle mounting bracket, carrying cases (leather or cloth), topographic software (it's MapSend, so be forewarned), more mounting brackets, and other cables (though there is no dedicated lighter adapter cable)
Usage
I find that using the MAP 330 is simple and fun; on long driving trips it's amusing (for passengers) to pass the time trying to figure out where you are and how far it is to your destination and look at your surrounding on the map. Though I've talked to a few geocaching enthusiasts, I've not done anything in that arena. Working through the database is time-consuming and tedious, but that's the nature of trying to type one character at a time, I guess. One downer is that on-screen instructions for features aren't context-sensitive, and you often have to wade through menus three and four deep to get help.
Set-up is easy, as is navigation through the various screens. With its multi-level zoom, you can track a long-distance trip at almost a continent view, though Magellan does not appear to believe that anyone could possibly want to view a map without every last waypoint displayed. When hiking, the proximity alarms are a little disconcerting at first, but they can be programmed off if you're in familiar country and don't want to listen to them. Seeing the sun and moon positions is fun, but I have no particular need for the hunting and fishing calculators, which are sort of similar to the "solunar tables" that some newspapers (used to?) print.
The database allows you to search for the various features (highways, streets, streams, airports) alphabetically or by proximity. Uploading data from the CD is relatively easy, though slow -- the maximum transmission speed through the adapter cable is 4800 baud. When loaded, though, the detailed entities are also in the database and searchable. Uploading a new detail area, though, wipes out all of the areas that you've already loaded (a function of that flash memory). The map detail has smart zoom, meaning that the further "out" you are, the less detail, and the further "in," the more detail, all the way down to city streets if they've been uploaded from the CD.
Overall Comments
The core of the Ms's Christmas present is the GPS unit itself. As far as the MAP 330 is concerned, it's performed admirably and is worthy of a five-star rating , at least by my standards. But I'll be darned if I'm going to give Magellan the satisfaction of a five-star rating here, given the company's obvious "head-in-the-sand" attitude towards the other contents of the box.
The user's manual is confusing, the PC cable / cigarette-lighter adapter is a stupendously stupid design, the mounting bracket is flimsy-looking and clumsy, and that lousy MapSend Streets CD is both out-of-date and inaccurate. Since this is the only CD that interfaces with Magellan receivers, we're stuck with it, I fear. I suppose it's not so bad: if you're within one hundred feet or so of your destination you'd probably be able to find the right building; I just hope someone doesn't wind up 100 feet on the wrong side of a cliff...
Recommended:
Yes
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