Magellan eXplorist 500 Handheld GPS Receiver

Pros: Lightweight Simple to use Well formatted screens Lots of features for the price. Excellent reception.
Cons: Hard to enter data Needs investment of rechargeable batteries

This unit was purchased as a replacement for my Magellan Meridian Gold series. I was quite surprised when I got it to notice how much smaller and lighter it is. I don't know the specifics but the screen seems almost the same size and the color screen ...

Pros: Sensitive receiver, easy to connect to PC, expandable, good battery life, reasonable display.
Cons: Poor user interface, not waterproof (see above), poor customer service.

This is my 5th GPS unit and was bought for general use (hiking, skiing, occasional driving and as a backup for gliding). My initial impressions are that it has a very sensitive receiver, the display is adequate but the user interface is poor. PC ...

Pros: Compact, quick,waterproof, light
Cons: Only works with Magellan maps, poor Magellan Support

I wanted a small GPS unit principally for my off road mountain biking activities. It's a real hassle stopping the bike unfolding the OS map (nb the Ordnance Survey maps are the best topographical maps available for Britain) and working out precisely ...

Pros: Ease of use, rechargeable battery, geocache manager, & memory expandability with SD memory cards.
Cons: High price for additional mapping software ($100+.

I am new to the world of GPS so I did a lot of research into the different handheld GPS units. The primary two companies that appear to be at the forefront of the industry are Garmin and Magellan. I investigated each company and its products and was ...

Pros: Excellent file management system. Small size. Great reception.
Cons: Buttons wear down. Interface cable hard to attach.

I have had this unit since it was first introduced 2.5 years ago, and it works great. The file management system if the best of any GPS. If you are an experienced user, you will like how you can save track, route and POI files, move them into folders ...

Pros: not really any that I can think of - the thing is useless
Cons: the included maps are useless, and you cant upload your own maps

When I first bought the 500, I was very annoyed at how user unfriendly the whole thing was but I figured I just needed to get used to it. Well now I am used to it and my opinion of the Magellan has dropped even further. I don't know where to start - I ...

Pros: SD card expandible and use of replaceable AAA batteries
Cons: Not being able to turn back light off

I own a Magellan eXplorist 210 and an eXplorist 500LE. Both are palm-sized and fit in a universal vent-clip cell phone holder in the car. Verizon, Radio Shack, and cellphoneshop.com sell these holders; the cellphoneshop.com version was cheapest, had the ...

Pros: A vigorous community that will try to help if you get stuck. Nice default map.
Cons: Device stopped working for no reason. Poor support. SD card and battery difficult to remove.

I got my explorist 500 and was all excited to start using it. I charged it up and started exploring the default map that came installed on it. The default map was pretty decent, having most major highways and a few major streets on it. I hooked it ...

Pros: It does basic GPS functions.

Cons: Support is non existant. Both online, by phone and via Firmware updates.

Do NOT buy this or any other Magellan. On the surface this seemed like a good deal and I went for it. Looking back, I really wish I had gone with Garmin instead... ANY Garmin. I'm using this GPS until I can afford to replace it. It's not very ...

Pros: simpy couldn't find any in comparison to Garmin
Cons: expensive, inaccurate, terrible customer support in India

Very disapointed with overal quality of base map( inaccurate, missing highways and major cities). I purchased additional software and guest what now you need a memory card, pay for the software and still it is not what they claim (3D and accuracy). Try to call their custumer supportin India. In the end, it cost me more than any Garmin in the same quality range.

Pros: Bright screen. Accepts 2mb MMC.
Cons: Not reliable. Customer "service" worse than bad. Battery life short.

Unreliable pile of 'you-know-what'. Worked fine for about 2 months then refused to power up. Fresh batteries, no go. Called customer "service". Outsourced call center to India; rep followed generic script telling me to: 1) use lithium-ion batteries, and 2) press "power + NAV" simultaneously. As suspected, bogus advice. Fresh batteries metered out to 1.62 volts each / 4.84 volts total. Yes, I tried lithium-ion batteries anyway. Still no-go. Three separate attempts to contact product "support" via Internet for registered users. No substantive reply. Am still waiting for RMA to get warranty service. Am still owner of unreliable GPS. Still have about $400 invested in unit plus software and maps. Still kicking myself for buying a Magellan product. Trust my day (much less my life) to this unit? No way. Don't do it. Really -- don't do it.

Pros: Interface, menus, color screen, ease of use
Cons: tiny joystick, Nee to purchase more detailed maps

This is the GPS that has helped me Geocache across the US. It has the right software to put the geocaches right on the screen. You hook it up to the computer and load your caches and they are on the map to find. All of the menus are very functional and give you the control you want in a GPS. I got the more detailed mapping software to go with it that gives me even the littlest trails to navigate on. This is my 2nd GPS and I did a lot of research to what I needed and this was the best bang for my buck. I also like the ability of using it connected to my laptop and having this setup to travel and see where you are at on the laptop. What a kick...

Pros: Fast satellite Acquisition Small and compact Takes SD-Cards Topo Map Canada
Cons: Small joystick Battery compartment poor Overall low quality

Recently bought a Magellan Explorist 500 LE and it was defective so took it back for a replacement.

CONS: Battery post plate keeps sliding up. Battery cover won't fit perfectly tight and every one I looked at is the same way. It takes more expensive AAA batteries instead of AA. Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Battery might be ok but with it and the charger it'd be pretty pricey. It'd be nice to be able to switch coordinate systems more easily instead of being allowed to enter only one at a time. The "joystick" is small and awkward to move around and would be difficult to use for someone with larger hands. The push tab for the SD card holder is fragile and can come detached if you're not gentle with it.

PROS: The unit is small and portable finding the satellites quickly. Works great with Topo Canada, you can easily add waypoints and routes on your computer and download them to the GPS or upload from the GPS to your computer. I like the ability to add SD cards for unlimited storage.

My son has an older Sportrak Map, and I have a Trailblazer. They're much better built, more solid units.

Pros: None. The eXplorist 500 is overpriced and only good for short trips.
Cons: Losing or damaging the non-standard proprietary charging cable makes the eXplorist 500 worthless.

The Magellan eXplorist 500 has a lithium ion battery and a non-standard proprietary power and USB connector. This makes it inappropriate for travelling because the eXplorist 500 cannot be recharged with a standard 12 volt vehicle inverter or a mains AC/DC adapter.

Losing or damaging the special charging cable makes the eXplorer 500 worthless.

The Magellan eXplorist 500 cannot be loaded with regular mapping software. Magellan is the only vendor that sells maps that are compatible with the eXplorist 500.

The slot for add-on SD memory cards would be a nice feature, but the eXplorist can only use 16 megabytes of storage at one time. This deficiency makes the SD memory slot a non-feature.