Magellan GPS 310 Handheld GPS Receiver

Pros: Inexpensive GPS receiver
Serial cable capability
Long battery life (compared to other GPS receivers)
Cons: Low 4 digit Minute precision
Can't transfer waypoints with serial cable

The Magellan 310 is an old, discontinued GPS receiver. I bought the Magellan 310 at $30 at a local chain department store. As I suspected, the unit displays the coordinates in only 4 digits of "minutes" (A.K.A. DD MM.MM format). Modern GPS receivers ...

Pros: Simple to use
Cons: Very limited waypoint/route capabilities. Unreliable.

I bought my 310 from Fry's Electronics several years ago. It worked reliably for about a year, then it wouldn't provide a position any more. It acts like it is tracking satellites, but it doesn't update the lat/lon and the time keeps getting offset. I suspect the firmware has been corrupted, but there is no way to verify that since Magellan has discontinued the model and it doesn't have any diagnostics. No changes to setup or reinitialization have fixed the problem. Failed after one year of use. Very limited serial interface (just NMEA output).

Pros: Inexpensive, reliable, easy to use. Save waypoints with two buttons.
Cons: Pretty basic but with several useful screens to choose from.

An easy to use, inexpensive, reliable GPS. I have had my 310 for several years and have used it while traveling, boating, and finding destinations.
On a trip to Madison, WI we followed a buddy downtown via automobile to the university campus. What we didn't count on was getting separated later and trying to find our way back to his apartment after dark! I paged to the plot trail screen and handed my trusty 310 to the guy in the seat next to me and we simply followed the plot trail back through a couple miles of city blocks and intersections to his driveway! I don't travel without it.

Pros: easy to use, easy to read interface
Cons: refresh rate, doesn't hold its direction

I bought the GPS310 for hiking, and I'm not pleased with it's performance. It usually locks onto about 8 sattelites, and holds them quite well, but never gives me an accurate direction. It'll say I'm going north and then change to South. So that makes the compass useless. It does however work well in a car. I think it's because you have to be going 3 mph to get accurate readings. That means if you want a GPS for hiking or hunting I wouldn't suggest it unless your planning on speed walking the whole way.
I could tell you some of the good things about the unit, but they have nothing to do with performance. I wouldn't want to tell you anything that might make you think "maybe this product isn't so bad afterall" because it is. I set my house as one of the waypoints, walked down the block a little and was pointed the opposite direction. Very Very big waste of money.

Pros: Accurate to usually 25-35 ft, long battery life, built in light, waterproof, easy to use
Cons: Holds only 100 waypoints, only computes to 4 mins., not computer linkable for transferring info.

Bought my 310 almost 3 years ago for $100 at Gart Sports and haven't had any problem with it. It does lack the 5 min. ability, but I've used it for geocaching anyway, rounding up the last digit on the cache location coords. Overall, it has been a good GPS for the basics needed. I can admit, the directional compass can be a bit temperamental, but for the price you can get this GPS for now (if you can) it's worth it. Compared to the Etrex Basic, I like this GPS better because when it gets down to o.oo mi you know to stop and look around, whereas the Etrex tries to get down to the very foot and jumps all over.

This really early entry into the truly affordable GPS hand helds has always bailed me out when the expensive units failed. I have used it as an inexpensive back up for years in planes, boats and cars. An honest tool.