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112 of 113 people found the following review helpful.
4.5 Stars for a Great GPS Unit (Former eTrex Legend Owner)
By AKT
I've had the eXplorist 300 for a while now. I had a Garmin eTrex Legend for over a year until it fell down a cliff while I was hiking. I'll get into that later. Naturally, this review will include a heap of comparison of the two units. They are in the same class and price range, and both units and companies are great.
First off, if you want a PC interface, the eXplorist 300 doesn't have one (but the eXplorist 210, 400, 500, etc. do). If you want elaborated street-level maps (eXplorist 300 has only major roads and highways), this unit doesn't have that either. My main use of the unit is for hiking, so those points are not an issue for me.
When it comes to the intensities of the Garmin eTrex Legend in comparison to the Magellan eXplorist 300, I may think of two. One is that the eTrex does have a PC interface. If this is a necessity, I would suggest the eXplorist 210, eXplorist 400, or the Garmin eTrex series itself. The other strength of the eTrex Legend is minor in that the eTrex showed me Average Speed (in addition to Current Speed) and Stopped Time. Those are two neat measurements that the eXplorist 300 doesn't have.
The eXplorist 300 is much more user-friendly than the eTrex Legend. The pretty simplicity of the eXplorist comes in the form of assorted great buttons that are right on the front on the unit. Whatever can't be accessed directly with a button on the unit CAN be accessed in a menu through a button that IS on the unit--the Menu button. Because of this, you are almost always 1-2 button pushes and joystick clicks away from what you want to do.
When it comes to reception, the eXplorist 300 is particular and outperforms the abilities of the eTrex Legend. My eTrex Legend would lose reception easily, even out in the open sometimes. Any heavy clouds or tree canopy above me would make the reception of my eTrex intermittent. The eXplorist is much more resilient to losing reception and much better at getting it.
We're ultimately at the percentage where my old eTrex falls down a cliff. In another comparison review amidst the eTrex series and eXplorist series, a reviewer said that one of the vantages of the Garmin eTrex over the Magellan eXplorist was that it took only half a turn to unscrew the bolt on the eTrex battery cover versus regarding 10 turns for the eXplorist series. That person may think that is an advantage, but I do not. I had my eTrex on a caribiner attached to my backpack, and all it took was that half turn of the bolt to leave the battery cover attached to my backpack while the rest of the unit fell down a various hundred foot cliff in Glacier National Park. I will gladly spend the extra seconds to open the battery cover of the eXplorist versus having a unit that might unscrew itself from it is backing.
Unique features of the eXplorist 300 include an electronic 2-axis compass (so you don't have to be in motion to get a reading), a weather thermometer, barometer, and a barometric pressure altimeter. The eTrex Legend has none of those features. The build quality and styling of the eXplorist series are top notch as well.
I think it's apparent by now that I do in truth commend getting a Magellan eXplorist 300. Most importantly, have a outstanding time no matter what GPS unit you end up with!
58 of 59 people found the following review helpful.
Good GPS unit
By W. K. Crist
The eXplorist 300 is a good unit that is a cut above basic GPS's. It has a very readable screen with an magnificent 2-step backlight, which will use up quickly the other than as supposed or expected good battery life. The menu structure is intuitive and easy. The electronic compass is the real plus on this unit, but it ought to be kept level for accuracy. I found the built-in map to be usable, but not without labeling errors. Just don't suppose much detail underneath major road level. The unit takes a while on startup to achieve greatest or most complete or best possible accuracy, but then is very good and sensible even in heavy trees (especially equated to the Etrex Legend I equated it to). I found it to be a good geocache unit specially with the electronic compass (especially equated to the Legend). It has ordinarily placed me within 20 feet of the cache coordinates. The stability and accuracy of the compass actually shines when getting close to the cache.
The unit lacks a PC or PDA interface even though there are a great deal of hacks available on the internet to supply this capability. So you can't interface to a PC and digitally load maps or waypoints, etc. without the hack. Some of the newer generation units coming on the market in this price range are addressing this and have more memory. I have not found much use for the thermometer and barometer yet, but they do work. The users manual is very brief and not everything is explained fully. I commend this unit as one of the best I have used in the lower end market, just keep in mind it is limitations and your needs.
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
Great product for your money
By Michael P. Mcclain
The last review if the person had read cautiously and further researched the product they wouldn't have been fooled. I'm in the Army ROTC program and we do lots of land navigation in the middle of the woods. Its got a good compass. Lots of outstanding features as elaborate and does everything I need it too, still figuring out what all it may do. It is very rugged and take a great deal of hits if need be but I wouldn't go tossing it down a cliff. I drove from Arkansas to Kansas and applied this GPS device to support keep me on track and recognise what cities were coming up so I could get gas. Sweet speed display and real-time action. Great product for your money. Keeps a heap of extra batteries with you if your going for a few days but that's in regards to it.
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