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Flimsy internal battery carrier snapped. Found one on that E site for MUCH less than Magellan would cost. Magellan support offers friendly people who want to help you, no really they do. But wanting to, and actually being able to, are entirely different things.
This is my 1st GPS and bought from Costco for [.]. If you scroll thru the menu it corrects itself (dont know if all GPS units do this or not). Its much easier to use points of interest and locate them by area, alphabetically, or by distance. First off, the entire connection to the USB port is a non-issue once you figure out that the moron that developed it put tabs on the plug that lead you to install it upside down. All in all, it seems like an OK product with some glitches. After an hour of messing with it, I tried it the other way and it instantly worked and has ever since. I figured if its as bad as they say I can return it. The "windows file system" is very difficult to figure out where files are sent to and how to find them again.
I think this is why so many people have problems connecting it to the PC. The unit seems to be accurate, but sometimes gives screwey distances. This unit can use AAA or the li-ion battery which I dont have but will soon get because like other reviewers, it eats batteries quick. Without another GPS to compare it to I give it a 3 due to the poor file navigation interface.
I bought this as an impulse buy when I saw it on clearance at Wal-Mart for $110, marked down from $199. The unit I have has a serial number that starts with 0133. It will not lock, or track onto the WAAS satellites for improved accuracy. I have used it maybe 2 hrs and have devoured 2/3 of the battery life (according to the battery indicator). The version of firmware does not allow me to downgrade, or load in a version that works for the euro versions (and is only supposed to be used for euro ver). All of this with the back light off. I had been contemplating upgrading from my explorist 210 (which I still love).OK, the battery life on 3 AAA is not good. This comes preloaded with the latest firmware frim April 2007, ver 5.2.17.
I doubt the enviroment can afford this type of battery waste. Accuracy. Don't expect accuracy better than 20 feet as a result. I understand that units with a serial number which starts with 011 do not have this problem.If I knew then what I know now, I would not have purchased this unit.
Very easy. Comparing other units with the same feature set the Magellan eXplorist 500LE is by far the best bang for the buck. I have been using the Magellan eXplorist series for 3 years and have owned several different models. The software that comes with the 500LE is very basic, and the detailed manual is on the CD that comes with the unit (not printed). I have not had any problems with the unit being recognized by a PC or a MAC (I have used both). The file system is great, I can set up different routes, waypoints, and geocaches on seperate SD cards and then load the SD card into the unit for the area I am going to. However, I have found several 3rd party applications that work great with the eXplorist series.I use Lithium-Ion batteries and find that I can get 8-10 hours of use if I watch how I use the tracking and back light features. In one of my units I use the optional rechargeable battery an I get about the same usage.I am happy with the eXplorist 500 series the unit is durable and I can trust it.
Few things I don't like about this thing, but it's very minor. The Magellan eXplorist 500LE is my first GPS, before I've used only Garmin GPSs. I've decided to purchase a GPS to support my work as an RF Engineer and this GPS does it jobs well. If you have this, you need to purchase the battery pack too so that you wouldn't need to open its back cover to have it powered because you'll be able to recharge the battery while it's impossible if you're using 3xAAA batteries. In overall, I'm satisfied with the Magellan eXplorist 500LE.
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