Magellan Explorist 600 or XL ???

? Screen if fine in sunlight - certainly very much better than the old magellan meridians - There is some "washout" (same as with Garmins) but nothing that prevents the screen being read. 90% of the time in a car there would be no issue at all.

Cheers
Greg

Hi Greg

Yes I suspect screen is same as the 60 , however it is significantly down on its rival the garmin 276c which has about the same sized screen but with a lot more pixels as well as sunlight readabilty.

The 276 and many "marine heritage" units seem to be more readable outside.

Perhaps they have improved the XL but when I did a test at last years
Wandin show the guy was unable to read the menu well enough to even operate the unit properly (open air stand).

Looks like 38 and sunny for this years show this weekend , so maybe I will try again.

Robin Miller

I have the 600 and could not be happier.Its a great device.I have the light turned on when travelling and have never failed to read the screen and I wear glasses! Also have the advantage of using it when bush walking.The Xl is just more added weight in the light weight walking business.The suction cup mounting gives great positioning in the 4wd and hasn't let go yet.To bad the Xl doesn't have all the fruit of the 600 ex.
Niffty
Perth

"Perhaps they have improved the XL but when I did a test at last years
Wandin show the guy was unable to read the menu well enough to even operate the unit properly (open air stand). "

Hello again - very strange - Could you see the screen? I just went outside with my 500 and it is very easy to see the menu in sunlight - in fact its better if the light is shining directly into unit (as opposed to an angle) as the light improves the contrast - but either there is no way you couldn't see the writing to the point it was not-usable. I dont think they have change the screen in any way. Anyway - maybe different people have different ideas on what is good. There is certainly nothing wrong with Garmin colour screens in light. Wish they would improve PDA screens to the same level.
Cheers
Greg

Hi Greg

When you get into the electronics behind displays the differences become quite directly measureable, not subjective , and I have acess to the equipment
for such measurements.

Some of the best screens for sunlight are still the monochrome ones, as the light falls on them and can be reflected more directly, if done correctly.

I was trying to be kind to the XL , but in reality its screen technology is big but a bit lacking.

The 276 competitor has a similar size screen at 3.8" compared to XL 3.5" but has nearly 4 times the resolution at 153600 than the XL's 42240 .

Robin Miller

No worries, all my comments are based on real life experience (outside, in the bush, in daylight) - I have a funny feeling your electronic equipment doesn't get out much. There is now doubt that some other GPS units are better than the XL, this was never disputed, but the XL (and other colour eXplorists) screen is fine - other factors are actually of more concern e.g. availabilty of decent maps..now thats another story..
Cheers
Greg

Sorry that was suppose to be
"There is no doubt that some other GPS units are better than the XL, this was never disputed"

Cheers
Greg

Hi Greg

Actually as at top of this post I think XL has some good features and moved forward as you say from the Meridian.
Last year , taking one group across the north simpson the screen readability was so bad that 2 vehicles cut out cardboard strips and taped them around the screen
edges in an attempt to get adequate visibilty from there Meridan.

We were cross country driving between waypoints and clear reading of GPS
and direction arrow was cruical and quite difficult .

Its good to point out our various experiences with these products so that others can consider their purchases knowing the issues.

Robin Miller

Yes, in particular Colour Meridians were shocking in bright light (great at night though) and I would never have purchased one for this reason alone. I had a Meridian Gold which wasnt too bad from memory. I actually dont use my explorist 500 that much - its just a back up for the PDA - which does have a shocking screen in some daylight conditions, but I put up with it as having OziCe has many advanategs over normal handheld GPS plus probabaly half the time I use it is at night anyway.

Cheers
Greg

Hi Greg

I did manage to get a really good play with the XL at sunday's Vic 4wd show,
and the sellers "Anaconda" were quite obiliging and allowed me to play with
it in direct and quite bright sunlight.

It clearly performed better than a first model I played with 1 year ago, and I can
understand how you would disagree with my early comment about not reading menus.

While I would describe its sunlight performance as still marginal , particularly off angle, it could do the job in most cicumstances particularly if one could rotate it to change its angle of view. It performed quite well in indirect light.

Unfortunately our show was a little poor this year and I couldn't do a direct comparison with the Garmin 276c.

Robin Miller

With you Teabag,

I have the XL and the father-in-law has the 600. He is always on the radio to me. The screen is much better in the sunlight.

He is after an XL now.

The 600 is still a top little unit. It does exactly what it is supposed to and is tough enough when getting into the areas you need to use it.

When you put them up to each other side by side, it makes the 600 look a little small.

Yes - one option here...

www.gpsoz.com.au/oztopo/

The actual maps are not as good as Magellan's though - (not street level). There is alos a free version of just the contours

www.gpsaustralia.net/uploaded_maps/

(You may have to join the gpsaustralia forum to access download page?)

These may or may not be able to be overlayed on existing road mapping ??? Maybe someone else knows.

Cheers
Greg

Andrew,

A couple of mates just got the 600 -left me in the dark with the Platinum....

They have the ability to use an AA or AAA battery carrier (can't remember which one)that replaces the lith-ion battery. This feature seems pretty good for bushwalking etc when you haven't got access to a car charger.

I think the cost was about $25 for the carrier for Tricky Dicky (dearer from Magellan).

Yes you can get AAA adapter for 600 explorists to replace the lith-ion. The magellan explorist 12V cable for use in car works on all explorists units (except 100 and 200) - not just XL.

Cheers
Greg

What battery capacity are you running ? I mean per AA?

I am using 2500 mah and I get over 24 hours out of mine without a change.

I always take another set with me for the digital camera which is thirsty.

A $20 12v fast charger from Jaycar and they are charged before I get through my meal and beer!