Find the perfect gift for everyone
- Average user rating: 1.5 stars out of 9 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
2.0 stars
"Overall, a disappointment in my book."
Pros: Accurate, Fast aquisition, aesthetically pleasing
Cons: Incompetant operating system, challenging software, sluggish
Summary: Since none of the reputable tech sites have decided to review the Magellan Triton series, I will take the task upon myself. I found no good information on Tritons before purchasing one, so I hope to arm you with the information you need to make a wise decision before purchasing. First and foremost, if you value customer support whatsoever, keep in mind Magellan has the worst customer support known to man. Everything is outsourced straight to India, and they are rude, incompetent, and offer absolutely no technical knowledge about any of their products. Now to the Triton ā?? and the bad comes out first. I was excited to find a product within my price range (I have the 300), but as often as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. The learning curve is somewhat difficult if you are used to a Garmin. The menuā??s seem somewhat illogical to navigate through; it seems like itā??s a one way streetā?¦youā??ll understand if you operate one. The buttons are not comfortable or backlit in the cheaper models, and are very difficult to push. The operating system can be a bit confusing at some points in time, and often overcomplicates a task that would be much simpler on other units. Itā??s also extremely sluggish! It takes a full 6 seconds to load the manual coordinate input screen; so thatā??s 6 seconds for the Lat, and another 6 second wait for the Long. The coordinate insertion process also takes a bit of getting used to. Finally, the basemap is extremely basic and disappointing. On the plus side, the unit possesses the Sirfstar III antenna dramatically increasing accurateness and reducing satellite acquisition time. To my surprise, I first loaded mine inside the house with full bar reception. Aside from the learning curve and sluggish behavior, the operating system is very aesthetically pleasing ā?? it just looks good. The screen resolution, colors, and navigational screens are easy on the eyes. In daylight however, the screen is quite dark without the use of the backlight. The worst part about the Tritons is, by far, the software compatibility. I still canā??t manage to load any detailed maps from previous Magellan software, and Iā??m not sure if Iā??ll ever be able to. Also, DO NOT BE FOOLED: The National Geographic maps (or any detailed maps for that matter) as advertised are not free by any stretch of the imagination. Even if you pay for them, good luck getting them to work with the VantagePoint software. All in all, not the best unit Iā??ve seen. Once you adapt to the unit, it gets the job done. It may be descent for the price, but I have not yet decided whether to return it, and take my chances with something else.
- 1 reply to this review
-
This review is bang on. The unit is not user friendly as the sales literature would have you believe. Do not rely on the user manual to help either.
Once you figure out how to run the unit, it is nice and accurate with good satellite reception. The basemap sucks. The battery life sucks, if you need to run the unit remote from a vehicle in the daylight.
Vantagepoint really sucks. It says that you can easily download .txt or .csv waypoint data to the GPS. However, it does not tell you how to set up the data to import properly. Even following the exact downloaded format in .txt or .csv gives a file import error. I found a work around by importing the data into a free conversion software package and saving as a .gpx file and then importing it to Vantagepoint. What a pain.
To make this a usable unit, I would recommend buying additional maps ($130 for topo and streets), a cigarette lighter power cord ($38) and a cradle ($45), so a total of $358 including the unit. Is this now a good value?
Where to buy
Magellan Triton 300:
$138.98 - $149.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$147.70 | Yes |
|
|
Amazon.com Marketplace
|
$138.98 | Yes |
|
|
$149.99 | No |
|
