- 2.2-inch LCD display
- Easily connect to the Geocaching.com User Community and perform "Send to GPS," create and sync Pocket Queries, and upload Field Notes. Pre-loaded with the most popular geocaches in the world, found more than any others--get a complete out-of-the-box experience by searching and finding the top 1,000 geocaches worldwide
- Easy to use with an intuitive user interface, simple controls and menus, and vibrant graphics
- Vibrant color transflective screen provides the best readability in direct sunlight
- A high-sensitivity SiRFstarIII GPS with three-meter accuracy puts you on top of the cache and make the find that much easier
Included is a 30 day premium membership to Geocaching.com. In order to fully utilize the features of this unit you MUST be a premium member. Paperless caching, pocket queries and bookmarks, uploading field notes all require maintaining a premium membership ($30 per year).
I have been geocaching more than 7 years and have experience with Magellan, Garmin and DeLorme GPS units. I attended a C.I.T.O. event in San Francisco earlier this year and won an ExploristGC in a drawing at that event. My thanks to Magellan.
The unit comes with an (abbreviated) User Handbook packaged in the box. For the complete User Handbook you will need to access MagellanGPS.com and either read it online or download the Adobe acrobat file to your computer. It is one of the better user handbooks that I have seen for GPS units. Learning to use the unit (for me) was relatively easy and quick.
Cons:
Small text. Hard to read while bouncing in a car.
Transflective screen. Hard to see even in bright sunlight. I needed to use the backlight most of the time.
Battery life. About 10 hours for rechargeables (because I needed to use the backlight most of the time.)
Position Update. Most of the time pretty good. Occasionally VERY slow (up to 2 minutes).
Switching between screens. The Map screen and the Dashboard screen are used extensively for geocaching. It is not possible to rapidly switch between these two screens.
Awards. The unit is preprogrammed to "award" you for 10 miles traveled, your 1st, 10th, etc. cache found. No way to turn this off.
Pros: (with Geocaching premium membership)
Making field notes and uploading those notes to Geocaching.com
Paperless caching (including viewing any photographs and graphics from the cache pages.)
Memory capacity. The unit will hold the information for thousands of caches.
I would give the ExploristGC another star if the position update was faster and more reliable. It is VERY irritating to be 10 or 15 feet away from a cache and not know which way to go. On numerous occasions I have walked past a cache by 30 to 40 feet before the unit updates my distance from the cache and the arrow swings on the compass to point toward the cache. (I see this problem listed on some other reviews but not all, so this problem could be limited to some but not all units.)
Buy Magellan eXplorist GC Waterproof Geocaching GPS Now
What is Geocaching? It's an outdoor activity akin to treasure hunting, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world.Sound interesting? Then you might want to give the Magellan eXplorist GC Handheld Geocaching GPS Navigator a whirl. It's an entry-level GPS geocaching device that is perfectly suited for neophytes, yet has enough capabilities to suit the basic needs of geocaching veterans.
The good:
No-frills geocaching device is perfect for newbies as it covers all the basics expected from a geocaching device;
The eXplorist has a nice, colorful screen;
The eXplorist's interface is intuitive and easy to use, with an effective button layout;
The eXplorist has very good GPS tracking capabilities, on par with more expensive geocaching devices, while also including a useful compass feature;
-The eXplorist is small (but not too much so), ruggedly-built, waterproof and feels very comfortable in the hands;
Battery life is stated by Magellan to be a very good 15 hours, but my experience with the eXplorist GC using standard Duracell batteries has averaged battery life at around 17-18 hours;
The eXplorist has a "suspend mode" that preserves battery life;
The eXplorist comes preloaded with 1,000 of the most popular worldwide geocache locations; it includes a highly detailed worldwide basemap;
The eXplorist can accommodate up to 500 waypoints and 5,000 point tracklogs; USB interface is non-proprietary;
Various plug-ins and firmware updates (as well as the device's user manual) is (or will be) available through Magellan's website, promising increased device functionality and software improvements;
Optional 30-day trial for premium geocaching membership services, which allow for great features such as paperless caching, pocket queries and bookmarks (after the 30 day trial, there is a $30 annual fee or a $10 three-month fee for the optional membership service);
The price is right for a GPS geocaching device of this caliber.
The bad:
No other GPS capabilities besides geocaching included in package;
No option to add external memory;
The screen is somewhat dimly lit and the text is fairly small, potentially making reading a chore for those with strained eyesight;
Software response is somewhat sluggish;
Very basic features means this is a no-frills geocaching device which, while perfect for newbies, may not be satisfactory for more experienced (or wealthier) geocachers who are looking for more "bells and whistles" in their geocaching device;
As mentioned earlier, after the 30-day trial expires, in order to get the maximum benefit of this device, you will have to fork over either a $30 annual fee or a $10 three-month fee for Magellan's premium geocaching membership services (IMO, totally worth the extra cost for the premium features).
For those who have had issues with the eXplorist's lack of "pinpoint" accuracy, please keep in mind that this is an issue with most, if not all, of GPS geocaching devices, regardless of make or cost, due to various types of cover and terrain, which will interfere with GPS tracking. In all, considering its terrific price point and what you get right out of the box, the Magellan eXplorist GC Handheld is strongly recommended for newbies or those on a tight budget.
Read Best Reviews of Magellan eXplorist GC Waterproof Geocaching GPS Here
I upgraded from a very basic GPS to the eXplorist GC because I only use my GPS for geocaching. After looking at the reviews of other products I chose this one because it kept billing itself as the GPS solely for geocaching and it was paperless. I really enjoy the whole paperless feature. I have found a dozen or so caches in different terrain. Here is what I've noticed so far.PRO:
I love the fact the hints, descriptions, and a couple logs are all in the unit. (I guess that would be true with any paperless geocaching unit.
I love that I didn't have to pay for a unit that provides the sunrise/sunset times, tides, or detailed topographical information.
I love having the roads and rivers/lakes show up on the display.
I like the USB connection.
CON:
The unit takes a bit to get a signal.
It doesn't come with a real manual. You have to go online to get the PDF file.
There is a little bit of a learning curve, especially when it doing multi-caches and puzzles.
I haven't been able to upload my field notes.
All that being said I am glad I bought this unit. I'm still getting used to the unit, but I love the paperless aspect. I'm able to find plenty of help online, so the lack of an actual manual hasn't really been a problem.
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I'm experienced in the outdoors and have owned and operated GPS units for recreational backpacking and mountain biking, as well as in the military during wartime as a Marine infantryman. I purchased the Explorist because it is dedicated to geocaching, and seemed kid-friendly for my children to use. The best thing I can say about the Explorist is that it easily transfers all geocaching data seamlessly from Geocaching.com. But geocaching isn't about sitting at home with the GPS and my computer, it's about finding caches. And to find caches you will need a GPS device that can connect and remain connected to satellites. The bottom line is that, after a week of troubleshooting on my own and with Magellan support, my Explorist failed to hold a satellite connection for more than 2 minutes in the open, and for even less time on a wooded path. It got nothing under dense tree cover. Think it's just my unit? Check the reviews on the major retail websites. Then talk with knowledgable reps at stores like REI that sell the Explorist and other competitors. I did. Many people find the Explorist to be inconsistent with satellite connections, and still more describe a frequent "freezing" problem. The local REI GPS expert shared that many Explorists have been returned to his store for these reasons. Magellan offered me a replacement, citing that I probably have a faulty unit. I'm not interested. There are just too many people reporting the same types of problems that I experienced. If you want to find points in wide open fields, and have the patience to wait for the Explorist to reconnect to satellites every 2-3 minutes after each disconnect, then you'll be OK with this purchase. If not, steer clear and go with the better reviewed units. I settled on a Garmin GPSMap62S. The extra money was worth the consistent connection under all conditions.Save 40% off
Bought this unit to take advantage of paperless Geocaching.Screen was a lot smaller then I thought it would be. The font is very small but in my case usable with reading glasses. Hooked the machine up to the computer, uploaded the latest firmware, went to geocaching.com and downloaded some caches. All this with no problem.Fustration started with the functioning of the menu. You could get to and review the caches but the BACK button was very unresponsive and on a scedule of its own.. Press it once,twice,three times,give it a minute,an hour who knows? Hitting the back button should mean go back a screen. Machine is like saying "hold on I am trying to figure some satelite info I will get back to ya".. Good luck getting back to the main menu.
Tryed the unit out and found it to be very unreliable. Colored arrows show you how you are doing. Green being the right way, red showing the wrong way, blue if you stop. Count on seeing the blue arrow most of the time even when you are walking. All the satelite bars are green but the arrow keeps going blue like it cant keep up with itself.
I will stick with my 7 year old model.
Amazon is awesome as usual.. They let me send back this product and gave me a prompt refund.
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