Tag Archives: gps

Magellan eXplorist 610 review

Posted on 16 March 2012 | 2 Comments

About 18 months ago I was fortunate enough to be one of the first to test out the Magellan eXplorist GC. Overall I was thoroughly impressed with the unit and suggested that Magellan was back in the game. During the southern hemisphere summer I was given the opportunity to test out it’s bigger brother – the eXplorist 610.

The 610 is the ‘almost top of the line’ model in the eXplorist series – bettered only by the 710. It’s form is very similar to the GC and the rest of the series, albeit bigger and green.

It has a touch screen interface and three discrete buttons built into the outer edge of the casing. The top one for the power button, while the two on the left hand side are for the still camera and marking waypoints.

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Have a Geomate Jr? Don’t panic.

Posted on 27 January 2012 | 34 Comments

Geomate Jr and netbook with Geocaching.com displayedUPDATE: The Geomate Jr has been bought by Brand44 and you can use the update website again.

A few months ago I purchased a Geomate Jr GPS receiver for my son. It’s a great simple to use unit designed for kids. The interface is simple, but that was to ensure it was cheap and easy to use. At first I thought it was too simple, too cute. But having now used one, I’m impressed.

Unfortunately, Geomate Jr owners found out today that the company that now owns it (Airity) will no longer sell or support the unit. This is a BIG problem, as owners rely on the www.mygeomate.com website to download geocache list updates into their receiver. Without it, the list will become out of date quickly – archived geocache will still appear in the receiver and new ones (since 31 December 2011) can’t be added. Continue reading →

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Magellan eXplorist GC review

Posted on 18 May 2010 | 14 Comments

In the early days of geocaching Magellan was one of the leading brands when it came to GPS receivers on the market. In recent times that popularity has fallen and despite the release of the all-in-one Triton series in 2008, the brand looked like disappearing altogether.

Therefore it’s great to see them launch a new GPS receiver that is not only great in looks and functionality, but is built with geocaching in mind.

The first impression I had of the eXplorist GC is small – in a good way. It fits snuggly in the hand, is light weight and very pleasing on the eye. The rubber grip and rounded edges makes it easy to grasp in your hand. A wide loop at the base allows you to loop through a thick, sturdy lanyard should you want to hand around your neck.

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Lowrance Endura Sierra review

Posted on 20 April 2010 | 1 Comment

After a year or two of dominance in the geocaching field, Garmin is finding some ‘old’ players are re-entering the handheld GPS receiver market. I was fortunate enough to test out Lowrance’s latest offering, the Endura Sierra.

When you take the Endura Sierra out of the box it is a good fit in the hand. The size is about right and there is adequate rubber grip on the sides and back. With batteries (2 x AA) the unit is a little heavier than other units of similar ilk, but it is well balanced. The space for the batteries is tight and it a few attempts to get the correct angle for closing the back panel.

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