Explorist XL

[JackoLux]

G'Day Guys
Im thinking of getting a Explorist XL ,with the topo mapping
Is the mapping up to the job ,most of the tracks there ect
Im most interested in the Vic high country tracks at this stage
Thanks ,regards Jacko

[Alpine 4wd]

I have got the tracks and topo card with a magellan 600. The tracks shown are very good in the NE Vic area. It even has a lot of the pine plantation tracks which dont appear on many other available maps. The contour interval goes down as low as 5m. I say go for it. I dont regret buying both the GPS and the map card.

[myilux]

PM sent

[willdive]

Hi Jacko.

Have to say i agree with Alphine 4WD. I have had XL for almost a year now and spend plentyof time in High Country and so far have found Topo Maps to be pretty good. Occasionally you will get a track going slightly off from Topo Map but not that often. Go for it is my opinion. Will

[Stef37]

Had mine for a bit over 12months and i love it. I take it out of 4x4 and put the marine maps in and then put it in my boat also. Great.
Still havent worked out how to make back up copyies of the maps yet. Tried a few things but havent worked.

[JackoLux]

G'Day Guys
Thanks for the replys
Priced the XL in Warragul today for $1150 complete package ,ready to go
Hows that price
Regards Jacko

[hilux a lot]

jacko
I also have an XL and have used it in the VIC high country , it works a treat don't know how i survived this long without one. As for the price $1150 sounds about what i paid for mine

[sp0radic]

$1150 sounds good.

[gigzi]

Have a look at Ebay mate - i reckon they're a bit cheaper on there.

[haveago]

Have a look at Ebay mate - i reckon they're a bit cheaper on there.

Just make sure that it comes with Aussie mapping.Mate bought the 500 on ebay for a steal,then found all the mapping discs where for america.Had to go and buy another mapping package.

[Igutso]

Ill be honest my experiences havent been positive with the XL after 6 months. I also run the updated firmware. Im from QLD.

What I get now regularly is that it will suddenly stop working; cant find any satellites and hangs. Sometimes it wont find a satellite for hours. When it finds one, i have to reset time etc. Also when i first got it it would update position and speed constantly,( i originally thought it was great for seeing your speed) recently in the last 4 weeks when it works it only updates every 5-7seconds. I canbe stopped at traffic lights and im still doing 60ks. The funniest was a speed reading of 270klms per hour ( and Im in a Patrol running around city traffic... ) it then hung there and crashed and couldnt find a sat.

I turned all details down to lowest ( no change) tried maps at track or north,, this actually made a difference, its definitely better with maps at North, but it still doesnt perform like when i got it 6 months aqgo,, its been well cared for etc..

Im sure others though have more positive experiences. I bought this for the safety aspect and also navigation,, personally Im finding it hard to trust it.. even when it finds a satellite. guys any ideas of better brands out there?

Mike

[JackoLux]

Sounds like you got a dud take it back
regards jacko

[Reddo]

Had one for a couple of weeks and it is quite impressive - shows up tracks round our backyard that are really hard to find on the ground, and responds quite quickly. Detail is very good, suburb maps are about 1-2 years out of date, but that's no real problems, and to be expected with the pace of development in some urban areas.

One aspect that annoys me is that you can't move the pointer over the map and get a UTM or grid reference read-out in real time on the same screen, you have to switch to another screen. Having a real-time location read-out on the map and pointer screen (like you get with ozi explorer or google earth) would greatly help find a 'go to point', rather than having to mark, switch another screen and see where that point is, or load the point into the go-to function. Loading coordinates take too much time.

Battery life is not 16 hours either,more like 8-10!

[willdive]

Reddo is right about the battery life but but hey that is why we have power adapter, and i don't like wandering to far away from the esky anyway.

[Dernel]

Having had 3 magellan units, colour, platinum and explorist 600, do yourself a favour and get hold of a Garmin 60Csx unit.

you will neet the city navigator software, but track software , contours software is available freely on the net.

been there done that...also battery life is superb.

Cheers,

Derek

PS i have no affiliation to garmin at all, however if they want to pay commisssion on testimonials, hey i could do with some cash!!

[JackoLux]

Having had 3 magellan units, colour, platinum and explorist 600, do yourself a favour and get hold of a Garmin 60Csx unit.

you will neet the city navigator software, but track software , contours software is available freely on the net.

been there done that...also battery life is superb.

Cheers,

Derek

PS i have no affiliation to garmin at all, however if they want to pay commisssion on testimonials, hey i could do with some cash!!

Bugger its to late
I have just purchased a XL and gone for a short test drive
It seems very good on the main roads heading out of Warragul
I then went up the back of labertouche on the main road and the few tracks I did drive past showed up as unnamed on the screen ,there tracks are named and are sign posted
So if I get up the bush and find most tracks come up as unnamed Im gonna be pissed off
regards Jacko

[sp0radic]

My XL is doing great on our around oz trip. I'm glad I have it.

[JackoLux]

Yep I have had a bit of a surf around the map screen and yes most tracks seem to be named
I will give it a good try this weekend
regards jacko

[vcbb]

I spent quite a bit of time getting totally confused with the many GPS units. Final advice I did receive was that Garmin is better in the mtro areas and the magellan is better for 4wding etc. I also was going to go for the Explorist Xl, but went for the 600, same maps and everything but it has a lithium battery (like mobile phones) so I dont have to keep feeding double A batteries.

Now I am wondering, should I use the PC mapping software supplied or use Ozi Explorer? Any thoughts?

[monee]

i have a magellan XL and love it the topo maps are really good. you carnt get lost with one of these.

[JackoLux]

i have a magellan XL and love it the topo maps are really good. you carnt get lost with one of these.


Ya wanna bet
regards Jacko

[Reddo]

Used the Magellan in anger for the first time over the weekend, in a GPS comp, and it performed very well. The screen size, fast response and accuracy was a bonus, and given these qualities it came as no surprise to see many teams using this unit. I think we made a good purchase.