Handheld GPS Reviews - Customer reviews - Magellan Triton 2000 Handheld Navigation System

Manufacturer: Magellan

List Price: $599.99
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Average Customer Rating: -

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Name: Paul
Location: Williamstown, MA
Date: 2008-06-23
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Great GPS, terrible documentation
Comment: Now that I have this GPS working with maps from TOPO! loaded in the SD card, this is a fantastic device for locating myself while hiking. The receiver works really well, and I have had no problems with the system crashing. There are lots of nice features, and I'm getting used to the menus quickly. Perhaps Magellan and National Geographic have worked out some of the bugs that bedeviled the initial release of the Triton series.

For context: I started using TOPO! in 1998, before Wildflower Productions was taken over by National Geographic, and I am used to using survey grade GPS devices and connecting them to computers. Even with this background, it took me over two hours to figure out how the get the Triton to negotiate with my computer. Magellan documentation for the Triton is hopeless. NG has a very useful support page that describes how to set up the Triton for communicating with TOPO!, but it is difficult to locate on their web page and it is not entirely accurate. But now that I know what to do, transferring maps is quick and easy, and the device works well.

Magellan's gps software, Vantage Point, is poorly documented and not very robust. Also, the documentation for the camera (which is not a very good camera) and the mp3 player are pretty much non-existent. Apparently, Magellan has a lot of faith in the abilities of the American consumer.

Final thought: this is the future of GPS. Who wants to use a device where all you see is a blank screen with a marching stick figure or highways? If you are out hiking, especially off trail, you need to see where you are on detailed topo maps. Garmin sells 1:100,000 topographic maps , but these are worthless compared to the 1:24,000 USGS topo maps that come with TOPO!. Yes, you have to purchase the topo maps from National Geographic, but you also have to buys maps from Garmin. Remember how awful the first digital cameras were? They got better because people bought them and financed the innovation that lead to the fantastic cameras we now enjoy. Magellan went out on a limb and created a great device that needs a bit of tweaking and a good manual; I'm happy to help support their innovation. Once the Triton is set up, it is very easy to use. I plan on using the Triton 500 for my college-level geology students.

Name: Frank Wille
Location: So Cal
Date: 2008-04-03
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Topo maps - not
Comment: The unit is has many neat option but the best one it the National Geographic Topo maps. Unfortunately after 4 months I have been unable to load the maps onto the unit. Many hours on the phone have yielded no results. Maybe it's my unit?
Sincerely disappointed.

Name: S. Norman
Location: Peoria
Date: 2008-01-10
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Triton Tragedy
Comment: Magellan, you need to get your act together. First you taunt us with the long and repeatedly delayed release of this "ultra" handheld GPS Magellan Triton 2000 Handheld Navigation System. Then you insult our intelligence with your useless, uninformed "Tech Support Staff". Finally, when the unit ships, it is only capable of displaying your location on the base map between interstate highways. Where are the street level maps? When will they be available? Useless, Bad deal. What are you guys thinking.
Tip: Call Magellan tech support BEFORE buying their product.
I'm giving mine back.

Name: C. Kalinski
Location:
Date: 2008-01-12
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Extremely poor implementation. Don't buy it!
Comment: While the promise of the feature set on this product had me ready to switch from my Garmin, the implementation is horrible. I have been testing it for about a week now. Do not buy this unit until Magellan re-releases it correctly.

Areas of problem so far:
* Random crashes. Reminds me of WIN 98. It crashes often.
* SLOW!!! It is especially slow when you switch to the map screen, the main one you use.
* No street maps
* "Nearest cache/waypoint" feature does not work. For some reason, it consistently points me to waypoints/caches at a park about 5 miles away as the closest even if I move around to different locations within the range. Can see waypoints nearby (across the street in one test), but it ignores them.
* Interface with PC is slow. Loaded my Garmin side by side with the Magellan. Garmin took about 10-15 seconds to load 900+ waypoints. Same load on the Magellan took ~2 minutes.
* Magellan on-line help SUCKS! There support page does not even list the Tritons yet in many of the drop down lists. FAQ's are more marketing material then help.

I got a reply back on my post to their support email. It took them three days to respond.

* Issue: Triton is not listed on their support drop downs. Response: It is a new unit and they have not updated the web page. "Wait for some time until this unit gets updated" (Last I checked, that would be a one day job for a competent programmer.)

* Issue: "nearest" function not working on geocaches. Response: please call tech support regarding this issue. (Call to tech support number refers you back to the web page.)

* Message from tech support was obviously from someone who stuggles with writing English. Grammar errors and typos.

Name: Penny Nowak
Location: spring branch, texas United States
Date: 2008-01-11
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Disappointed Magellan Fan
Comment: I am so disappointed. I love my old Magellan but this new Triton 2000 is terrible! I use it for geocaching and I can't even get the thing to take me to the nearest cache. I've called Tech support 3 times (everyone I have spoken to has been difficult to understand due to heavy accents). They are sending me a new unit and told me "Don't worry about it" when I asked if all of the problems would be fixed. The bells and whistles are sweet on the unit (camera, mp3, flashlight) but the basic function is useless! The base maps are pitiful. All of the user fields that you can change to suit your needs revert back to factory settings if you scroll to another page. Magellan told me this was an identified problem and they are working on a firmware fix for everyone to download. I just need to know one thing, how do I send mine back and get a refund? I think I'm going to stick to e-bay and buy an old, cheap but well working Magellan unit.
Penny aka cpnowak

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