Product Description

GPS 315 12 Parallel channel, hand held receiver with wrist strap and user guide.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16223 in Consumer Electronics
• Size: Meridian PLATINUM
• Brand: Magellan
• Model: 980598-03
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 6.50" h x 1.25" w x 2.75" l, .31 pounds

Features

• 12-channel GPS unit with 16 MB base map, barometer, and 3-axis digital compass
• Built-in database of U.S. cities, interstates, major roads, and airports
• Secure Digital memory-card slot for expanded storage
• Waterproof; rugged, ergonomic design
• Oversize gray-scale screen with backlight; includes serial PC interface

Amazon.com Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description Take care of all your instrument needs with the Magellan Meridian Platinum Handheld GPS Navigator. This rugged GPS unit coordinates data from up to 12 satellites to pinpoint your location anywhere on the globe, and it includes a barometer and a three-axis digital compass. The 16 MB database provides details on U.S. cities, interstates, major roads, and airports. The Meridian Platinum's Secure Digital Memory Card slot allows you to slide in a data card to get even more detail, or to use a memory card to store waypoints and routes.

Map screen. View larger.

Data screen. View larger.

The Magellan Meridian Platinum GPS is a simple, versatile GPS receiver. View larger.

The Meridian Platinum has a variety of navigation screens that make it a breeze to use. The map screen will show you where you are, or, in Cursor Mode, you can scroll through the map of your current area to see where you're headed. The compass screen makes it easy to quickly check your bearing, whether you're on foot or in your car. If coordinates are your need, the Meridian delivers with easy-to-understand position screens that show all the relevant information for longitude and latitude. And with other handy displays like the road, data, speedometer, and satellite status screens, the Meridian Platinum makes it easy to gather all the information you might need to get home, find your waypoint, or navigate across the country.

The Meridian Platinum is PC-compatible and stores up to 500 waypoints and 20 reversible routes with up to 30 legs. It also comes with a quadrifilar helix antenna for optimal satellite signal reception and fast position fixes. WAAS and EGNOS capability adds to the versatility of this receiver, which can be operated in English, French, German, Dutch, Finnish, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, or Swedish.

See your exact position on the Meridian Platinum's seven navigation screens and vertical profile graphs, which show elevations of the route traveled. The oversized grayscale display allows you to easily see location information, and it comes with a backlight and backlit keypad for use even in dim light. Waterproof rubber armoring and an ergonomic, compact design add to the Meridian Platinum's functionality.

The Meridian Platinum is compatible with Magellan's MapSend software, including MapSend Streets Europe and the recently released MapSend Topo for the United States. Vehicle, bike, and swivel mounts are sold separately.

What's in the Box
Meridian Platinum GPS receiver, PC cable, 2 AA batteries, wrist strap, user's manual, and CD-ROM (user's manual with 9 languages).

Customer Reviews

Great GPS Unit for a beginner!
I have spent about 4 days doing research on GPS units. I had it down to 2 units: Garmin and Magellan. I am new to the GPS market. I primarily wanted a GPS unit for hiking. I always bring a compass and a map with me, but I like exploring places that are not always on the map. I will divide my results into sections which are located below.

1.) Research
I did research on all the Garmin and Magellan models. I went with the Magellan Platinum. The Garmin units have really small screens and the button / joystick configuration wasn't very appealing. I noticed that Garmin came out with a new unit that changed the button layout, and comparable to the Magellan Platinum (Garmin GPSMAP 76S GPS). The Magellan is bigger, but more rugged and more durable than the Garmin models. I am the type of person who wants all the features. To many times I have bought a version that only had some features only to upgrade to the higher one. So this time I figured I would go for the top of the line Platinum.

2.) Arrival of the Product
As soon as I pulled the Magellan Platinum out of the box, I was impressed. It felt good in my hand. I read the Quick Start Manual. It was pretty straight forward. I went outside and started experimenting plotting points. I really wanted to test it out. So I drove around in my car all around town. I looked at all the screens that the unit had to offer (with the car parked). I was impressed with the features I encountered. There was a map view showing your current position. There was a road view which looked like you were driving on a road. There was a speedometer view showing your current speed. There was a compass showing your current direction including the sun's and moon's position. It also showed you your estimated time of arrival to your destination according to your speed. There are many more screens that I haven't even touched upon yet, but I was starting to turn into a GPS junkie. I wanted to test this thing out in the mountains.

3.) Mountain Test
I went for a hike on a moderately small mountain. I set my waypoint at my truck. I then put the Magellan in my backpack and went exploring. The satellite reception was great even under heavy coverage. I reached the top of the mountain, and I was ready to return to my truck. I grabbed the Magellan. There was two ways the Magellan can direct me back to my truck: 1.) I could have used the backtrack feature 2.) I could have inputted my truck way point. I decided to go with the truck way point. To my amazement, it put me 5 ft away from my truck. I was psyched!

4.) Conclusion
After the first time using the Platinum in the mountains, I knew I made a great purchase. I was looking forward to using this GPS on bigger mountains. I would like to point out a few things to people considering this unit.

-This unit only eats batteries when you use the backlight. I never used the light once on my hike. The screen is big enough that you really don't need it unless you are using it in poor lighting conditions. I would recommend that you bring an extra set of batteries just in case.

-If you are expecting to see very detailed maps in this unit, don't count on it. It does show major highways, water, airports, and train tracks. It doesn't show side streets or anything like that. You probably have to buy more detailed map software from Magellan. I would ask them how old the map software is too.

-The Magellan Platinum comes with a quick start up manual and a supplemental unit. It also comes with the full user's manual, BUT IT IS ON A CD! That is my only complaint about the purchase. The CD manual is over 75 pages, so be prepared to use a laser printer or buy extra ink cartridges for your printer. You won't have a problem if you like reading directions off a computer screen.
-I haven't tried to download anything onto the unit, but I am going to buy the Topographic CD (If it is current)

In conclusion, I am glad I bought this unit. It has all the basic features I wanted, plus so much more. It is very durable, and it is very easy to handle and use. Appalachian Trail......here I come!

Awesome GPS unit!
It took me a very long time (3 months or so) of comparing just about every Garmin and Magellan units before choosing the Meridian Platinum and I am *extremely* pleased with my final decision.

The Meridian Platinum is very easy to use (didn't have to read the manual and this is my first GPS). I was up and running with it in about 15 minutes.

I use this GPS for GeoCaching as well as street navigation in the car and it's excellent for both applications. One of the deciding factors for me was that the Magellan units are not as proprietary as the Garmin ones: for instance, using SanDisk memory cards is possible with Magellan but not Garmin. Considering the price that either Magellan or Garmin charge for those bits of silicon, going with the SanDisk option is a no-brainer.

For street navigation, the MapSend Topo software is a *must have* since the basemap shipping with the Platinum is really weak in details. Even though the MapSend software is a bit outdated, it's still a good buy.

I also purchased a 64Meg SanDisk SD card and a Cruzer SD card reader/writer to avoid using the serial connection for loading maps. Works like a charm! Loading a 32 Meg map only takes a few seconds as opposed to hours over the serial link.

I have not experienced any problems with the MapSend Topo software or GPS lock-ups as reported by a previous reviewer. However, I *did* upgrade the GPS firmware (free download from the Magellan site) before messing with the MapSend Topo software.

While the MapSend Topo software is necessary to upload new maps to the GPS, it's not great to plan trips with it. For that purpose, I find DeLorme's TOPO USA 4.0 to be excellent.

But when it comes to the management of routes built from waypoints, nothing beats the "EasyGPS" software. Even high-end products from DeLorme or Magellan aren't as good just for that purpose.

Overall this is a BIG thumbs up for this unit. The only downside may be how the GPS eats batteries (the electronic compass of the GPS has something to do with it but can be disabled to increase the battery life if needed) and for this reason, NiMH rechargeable batteries are a must.

External Antenna is not an Option!
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As should be obvious, knowing exactly where you are is equally as important as knowing exactly where you need to be. As a Sonet Technician, I purchased this unit to help find communications sites in obscure, often desolate areas of the eastern US. In the past, I had to rely upon either someone whom had never actually been there and used a web-based mapping site to issue turn-by-turn directions, or people recalling the location from memory, "I think you turn at , then look for the concrete cow on the left which means you just passed the turn so go back and turn right." Neither is very accurate, so I began using my laptop and tried out a number of mapping programs. I settled on MS's Streets & Trips 2000 due to the ease with which I could open a window of saved points, double click on the ones I needed and find them automatically entered as waypoints (a feature inexplicably removed from subsequent releases). Using a mapping program alone worked fairly well, but the flaw is that once I missed a turn -- most often in the dead of night -- I had to determine where I was in order to find my way back to the plotted course. Terribly frustrating and confusing to be looking for Route 773 and be surrounded by routes 377, 737, 337, etc... This is a perfect application of a GPS unit as it can save literally dozens of hours per year of time lost to backtracking.

My decision to purchase the Magellan brand came of a friend's recommendation of a Map 330 and of distilling fact from diatribe on number of GPS-related BBSs. Instead of exploring the merits (or lack thereof) of one mfgr\model over another, these discussions typically degenerate into little more than flame wars. Anyway... I purchased a Magellan Meridian Platinum at the local CompUSA for considerably more than I'd have paid had I ordered it from Amazon. CompUSA stocked neither the vehicle mounting bracket nor the data/power cable accessories on the day I purchased the unit.

When I first powered up the unit, I was indoors and quite disappointed that I got no satellite locks whatsoever. However, it quickly found my location once I stepped outside and had an unobstructed view of the sky. I discovered that the unit works less than perfectly unless held vertically and that even a single finger placed over the antenna section substantially degrades reception. I entered into MS Streets & Trips 2002 (ST2K2) the lat-long location data for the 14 sites we needed to visit between Atlanta and Jax, FL. Using the included data cable, I connected the Meridian Platinum to the laptop, then ran the GPS setup. I was on the road in minutes. Finding the sites was a piece of cake for the most part, though it did take a while to get used to the update lag time. ST2K2's Help file explained that the software polls the GPS only every 15 seconds, mathematically accounting for what I found to be an average of nearly 1/3 mile error in position. From then on, I had the driver slow down 1/2 mile before each turn. When we did miss turns thereafter, it was only because ST2K2's maps weren't entirely accurate (particularly around Athens, GA).

I found myself constantly checking the battery power display and wishing I had the data/power cable. Be forwarned that the Meridian Platinum eats batteries for lunch. I burned four per day (two sets) over a four day period, averaging only slightly more than a halflife of what the documentation states; I got no more than about eight hours from a fresh set of high quality alkalines. Certainly the ability to turn off the unit's display would dramatically increase battery life. I found no reference to doing such in the .pdf manual. This is an oversight in my opinion, but undoubtedly can be corrected in a software update from Magellan.

Because the mounting bracket wasn't available at the time I made my purchase, I had to leave the Meridian on the dashboard. From this arose a number of problems. The GPS was occasionally powered down when bumps in rough backroads caused it to bounce around and depress the power button. Also, it frequently lost satellite locks due in part to such jostling, but more to the fact that it's impossible to have an unobstructed view of the sky inside the cab of a large truck and that it cannot be held vertically without the mounting bracket. Another consequence of being on the dash was that the unit became *extremely* hot when exposed to direct sunlight. So hot, in fact, I became concerned that such tremendous heat might be damaging. While it seems no less the worse for wear, I'd rather it not get that hot in the first place. I believe the simplest solution to these problems is not a mounting bracket, but an external antenna -- the expensive unit can then sit safely tucked out of harm's way. Unfortunately, the Meridian line doesn't provide for the direct connection of an external antenna, and this alone might be reason enough to warrant a return for refund. I find it tremendously annoying that the designers would disallow such an option.

I bought a unit much more capable than I actually need or will ever use, so my advice to those new to GPSs is that you take your time and fully investigate the functions you need, carefully research the functions that several different vendors and their units provide, then, once you've decided on what you want, stop and research a little more. If at all possible, borrow a friend's or rent a number of different models for a few days. I can't knock the Meridian Platinum because it has more features than I'll ever use, and I'm certain backpackers and geocachers will love this thing, but the lack of an external antenna port must be taken into account. This cannot be overstated: if the primary use of your GPS receiver will be inside a vehicle, look for something else.

I award the Magellan Meridian Platinum 4 of 5 stars.

Pros: Works well, seems quite rugged, has numerous cool features, and will give owners obvious bragging rights.
Cons: Lacks external antenna capability, a bit spendy, and eats batteries like M&Ms.