Product Description

Get the powerful, expandable mapping pocket-sized GPS. The Magellan eXplorist 400 features mapping capabilities and unlimited storage via optional secure digital (SD) cards so you can take as many maps with you as you want to. Add detailed street maps, topo or lake maps using optional Magellan MapSend software. The high-speed USB data port makes downloading information easy and the Geocache Manager software enables you to download caches directly to your eXplorist 400. eXplorist 400 has 8 MB of built-in maps and 8 MB of internal memory to save 5 track log files, 20 routes and 500 points of interest, but you can save as many as you need to optional SD cards. Slip your compact (2.1 in x 4.6 in) eXplorist 400 into your pocket and let it guide you on every outdoor adventure. Magellan TrueFix™ technology provides superior accuracy and reliability, giving you the freedom to explore without concern of getting lost.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37738 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: White/black trim
• Brand: Magellan
• Model: 980771-04
• Dimensions: 4.60" h x 1.30" w x 2.10" l, 3.00 pounds
• Native resolution: 120 x 160
• Display size: 2.3

Features

• Unlimited SD Card Expandability - Your eXplorist 400 features SD card compatibility for unlimited memory expansion.
• USB data port - Transfer map data from your PC to your eXplorist 400 with the high-speed USB data port.
• TrueFix GPS technology takes advantage of 14 parallel channels, supported by WAAS and EGNOS Satellite-Based Augmentaion Systems for fast signal acquisition, minimal signal loss and reliable accuracy to within 3 meters.
• Built-in mapping - With 8 MB of built-in North American or European maps it's easy to navigate around roads, parks, waterways and to find airports and other points of interest.
• Easy-to-use - One-button access takes you directly to all of the most important features. Intuitive operation with keypad and joystick control adds even more fun to GPS navigation. First-time user can easily navigate with the eXplorist 400.

Customer Reviews

Great unit if you buy the software and SD card!
Out of the box, this unit will not allow you most of it's excellent features, like turn by turn road directions, the ability to enter a regular postal address instead of GPS coordinates to get driving directions, or find out the nearest Chinese restaurant, gas station, or dozens of other places of interest near you, or near any city.

But once fully loaded, this device is like having a pocket sized internet browser, without the internet connection!

And when the restaurants, grocery stores, golf courses, parks, museums, etc, I search for come on the screen, they list the addresses and phone numbers of the establishments as well.

When you enter an address, by street and city, it knows the range of the number of the addresses for that street and you just need to edit it to the exact number address you want. As a road would come near that I had to turn at, the unit would beep slowly, and when I had come up to the intersection it beeped fast. The backlight also came on during times to turn, when it beeped, and then went off again on it's own, which would be great for night driving! (You can turn the beeps off if they annoy you)

You don't need to watch the display at all until a road comes up you need to turn at, and the unit will let you know (beeps and/or lights up) when that is, so you can just enjoy the drive and keep your eyes on the road! BIG TURN ARROWS show which way to go, and it even lets you know what the next street or road name is that will be the next turn in the trip.

Built in help screens, easy to navigate menus and features, I absolutely love this thing now that it works as it should have out of the box.

But even though I had to pay around $300 for it, (prices will be lower as time goes on) I wasn't able to do any of the great things I just reviewed with it.

First I had to pay another $150 for the "MapSend DirectRoute" software. (you can find it cheaper now at many sources) and without this software, you can not do any turn by turn directions or search for nearest Hospital or all the fun stuff I mentioned above.

I had to pay another $75 to get an SD memory card so that I could install the maps into the GPS unit with the software. (These are also always coming down in price)

After spending an additional couple hundred dollars, I still couldn't load the maps into the unit, because even though it states clearly that it is compatible with Windows98SE, it is not.

I have two computers with Win98SE, and I could do everything up to the point of loading the final converted map files into the GPS unit, and that it would not do.

I had to wait for a friend to bring over his XP laptop so that I could load a few maps into my GPS and loading time was very long too, and this was on the latest and fastest computer. However, it is not only loading streets, rivers, train tracks and map info, but phone numbers and addresses of every restaurant, airport, museum, etc too, so there is a lot of info it is storing in the GPS.

Turns out the software was made before the Magellin Explorist models existed, so you need to install yet more software so that the end map files can be properly converted and loaded into the Explorist GPS unit. Some of the instructions you read will make no sense, and you have to read other papers that tell you what to do different with the Explorist, since the instructions are for other Magellan units that work differently.

So read EVERYTHING first before loading maps or installing software. Yeah, not fun, but neccissary, because if you go by the wrong directions, it isn't going to work. It will only allow you to load ONE map area, when in fact, you can load several different map definition areas into the GPS.

You can't load the whole country into your GPS either, it won't all fit. At most, you will get one state or two, but if you just save certain areas of certain states or areas you will be going to, this it will allow you to do. I put in all the specific areas of the only 5 states I travel to, and they all fit on the 512 MB SD card with lots of extra room to spare.

You can buy even more SD cards and store as many states and areas as you want, or delete ones you had loaded and load in more, but this requires computer connection, which I don't have, since it doesn't like Win98.

Now I need a car mount and bike mount which should cost be at least another $50 or so. Then more money for the cigarette lighter power supply.

Oh, and none of the stores the Magellan website lists as carrying these accessories carries them. The web site listed stores like Radio Shack, Walmart, Sams Club, etc, and NONE of the stores listed carry any of the accessories for the explorists. (at time of this review)

So total, I think it ended up costing more than double for this thing, and hours of grief figuring out and loading software, but in the end, this thing is really great now!

I still have to do an additional accuracy test, because even with added WAAS system, the display giving current accuracy never reads better than 30 feet at any time, even when tracking around 8 sattelites, while my cheap Garmin Geko for $50 tells me 15 feet or better accuracy. (Not to say that what each unit is reporting is actual fact)

In doing three quick Geocaches, this unit led me directly to the exact location of the caches to the exact spot. I just walked right up to all 3 of them imediately with this thing, so it is much more accurate than 30 feet, I don't know why the thing doesn't ever report better than 30 feet accuracy when it is MUCH better than that.

One other complaint would be that this unit uses a rechargable pack and won't take batteries. If you are out Geocaching and the rechargable goes dead, then what do you do? I will be purchasing the cig lighter car charger.

They should have used a normal DC power connector instead of the bizzare screw in one, but they did this to keep the unit entirely sealed to keep water out. Regular power jacks would let water in, but I won't be swimming or showering with mine, so I would rather have had the traditional power jack and plug.

Hopefully one day soon, someone will make a GPS unit that comes preloaded with all of the US maps from the factory.

Since no one does this yet, I can't really knock this particular brand or model for all the extra work and expense I had to put into it, since any other brand or model would have most likely made me do the same thing.

In the end, it finally does what it was designed to do, and it is working great!

It even gives you accurate time to the second (which it gets from sattelite and is right on with my atomic clock) the date, and tells you the sunrise/sunset times and rise and set of the Moon as well. (and that it does straight out of the box)

There is a base map that IS in this unit straight out of the box that does list major roads (just not small residential roads) but the turn by turn directions feature will not work until you buy the MapSend DirectRoute software and load it into the unit.

I used the unit out of the box for a few months before I was able to get the detailed maps loaded into it, and still had tons of fun with it, but now it is just amazing and has tons of extra features opened up since loading the detailed maps.

Another thing with the software... It asks for the serial number of the GPS unit you have, so if you want to buy two of these units, the software will only work for ONE unit not the other as it checks the serial number of the unit during connection to the computer.

The unit, right out of the box, and without a computer, will let you enter in your name, address and phone number, so if it gets lost, someone finding it can know who it belongs to.

The fact of all the time and extra expense would have dropped the total score of this item to a 2. But I had to give it a 4 because now that it is loaded, this thing is really great!

At the time I got mine, Magellan did not offer preloaded SD cards with specific areas or states, but they may in the future, who knows.

TIP:
The unit came with a plastic film over the screen (like most digital watches and digital camera LCD screens do) meant to be peeled off and thrown away after purchase and I just left it on. I can wipe it off easy and it keeps the screen protected.

----------
UPDATE
----------

When trying to find the cigarette lighter car charger for the eXplorist units, the photos online always show a connector that does not look right for this unit. Turns out that you need to use the AC charger/USB cable that came with the unit and the AC part unplugs, revealing the connector that you plug the cigarette lighter connector into.

In other words, the car charger doesn't plug into the GPS, it plugs into the cable that comes with the unit, and THAT screws on the back of the GPS.

However, this means you need to bring the whole big USB cable mess into the car. I did find a place that sells an extra cable, so I can leave one whole mess in the car, and the AC charger cable in the house. I suggest getting the extra cable, because if you lose the one, you can't ever charge the GPS in the house anymore either. Plus if one goes bad, you have an extra ready.

I also found out this unit can tell me where the closest ATM machines are, even ones that are from my specific bank. (when mapsend software is installed)

The eXplorist 400 also has the feature of being able to save Geocaching coordinates direct from a computer (along with hints and notes for paperless caching) but since it doesn't work with Win98se, I am not able to use or review that feature. However, even though I have to enter coordinates manually, I can also enter in the hints or Geocache descriptions, and they show up when searching the Geocache, so you don't have to bring any paper printouts with you. (thus the term "paperless cache")

I also use this to put phone numbers and addresses into saved coordinates, to make sure I know which house number I am walking up to when visting a house for the first time, or call a business to make sure it is open before driving out to it.

Great entry level GPS
Explorist 400 GPS is an upgrade from my previous GPSr, a Garmin Geko 201. I use my GPS for geocaching, tracking hiking and fishing waypoints, as well as a navigation aid while driving.

Pros:

Background and detail maps available
Expandable memory; I have a 1GB SD card in mine
Doesn't lose satellite reception in woods as much as my Garmin did
Long battery life (minimum 12 hours+)
Lightweight, floats and is water-resistant
Hasn't led me wrong yet

Cons:

Had to get separate software to be useful for navigation while driving (MapSend DirectRoute North America)
Proper orientation of USB cable on GPS was confusing at first, but that got straigtened out quickly by a visit to the Magellan website
Full instruction manual is in PDF form, not booklet. More of a nitpick con, really.


Recommendations:
Large capacity SD memory card (256MB minimum if using downloaded maps)
Protection for LCD screen. Either a product like InvisibleShield or at a minimum, a carrying case (I have both)
Once you get your GPS, go to Magellan's website to download latest firmware update. The site also has a diagram for the proper orientation of the USB cable to the GPS.

All in all, I am very pleased with my purchase and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to other people.

Love it!
I've purchased both Garmin and Magellan GPS receivers, used almost exclusively for geocaching. Magellan has proven superior for many reasons. First, the user interface is much more intuitive and easy-to-read. Satellite acquisition also seems to be much quicker. Finally, with the Garmin, satellite reception seems to be lost very easily with even limited overhead tree cover -- the Magellan maintains a signal.

My Magellan Explorist 400 was recently stolen and I'm replacing it with the same exact model. I can't live without it!

My pro/con list looks the same as that of gfisher so I'll not repeat it. If you buy this, make sure to go to the Magellan website and download the PDF version of the COMPLETE user guide. What they include in the box is just the Readers Digest version. You'll be glad to have it.