Customer Reviews

Magellan GPS PC Cable with Cigarette Lighter Adapter

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This cable lets you connect your M315 to a PC and expand its capabilities 10 fold.

The cable lets you use the proprietary Magellan DataSend CD to customize your selection of world-wide built-in city, highway, airport, tourist or marine database features.

You can also link your GPS to PC software like MS Streets & Trips etc to get real-time full-screen lap-top street tracking and route-planning.

You can also hook up your GPS to shareware software like OziExplorer and GPS Utility to do some serious off-road trip planning using scanned topographical maps.

Having said all this it might have been wise to separate the power and PC cables which make cable management a bit of a wrestling match in the car.

But the bottom line is that you're only half-using your GPS if you can't hook it up to a computer - and you're missing a lot of fun.

Though Amazon offers this item at a discount with the Meridian GPS, it is the wrong model. It is designed for the GPS 315/320 and does not fit the Meridian when mounted in the Meridian Vehicle Mounting Bracket. The correct one (I presume) is labelled "Magellan Meridian PC Data Cable with Cigarette Lighter Adapter", part number 730345.

I love using this cable with a laptop and a street atlas program to know exactly where I am and how far it is to the next turn. But be careful with the cable when not connected to the GPS. I bent a pin while pulling it out of my backpack and it eventually broke off. I had to buy a new one. I'm now making a cover to protect the pins during storage.

This is an excellent product but so far Magellan has ignored the fact that new computers don't necessarily have a serial port that will connect to this cable.

So to make this work you will need to buy an IOGear USB to serial port adapter cable and edit the com ports speed settings in the win.ini file to get faster transfers speeds for your map data. ...

this cable sucks but it's all you've got.

it's a pain to attach (you have to press it against the back of the receiver while trying to screw it on) and it's a serial cable. gawd forbid, you don't have a serial port.

HOWEVER, without it, you can't attach your Magellan GPS to your computer. and if you can't do that, you're missing out on the best parts of the receiver. manage your waypoints, create routes, upload topo or street maps ... there's a world of stuff you can do only with your PC.

as for the serial connection, well, there are serial to USB adapters. they aren't always easy to configure but with a little work you can make it happen.

If you use your Mag with a laptop in the car (wardriving anyone?) then this cable is well worth the price.

although it was alittle to long for me it shouldn't stop other people! worked great, no downfalls.