Magellan GPS 315 Waterproof Hiking GPS

by Magellan

Product Details

Product Manual [4.99mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 2.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00000J0IX
• Item model number: 990437
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Magellan's GPS 315 doesn't have a lot of advanced features, but it does provide positional and directional readings accurate enough to help you find your way back to base camp when you're out in the woods. This portable global positioning system is one of the most compact we've ever tested, and it features a crisp display for the pages of information it throws at users.

The GPS 315 is designed more for outdoor use than car navigation and doesn't display road maps. It does have a database of over 15,000 cities and the capability to accept up to 500 user-defined waypoints, so it still works fairly well for giving you bearings to the next town or point of interest. We used the tracking features extensively, which let us leave a "bread crumb" trail as we traveled. This was especially helpful when we were backtracking along the same route, as we were able to easily compare our current position with the trail on the display.

The display has two levels of backlighting, a feature that drains the unit's two AA batteries at a frightening rate. However, without the backlight on, we got more than 12 hours of use from the unit.

The GPS 315 uses simple controls that let users page through its numerous data screens. As long as we were moving the compass, the screens worked well; we especially liked the graphical compass that pointed out our current direction of travel and the bearing to a waypoint at the same time. The device can also serve as a full-fledged trip computer, measuring distance, average speed, and providing an estimated time of arrival. Perhaps the best thing about the GPS 315 is that all the data screens are fully customizable, letting users create their own data pages containing only the data they want to see.

Although Magellan doesn't include a lot of goodies in the box, the GPS 315 has many optional accessories that increase its capabilities. For example, you can get a PC cable to upload topographical and street map data. Without all the extras the GPS 315 is better suited for hikers and boaters than highway travelers, but it's an accurate and inexpensive way to keep your bearings. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Clear, high-resolution screen
• Customizable data pages
• Great accuracy
• Relatively inexpensive

Cons:

• No road maps or other detailed data included
• No built-in routing ability

Product Description

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

276 of 279 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best value for money GPS available - superb acquistion a, September 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Magellan GPS 315 Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)

The Magellan GPS 315 and 320 are outstanding units. What may be unclear at first sight, is that these units are identical, differing only in the fact that the 315 database has more land based locations, while the 320 has more nautical ones. All these can be updated via CDROM anyway. Hence the price difference is accounted for only by the fact that the 320 already comes with a PC connector + power supply cable for car use. In the field, satellite acquisition is fast and reliable, even mounted on a car dashboard with no antenna. Having used the 320 for some time, I cannot think of any extra functionality which needs to be added. The software is clearly the result of actual field trials and offers 9 practical and useful navigation screens which are quick to access and intuitive to understand. For newcomers, I would recommend 1-2 days navigating in your local park in order to properly understand the large number of menus available. You dont want to be guessing during a real trip. For example, invoking the BackTrack option can create a large number of waypoints. At first, I found it quite tedious to delete these after use. Later I learned that a Clear Memory option does this with one keystroke - very neat. These units are easily superior to comparable Garmin 12 models - mainly due to their much higher resolution displays and light weight. The Garmin displays are comparatively coarse until you consider the much more expensive models. I cannot imagine navigating across land or sea now without one of these Magellan units for backup. In fact, they are such a joy to use that the map and compass tends almost not to be used - although you would be wise never to be without the latter.

131 of 133 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Magellan 315 vs. Garmin 12, July 26, 2000

By 

P. Heath (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Magellan GPS 315 Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)

Having thought long and hard over my purchase and physically used many models and makes of GPS it is hard to say which is best as they all seem to have positive and negative aspects.

I'll compare the Magellan 315/320 to a Garmin 12/12XL as this is it's most likely competition. (The Garmin 12XL is significantly more expensive).

The Magellan has a far better screen (more pixels therefore finer detail and varying levels of grey/black for graphics) and offers customisable displays not seen in the Garmin(you can choose what data you want to see and what screens you want made available from a choice of nine). A GPS compass only works when you are moving so that if you stop and turn around it will no longer point correctly. The Magellan compass screen shows where the sun/moon should be on the horizon so that you can orientate yourself; this proves extremely useful and is not available on the Garmin. However on the map screen the Magellan does not allow you to change zoom levels as well as pan over other areas of the map, meaning that you cannot zoom in to look in detail anywhere other than your present location - making the screen far less useful (Garmin can pan and zoom).

Both units can display all the same data (e.g. Heading, Bearing, Speed, Lat/Long, Time to Go, etc.)and store more waypoints and routes than most people would use. The Magellan's and Garmin 12XL also have a directory of updateable cities (315/12XL) and nautical navigation points (320). [Anyone considering the Garmin Etrex should note that it does not have a number of useful features seen on these models and has an irritating screen that only shows one item of data at a time so requires constant button pressing].

Satellite lock on times and performance are the same with the Garmin being very slightly quicker but both as accurate and constant as each other. Only the Garmin 12XL has an external antenna port (especially useful for vehicles although all will work well enough if positioned under the windshield). Special re-amplifying antennas work with all models. The quoted figures for battery times are Magellan's 15 hours (using 2x AA batteries) and the Garmin 12, 24 hours (using 4x AA batteries). The Magellan is lighter to carry. Both makes are easy to use once you are familiar with them although the Magellan's manual seems to have been written by someone who was not!

Final test, hold it in your hand examine it, press all the buttons - the Magellan does not seem to have quite as good build quality as the Garmin.

In summary the two makes are very similar in performance but the Magellan does offer more useful features and a nicer display for your money with two batteries instead of four. The Garmin offers better reliability and build quality....... But surely the Magellan will be fine! So I bought the Magellan 315 and broke it within three days by getting it wet!

As I wait for a replacement unit from Magellan I think I am correct in saying none of the GPS available are as good as they could be. What I really need is Magellan features on a Garmin!

118 of 124 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars GPS 315 good but has big problems, January 18, 2000

By 

W. A. Freeman Jr. (Auburn, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Magellan GPS 315 Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)

I purchased the GPS 315 in December after using another brand for five years. The GPS315 represents a big improvement with better, quicker satelite acquistion, a compass screen that is ingenious allowing the user to use the sun or moon to correct bearing. This way the user is not having to pull out a compass to check bearing. Additional pluses are its small size and light weight using only two AA batteries lasting up to 15 hours. If weight is a concern, that is big. My previous unit used four and lasted five hours. Problems: The manual is as sorry as it can get. It barely covers TrackRoute, Track History, Backtrack, and Reverse Route. These are major important features left to the user to figure out. I have yet to figure them out consistently. With Track History there seems to be an ability to set a scale, but what scale? Nothing tells me. Is it how often it records a waypoint in history?

I have emailed the company with questions twice, called once (had to leave a voice mail because they were not taking calls), faxed once. Heard nothing from their customer no-service. I wrote them yesterday to give them my thoughts. Oh yes, my GPS 315 crashed and had to be replaced last week after it was three weeks old. Glad I wasn't in the middle of 40,000 acres. You can't zoom in on a waypoint if it is very far away from your current location. Actually to do so but you have to set a scale of .1 or .2 and Pan & Scan to it. If is is 50 miles away, you can imagine how long that could take.