Customer Reviews

Magellan Triton 1500 Waterproof Hiking GPS

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

OK, so I try to avoid being an early adopter, but I've been waiting a long time for the next step in GPS technology, so I jumped at the chance of buying a Triton 1500.

FYI, the 1500 is the same as the 2000 minus the camera. I carry a Canon on top of my pack so I did not need it.

The User Interface rocks, totally intuitive, easy to understand and the touch screen is awesome. I laugh a little at the micro stylus, that's going to get lost on the first 5 miles on the trail. Magellan includes a bag of extras, probably because they exepect this to happen. Good news is that a finger or a twig will do just fine.

The ability to add voice notes is great and one of the reasons I bought it. You'll need to add an SD card to take advantage of this excellent feature. Same deal if you want to add some MP3s. I can see myself listening to Dave M or a good book on tape while in camp.

The LED flashlight is ok. Enough for an emergency but it will not replace my head torch.

I'm not sure about the choice of colours, I'm sure its rugged but it looks a little cheap.

The cicular navigation button offers too much resistance. Maybe it's designed that way to avoid unwanted data entry, but I don't like it.

Now onto the not so good. The software/PC set up is far from plug and play. In fact I'd go as far to say I've never seen anything so complicated.

The biggest selling feature is the integration with National Geographic's Topo maps. In order to take advantage of this feature you have to sign up for and download Magellan's VantagePoint. If you don't do that you don't get the drivers.

Once you have done this you have to download a patch for the NG maps that adds Triton support. This also provides more of the drivers you need for your PC to recognize the Triton via a USB port.

I've done all the steps above, achieved connectivity with VantagePoint and my Triton, but I have tried everything execept voodoo magic and I cannot get NG Topo maps to see my Triton. This raises a good point.

Magellan make the GPS but NG make the maps, who do I contact for support?

I emailed both Magellan an NG for help. Got some very responsive support from NG but all they could do was refer my email to their development team and I have yet to hear anything from them. Magellan have yet to respond in any way.

I'm sure this problem will get resolved soon and as Colorado is sitting under piles of white stuff I will not be needing my GPS until the spring but it's more than enough to take the shine off a great product.

In summary:

Good:
Great UI
Intuitive
Fast

Not bad:
Flashlight
MP3 player
Micro stylus

Needs work:
NG Maps interface
OMG the set up is COMPLICATED

I received my Magellan Triton 1500 from my wife for Christmas. We like hiking Mt Leconte in The Great Smokey Mountains National Park each summer and thought this would be a fun way to keep track of where we are on the trail and to find different landmarks along the way. We also live on a farm with a creek running alongside it, and wanted to be able to watch the cursor move along as we walk it. Well, here it is in mid April, and I just now got it all working for me. I did not receive much in the box, just the receiver, some batteries, and a package of replacement stylus. I phoned the Magellan folks three times and never did receive the rest of what was supposed to be in the box. I bought a cable off of e-bay, and downloaded the vantage point software over the internet from the Magellan website. I bought the National Geographic TOPO maps on CD for Tennessee and Kentucky from the National Geographic website.

One major task to complete before this will work is to load up the Magellan Driver needed for your PC to recognize the Magellan. I googled a search for help doing this, and found information on how to get it done, and finally got that done.

The second major thing to do, is to download the newest version updates of the TOPO software. Without it you will not have a box that allows you to send the TOPO map you want to the Magellan Triton GPS. The National Geographic website will give you a lot of information on how to get their TOPO maps exported to the Magellan Triton. You must update your TOPO software to version 4-4-2 . The upgrade you need is at
www.topo-triton.com .

I need to make it clear, the National Geographic Website will give you the best informaton out there to get this thing working with their TOPO maps. Spend some time reading their information under Magellan Triton Support.

After you get this done, you can open up the TOPO software (mine is for Kentucky and Tennessee) and zoom into the area you want to map. Zoom into the closest range possible (level 5) and then you will click the red box on the top line. You can move around the red box to include the area you are interested in, and then save it as a name you will remember.

The export from TOPO to Magellan Triton is easy now. You will load up the small map that you just saved, and then along the right side of your TOPO screen you will select the choice "Export to Triton" and give the map a name that will show up in the maps menu of your Triton. Then, click export now, and very quickly the map will go to the Triton.

From the Triton menu, select view then maps. You will see the name of the map you just sent to the Triton and there will probably be a box with a red slash in it on the left of the map name. Click that red slashed box with your stylus so the red slash goes away. This will then be the map that will be displayed on your Triton. (only one active map can exist in the Triton, the red slashes are the maps that are inactive).

I have a 2GB SD card plugged in, and all my imported maps go to it without me doing anything.

The screens with the maps are clear, colorful, and a lot of fun to have as you hike around an area.

I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS GREAT TECHNOLOGY THAT IS AFFORDABLE AND NOW THAT I FINALLY GOT IT FIGURED OUT, EASY TO USE.

GET YOU ONE OF THESE MAGELLAN TRITONS AND YOU WILL ONLY REGRET THAT YOU DIDN'T GET ONE SOONER. No Kidding, get you one of these today!

I won't reiterate what everyone else wrote, except to say that this is a really good GPS when you get things going your way. And that takes a bit of skulduggery, but stay with it and you will be rewarded. I use mine all the time and I'm not easy to please. I attribute the bad reviews to lack of interest to perform due diligence.

This unit is pretty sensitive... I live in a building that's like a tomb, but even inside I still get a few weak satellites - enough to get a position. Outside I get a sky full of strong ones. Maybe it's not lightning fast from cold start, but who cares if it's within a minute or two? Not me. I just turn it on and drop it in my pocket, tie my shoes and tighten my belt, and it's ready. The 1500 will accept a twenty dollar external antenna, but I don't see the necessity unless you bought your GPS so you won't get lost in your basement.

You have to update the unit online. If you just got your first computer yesterday, it's gonna be a chore. Otherwise, no. After downloading Vantage Point, it may not recognize the unit. Driver time. You need to go to to to My Computer, Properties, Device Manager, Hardware, locate it in Other Devices and update driver, Windows will find it for you...look for Neptune... at least that was my procedure, and you know how that goes... just figure it out. I'm no computer genius, and I usually can.

When Vantage Point recognizes the unit, it will offer to update the firmware... do it. Now you are cooking with gas.

You may have problems, you may not... Google and noodle until you figure it out, I did, other reviewers here did, and YOU CAN TOO.

So maybe you could get a Garmin and spend a lot of money on maps, and there would be no bumps in the road. But I highly doubt that, as I have owned Garmin products. Presently, I don't have a handheld Garmin, but I have one of the newest Nuvis, the 1200, and I had to suffer some BS with it too... so I guess you either just do it yourself, or hire a guide.

It's very accurate, the 1500, as is the 400. Both look very durable. The 1500 screen is plenty big. The unit is actually a bit thinner than the smaller 400.

Vantage Point and Triton manuals can be downloaded for free at the Magellan website.

I don't use the touchscreen much except for scrolling the map, cuz I got used to the buttons with the 400 which doesn't have one. But it has very good control, not helter-skelter like some of those Nuvi touchscreens.

Listen to Kirk... forget about the NG and other expensive maps. I got NG Topos free with my 400, which I still have... downloaded a few, but I probably won't use them for long, since by the end of 2010 USGS will probably be finished updating their new Topos. Many of them are done... check them out... awesome.

You have to convert them, first from PDF to JPG and then to Triton RMP, with free software, which you'll either consider fun or a job depending on your personality.

Or you can pay your seven bucks and get lots of great free maps ready to roll from Maps 4 Me, if he has your state or country done yet. Most of them will display in "3D" in Vantage Point... nice.

In a word, this unit has a bad rep because it's glitchy until you update it. After that it's nifty. It has an LED flashlight, a voice recorder, an mp3 player, SD card slot, earphone jack, eight different screens, lots of features, big touch-screen LCD that works. I like it.

One more thing... check around... you may be surprised what you can pick up one of these babies or another Triton model for.

The Magellan Triton 1500 is really an amazing GPS unit. Why?

1. It's easy to use.
2. It's very accurate.
3. Custom maps - forget about National Geographic TOPO! software at $99/state. The Triton 1500 and Magellan's PC Vantage Point software (free download) can use highly detailed raster images as maps. You can download USGS topo maps for free and convert them easily for use on the Triton 1500. All of the conversion software you need is free and easy to use. The best part - the custom maps I make for my Triton are much better quality and more detailed than the commercially available maps. Plus I can make just about anything into maps - OSM road maps, Google terrain maps, USGS maps, satellite images, US Forest Service maps, park visitor maps, etc. I even converted a jpg picture of trails from my local ski park to a correctly georeferenced (accurate long/lat coordinates) map on my Triton. The Triton can also use vector maps like Garmin units, but that is like sooooo 1990's.
4. Shhh... this is a secret I'm going to share. The Triton 1500 and 2000 run Magellan map software on top of Windows CE. Yes, the Triton is really a Pocket PC. There's a free modification you can do to tap into this Windows CE functionality. All you need is a memory card. So my Triton not only can run the Magellan software, but also OziExplorer, read Microsoft Word files, display PDF files, play MP3's (already a function though), play DivX and avi movies, IGo8 road navigation, play video games, etc.
5. With a $40 16 GB SDHC memory card you can do all of these things.

The negative...

1. Update the firmware immediately upon receiving the unit. The latest firmware is great, the earlier version yours will probably be shipped with is not so great.
2. My Triton eats batteries like crazy. Your mileage may vary.

Overall I would highly recommend the Triton 1500 GPS. I think the early firmware had issues, but the system seems very stable and functional to me now. If nothing else, the ability to use raster image maps is HUGE. Do a search on this and compare what a vector (computer lines and points) map looks like versus a raster (an actual picture or scan) map and you'll be sold on getting a Triton.

I purchased the 1500 to replace my older merridian marine unit made by Magellan, I love it so far! We just spent a week in South Central Oregon Antelope hunting/Geocaching and the only thing I dont like about the unit so far is that it wont do Autorouting. I run Topo and City street software to get the detail I want and it has worked flawlessly so far.

Just got the unit with the TOPO Explorer deluxe. First problem is the set up which as others have noted is complicated. I got the latest firmware upgrade from Magellan's VP site and the TOPO software still doesn't find the 1500. The Vantage Point software finds the unit, but the TOPO doesn't. I see on other reviews that you can search the web and figure it out, but why do I need to figure out their messed up software? They sell both products, you would kind of assume that they work together! Second problem is that the TOPO software frequently crashes on my computer (Toshiba laptop with XP pro.)

Next is the resolution of the TOPO software. If all you need is very limited 10 mile resolution for TOPO it will work, but if you want to see any detail (like maybe you want to actually hike a trail) you have to purchase additional maps. Exactly what did I pay $59.00 for besides an expensive index of where to purchase what is actually useful?

Display: Poor, maybe due to the extra layer for the touch screen, but almost useless in the sun.

Got the 1500 on a closeout at Walmart for $199.00 so I may work through the problems. But I have to ask myself if my time is worth more than $1.00 per hour so I will see how much time it actually takes to work through the problems. If I had paid $400.00 it would be going back today!

Before you purchase, read some of the reviews at the gadget and GPS sites. Unlike some glowing reports here that appear to have been written by Magellan plants you will see realistic reviews. Read about all of the product and software problems and absolutely believe them!

Great unit, needs some work via firmware to fix some problems but the integration (once you figure it out) with national geographic is awesome. To have a full color detailed topo with trails, waypoints and symbols has been long awaited. Mp3 player rocks, flashlight is a great feature. Menu system will drive you nuts. Right now you can only upload small topo regions accurately.. Anything large like say the size of Vermont, will lead to the map being out of position by up to 500 ft.

All in all a great unit - super fast satellite acquiring.

Magellan just needs to fix a handfull of bugs, large and small.

I have been using handheld GPS for the outdoors and fieldwork for over 10 years and most of them has been Magellan. I consulted a lot of different reviews about this unit (as well as comparable ones from GARMIN) before deciding on purchasing this particular model. Yes, it does indeed take a little bit to get used to the menu system and the touch screen interface but once you do it becomes second nature. You MUST make sure to update the firmware to the latest release available in the Magellan website; the earlier release version was very buggy. One of the things that sold me on this particular model was the easy access to the freeware software available to basically make maps from ANY image (even satellite imagery) to download to this GPS and also the ability to turn this unit into a pocket PC (with the right MOD conversion software stored in the SD memory card) which enables you to do a lot more with it than just GPS functions. It is rugged, good screen size and it does its job very well and reliably.

I am a big fan of Magellan GPS for the auto and own one for each car. I have a Crossover, and expected this to be a step up. I read reviews explaining problems, but several others stated that an upgrade to the fireware made them go away. This has not been the case with me. Mine was shipped with the latest firmware but it locks up almost every time it is connected to the computer, requiring me to unplug and remove the batteries. Since the installed basemap is worthless, you have to connect in order to load maps. I have tried to reload the firmware, but the unit locks up during the process. The instructions included with the unit were almost worthless and the ones online obviously refer to a earlier version of the software, since it describes buttons and commands that aren't there. The big selling point is the connection with National Geographic TOPO maps. The one map that I have been able to get on the unit is nothing to brag about. The obsolete Crossover has a map that can zoom much closer. The GPS performs well when it is not connected to the computer. Perhaps I'm not as bright as some of the other reviewers, but the menu system is not nearly as easy to use or as intuitive as they said. All in all, this was a big disappointment.

This gps is great. You must download all the updates for the maps and the firmware for it to work correctly, but once you do that it will work great. I recommend buying the national geographic TOPO for your state. It is worth the price and is easily downloaded onto your gps.