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Magellan Triton 300 Waterproof Hiking GPS

18 August 2010 5 Comments

  • Pre-loaded base maps and compatible third-party maps identify major rivers, lakes, cities, and other geographical boundaries
  • 2.2″ (5.59 cm) full-color display delivers vivid imagery in the field.
  • Extremely rugged and waterproof to IPX-7 standards
  • AA batteries provide a readily available power source
  • SiRFstarIII¿ delivers the fastest GPS position acquisition in the industry

Product Description
The Triton 300 is so easy to use that its user manual may never make it out of the box. It reinvents handheld GPS by combining exclusive compatibility with National Geographic TOPO!® maps, new Magellan VantagePoint¿ content management software, a rugged, waterproof design, and the essential feature set that outdoor enthusiasts need and expect.Amazon.com Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description Magellan Triton reinvents handheld GPS. Triton 300 is amazingly easy to use with a smartly designed interface and simple menus that make navigation fun and effortless. The full-color crystal clear display shows all your maps and navigation information in brilliant, easy-to-view graphics. Instant… More >>

Magellan Triton 300 Waterproof Hiking GPS

5 Comments »

  • R. Coburn said:

    After approximately 20 hours of using the Triton 300 in the field, these are my impressions.

    The good:

    Quick to power up and initialize.

    Rugged construction and feel of case.

    Clear bright screen.

    Navigation fairly easy and intuitive.

    Good battery life.

    Compatible with National Geographic 1:24000 maps

    The bad:

    User manual is incomplete leaving out a lot of necessary information. Some of the information is just plain incorrect and unit will not function if directions are followed.

    Unit locks up (every time) after connecting to TOPO! and Vantage Point (Magellan’s software) requiring a battery to be pulled out to reset the unit.

    Approximately 15-25 times in the twenty hours, upon pressing a key the unit would lock up. A continuous sound would emit as if the key was being held down. The only alternative was to pull the batteries out to restart.

    Magellan tech support (India) claimed they would have one of their Senior members call be back within the hour to help with some issues. 20 days later….still no call.

    Much difficulty connecting for map and waypoint transfers.

    Overall Impression:

    A ton of aggravation I could have done without!It is very obvious Magellan rushed product rollout despite tons of bugs in the software and inadequate documentation(Manual).

    Recommendation: Unless you love frustration, wait for them to work out the bugs.

    Rating: 1 / 5

    # 18 August 2010 at 6:01 am
  • A. Kao said:

    Nothing but frustration. Works fine for a few hours and then constantly locks up (pressing any button has no effect). I wait for more than 10 minutes and it still does not do anything. Ended up having to reboot by removing the batteries… except removing the batteries causes you to loose the current trail data. This would happen daily. Work fine in the morning and then a mess by the afternoon.

    Very poor instruction manual (basically no info and website was useless as well) I’m an engineering but I still like to have some reference manual explaining functions that I don’t understand.

    VantagePoint software was not very good either.

    Battery life is horrible. I don’t have any other to compare with but leaving it on to record a trail I don’t get more than 10hrs of time with a set of alkaline AAs (with back light off of course).

    Will be returning this until a few more versions of firmware go by or more likely I will buy a Garmin instead. National Geographic TOPO maps sounded cool but if you can’t get the stupid thing to work what is the point?

    Purchased 12/2007 tried to update firmware and software but already had current versions.

    Firmware, Date – 1, 24, 0,
    Rating: 1 / 5

    # 18 August 2010 at 6:13 am
  • Mel said:

    This is my first GPS, and I have no idea how to use it. It has already locked up when reviewing the features with the instruction manuel. This product maybe better for somebody with more experience, but I will be purchasing something more use friendly.
    Rating: 1 / 5

    # 18 August 2010 at 7:31 am
  • Rainybeat said:

    Rather than go into the hairy details of the two days that I spent trying to get this piece of junk to work, I will just outline some of the many flaws it has.

    - The included base map is useless, providing no topographic information and showing only the largest highways and roads in the United States. This means that you should plan on spending at least another $75 – $150 for usable maps from Magellan or National Geographic.

    - Magellan does not make software that is fully compatible with the Triton GPSs, so you will have to download and install Vantage Point from Magellan as well as three different third party software programs in order to convert the maps from their Mapsend software to a format that the Triton will recognize.

    - Magellans Mapsend software is not compatible with Vista, though in truth is was not much easier to get the software to work with the Triton with XP.

    - I have heard online that some people have been able to get the National Geographic maps to work, though these are purely topographical and do not have any searchable information on roads, cities, or points of interest unless you manually add it in the TOPO software that you must use in conjunction with the National Geographic software.

    - It is possible that there is actually a way to get detailed maps into this GPS, but Magellan is being totally silent on the subject. Their website provides very little information on anything but the National Geographic maps, their instruction manual (which Magellan touts that you may never need since the GPS is so easy to use) does not contain ANY instructions on using ANY mapping software, and assumes that you have already transferred detailed maps to the GPS before ever opening (downloading) the instruction manual. I even tried for two days to get somebody at Magellan to give me telephone or E-mail support, but their customer service is some of the worst I have encountered.

    Maybe in 9 to 12 months Magellan will have figured out a way to make these GPSs more than a headache, but until then I have returned my GPS and software and will be buying a Garmin.
    Rating: 1 / 5

    # 18 August 2010 at 7:38 am
  • Gregory Guthrie said:

    The unit looks great from a feature list, but … too many gaps to really be useful (yet?).

    The ads all tout the ability to have great detailed maps downloaded, but in fact there are no current maps available, and Magellan support says “no information” on possible availability dates. The base map in the unit is very sparse, and really the unit is of little use until they get their software maps out. No doubt from previous product experience with them the DVD will cost at least another $100. Also none of their previous maps that you may have are compatible; to me this is rally a bad move by a vendor, to orphan all investment in their previous products- they should provide at least a conversion program.

    The other big advantage advertised is the ability to use National Geographic Topo maps, which is neat, but very expensive! NG sells them only by regions, and they sell 9 maps at $99 each, and that only covers 21 states in total.

    The software from their web site and CD in the package has 2 of 3 programs (Maplink versions) that only support serial link connections to GPS, but the Unit is USB, so neither work. Their tech. support person was completely not-interested in any of this information.

    I’ll be returning it, and going for a Garmin 60csx. Too bad, I believed the ads, and waited on this one! I’ve already contacted some other sales sites and they will update their ads!
    Rating: 1 / 5

    # 18 August 2010 at 9:17 am