Magellan GPS 315 Waterproof Hiking GPS Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)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 tohave positive and negative aspects.
I'll compare the Magellan 315/320to a Garmin 12/12XL as this is it's most likely competition. (The Garmin12XL is significantly more expensive).
The Magellan has a far betterscreen (more pixels therefore finer detail and varying levels of grey/blackfor graphics) and offers customisable displays not seen in the Garmin(youcan choose what data you want to see and what screens you want madeavailable from a choice of nine). A GPS compass only works when you aremoving so that if you stop and turn around it will no longer pointcorrectly. The Magellan compass screen shows where the sun/moon should beon the horizon so that you can orientate yourself; this proves extremelyuseful and is not available on the Garmin. However on the map screen theMagellan does not allow you to change zoom levels as well as pan over otherareas of the map, meaning that you cannot zoom in to look in detailanywhere other than your present location - making the screen far lessuseful (Garmin can pan and zoom).
Both units can display all the samedata (e.g. Heading, Bearing, Speed, Lat/Long, Time to Go, etc.)and storemore waypoints and routes than most people would use. The Magellan's andGarmin 12XL also have a directory of updateable cities (315/12XL) andnautical navigation points (320). [Anyone considering the Garmin Etrexshould note that it does not have a number of useful features seen on thesemodels and has an irritating screen that only shows one item of data at atime so requires constant button pressing].
Satellite lock on timesand performance are the same with the Garmin being very slightly quickerbut both as accurate and constant as each other. Only the Garmin 12XL hasan external antenna port (especially useful for vehicles although all willwork well enough if positioned under the windshield). Special re-amplifyingantennas work with all models. The quoted figures for battery times areMagellan's 15 hours (using 2x AA batteries) and the Garmin 12, 24 hours(using 4x AA batteries). The Magellan is lighter to carry.Bothmakes are easy to use once you are familiar with them although theMagellan'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 - theMagellan does not seem to have quite as good build quality as theGarmin.
In summary the two makes are very similar in performance butthe Magellan does offer more useful features and a nicer display for yourmoney with two batteries instead of four. The Garmin offers betterreliability and build quality....... But surely theMagellan will be fine! So I bought the Magellan 315 and broke it withinthree days by getting it wet!
As I wait for a replacement unit fromMagellan I think I am correct in saying none of the GPS available are asgood as they could be. What I really need is Magellan features on a Garmin!

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