Magellan Triton 1500 Handheld GPS Receiver

I just received my Triton 1500. I really like it and now that Magellan has ironed most of the bugs out, I feel it is just about the best on the market. Some things I don't understand, is why both the seller and Magellan say there is no 'Compass Screen' on this unit. It has a very good Compass screen and I find it is very accurate, after matching it up against my old Engineer compass which I have had since Viet Nam, it is within a few seconds(or less) of my old unit.
I feel the money was well spent. I have owned Magellan units since 1984 after my garmin 45xl quit on me. I still feel Magellan is way ahead of the field in this area. They have never let me down in the backwoods as many friends of mine had happen to them with Garmin units.
I am disappointed in the NatGeo maps though. The quality is well below what I expected, I guess I will go back to Topo USA, and continue buying thier maps as I have been doing for the last 10 years.

Before I purchased the 1500, I read may reviews online and did my homework. I was a bit skeptical as most of the reviews were negative. I found that these reviewers just did not take the time to explore the menus to see how to operate it. It isn't difficult. I suppose that they likely used the product for less than 5 minutes, because that is how long it took me to learn to use all of the functions. This unit tracks very well, even while flying aircraft at around 115mph. There is no problem with the Topo maps. I really like the ability to use an external antenna, and the SD card memory capability. It is also possible to purchase SD cards with maps already loaded that include Topo of two entire states (available on ebay). Also this CD comes with an emergency program incase the unit fails, however, I have not had any problems with mine.
The Topo software and downloads on the Nat Geo site could really be improved. It takes forever to upload 24k scale maps and/or aerial photos. The interface of the website also could use some improvement.
I also bought a RAM ATV mount. it works great, and it is solid. I don't worry about losing my GPS from this mount. However, the external power cord is a bit tricky to to attach while in the cradle, and is not very portible - once installed it is great until you want to use it on another vehicle. You must take the whole thing apart with tiny screws.
For functionality, ruggedness, etc, I give it 5 stars. I really like the touch screen interface with or without slylus. easy to drag you finger lightly over screen to pan. The choice of waypoint icons is lacking. Also, it can take a few tries to get a waypoint from a point on the map (not at the GPS location). It doesn't seem to take the first time.
This unit is spendy, but a huge improvement over my Garmin mapping GPS. Another drawback is you can only use Nat GEO maps from that slow webpage. I sort of wish I would have bought the 2000 with the camera and voice recorder.
Anyway, it is a great product and VERY easy to use. I am most impressed with the reciever strength. I can get a signal inside my house with the blinds shut 10 feet away from the window. Crazy.

A good product. But buy this item new in the store not used if you want to use the free maps it comes with. My husband bought this from a guy who only used 2 of the free maps but we couldn't get the other free maps because the company wouldn't transfer the software from the first owner. So we ended up spending more on the maps from another company. But it works and we got the maps. Good deal if you buy it new and get the maps.

We like our Magellan 1500 and use it here in Alaska for trekking through the wilderness on snow machines. We need to bring extra batteries though. When setting it up and updating the files it is not very user friendly, same with National Geo maps. We had to figure out how to download and display maps on our own. We are still trying to figure out how to erase unwanted treks and use many other features. The Magellan 1500 needs a detailed user manual, I mean details on how to use each feature on each screen in each section.

The touch screen is great, even when doing the letters and numbers in most cases I can use my finger as opposed to the pointer provided. However if you have larger fingers hen the pointer is close at hand in its storage compartment on the GPS (extras are provided in the event one is lost)

We use the unit for Geocaching and it has proved to be very accurate even in heavy wood cover.

The only down side so far is the battery life is short using the standard alkaline battery.

Just love it!! very user friendly and very upgradeable.
Lots of web sites with many upgrades for maps and topographs,

This is a great GPS package. The TOPO maps are a nice feature.
No complaints at all. I recommend this for anyone using it in the outdoors. If you are looking for a car GPS system with detailed street info - this is not the one for you. But for outdoors, hiking, biking, camping, etc - great choice.

I like its compactness, its color and its ease of use. I elected to buy it because my older unit did not have any software to update it anymore. I don't like that I had to buy a lot of software to get things that I want for the Triton 1500. For example, the base map is inadequate. To get the extended maps one needs to buy the TOPO program from National Geographic for the toipography. There is very little street to street software that fits this unit, but there is the water, trails and amusement parks from the manufacturer. The cost for buying additional software is limiting its usefulness. Hopefully, more software will be built in order to make this a more valuable product.
Wumpusdad

I BOUGHT THIS UNIT WITH HIGH EXPECTATIONS AND...SO FAR NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS! HAD TO SEND IT IN TO MEGELLAN FOR REPAIRS! WTF? SEE WHAT HAPPENS...

love the machine. had problems with lock up, contacted magellan and got complete service free of charge. Works like a charm now.