Monitor Reviews

I have had this monitor for seven months and the screen image has totally faded. I can't see even black words on the screen. I am having to ship the monitor to California at my own expense. I am very disappointed with this product.

I will admit that I figured a little 15" monitor would severely lack the visual appeal I was after. However, after receiving the monitor and using it for a couple days I am very pleased with my purchase. I also use a 17" CRT monitor on my system, allowing me to perform direct comparisions. I am floored by the dramatic improvement on sharpness, color and contrast with the LCD. Text is crystal clear and very sharp and my desktop background, filled with bright oranges and yellows, screams to life with this LCD. I write on the web a lot, and this monitor does a great job rendering my textual writings.

This LCD offers a 1024x768 maximum resolution, putting to sleep other CRT 15" monitors by quite a long shot. I can sit back in my chair and pick up the LCD very easily, turn it around and flip it over without hesitation. Although I'm not in the habit of playing with my computer hardware, it's nice to know that I can. This monitor is more than worth the price, and I'd GIVE my 17" CRT away before I'd SELL my 15" LCD. Definite A+.

Steve
(...)

The Envision EN-5100 provides a wonderful view for a great price. The picture is very bright and clear. Setup is easy, take it out of the box and plug it into your graphics card and AC outlet, its that simple. Windows 2000 reckognizes it as a plug and play monitor, you must use the included Envision INF floppy disk driver to get it setup as an EN-5100 (though it works just fine if you don't). As of 10/03/01 Envision did not have the INF on the web.

I looked at 2 other LCD monitors side by side before purchasing the EN-5100, even though the others cost more, I thought the Envision had a better picture for text based work. I'm not a graphic artist so color matching was not important, I'm not stating the colors are right or wrong, better or worse. I'm just stating I didn't compare colors, I wouldn't even know what to compare :)

I did find one very small annoying feature, barely worth mentioning but... The OSD menu cannot be moved from the center of the screen during screen adjustments.

When the monitor is presented a new video resolution it automatically configures itself including focus, brightness, contrast, vertical and horizontal positioning. For all the cases I presented it, it did a fine job of adjusting itself.

In summary at least as of this writing, I think you'll be hard pressed to find an LCD monitor for the cost of the EN-5100 that looks as good.

I've been using this unit for a few weeks now and it never fails to amaze me with it's capabilities even if the learning curve for it is a bit steep (an instructional video is available for an additional charge). I'm sure there are features I'll never use due to its complexity.

The problem I have is that it comes with nothing. If you want to actually be able to use the unit, you've got to go back to Garmin and buy additional accessories and guess what, ... their all proprietary so they can and do charge whatever they feel like. Things like the computer/power adapter and a memory card should have been included for the price they're asking for the unit. The memory sticks... and the USB adapter are outrageously priced. Yeah, that's right, the computer/power adapter isn't even USB, you have to buy both or your stuck with the glacial speed of serial. To further illustrate, to replace the little piece of plastic that covers the batteries, it'll cost you nearly $7!

Basically, they put a pretty good little GPS on the market as bait to lock you into their brand and sell, at ridiculous prices, accessories that should have come with it anyways. I would give the unit by itself 4 stars but for Garmin's complete lack of integrity.

I've owned this unit for a couple of months now. I didn't want to write a review without having used it. It works GREAT. There are some issues, but they are readilly worked around.

First issue is price. For the base unit, the price is quite reasonable. However, as another reviewer mentioned, in order to really make it work right, you really do need some accessories. Garmin accessories surely seem over priced. In order to use this on the road, I purchased a Dash-Mount, and a power cable/pc serial cable. I picked up both of these for less than 40.00 through aftermarket suppliers.

It didn't take me long to realize that I needed some extra software to download more detailed maps to the GPS base unit. MetroGuide from Mapsource is available through aftermarket distributors for under 75.00. It's somewhat tedious to download the individual regions, but well worth the effort. Additionally, with the PC cable, it interacts seamlessly with my laptop running either Metro Guide or Microsoft Streets and Trips (under 40.00). Of course streets and trips does not download to the GPS, but the GPS will plot its position in S&T, so if you can use the laptop, it works fine.

Off road/camping is a different issue. I already own most of the paper maps for where I plan on going, and the GPS grids make it impossible to get lost. This doesn't even take into account the way it interacts with USAPHOTOMAPS (usaphotomaps.com). This receiver will plot my position using aerial photography available free and online.

This is a great unit, with a readilly accessible manual from GARMIN, scads of available accessories through after-market dealers (gilsson.com), integration with software from Mapsource, Microsoft, USA photmaps, etc. A great unit that does everything I could ask for.

I am very happy with my unit. I took it on a 6000 mile trip and was delighted with its performance. A couple of negative comments. I agree that the manual is user unfriendly. I had to figure out most of the features myself, and some did not become evident until I was on the road. Secondly, the many features seem to be a closely guarded secret. I defy anyone to tell me the difference between the $189 base model and the delux $299 model. Amazon says the delux model includes a computer cord and an 8 meg memory chip. It seems a little overpriced. Have not been able to get any info on availability or prices for car plug adapters, 16 meg cards, down loadable maps, etc. Finally, don't take this unit along if you are driving alone! It is so fantastic, its hard to keep your eye on the road. I found the map is constantly being updated as you cruise down the interstate. I recommend it highly for people who take long trips on the interstate system. It has only scant info on local roads.

Purchased about 3 weeks ago and have used it alot. I liked the keys on the bottom of the unit, you can use them and see the screen at the same time. The detail is nice but it requires you to purchase an 8mg card and download an area's detail and then it will give a fairly detailed street level info for a given city or region. Forget trying to load more than one city or region at a time with the 8 mg card. City like Houston takes up the entire card's memory. Really like the automatic tracking feature, and its "track back" feature. The instruction book is not all that good, I have found some features are not very clearly explained in the material. But in all, for the price, and for my frequent road trips (200 -400 miles) is a nice tool. One other thing, the GPS comes really with nothing. Recommend the buyer also by the carring case, at least the 8mg card, PC cable (if you buy the softeare for detail downloads), and car battery charger.

The Emap is simply the best personal mapping GPS available.The screen is very legible and the base map is fairly complete withmost Federal and State highways. It also shows services available at interstate exits such as gas, food, and lodging.

Emap supports downloadable maps, but you must get the propriatary Garmin software which is pretty expensive. To get the most out of the Emap, you really need to get either the Roads and Recreation or the MetroGuide software. Both provide street level detail for the entire U.S. including all city streets and local roads.

The Roads and Recreation maps are downloaded on a county by county basis. You can select up to 99 counties to load, although the 8MB cartridge can only hold about 40-45 counties. The MetroGuide software downloads entire 8MB sections, so you can only use one section at a time. If you do much traveling outside your area, you will need extra cartridges for additional MetroGuide areas.

MetroGuide does offer address finding and area points of interest that Roads & Recreation doesn't, but for most people, R&R will be enough.

You owe it to yourself to check out the map viewer to see which software package you need. The map viewer shows exactly the information that will be downloaded to the Emap. Keep in mind that only one section at a time can be downloaded from the MetroGuide unless you have the 16MB cartridge.

Overall, this is an excellent map unit for travel use. It doesn't offer route planning, but you can manually set up waypoints along your route and it will tell you which direction they are and when you are getting close. I just wish that other mapping companies' maps could be downloaded rather than depending on the pricy Garmin software.

I have owned this unit for about 18 months and have absolutely no regrets. Yes, it did take a few weeks to learn how to use the unit, but it was well worth the time.

I found the easiest way to learn was to use it while navigating on long trips. By the time we got to our destination, I was an eMap expert. Want to find a decent restaurant along the way? Use the find/exits feature. Better yet, position the cursor on a major city and use find/points of interest/food. When traveling to Springfield, Illinois last weekend this is how we found a really cool coffee shop along the way in Crawfordsville, Indiana. After lunch I pressed find/points of interest/historical. We toured an old "rotating jail" museum from the 1800's located just a few blocks away.

Sure, the information might have been in AAA books, but we spent zero minutes lost using the Garmin, and the Garmin has far more restaurants than AAA (and the phone numbers and addresses to boot!)

... I bought the 128 MB card, the USB programmer and the leather case. Using the USB programmer it takes about 14 minutes to flash the 128 MB card. A serial connection requires about 8 hours to flash a 32 MB card. If you download maps frequently like I do, the USB is worth it.

A final note: the eMap is one of the few GPS units with the buttons under the screen rather than above the screen. Big deal? Well ergonomically this makes sense since you will not be covering the screen with your hands when using the GPS. I never understood why this layout is not more popular.

Just buy it.

The Garmin GPS V is a great unit, the operating system is very easy to use and master. High quality feel and construction make it seem worth the money; also, the included accessories (cigarette lighter adapter, and both temporary & permanent dash mount options--the latter being an awesome tilt/swivel unit) are first rate and leave nothing to be desired. However, if you live outside a major metropolitan area there are some distinct limitations to the street mapping software.

Be sure you understand that BOTH the GPS unit you are buying AND the Garmin CD-Rom software have to be "auto routing" capable in order to use this feature. Also, each different CD-Rom can only be asked to search for and "FIND" certain things, whether you are using it on the PC or on the GPS V. Here's the breakdown as I understand it now:

CitySelect: Comes with unit, is "auto routing" capable, great for metro areas--but almost no detail away from major roads/interstates. FINDS Points of Interest, Adressess, Intersections, Waypoints, Cities and Exits (all being near major city/road/highway).

Roads & Recreation: NOT "auto routing" capable. Tons of small town/county road detail, and lots of things show up on the map like boat ramps, camp sites, parks, schools etc., but the only feature it can search for and FIND are cities. This doesn't make any sense to me, and seems like a major letdown.

MetroGuide USA: Appears to be the best parts of both worlds, can FIND most all things mentioned above, and has good detail down to county road level. Also "auto routes" from point to point. I have ordered it, but haven't really used it yet.

Lastly, each CD Rom can be installed to your PC, and selected areas from each CD mentioned above can be downloaded to the GPS V; once there you can select/deselect which one(s) you want to utilize. THEY DON'T "OVERLAY" each other and add increasing detail, they are based on a hierarchy and exclude each other: 1) CitySelect, 2)MetroGuide, 3)Roads&Recreation in that order.

Overall it is an awesome piece of equipment, and for me worth the price. The mapping software needs some more improvement to really take full advantage of the GPS V capability.

This is the second Garmin GPS that I own. Just like my old GPS III, the new one is worth every penny. The physical demission of GPS V is almost identical to its predecessor GPS III. However, GPS V's screen resolution is noticeable higher and the backlit light works better at night. GPS V also comes with more accessories; include a cigarette lighter adapter and a dashboard mounting kit with both permanent and temporary adhesive disks.
The main features of GPS V are: satellite navigation with street level maps (CitySelect CD downloadable to GPS unit), a built-in nationwide base map, present-location-to-address routing function with automatic off-route recalculation (NEW features), saved waypoints, tracks and routes. The CitySelect maps are extremely accurate and updated. Once I could not find a new road in my neighborhood with Microsoft Streets & Trips but found it on GPS V! The automatically routing function is the main reason for my upgrade to GPS V. There are three kinds of routing calculations: by shortest distance, fastest routes or off-road. I have used "shortest-distance" on almost all occasions and very pleased with the results. I did find one glitch while using "Map Page" with automatically routing enabled: the "Map Page" would freeze for more than 30 seconds upon a turn is being completed by following (or not following) the "Next Turn Page." Map redraw can be done manually by pressing the zoom-in or zoom-out key, or you can just wait patiently until the map redraws by itself. This glitch is particularly annoying in the situation, which you are totally dependent on GPS V to prompt you with driving directions. I already upgraded the software on my unit to version 2.02 (release date11/14/2001), however the problem still persists.
To enter an address for automatic routing is straightforward - you can use the rocker keypad directly on GPS unit or use saved waypoints from the CitySelect desktop software. You can also select a waypoint from a dynamically generated POI (Point of interest) list on the GPS. NOTE: You can only find the street addresses on GPS unit if you have downloaded the CitySelect maps of that region.
The bottom line: it's an amazing little device that has so many features. It will help you big time in finding addresses or point-of-interests in unfamiliar neighborhoods. It's great fun to use. However, it's not a substitute for conventional methods of trip planning, i.e. maps and driving directions. And at last, do drive carefully when you are using GPS V in a car - it can distract you.

After months of research I purchased the Garmin GPS V. I first used it our family vacation. The unit performed well, I used it to find many out of down locations such as places to dine, shop, and to amusement parks near our hotel. For trouble free travel the Garmin GPS V is a must. This unit is great for finding streets with missing street signs. Just type in a location enter "go to", and in no time it will guide you there. Very easy to use, I purchased a USB adapter for the standard serial PC interface cable.

My monitor has a manufactured date of March 2001. The red tube must be dead, because I'm getting no red in my pictures. The picture's still really sharp, but wish I had all my colors back.

I've owned over 20 different monitors, mostly Sony or Apple Trinatrons. I needed a second monitor for one of my workstations, so I decided to take a chance on the 753DF - I figured it couldn't be too great for the price, but I could use it to store tool pallets to keep the Sony clear for image editing. Imagine my surprise to find that it is truly an excellent monitor! Bright and clear, with loads of image and color adjustment controls. Looking at it side by side with the two year old Trinatron, it is much brighter, with better contrast than he Sony, though perhaps not quite as sharp, due to a larger appearing dot size. Anyway, it is a great deal for the price, and when I saw how good it was, I bought two more of them!

This is a fabulous monitor w/great color and dot pitch(0.20). I bought this monitor last month and has been running great. This is amazing monitor with affordable price. Comes with its own Software for custon setting the color, lumens etc. I certainly recommend this monitor if you are looking for one!

My main goal in buying an LCD monitor was to reclaim all the desk space my CRT was taking up. After looking at a number of models, I decided that value was more important to me than anything else. The GVision is among the cheapest, if not the most cost-effective 17" LCD on the market. The price point of this model is lower than many 15" LCDs, and it offers additional features like built-in speakers.

Sure, you can get a better monitor, for example a Sony or a Viewsonic, but it will cost you 1 1/2 to 2 times more. And despite the price, this unit doesn't compromise quality. No dead pixels, good viewing angles all around, and a crisp, bright screen at the native 1280x1024 resolution.

This monitor also has a superbly small desktop footprint. Sure, all LCD monitors will save space over a CRT, but the GVision's oval base gains a couple inches of footprint savings over comparable monitors.

The built-in speakers don't produce a lot of sound, and they are a bit tinny. But if computer sound is important to you, you'll probably want to invest in a separate amplified speaker system anyway. For me, I just wanted to get rid of my ugly accessory speakers and clear some desk space. These built-in speakers did the trick.

I gave it 5 stars because it does one thing very well. That is, it is the best LCD as far as text display I have seen. The root of this strengh is also the root its weakness. The monitor does poorly on color scale and has a tendency of displaying most intermediate colors as the extreme. For instance, gray shades tend to be displayed as black, white as bright white, red as vivid red, etc. Although this is bad for movies, it is the secret for the excellent text display of this LCD. Text is crisp pure dark black and white is bright white.

The movie issue can be improved in two ways:
1. use the monitor bright mode for movies and regular mode for text
2. use the bright feature in your movie software.

Option 2 works the best as I have experienced, especially for widescreen movies.

The monitor also performs well for games despite its 40ms rating for latency. No ghosting whatsoever.

I also bought a VPR matrix LCD which had a digital input and did perform better on movies and games. It also had a better viewing angle. Yet, the KOGI was far better for text so much that I return the vpr matrix and kept the KOGI.

The vpr matrix had 5 dead white pixel while the KOGI had none.
I got the black version of the KOGI, which goes well with my other black computer equipment.

One last advice is to get a dual display setup: LCD + CRT. That way, you get the best of both world.

This is a good monitor --- solid display and clear type display that can be made even better with free software ---

I don't know why they allow whako product reviews --- although do note that you should not plug in anything but USB to a running system.

If you first see a Kogi as I did, next to a dozen competing lcds, it stands out. It has bright, vivid colors mixed with a clear display ---- and an exceptional control menu usually found on more expensive monitors.

The white is very white, the colors very strong --- but when you go to the menu you'll find the factory default for brightness and contrast is at 50% --- a very good sign for the future as it signals that the factory isn't 'maxing' the display to make it look good.

Next, and very important, Kogi has expanded the warranty on the 17" to three years ---

As for text display, Windows XP has a feature to smooth the jagged edge of text on lcd --- but for free you can get ClearTweak to give you even more control and better, clearer text ( [website] )

Prices are coming down, but at [money amount]after rebates this 17" is off to a very promising start and looks like it will be a solid choice even as prices fall as we go toward Christmas.

A few Final Thoughts: Buy only what YOU like, with features YOU can personally see and which make sense to you --- then make sure you can bring it back without an 'open box' penalty (Stand at the cash register and ask for a waiver and see how fast a manager will be there to say 'sure' --- be sure to get it in writing: I get them to put it on the back of their business cards.) Next be sure the warranty is workable and the understand the relationship between the optional warranty and the store that sells it --- my son has a letter from a major retailer that says they require three attempts to repair before he can expect them to honor the 'instant replacement' promise they made when he bought the warranty.

Lastly, Enjoy!

I first bought the Sony MDR V6 over a decade ago and was so taken by their performance, that I invested in the V600 a few months ago. I have not been disappointed. If you are looking to combine your digital music listening experience (CDs, MP3s, etc) with a top notch pair of headphones or looking to enhance your movie watching experience (on a laptop for example) with a state of the art pair of headphones, look no further.

The highs and the lows are captured perfectly, adding a hithero unknown dimension to your listening (and viewing) pleasure. You certainly cannot go wrong with the price either!

Be warned, however, that these headphones are heavy. While, not a problem, should you be sitting in one place and listening to the audio, by no means will you be comfortable walking around in these headphones. (Hence the four and not five stars.)

These headphones produce good sound and are comfortable for long stints (12-hour paper-wrting marathons, anyone?). However, two things bother me about them. First of all, they produce a lot of static when not playing anything -- since this static does not come out of my Klipsch ProMedia 5.1s, I have to attribute it to the headphone electronics. And secondly, although I have only had them for a bit more than a year, the right earpad is already coming apart, which gives me doubts about long-term durability. A lesser problem is that they are hard to transport because of their size, but they keep out plane noise so well that I can't really complain that much. Overall, I give them an A- for sound quality, an A+ for comfort, and a C for durability.

Headphones are highly personal devices, so don't be surprised to see wide variances of opinion. In fact, I have yet to discover an "all-purpose" pair. Imagine an equalizer board with 8-16 slider switches adjustable in any number of configurations. Boost the treble and upper mid-range while cutting back on the bass and you have the Panasonic 850's, which are perfect for concentrating on Ella's voice or Tony Williams' ride cymbal but not on Nelson Riddle's orchestral arrangements or Ray Brown's bass.

The Sony MDR-V600's may be as close to a "universal," accurate set of headphones as you can get for under a hundred and fifty. Compared to my MDR-6's, which my son "borrowed," they're more comfortable and the sound is more "flat" (i.e. accurate, faithful, undoctored). If your tastes extend beyond contemporary pop and you're serious about sound "fidelity," beware of those "DJ" models, with the bass boost, brain-shaker and virtual-reality features. And as a previous reviewer has pointed out, this model is identical with the higher-priced "professional" phones Sony is listing as model 7506. Perhaps Sony plans to make the 700's the only available models (call it "cost-effective marketing), because there are currently some great deals on the MDR-V600's.

My only "complaint" is the extreme degree to which the V600's seal off all outside sound, making me feel like I'm trapped in a cocoon (they're ideal for anti-social or solipsist personalities). These phones are a pleasure now and then, but I'm still happy with my Sennheiser PX-100's for 80% of my listening.

After about six months of use it started using batteries even though it was turned off. A few months later it quit working completely. I sent it in to be repaired under warranty. They sent me a new one along with a power cable. It worked fine for about four months (it only had a 90 day warranty), before it did the same thing. I turn it on now and the whole screen goes black. It worked very well and I liked the GPS and functioanlity, when it worked. I am now stuck with a non-working GPS and the accessories that I won't be able to use with the Garmin I plan on buying. Everyone I have talked to told me I should have bought a Garmin as they are the best.

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.

Well, I have had my GPS 315 for about 2 weeks now, I have put about 30 hours on it, and I have really enjoyed it. It was very easy to use, I was up and running with it two minutes after I had it out of the box. The manual that is included makes it very easy to learn to use all of the features, and also explains how to use the more complicated features of the GPS.

There are several things that make this GPS very handy. the 12-channel receiver is great for getting a very accurate reading when you are in a vehicle, or under dense tree cover. There are 9 navigation screens that are quite useful, but, I find myself using the position, compass, and plot screens most.

There are two things that would make this GPS perfect. The first would be waterproofing. It would be nice if you could take it out in the boat, and not have to worry if it slipped out or your hand, or got soaked by a large wave. The other thing that would be nice, is a built in electronic compass; but you can carry a compass along easily enough.

All in all, a great GPS for a hike through the woods, or a ride in the boat. This will give you piece of mind next time you go hiking down that unknown trail, or paddling down that long winding river. Great GPS packed full of features for the money.

I have had these for a while, and they sound just ok. The bass can be turned up so that it can shake the floor or you can turn it totally down. The speakers don't exactly distort at high levels, they just sound weird and the subwoofer get's messed up. I eventually got a program to manage each speakers volume level, so I turned the volume all the way up then turned all the other speakers off except the subwoofer. That's the part they try to hide, you can't hear it while the other speakers are running, but the subwoofer sounds like there's a peice of loose plastic inside, but for the price these are great speakers

These Yamaha speakers are exactly what I needed for my Mac. They deliver crisp sound with solid bass from the subwoofer. The units themselves are small (8"h x 2.5"w for the satellite speakers, 8"h x 7.5" w for the subwoofer) despite their big sound. The left speaker has a large, easy-to-adjust volume knob under the front grill; the subwoofer control is less accessible on the back. The cables are short, however, keeping the satellites close to the monitor - you might want to get something else if you want to space the satellites a distance from the source. Fortunately, they cause absolutely no distortion to the display.

For the price, you really can't go wrong with this speaker set. PC owners will delight in the superior sound coming from their computers.

I recently purchased the Yamaha's YST-MS201 speaker set for a secondary computer. At the same time, I bought some more expensive JBL's. Guess what? The JBL's sound better. And yet I heartily recommend the Yamahas. The reason is value. For under $40 the Yamahas give you very good sound. Not "superior" sound. Not sound for an audio-snob. But very good sound nonetheless.

I still have the JBL's on my primary computer, but when I finish this review, the next thing I'll do is order another set of Yamaha's YST-MS201's for my brother.

When I first got the unit, I loved it. It appeared accurate, though it took a long time to acquire satellites at times. In fact, many times my Delorme Earthmate would acquire within 15 seconds, and the Meridian would take several minutes (while moving in a car sitting on the dash). The ability to use SD/MMC cards and load maps onto the unit was great for general usage. I used Magellan GPS for everything, from hiking, kayaking, driving, to boating.

HOWEVER, the specs say that the unit is IPX7 compliant, which means accidental submersion underwater for up to 30 minutes in 1 meter of water. I was in a kayak, got hit by a wave with the Meridian in my pocket, and was in less than 1 meter of water for less than 15 seconds, and water made it's way into the unit.

I sent Magellan/Thales navigation an email and gave them a call but was not given much help, even though I own multiple Magellan products (including the GPS companion, etc...). They noted that I could have it serviced for $150, which is what an new unit cost (this was not the platinum edition, but it is the same form factor and same case). All customer service would tell me is that sometimes water may enter through the keypad area. Well, if water enters through the keypad area, how can they advertise that it is IPX7 compliant?

I may be an isolated incident. However, with the customer service I received, I don't think I would ever buy another Magellan product, and will probably get rid of the rest of my Magellan products. I think the product design, features, usability, and intuitiveness is great, just the product does not perform up to expectations or promise. I would also consider customer service as well.

This is the first GPS unit I have owned. My purpose for purchasing a handheld GPS was originally to know my location for setting up a telescope. During my research I realized there is significant variety available and I stumbled onto the geocaching websites. (I admit the primary use of this unit is entertainment)

I bought this unit because of the built-in compass, barometer (ability to calculate altitude was important to me b/c we travel in the mountains quite a bit), and the expandable memory. I bought a SanDisk SD 128MB chip for the memory, an SD cardreader (worth the extra money for time savings!),the MapSend Topo software and a 12V adapter.

Within 30 minutes of opening the box, I had calibrated the compass, initialized the system and was tracking my progress in the backyard and the car. The manual that comes in the box is a little light on instructions for newbies. I downloaded the manual from Magellan's website and printed it out. (104 pages) The full manual was more helpful - especially for using the MapSend software in conjunction with the chip. [A trick - as you upload regions to the chip, keep them under 16MB each and renumber the DETAILxx.IMG file on the chip. The program only saves as DETAIL00.IMG - so you will keep overwriting your file and never get the capacity of your chip working for you. Select the region you want by file name in the Card Utilities, Change Map feature. This may be obvious to most, but it took me a few tries to figure this out and the tech service line is not open on the weekends)

The comments about the unit consuming batteries are on target - I got about 10 hours on the first set of batteries. So far I am finding the accuracy as advertised, but I haven't gone anywhere I am not familiar with. The reception is very good based on what I was told to expect. I can often recieve signals from three satellites inside my home and in the car (works better w/ sun roof open). My luck on city streets with buildings from 6 - 25 stories is mixed.

All in all I am very happy with how quickly I was able to learn to use the unit, the variety of features, and the "fun" factor.

I've been using my my MeriPlat on almost a weekly basis for over half a year now. I'm very happy with the purchase! The features I love most are the SD slot and the three-axis magnetic compass...meaning it works while held vertically, horizontally, or on it's side. It also has a superior built-in antenna when compared to Garmin's Etrex series of receivers. I've been out in the woods with friends who had Etrex. They periodically lost signal reception while I stayed locked in. The MeriPlat even works inside the house away from windows! In fact, the only time I have ever lost signal was under heavy tree canopy during a down pour. I highly recommend buying Magellan's Direct Route software...it gives the unit turn by turn routing ability and works great!