Magellan Triton 400

[+LulusB&C610]

What is the latest word from all of you new Triton 400 owners out there? The forum has been a little quiet from this topic in the last few days. I have been having some issues with my eXplorist 210 for a few months now and finally Magellan wants to replace it with a Triton 400. This makes me a little worried. I am going to do it since I already have a spare unit that works fine. If I have to keep the Triton 400 on the shelf as a bookend at home for a little while untill they have some new firmware that works I am ok with that. I guess I have only one question right now and this is does the new Triton work at all?

[+Walt Jabsco]

Yes, it works. Go to www.tritonforum.com and make sure you read the 1st use tutorial and the User manual. I'm not kidding, it's not intuitive at all, there are different places to make the different changes.

A few things you'll have to change right away:

1) The clock, you need to set it to your time zone and turn off daylight savings.

2) the Lat/Long if you're used to the way it's displayed on here.

3) The Backlight and Power off time settings. If you don't, you'll think it's crashing, but it's really just following the settings. They're set too short for the first time playing around with it.

I really suggest playing around with the unit and getting a feel for it, before rushing to hook it up to the computer and using VantagePoint. If your computer has Vista, you might have problems connecting. If so, The easy fix is after installing VantagePoint, search the computer for MUD.sys and replace it with the one that comes on the CD ROM.

I bought one yesterday, and spent today setting everything up. The first few hours, I swore I was going to return it, but after reading the forum and actually really reading the instructions, it does work fine.

I went from a Explorist 400 to the Triton 400, and no, that doesn't mean you can skip reading the instructions, there is a steep, but short learning curve. Once you reteach yourself, it's really quite easy. Most of the horror stories are just that people didn't read the forum first.

There are a few bugs, like the time at noon, but nothing outside the usual type first release stuff. The display is great, the satellite lock and aquisition time is great.

In my opinion, the buttons are too tiny and having the case slope where they are was silly compared to the explorist. Having to negotiate through different menus to set everything up is maddening, until you get used to it. On the plus side, by the time you get eveything customized, you know the whole unit really well.

The lack of directions that come with it, makes the Tritonforum invaluable.

Edited January 28, 2008 by Walt Jabsco

[+Marky]

I bought one yesterday, and spent today setting everything up. The first few hours, I swore I was going to return it, but after reading the forum and actually really reading the instructions, it does work fine.

I went from a Explorist 400 to the Triton 400, and no, that doesn't mean you can skip reading the instructions, there is a steep, but short learning curve. Once you reteach yourself, it's really quite easy. Most of the horror stories are just that people didn't read the forum first.

Wow, you're the first person I've heard that has thought this. There are so many things wrong with this line that makes them unusable, especially for geocaching. I should mention though, that I have a 2000, and not a 400, but I think that they have pretty similar issues regarding loading geocaches and doing simple things like going to the nearest cache list and having the closest cache 15 miles away when you are standing right next to one that shows on the map. Having a GPS that crashes with the equivilent of a windows blue screen of death is not a usable GPS. I personally think most of the horror stories are valid concerns by experienced GPS users.

 

There is a reason while REI recalled the whole line and returned them to Magellan.

 

--Marky

Edited January 28, 2008 by Marky

[+Walt Jabsco]

Oh, I'm not saying it's perfect, it's just not a bookend. As far as seeing where the next cache is, I just look at the map screen and zoom out and see where it is. Pretty simple. But yes, by looking at the list screen, Nearest does need to be fixed.

I have not had any crashes yet, at least not any real ones, since I realized it was just the Power Off timer. It looks like it's running on Windows CE, so I don't doubt there are real ones though.

I consider myself an experienced user. No, I don't have 240 cache finds in a day (or at all), but geocaching is just an aside gps use for me, something else to do while hiking, or when bored and need an excuse just to play with the gps. So I don't load 10,000 gecaches, but when I loaded a 175 cache gpx file (enough to keep me busy for the next two years). it loaded and seems to work fine.

Like I said, there are bugs. But as far as telling me where I am and where I'm going (the main purpose of a gps), it does it job. All the bells and whistles don't work yet, but I've had my Explorist for long time, and never used most of the features in that either.

 

And to save the Garmin sock puppets the time: Magellan customer service sucks, they never issue firmware updates, and Magellan is secretely run by the Anti-Christ. Now back away from the keyboard, and get back to fixing all those Colorado bugs. Sorry, couldn't resist

Edited January 28, 2008 by Walt Jabsco

[CacheNCarryMA]

The Tritons are fine if you only load a few waypoints (and don't care to customize your compass screen or care about odometer accuracy), but who really does that? That would be like saying Windows Vista is fine if you only have Internet Explorer running.

 

And, the Triton makes a terrible bookend. It's not heavy enough or tall enough to hold back the books.

 

If you do a quick scan of the forum entries here by people who bought Tritons, many of those buyers have returned them -- except for those who bought from newegg.com and cannot return them.

Edited January 28, 2008 by CacheNCarryMA

[+Indotguy]

I own a good'ol Lowrance H20c and I'm gonna sit back and watch. I've waited a long time for an excuse to use this Emoticon.

[+Walt Jabsco]

or care about odometer accuracy, but who really does that?

When you park at the parking lot, does it really matter if it shows you walked 5 feet or 8 feet to the lamp post? Seriously, the odometer will be an important feature for me, so I will be checking that.

 

And, the Triton makes a terrible bookend. It's not heavy enough or tall enough to hold back the books.

Heck, it's too light to even make a good paperweight.

I haven't used all the features yet, I'll play with the odometer and see what it does for me, and report back.

After about a week or so, I'll be able to give a better description of what I like, hate, or drives me crazy with it. But my initial response after two days is still, that despite all doomsday posts, it hasn't been anything like all the negative posts I've seen, for me.

[mdg2003]

My Triton 400 lasted all of 3 hours before completely locking up. I returned it and got a Garmin.

[+gpsblake]

I own a good'ol Lowrance H20c and I'm gonna sit back and watch. I've waited a long time for an excuse to use this Emoticon.

 

Perhaps off topic but when's the last time Lowrance put out a new handheld GPS unit???? It's been a while...

[+EScout]

That the Tritons did not continue the excellent file/folder/drive system of the Explorists is very disappointing to me. VantagePoint is an attempt to make the interface easier for the beginning/average user, but reduces the utility for the more advanced users. For the Top Triton model, the concept is to combine photos and sound with waypoints, and VantagePoint is the tool to do this. The Triton along with the Colorado and PN-20 are the latest generation of GPSrs that have high resolution screens and advanced topo maps. You need to decide what you need and what is important to your use.

[+Walt Jabsco]

Okay, this is not statistically valid for long distances, or representative of slow speed walking. When I left work tonight I reset the trip odometer in, my truck, on my Triton 400, and on my Explorist 400. When I got home, all three read 8.9 miles. (For full disclosure, on each tenth of the mile, the Triton 400 did change first). This weekend, I'll go out to the university and walk on their track and field track, and see how well it does on the measured mile walking to get a slow speed sample.

When I go for a long drive, I'll measure it over a greater distance, so any deviation can be expanded.

So while you can't derive too much confidence from such a short distance, it wasn't blatantly off.

As far as the file system goes, I created a local Detailed Map from DirectRoute 3.0, and a .jpg picture of myself and copied them directly to a blank formatted SD card. I stuck it in the slot, and the Triton had no problem seeing or using either one. I was surprised by that, I was expecting to have to put the map in a folder like with my Explorist.

Again, I've only had this thing a couple days, and the first time if it screws up big time, I'll post about it. After I compile a good, bad, and ugly list, I'll post that too.

I'm not a Magellan stooge, I'm still considering getting a Delorme PN-20 and probably will as well. I just hate to see something get so blasted, that quite frankly, has been working okay for me.

Edited January 29, 2008 by Walt Jabsco

[+Walt Jabsco]

The Tritons are fine if you only load a few waypoints and don't care to customize your compass screen

 

What model Triton do you own? I haven't played with customizing the compass screen. I'll see what happens with mine to see if I can duplicate what happens with the one you own.

[+We Once Were Lost]

Just my 2 cents. I hade a problem with my Explorist 500 after 4 years. And Magellan talked me into trading out for the Triton 300. Bad mistake so far! After 6hrs on the phone with tech support at Magellan the last word was we are working on some new update software drivers for down loading maps with Vantage Point. Check back in about a week on the website. So far it is useless for me. Maybe it will get better and if not I will be sending it back are throughing it as far as I can into the lake maybe the fish will have some luck

Edited January 29, 2008 by We Once Were Lost

[+Evshro & son]

Just my 2 cents. I hade a problem with my Explorist 500 after 4 years. And Magellan talked me into trading out for the Triton 300. Bad mistake so far! After 6hrs on the phone with tech support at Magellan the last word was we are working on some new update software drivers for down loading maps with Vantage Point. Check back in about a week on the website. So far it is useless for me. Maybe it will get better and if not I will be sending it back are throughing it as far as I can into the lake maybe the fish will have some luck

 

You understood their tech support!?!?

[leshope]

Seems to be a real mix of opinions here, and I'm having a hard time getting a handle on whether this is a good product or not. Some folks are saying that if you spend some time learning how to use the unit, you'll be in good shape - provided it doesn't crash on you. These aren't point-and-click toys, so it makes sense you need to read up on it. I don't have a Triton yet, but I've got a 3250 and have been happy with it - especially after I took the time to read the manual.

 

There is absolutely company responsibility for releasing products that aren't ready for prime time, and for providing good customer service and tech support. But I also think there is some customer responsibility for reading the manual and trying out the unit. Of course if you keep getting a blue screen/the unit keeps crashing, that doesn't help, but I think you get the point.

 

My guess is, like the new Garmin devices, these got released too soon. Everyone was in a rush to announce/ship at CES, the biggest show of the year. Not an excuse, just a possible reason. The folks I see bashing the units seem to not have spent a lot of time with them. Or at least that's not reflected in their posts. It's easy to gang up when things are going badly, but not sure how that helps anyone.

 

Just my two cents.

[vagabond]

Just my 2 cents. I hade a problem with my Explorist 500 after 4 years. And Magellan talked me into trading out for the Triton 300. Bad mistake so far! After 6hrs on the phone with tech support at Magellan the last word was we are working on some new update software drivers for down loading maps with Vantage Point. Check back in about a week on the website. So far it is useless for me. Maybe it will get better and if not I will be sending it back are throughing it as far as I can into the lake maybe the fish will have some luck

 

4 years ??

[+fyd]

I've had a 500 now for about 3 weeks and while I'm not terribly impressed with the unit, it does work. I've been able to download detailed maps to it from Magellan TOPO3D. It eats batteries like crazy, stops dropping breadcrumbs after about an hour, recognizes geocaches (.gpx files) as waypoints not geocaches, and has a somewhat strangely set up menu system. Oh yeah, the electronic compass is so sensitive that it's essentially useless.

 

The Magellan site clearly states that many of the features are planned for a future release of the firmware, but I haven't seen any schedule. I've also tried to locate something silly like a cigarette lighter power cord and find that they are available yet.

 

So, I'm kind of disappointed but I bought it to download maps from National Geographic and it's the only one advertising that capability.

 

Oh Well. I'll keep playing with it for a while before switching to Garmin.

[+We Once Were Lost]

Just my 2 cents. I hade a problem with my Explorist 500 after 4 years. And Magellan talked me into trading out for the Triton 300. Bad mistake so far! After 6hrs on the phone with tech support at Magellan the last word was we are working on some new update software drivers for down loading maps with Vantage Point. Check back in about a week on the website. So far it is useless for me. Maybe it will get better and if not I will be sending it back are throughing it as far as I can into the lake maybe the fish will have some luck

 

4 years ??

[+We Once Were Lost]

I may not of been very clear on my first post. I owned the magellan Explorist 500 for 4years and it finally stopped working. So I exchanged it for the Triton 300. I have had it for about a week, no joy. Not here to bash just to see if others are having the same problems. GOOD DAY!

[+We Once Were Lost]

Just my 2 cents. I hade a problem with my Explorist 500 after 4 years. And Magellan talked me into trading out for the Triton 300. Bad mistake so far! After 6hrs on the phone with tech support at Magellan the last word was we are working on some new update software drivers for down loading maps with Vantage Point. Check back in about a week on the website. So far it is useless for me. Maybe it will get better and if not I will be sending it back are throughing it as far as I can into the lake maybe the fish will have some luck

 

You understood their tech support!?!?

[+We Once Were Lost]

Just my 2 cents. I hade a problem with my Explorist 500 after 4 years. And Magellan talked me into trading out for the Triton 300. Bad mistake so far! After 6hrs on the phone with tech support at Magellan the last word was we are working on some new update software drivers for down loading maps with Vantage Point. Check back in about a week on the website. So far it is useless for me. Maybe it will get better and if not I will be sending it back are throughing it as far as I can into the lake maybe the fish will have some luck

 

You understood their tech support!?!?

 

Well ,That is a whole different story !!!!!

Edited January 30, 2008 by We Once Were Lost

[+Walt Jabsco]

The folks I see bashing the units seem to not have spent a lot of time with them.

 

Or at all. Or don't even own one. Or have never even touched one. Or might have a vested interest in seeing negative posts made about them.

 

Back on topic. Just like the Garmin Colorado, the Triton was released before the bugs were worked out. Unlike the Colorado, you don't have to take it apart, and grease parts to make it work.

 

But to answer your question, at this point, it would be better to to buy an established gps model than any of the just released models. Unless you like taking part in the development phase of a unit. The hardware for the Triton works great, the user interface is definitely a work in progress.

[+gpsblake]

I may not of been very clear on my first post. I owned the magellan Explorist 500 for 4years and it finally stopped working. So I exchanged it for the Triton 300. I have had it for about a week, no joy. Not here to bash just to see if others are having the same problems. GOOD DAY!

 

Many are having major problems with the Triton, so much so, REI stopped selling them until Magellan works out all the bugs. I own the Triton 300 and have not returned it, so I've earned the right to bash this unit all I want.

 

If they work out the software bugs, which are way too many, it would make a fine unit. On the plus side, the reception is equal to the Garmin Etrex H and it has a nice color screen but you have to always have the backlight on to see it. Right now, it's a toy and a paperweight mostly. I was able to figure out how to enhance the basemap by loading up the Explorist base map on it which is far superior than the basemap Triton gives you.

 

I would recommend no one getting the Triton until a lot of the software bugs are worked out.

 

I can't really comment on the Colorado series because I don't own one but it probably would be smart to wait them out until prices come down from competition and software bugs are worked out.

 

I'll agree with Walt, stick with a established model unless you want to be a free beta tester.

Edited January 30, 2008 by gpsblake

[+RRLover]

I was able to figure out how to enhance the basemap by loading up the Explorist base map on it which is far superior than the basemap Triton gives you.

Interesting . . . Which one?

 

Norm

[+Walt Jabsco]

I own the Triton 300 and have not returned it, so I've earned the right to bash this unit all I want.

 

We own them, we're allowed to bash them

 

Here's the good:

The display is great.

Satellite aquisition time is great.

Satellite lock is great.

Accuracy (even without WAAS being enabled) is great.

Mine hasn't locked up at all yet. (Ver 1.10)

 

The bad:

They need to get the clock display issues fixed.

State roads are orange, the trail line is just slightly a lighter color, making it hard to see the trail while driving.

Geocaches in the list screen don't show nearest cache by your actual position. (I think it's just using the same settings you used for finding caches with the pocket query you created to determine closest)

WAAS is not enabled on the 200-500 models

No LI-ON battery. That's what I love about my Explorist 400.

When in Course mode, it takes too long to reorientate the map when you change direction (I need to play with that more, to see if it's something I did)

The ugly:

When you turn off the unit, your current trail line is lost. Not good. Especially for hiking. That is the number one thing to fix in my opinion.

 

This is very preliminary, so things might change as I use it more and updates come along

[DavorF]

They need to get the clock display issues fixed.

 

The ugly:

When you turn off the unit, your current trail line is lost. Not good. Especially for hiking. That is the number one thing to fix in my opinion

 

On my T2000 I use "Suspend mode" each time when I turning-off , so T2000 remembers time and last location, plus they wake-up instantly and locate really fast

[+Walt Jabsco]

On my T2000 I use "Suspend mode" each time when I turning-off , so T2000 remembers time and last location, plus they wake-up instantly and locate really fast

 

Sweet, thanks! Do you know if it's drawing power in the suspend mode, or just not clearing memory?

I'll have to try changing batteries while in Suspend mode to see if it keeps the trail line.

[+JohnnyVegas]

That the Tritons did not continue the excellent file/folder/drive system of the Explorists is very disappointing to me. VantagePoint is an attempt to make the interface easier for the beginning/average user, but reduces the utility for the more advanced users. For the Top Triton model, the concept is to combine photos and sound with waypoints, and VantagePoint is the tool to do this. The Triton along with the Colorado and PN-20 are the latest generation of GPSrs that have high resolution screens and advanced topo maps. You need to decide what you need and what is important to your use.

But the problem as I see it, Magellan is droping the explorist line, so it reality there is no choice if you want to buy a Magellan.

You cannot get new a GPS with the file storage system.

For my money Magellan has taken a step backwards.

As far as photos and sound, why is it that every tech item sold now has to have phtos and sound. Maybe if the designer did not feel a need load a GPS with stuff that is not really needed for navigation the GPS would work.

[DavorF]

Do you know if it's drawing power in the suspend mode, or just not clearing memory?

 

I didn't notice any battery drainage.

[+miniwhip]

I posted this elsewhere, but it deserves to go here as well. There is an update for the 200, 300 and 400 models available. Read more about it HERE.