Product Description
A GPS receiver for the serious navigator, Magellan Meridian Gold offers superior tracking and 3-meter accuracy, with an extensive, 16 MB, built-in mapping database that provides an easy way to view your location, heading and route. Rugged enough to go with you on any adventure, or just across town, Meridian Gold is designed to make getting where you're going a fun, easy and safe trip.
Amazon.com Product Description
With 16 MB of built-in map data and a Secure Digital Memory Card slot, the Magellan Meridian Gold Global Positioning System receiver gives you plenty of memory to store and access location information. This rugged handheld GPS unit coordinates data from up to 12 satellites to pinpoint your location anywhere on the globe. The Meridian Gold's 16 MB base map gives you detailed information on U.S. cities, interstates, and waterways. Slide in a data card to get even more detail, or use a memory card to store waypoints and routes.
Map screen View larger. |
Speedometer screen View larger. |
The Meridian Gold GPS is a simple, versatile GPS receiver. View larger.
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The Meridian Gold has a variety of navigation screens that make it a breeze to use. The map screen will show you where you are, or, in the Cursor Mode, you can scroll through the map of your current area to see where you're headed. The compass screen makes it easy to quickly check your bearing, whether you're on foot or in your car. If you need coordinates, the Meridian delivers with easy-to-understand position screens that show all the relevant information for longitude and latitude. And with other handy displays like the road, data, speedometer, and satellite status screens, the Meridian Gold makes it easy to gather all the information you might need to get home, find your waypoint, or navigate across the country.
The Meridian Gold is PC-compatible and stores up to 500 waypoints and 20 reversible routes with up to 30 legs. It also comes with a quadrifilar helix antenna for optimal satellite signal reception and fast position fixes. WAAS and EGNOS capability adds to the versatility of this receiver, which can be operated in English, French, German, Dutch, Finnish, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, or Swedish.
With Meridian Gold's seven navigation screens and vertical-profile graphs that show elevations of the route traveled you be able to see your exact position. The oversized, backlit grayscale display allows you to easily see location information day or night, and it comes equipped with a backlit keypad for easy button navigation in any condition. Waterproof rubber armoring and an ergonomic, compact design add to the Meridian Gold's functionality.
The Meridian Gold is compatible with Magellan's MapSend software, including MapSend Streets Europe and the recently released MapSend Topo for the United States. Vehicle, bike, and swivel mounts are sold separately.
What's in the Box
Meridian Gold GPS receiver, PC cable, 2 AA batteries, wrist strap, user's manual, and CD-ROM (user's manual with 9 languages).
Customer Reviews:
Ok for the price.......2005-11-25
I own one of these for more than a year now. Since then actually I bought a Garmin auto GPS which is much more expensive. The one I bought came with a mapping software, not the direct route. Therefore, it does not help me auto navigate. Only shows my current position. It is very difficult to find a place because of limited menu functions.
However, I found something that may help other users. Contrary to what the manual says, I could use a 512MB SD card and loaded a bunch of maps with USB connection straight to the card using SD card adapter. All you need to do is to limit each file well below 64MB and follow the indexed file naming used by the unit. This worked for me and the unit could recognize all the areas in all the files that I uploaded.
Additionally, it is impossible to upload a lot of data with the supplied serial cable. USB transfer was fast.
Cheers.
Meridian Gold - Good Value GPS for the Dollar.......2005-11-12
Meridian Gold - Good value for Hiking and Car Navigating
Pro: The Meridian Gold is good at holding satellite signal. Uses up to 500 Meg SD or 1 Gig SD cards to hold extra detail maps. Serial PC interface to upload / download maps or waypoints with PC.
Con: This is an older Magellan product. About 8 oz. & 2 inches longer than more modern GPS models. Interface to PC is serial not USB, so uploading PC maps to GPS is slow. Instead, better to use a USB card reader to load 64 mb detail maps to SD cards in about 3 minutes. You load the road or topo maps in 64Mb chunks (each 64Mb chunk covers 2 to 4 US states). The MapSend software asks whether to load via serial, load via USB card reader or save to PC harddrive.
Summary: I've used this GPS for mountain biking, hiking, car trips, and positioning antenna tower for a wireless internet service over the last 6 months.
Some discount retail stores have this at $200.
Easy to learn interface. Offers 7 data screens including a plotting map of current position, satellite status, 1 screen with large fonts easy to see while driving, a compass, odometer and other screens. All screens can be customized for type data shown: speed, avg speed, max speed, ETA, distance, bearing, heading, next turn, position error, Course to Steer, Velocity Made Good and others.
20 routes and 500 waypoints. You can edit waypoints on the GPS, but it's easier using Topo, Direct Route or other Magellan MapSend software and serial cable attaching to PC.
Waterproof(IPX7 standard) and rubber armored case. 2 level glowing screen for night which shortens normal 2 AA battery life of 8 hours. Base map is ok for highway driving but I got MapSend TOPO for hiking / mtb riding / detailed streets. GPS seems to accurately track bike trail, max and avg speed of my bike.
Has a great street address look up feature in the GPS that plots the location of a business or home. Very handy for finding parties or restaurants or businesses that I've never been to here in Buckhead/Atlanta.
Great GPS for the dollar.
Not for Automobile Navigation.......2005-10-24
Not very functional, screen difficult to read, download information takes forever, doesn't use roads when calculating distances, does line of sight. Need lots of extras to make this even slightly useful. If you are planning to use this in your car, I would definitely get a different product as this is almost worthless. Won't hold much info from software as downloads are limited to 4 regions of about 16K.
Waterproof exterior? Only if the water is large ice cubes........2005-10-02
It's a bit of a joke to include the word "waterproof" in the title for this product. The battery and memory card cover is so loose you can see right though it to the other side. Small sized hail would be able to get into this unit! Magellan uses the term "rugged and waterproof" on the box, and it does appear somewhat rugged, but by no definition of the word is it waterproof. Other than that ... this is my first experience with a GPS and to me, it seems unnecessarily difficult to use for anything other than "hey look, I'm heading east at 3 mph!". I'll spend the time and try and learn its idiosyncrasies, but I'm disappointed it wasn't more useful straight out of the box.
not fun without a good map.......2005-09-14
Owned the unit for over 2 weeks and was very dissappointed at first: the so called built-in base map contains only very major highways and railroads against a huge blank area. most of the time it would show my position in the middle of the blank area - not much fun at all. To add to the frustration, either the unit or the so called bas map was inacurate: i was riding along the 401 but my position was showing some 250 meters south west! this was proved in other situations too.
This inacuracy was corrected with a 100$ topo map. Once installed, everything changed - each and every time the unit positions me exactly where i'm supposed to be. Map accuracy is a whole different matter though (see my review of mapsend topo canada).
Back to the unit: it is very large compared to explorist but appears sturdy - I dropped it on a concrete sidewalk and nothing happened to it.
It does not fit comfortably in my hand - it simply is too big, and I have large hands.
Large screen is a plus.
Battery life is very poor (and i disabled the screen lights!). With the so called base map (blank screen with a small arrow showing your position) it would run about 10 hours on a fresh set of energizers. Once the topo map was installed fresh batteries won't last 3 hours!
Only maps of up to about 15 megabits function well in the unit - anything over and the unit has problems loading them on the screen. This means that you must prepare several small maps and load them onto your SD card.
SD card is a plus - you can have as many maps as you wish provided they are small. I'm using a 64 mb card with several maps of about 10 mb each and everything works smootly.
10 mb map spans an area of about 250 - 300 kilometers. once you leave the area you must manually load a new map area.
Big problem: obsolete parallel connection to your computer. This only proves problematic if you need to upload or download your own waipoints, or upgrade firmware, because maps can be written to an external reader/writer. For instance my laptop does not have a parallel port which means i must decide what maps i need before going on a trip, load them using my desktop and hope it's all i need - but what happens on the road?
On a good note - i found a car mount at a dollar store. it is sold as a cell phone stand but it is adjustable to fit different sizes, and is just perfect for the meridian (at maximum stretch), and i suspect other models too.
Product Description
The Magellan Meridian Gold GPS Traveler Value Pack is a comprehensive navigation solution. Get everything you need to get on the road with the power of GPS navigation in a single box, at a great value. You get the rugged Magellan Meridian Gold handheld GPS receiver, plus the advanced Magellan MapSend DirectRoute mapping software with turn-by-turn guidance. This complete package also includes a 64 MB Secure Digital (SD) memory card, vehicle mounting bracket, PC data cable with cigarette lighter adapter and two AA batteries.
Amazon.com Product Description
Whether exploring a new city or navigating within your own town, the Meridan Gold GPS Traveler Value Pack contains all you'll need to find your way. Included in this cost-saving package is the rugged Magellan Meridian Gold GPS unit, advanced MapSend DirectRoute software, a 64 MB Secure Digital (SD) memory card, a vehicle mounting bracket, a wrist strap, a PC data cable with cigarette lighter adapter and two AA batteries to get you started.
The Magellan Meridian Gold GPS offers superior tracking and best-in-the-business three meter accuracy. It holds an extensive 16 MB built-in mapping database of North America. You can increase your mapping detail by downloading street-level maps on the included SD memory card. All of this is displayed on the high contrast, high color 120 x 160 pixel display. The GPS is made with rubber armored, impact resistant plastic, and is completely waterproof (it even floats!) The two AA batteries run for up to thirteen hours.
The MapSend DirectRoute offers advanced mapping software. After entering your destination, MapSend will automatically calculate shortest time street routing, giving you turn-by-turn directions via audio or visual prompts. This software even calculates ETAs with the posted speed limits. Select your destinations from thousands of points of interest including hotels, gas stations, parks, lakes, amusement and entertainment venues, restaurants, and more. MapSend also includes information such as addresses and phone numbers, making it easy to call ahead for ticket information and reservations.
Magellan has added a few more items to complete this package. You can download additional highly detailed, street-level maps from your PC using the combination data cable/cigarette lighter adapter. They've included a vehicle mounting bracket to conveniently secure the GPS. If you demand GPS accuracy for your travels, this system is for you.
What's in the Box
Meridan Gold handheld GPS receiver, MapSend DirectRoute CD-ROM, 64 MB SD memory card, vehicle mounting bracket, PC data cable with cigarette lighter adapter, quick reference guide, two AA batteries, wrist strap, and a user's manual.
Customer Reviews:
Obsolete model, horrible technical support.......2006-06-26
Yes, it is obsolete but that shouldn't be a problem. A problem lies somewhere else. I have it for over 3 years and I like it quite a bit. It does what I wanted it to do do quite well. It doesn't have voice or autorouting but you don't need this in a hand-held GPS. I use it while hiking, cycling and even in the car. It is very sensitive in picking up satellite signals and doesn't need an external antenna.
This was the nice part, now the ugly - technical support. It is absolutely rock bottom horrible. Might have something to do with Magellan take over by Thales. The tech support wasn't bad right after I purchased the unit more than 3 years ago. Shortly after getting the init, it stopped recognizing the external power connection. I was instructed to ship the unit back to Magellan repair shop and got it back repaired within couple of weeks with an upgraded firmware and an extra power cable. Boy, what a change 3 years later. First, they completely ignore your online inquiry. I sent them email and get back an automated reply saying how important I am to them and haven't heard nothing since. Then I tried calling tech support. You listen for 20-30 minutes to elevator music before you get to talk to anybody. They ask you for all the details and then tell you that the number you called is wrong and give you another number. Same thing at the other number. At first I thought they ask your name and all the details instead of telling right away that's the wrong number out of stupidity, but than I realized that their pay must be somehow connected to the number of callers they get as finally the last of them admitted. I gave up after a couple of days. Fortunately, there's a very good and active support and discussion list on Yahoo.
Before my latest experience with Magellan tech support I was slowly getting ready for a new unit and naturally thought it will be some newer Magellan model even as their new map activation scheme bothered me some. Well, not anymore, my new GPS will not be Magellan.
Good but could be better........2004-01-20
Pros:
Excellent accuracy. On-screen maps. Waterproof and floats. Rugged. Big buttons. SD cards (add a card reader and save hours).
Cons:
Big & heavy. Buttons too easy to press accidentally. Serial connection (serial?! why not USB?). Screen hard to read in shadows. Messy menu navigation.
On a like-for-like comparison to other mapping handheld GPS this gets 5-stars. On the basis of what it could have been had Magellan really thought it through, it gets 2-stars.
I'd say this (and others like it) are the last of the 2nd generation GPS. Good for their time, but rapidly being obsoleted by developments in other areas. Expect to see a switch to a variety of GPS/PDA/phone/bluetooth/radio combos with much better integration into the wireless PC world coming in the next product cycle.
Best value out there for general purpose GPS use.......2004-01-17
The Meridian (h/w)/Direct Route (s/w) combination is the best value going today. It does *not* provide voice directions, but can be set to an audible beep when a turn approaches if desired. It is not color, but color does not really add much to a GPS anyway (and consimes more battery power), it is the resolution that counts and the Meridian is more than adequate.
The nice thing about this GPS is that you can use it in your car for turn-by-turn navigation, while hiking in the woods to keep track of where you are and how to get back, as well as on your bicycle etc. There are better specialized GPS units available (for instance ones for use specifically in a vehicle), but they lack the flexibility of the Meridian to use where you want to use it.
Finally, the Meridian can hold a lot of street level detail through the use of SD cards, where most, if not all, of the competition can only use the built-in memory supplied with the unit. I think you will find this to be a huge advantage when you find out how much you can store on these cards, and how limiting the built-in memory is.
Average GPS.......2003-11-14
This was my first GPS. I ended up returning it. Here is my experience:
Cons:
(1) Difficult to use for driving even though it received signals very well. When I bought it I thought it was voice prompted. Actuall it was audio prompted, meaning that it beeps when it thinks you should make a turn.
(2) Rerouting is not automatic. You have to press a button. That's not convenient.
(3) screen is small and black and white. Looks primitive. For $450, I thought it should be better than that.
Pros:
(1) Does have detailed street level info when you load the CD.
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