Magellan GPS - Y2K and other problems

[Steve Lazerow]

I bought a Magellan Nav 6500 less than a year ago and have had lots of problems. First the time memory failed after a month or two. Then the unit positioned the boat about five miles from where it actually was. I returned the unit to Magellan and they fixed it both times without a charge. Now, the Y2K gremlins are making it read May, 1938 and not April, 2000. So back it goes to Magellan. It might be a good idea to check your unit if it's a Magellan.

 

[Jim Russell]

Garmin

I really think your solution is Garmin. I have yet to find an individual that has had bad luck. The G48 that I have is great for boat with all the navigational markings, charter or jet plane to see where you are (okay, it doesn't always work in a jet depending on the location of the satellites), and bicycling for elevation and location.If you're ready to throw yours, consider a Garmin.

 

[bill walton]

y2k

I too had a 6500 that read 1933 on Jan 1. I sent it in and they software was upgraded at no charge. I never had any other problems. I replaced it at the Miami show with a raytheon 620+/dgps so now the 6500 is sitting in a box in my closet.

 

[Sam Lust]

Magellan problems?

Magellan seems to be doing a nice job of ruining whatever good reputation they've built. I bought a 410 hand-held mapping GPS last season. and have been reasonably happy with it. It's especialy nice with the added detail downloaded from the Map-Send CD. I had no problems with either of the roll-overs. However, I kept loosing waypoint information each time I changed batteries. I figured somehow it was something I was doing wrong. Then I happened to talk to one of their guys at the Atlantic City show and learned that they had a problem with what they claim was a bad batch of lithium batteries. They said they'd fix it if I sent it in. I called and got them to agree to send a UPS call tag which never showed up. Finaly I got exasperated and paid the shipping and sent it off to them. It came back in about three weeks.(Not their claimed 10 days) and seems to be working fine. In addition to a new internal battery they upgraded the internal software, which I'm guessing was the root of the problem in the first place. I think what bothered me was that the people I spoke to in California to didn't seem to care a whole lot one way or the other.