Magellan SporTrak Color

[Michael Coulter]

I bought this model a few years ago and it does an adequate job of tracking my hikes. I interface the GPS unit with the Magellan Mapsend software and the National Geographic Topo! software.

I use the Mapsend software to upload the topo map regions to the GPS unit and to download the track routes and waypoints from the GPS unit to the software. Other than that, the Mapsend software is pretty useless. The maps are poor and the user interface was written by a first year programmer.

The National Geographic Topo! software is much better, but I cannot directly download the tracker route from the GPS unit. I have to first use Mapsend to create the tracker waypoints and then I read that file into Topo!. Topo! will allow me to upload waypoints to the GPS unit.

Here's what I like about the SporTrak:
– 14 hours off of 2 AA batteries
– Does a good job tracking your hike. It has always been accurate.
– Screen is easy to see and read.

Here's what I don't like about the SporTrak:
– The menu and user interface is poor. It is very difficult to navigate the menus. I have not used many of the features because I never can find them in the menus. This is my biggest gripe.
– The form factor sucks. There's no place to clip the unit on and it is heavier than I would like.
– The trip meter is never accurate. It always under reports the mileage.
– It takes a long time after powering on the unit to lock onto at least 4 satellites.
– Upon power up, a couple of warning or waiver screens are display for which you have to click OK. It's very annoying.
– Serial cable interface, RS-232, is painfully slow when downloading tracks and waypoints.

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