The Magellan Meridian Gold

This is a nice hand held GPS unit.  Somewhat water proof.  Easy to use.  I intend to put pictures on here soon.

The drawbacks on this unit is that Magellan company and website are difficult to use and in some cases no help at all.  This unit only works with the Magellan Map Send software which is in some cases inaccurate and not user friendly.  Neither is their website.

When you call the support phone number you will be lucky to find someone who speaks clear enough English to be able to understand.  The last time I called the guy on the other end didn't even know where or how to find the S/N for the software in the software.  You must have the S/N before you can even send a message to them asking for help!  GOOD LUCK WITH THIS ONE!

[ "Hello, I am Hodgi PooPoo, how can I piss you off today?" ]

Please check the maps on the Map Send page and compare them with the maps from DeLorme on this site.

If you can use the Meridian Gold as a stand alone unit then you should do well but if you must use computer software to keep your maps up to date then I do not recommend it!

Another flaw with this unit is the battery contacts tend to corrode and fail after time.  It is required to take the unit apart and polish the corrosion from the contacts to get the unit working again.

This unit also works best with the Lithium batteries.  Another problem is that when the batteries are in the unit it will run them down in two or three weeks even when the unit is not turned on.  When it is turned on it is something of a battery hog which is why I recommend the Lithium batteries.