Magellan Meridian GPS

[Big Dave2]

Anyone have any experience with the Magellan Meridian series GPS?

I have an OLD Magellan and it took a carp on me so I am looking for a different one. I am looking for economy though so I am not going to go out and buy the latest and greatest thing. I usually try to stay a couple steps behind technology, it's cheaper that way! I would however like to get into a unit that does mapping so I can use a lake chip in it. I have a friend that may have a lake chip already for this unit that he bought by mistake and would give me a deal on the chip.

Just wondering if anyone has any comments about this unit?

[Hubcat]

Dave

I had a magellan that went bad on me and it was past the warranty. I e-mail magellan and told them the problem. They said what I had was obsolete and could not fix it. They gave me credit on a new one. So what I am saying is maybe they will give you a deal if you contact them and send your old one in.

Bob

[PerchJerker]

I owned a few Magellan handhelds hears ago, including a Meridian. Good units at the time. I used them a lot in my boat.

Handheld GPS has come a long ways since then. One key area is in how good the receivers are now, in terms of how many satellites they track and how often they update from those satellites. It's much quicket to lock on with the new units and you'll get a more accurate reading.

As you mentioned the mapping features now are outstanding. One thing to be aware of with the mapping is to make sure the lakes you want to fish have depth contours on the map chip you're using, and also make sure the map chip will work in your GPS (not all brands of map chips are compatable with all brands of GPS so just make sure before you buy).

Hope this helps, if you have other questions let me know and I'll try to answer them.

[Big Dave2]

Dave

I had a magellan that went bad on me and it was past the warranty. I e-mail magellan and told them the problem. They said what I had was obsolete and could not fix it. They gave me credit on a new one. So what I am saying is maybe they will give you a deal if you contact them and send your old one in.

Bob

Thats a pretty good idea. My unit is pretty old so they might laugh at me but it's worth the e-mail anyway.

[Big Dave2]

I owned a few Magellan handhelds hears ago, including a Meridian. Good units at the time. I used them a lot in my boat.

Handheld GPS has come a long ways since then. One key area is in how good the receivers are now, in terms of how many satellites they track and how often they update from those satellites. It's much quicket to lock on with the new units and you'll get a more accurate reading.

As you mentioned the mapping features now are outstanding. One thing to be aware of with the mapping is to make sure the lakes you want to fish have depth contours on the map chip you're using, and also make sure the map chip will work in your GPS (not all brands of map chips are compatable with all brands of GPS so just make sure before you buy).

Hope this helps, if you have other questions let me know and I'll try to answer them.

Those are all good points. I'll try to keep them in mind as I move forward with any purchase I consider.

I was just hoping to get in on something a little cheaper than the newest units and considering what I was using, anything else will be a monumental step up for me!

[Big Dave2]

What is the main difference between the Meridian and a Lawrance H20?

[sparcebag]

I have a Magellan Meridian GPS It went extinct in 1995,It still works great! I down loaded the last upgrade for it 2 years ago,Its just as fast as any around and gets all the Sats and the horizonal Sats (forgot the name)To get within 10-12 ft each time.

Problem is when their obsolete no repairs or upgrades beyond the end date.Their alot cheaper now days as compared to when I bought this one!

[Tom7227]

I have a Magellan Meridian Platinum that still works. It locks better than the Ifinder I bought about 3 years ago. Two problems with the Meridian - my new computer doesnt' even have an outlet that matches the plug on the Meridian. Secondly the software is getting outdated and the areas you can download are too small. I still use it on road trips and it comes in handy. Very disappointed the way Magellan just sort of cut the unit loose.

I bought the Ifinder about 3 years ago and I like it a lot. I bought the MapCreate software and a 512 mb chip and I can pretty much download MN, SD, ND, and most of Iowa and WI onto that chip and have very detailed maps. It accepts the Lakemaster chip and that's a key for me. Downside on this is that it's old and the MapCreate software is getting outdated. It's a bit touchey on loosing the lock when in my truck but I can live with that as it usually picks it back up as soon as I move it to the correct location.

From what I've seen/read a Lowrance H20 would still be a decent unit. The Lakemaster chip and the MapCreate are excellant additions. You ought to be able to score this whole thing for less than $400. There's probably a newer model out there but it probably has things you won't know how to use anyway.

[PerchJerker]

Lowrance iFinder H2O units are great units, very popular, and it's very rare to hear of any problems with them (other than problems with some of the cigarette lighter power cord needing to be replaced). Given the relatively low price on iFinder units and the mapping options available for them, it's hard to pick a better GPS for Minnesota.

I have an iFinder H20 that is 6 or 7 years old and it works as good as the day I got it, and so does the power cord.

You can get the H2Oc and a LakeMaster chip off my HSOforum for about $325. You get a lot of functionality and capability for that price. HERE and HERE

BigDave2 - the H2OC is enough generations ahead of your Meridian that almost everything will be "better" on the Lowrance (in my opinion).

Hope this helps.

[knoppers]

I have the meridian gold, and this unit still works great. I have the chip for the land topo which alos shows all roads streams lakes, etc. I just don't use it much, but a nice unit.

[Whoaru99]

Anyone have any experience with the Magellan Meridian series GPS?

I have an OLD Magellan and it took a carp on me so I am looking for a different one. I am looking for economy though so I am not going to go out and buy the latest and greatest thing. I usually try to stay a couple steps behind technology, it's cheaper that way! I would however like to get into a unit that does mapping so I can use a lake chip in it. I have a friend that may have a lake chip already for this unit that he bought by mistake and would give me a deal on the chip.

Just wondering if anyone has any comments about this unit?

I've got a Meridian Gold that has worked very well until recently. The backlight in the display sometimes doesn't work.

If you want to get rid of your dead one I might be interested if you'd take a few bucks for it. Don't want to pay much though not knowing if it'll fix my problem.

[Big Dave2]

Originally Posted By: Big Dave2

Anyone have any experience with the Magellan Meridian series GPS?

I have an OLD Magellan and it took a carp on me so I am looking for a different one. I am looking for economy though so I am not going to go out and buy the latest and greatest thing. I usually try to stay a couple steps behind technology, it's cheaper that way! I would however like to get into a unit that does mapping so I can use a lake chip in it. I have a friend that may have a lake chip already for this unit that he bought by mistake and would give me a deal on the chip.

Just wondering if anyone has any comments about this unit?

I've got a Meridian Gold that has worked very well until recently. The backlight in the display sometimes doesn't work.

If you want to get rid of your dead one I might be interested if you'd take a few bucks for it. Don't want to pay much though not knowing if it'll fix my problem.

Keep in touch because if I get myself a new one and don't miraculously come up with a solution to revive this old one, I will be happy to give it to you. It is a Magellan 320 and everything works except it won't aquire sattelites anymore. It just sits there and doesn't even look like it is trying to lock on to any sattelites at all. All other functions seem to work fine.

[sparcebag]

Have you tried to reset it and let it reaquire Sats from new status? I guess Initialization.---Reformat?

[Big Dave2]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean sparcebag. You mean from a new location?

I turned it on tonight and this time it showed that it is locked on 6 satelites instantly but it really isn't because it still doesn't know my position, if that makes any sence.

[Big Dave2]

The darn thing started working again last night. I don't know what was wrong with it but now every time I turn it on it starts aquiring satellites right away, even in the house.

I still might want to get a newer unit with mapping capabilities though.