Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)One the whole, I like my M. Crossover. Generally speaking, it does everything I need it for in regard to GPS. I do not use mine for the audio or visual playback and do not care about those functions. To date, I have done nothing with the computer software either and cannot vouch for that aspect.
The best features to me were in having a GPS unit that I could use to plot courses in the car and yet have a GPS that would work well for hiking. I have driven all over north Texas with the unit and had it mark my travels in both the road mode and outdoor (hiking/contour map) mode. I have not used it in the Marine mode. With just a few exceptions, it has had all the roads I have been on. The exceptions were a couple of very small roads in the middle of nowhere and roads in a brand new development. No surprise. Strangely, it had some dirt roads that I would not have expected. So that was really handy.
In the outdoor mode, I have plotted various key points and had it track my progress, both while driving and while hiking. It has done this all relatively well.
Before I go further, let me say that if I lost this unit, I would not hesitate in getting another. However, it is not a perfect unit and has some shortcomings that are a bit of a bother, but not fatal at all. It has been my experience that all GPS units seem to have various shortcomings, often varying depending on the type of intended use of the unit. I do think the Crossover, with its shortcomings, does enough of the cross over functions to cover my needs sufficiently well and I do not currently see any other units on the market that match it in such versatility.
I have run the unit on battery (most of the time) and while charging in the car. I have charged it with the 120v outlet charger as well. They promise 8 hours of run time and so far I have run as much as 6 on full screen brightness and not run out of power. The 8 hour estimate seems good.
On my recreational property, I have plotted the locations of the property corners, gates, and other specific locations. Subsequent return trips have the show very good match between my previous plots and locations, to just a few feet, well within the unit's specifications. It performs consistently well in this regard, as it should.
The shortcomings...
In the 150+ hours of use with probably 80 or 90 start-ups, I have had it fail to properly boot 4 times. This necessitated the use of the reset switch on the side and after resetting, the unit booted fine.
The green rubber ring around the unit is to help absorb shock if dropped and it probably does help to some extent (I have dropped it once). However, it is prone to slip off when carried in a pocket or pack during periods of lots of motion and the grippy aspect of the rubber can make it hard to extract the unit from a snug pocket if one wants the rubber ring remaining on the unit.
The on screen controls vary with the mode that it is in and as such, the features I like in one mode are not in the same place in the other mode and that can be a bit annoying if you go between modes on a regular basis. This is especially true of the brightness function that is onscreen on the map page in the outdoor mode but not in the car mode.
You can't plot points in the car mode, but if you are in the car mode, the map does not show the icons for gas/food etc. that it does in the outdoor mode. That seemed a bit counter-intuitive.
I have medium-sized guy fingers and sometimes find that I have not been able to precisely press an onscreen button properly. Maybe I need more practice or smaller fingers.
Even on the brightest setting and while out in the sunlight, it can be hard to see the image on the screen. As long as sun is not shining directly on the screen in the car, it does well enough.
As with all GPS units I have used or experienced in the past, letting the GPS decide your route from point A to B should not mean that the traveler should blindly accept the route as the best option, even with the various choices given (fastest, shortest, most use of freeways, etc.). It will get you from point A to B, but what it asserts is the best route may actually be much less than optimal.
I don't know of any other way to charge the unit other than with the accessories provided. You can't take the unit on a 2 day hike and use it all the time without running down the battery and you can't change out the battery. It would be nice if there was a separate battery pack that could be jacked in or a solar charger. Otherwise, the unit is somewhat limited to either sporadic use on multi-day hikes or day hiking because of the battery limitation.
Lastly, while it can track something like 14 satellites, it can lose track of them as well. While hiking in Big Bend with the mountains, signals came and went a lot. It was a bit annoying. No doubt this will happen with other units as well, but the access to 14 didn't seem to make it keep track any more often or continually than with other GPS units I have used.
As I noted above, I would buy this unit again if I had to replace the current unit. I harped on the shortcomings because if you have read Magellan's promo for the Crossover, then you know what it can do and it has been my experience that it pretty well does what is claimed. I only point out the shortcomings such that other potential buyers can make a better informed decision.
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Magellan Crossover 3.5-Inch Portable GPS NavigatorThe Magellan 2500T Crossover the world's first full featured, pocket size crossover GPS that you can use both in the car and on outdoor expeditions. Enjoy driving, hiking, geocaching, boating, fishing navigation with this all-in-one GPS. The 2500T is also water resistant to IPX4 standards, and features a sleek, intelligent design with a powerful, integrated antenna, MP3 player and picture viewer.
Convenient Crossover Navigation If you've ever wished for a single unit that could guide you on the drive to the park, on the hike in the park, and up the river to the next park, the 2500T is the GPS system for you. The large, easy-to-read, 3.5-inch diagonal touch-screen is ideal for either showing you the best route to a new restaurant or keeping you on-track during your next outdoor excursion. Simple touch-screen menus make it easy to select virtually any destination and get turn-by-turn voice and visual guidance on the road. Or you can take the 2500T on your next hike, mark waypoints along the way and save the route to go again next weekend. Detailed built-in street maps of North America and light topographic maps of North America help ensure that you'll never get lost again, no matter where your travels take you.
Advanced Auto Navigation The 2500T gives you the tools you need to make sure your next car trip is as enjoyable and hassle-free as possible. Advanced auto navigation features include multi-destination routing, which is ideal for vacations; SmartDetour to route you around slow freeway traffic; and SayWhere text-to-speech, which tells you both where to turn and the name of the street to turn on. If you miss a turn, or suddenly find yourself stuck in traffic, the 2500T will save you time and stress by automatically recalculating your route. Powerful and reliable, this system runs on a high performance battery that offers up to eight hours of use so you can search points of interest and plan your trip with ease. Once you're on the road, you can take advantage of the optional TrafficKit accessory, which makes it easy to avoid traffic with Real-time incident reports. (Note: subscription required for traffic reports).
Easy Outdoor Routing Its sleek and rugged design makes the 2500T easy to take with you wherever you go. The included SportsGuard provides added armor to enhance this system's endurance during outdoor use. As you take on new adventures, you can even add detailed regional topographic or marine maps via Secure Digital memory cards. And whether you're traveling in the car or on foot, you can enhance your trip by listening to music and viewing pictures whether you're in the car or on a mountain trail.
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