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Reviews > Navigation and Map Gear > GPS > Magellan SporTrak Color 2003 > Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd > Initial Report
Introduction I am a newbie
when it comes to using a GPS. David, my husband, has always been the
GPS gadget guy in our family, but during the past few months I have been
thinking about obtaining one for my own use. I do not often handle
the GPS and in the past have preferred to hike with a map,
compass, and altimeter. However, there have been several times where
I would have liked to have a GPS for reference and I look forward to the
opportunity to finally try one out. I offer the perspective of a
relative newbie when it comes to GPS use, while also being a computer geek
that loves and takes easily to toys and gadgets. With this GPS receiver I expect, as I do
with nearly all electronic toys I receive, to pick it up quickly with a
very short learning curve. Packaging The SporTrak Color GPS
comes packaged in a rectangular box with a window displaying the GPS
inside encased in plastic blister pack. The box labels the unit
clearly as the Magellan SporTrak Color. Some of the unit's basic
functions are listed in American and Canadian. Did I say American
and Canadian? I mean English and French. This is a North
American unit - the English section is marked with an American flag and
the French section is marked with a Canadian flag. The box advertises the
32 Mb of memory the unit supposedly has. A little bit of research
(not available on the box) reveals that the unit has 22 Mb of free storage
space, and 10 Mb are used for the base maps and cannot be accessed.
The box also lists the
available accessories (to be purchased separately) as well as a list of
the items that are included in the box. Included with the
GPS receiver are: a manual, a PC connector cable, 2 AA
batteries, and a wrist strap. Upon opening the box I
found that everything was included, along with several other pieces of
paper including an extended warranty flyer. (The warranty for the
SporTrak Color can be extended for two additional years beyond the
standard 90 day warranty for $49.95). There was also a sheet
advertising the accessories available for purchase separately, a packing
list, registration information, a list of Meridian series accessories that
are compatible with the SporTrak series, and a Read Me First folder with
the basic initial instructions. Finally, there are two separate user
manuals - one in French and one in English. First
Use I am always
impatient when it comes to playing with new electronic
toys. I put down the manual before even opening it and grabbed the
Read Me First quick start paper. Then I removed the GPS blister
packaging from the box. The GPS was very easy to remove from the
blister packaging - MUCH easier than I expected given my history with
packaging of this type (I practically have scars). I turned to the quick
start paper and went through the steps. Comments in brackets
are mine, and were written as I was going through the steps for the
first time: 1. Make sure all
of the items listed on the packing slip are included in the box.
[Receiver - check. Manual - check. PC
Cable - check. Batteries - check. Wrist strap -
check.] 2. Install the
batteries. [Okay...easy enough. I snap off the
battery compartment door, insert the batteries, and snap the door back
on. It doesn't look like it seals - in fact, how on earth can
this unit be waterproof if the battery compartment has a gap big
enough that I can insert a finger nail? After snapping the door
on and off a few times I realize that there is a ridge around
the inside of the door that seals off the battery compartment. This
ridge is not at the edge of the compartment door so it looks like
there is a gap.] 3. Turn on the
receiver. You will have to go through the initialization. [Okay, but what button do I push? It doesn't say, and
all of these cute little icons look so tempting! I guess I'll just
push this one with the red lightbulb....ah! That worked!
Now...these initialization screens. Enter location: America
-> California. Enter time (will be updated with satellite time
later after obtaining fix). Enter date.
Done!] 4. Allow the GPS to lock
on to satellites. [In my office, which is on the
bottom floor of a two story office building, I can't get a
lock. If I step outside it locks on quickly.] 5. Review the navigation
screen info in the manual and create a goto route. [Darn it, I have to open the manual again! So much for
quickstart. How about I just press a few buttons? If I
press this pushpin icon....hey! I just created a
waypoint!] 6. That's it!
General
Comments The Magellan SporTrak
Color GPS feels very good in my hand. Operation of the GPS receiver is
possible using one hand; I can hold it in my right hand and use
my thumb to navigate though the screens using the buttons. The
buttons are easy to understand - once I read through the user manual to
discover what each button was for I did not have to refer back to
it. There are 8 individual buttons on the unit along with a
navigation and enter button combined into a single button.
With my limited initial
use I have found that all of the buttons are comfortable and easy to push
except for the up arrow. I have a tendency to bump the central enter
key when pushing the up arrow. After initially turning
on the GPS as described above, I sat down with the manual and browsed
through it. Typically I do not read manuals for electronic gadgets
from cover to cover - I prefer to learn about the item myself and use
the manual for reference. Since I am new to the world of GPS I
thought I would acquaint myself with some of the functionality and common
terms by browsing through the manual first. I found the 86 page
manual to be easy to understand, with instructions accompanied by useful
screenshots. As I play with the GPS I am finding that I have
questions and I will pick up the manual for answers. The manual does
not always have the details I am looking for, and the lack of an
alphabetic index in the back makes it difficult to find what I'm looking
for immediately. When I first turned the
unit on I was impressed with how easy the screen was to read under the
fluorescent lights of my office. It was a bright sunny day so I
stepped outside to see how easy the screen was to read and found it to be
quite nice. I didn't have to hide the GPS in my shadow or rotate it
around in order to see the screen. I remember thinking to myself,
why would I even need the backlight? Later, when thumbing
through the manual, I tried the backlight by holding down the power key
for two seconds as the manual instructed. The screen dimmed. I
held it down for two more seconds. The screen dimmed some
more. Two more seconds, and the screen popped back to full
brightness. I realized that the unit turns on with the backlight
automatically at full power - no wonder I could see so well! In my
limited use this has been annoying - I have to manually turn it off every
time I turn on the unit. There is a timer setting for the light
turning off, but the shortest amount of time it allows is 30 seconds after
the last keypress. When I am constantly pressing keys this doesn't
do a lot of good. I almost felt like I was
being scolded when I read in the manual, "Use [the backlight] only as
needed as the backlight causes a large drain on the batteries." Then why
does it use it automatically? It's not my fault it's always
on! I would much rather have the dim screen and be able to turn on
the backlight than the wasteful other way around. On the subject of
batteries, I have noticed some inconsistency in the battery
indicator. The battery life remaining is displayed on the satellite
status screen as a battery shaped graphic. The graphic is colored in
with green to match the battery life left. When half the life is
remaining, half of the graphic is filled with green. As I used the
unit for the first few days the indicator steadily dropped from full to
about 2/3 full. Since then, whenever I turn the unit on it shows a
nearly full battery (about 9/10). Only after the unit has been on
for a minute or two does the power indicator drop to its real
(approximate) level. The SporTrak Color locks
on to satellites very quickly. I was able to get a lock inside my
ground floor apartment about five feet from a window within 30
seconds of turning the unit on. I can get a lock quickly when I put
the receiver on the passenger seat of my car. When outside in open
terrain it locks on within seconds. I was also pleased to find
that it locked on quickly several times at the bottom of Yosemite
Valley, where I have read that it can be very difficult to get a GPS
satellite fix. The receiver has helped
me along as I have been fiddling with it to learn its many features and
functions. There are tip screens that pop up giving information
about the function I am using, and it gives the option to never display
them again, or simply choose 'OK'. I have found that these little
reminders and informational screens are useful to me, but I have turned
most of them off now that I am getting more familiar with the
unit. I am saving the
discussion of the many features and functionalities of the SporTrak Color
GPS for the field report. In the next two months I will be able to
explore and understand these much better than I can in the Initial Report
period. Test
Plan Geocaching: Route finding: In the desert, route finding is a different
beast. When hiking through an endless joshua tree forest sometimes
it is difficult to pick out trail or see landmarks in the distance.
We enjoy hiking to old mines when we visit these parks, and for some of
the lesser-known mines there are no obvious trails (or if there was, it
has been washed out). For route finding, I intend to take advantage
of several features of the SporTrak GPS. First of all,
the 3 axis compass with the NorthFinder™ technology is a fantastic tool
that will allow me to walk and hold the GPS at a comfortable angle while
still giving useful information. I like that the compass will work
even when standing still, which some GPS's are not capable of. Of
course, the standard information of bearing, speed, etc is always useful
to know. I suppose it is better to have too much information than
too little when it comes to route finding. The information screens
are customizable, so it will be nice to have a customized display that
only gives the information that I deem useful at the time.
There is no reason to clutter the screen with unneeded
information. With the ability to save routes, track
points, and waypoints, I can make sure I have the proper information in
the GPS ahead of time, and see how I did at the route finding when I get
home. I like learning from my experiences, so if I deviate from the
trail I can analyze my actions. Sometimes we do little side trips
out of camp, and it would be wonderful to spit that information out on to
a map when I get home to find out exactly where we went. The SporTrak Color does not come preloaded
with topo maps, but I have the MapSend Topo software to supplement the
GPS. The Color unit comes with street and city maps, which I intend to use
on my many road trips into the backcountry 4WD roads of California.
I am currently the owner of National Geographic Topo! California.
Before going on a hike we print our maps from this program frequently on
regular paper. In the winter the maps can get destroyed quite easily
when they get wet, so it will be wonderful to have a waterproof source of
the same information. I will always be carrying a paper map and
compass backup when I am using the GPS - I can't always rely on
electronics. Is the GPS easy to use, both technically and
physically? I addressed this above, but for winter use, the buttons
must be simple enough to use that they can be operated with a glove, or at
the least, cold, stiff fingers. Technically, I expect it to take a
little practice, but the on-screen help might make it a little easier than
digging through a paper manual. However, I will be eagerly
studying the manual to make sure I make full use of all the features
on this well-stocked GPS. The battery life is claimed to be 14
hours. I will test this in regular room temperature conditions and
out in the snow. Does it make a difference if I use rechargeable
batteries? The 14 hour claim is with no backlight. Since the unit
automatically turns on with the backlight shining brightly I do not
expect to get anywhere near 14 hours of life out of one set of
batteries. Sun and moon rise and set, phase, etc.
- as a stargazer I always enjoy this type of information. Will the moon be
too bright? Is it near new moon? Should I stay up
late? Although I tend to look up this kind of information
before I head out on a hike, if I wanted to linger on a peak or along a
trail, I could get instant information about when to expect
sunset. I am curious about the quality of the maps
that can be displayed on the color screens. How well will topo maps
show the tree covered vs. exposed areas as they do in my paper maps?
The SporTrak Color has something called a
Simulator mode. I do not understand clearly what this is from the
documentation, but I would like to find out. I am hoping that
this will allow me to turn off the GPS signal while still making other
features available, thereby saving battery life. The GPS measures altitude when it is locked
on to the right number of satellites. I will compare this to the
readings on a map and on a barometric altimeter. The manual states
that the SporTrak Color cannot read negative altitude - suddenly I have a
desire to go to Death Valley and see what happens! Conclusion I am very excited
about the next six months - I expect to learn a lot about GPS and
navigation in general, as well as explore the many features of the
impressive SporTrak Color GPS. A new hobby - geocaching - has caught
my interest and I intend to venture into the activity immediately.
There is a lot to learn, a lot to experience, and a lot to write
about! Read more reviews of Magellan gear Read more gear reviews by Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd Reviews > Navigation and Map Gear > GPS > Magellan SporTrak Color 2003 > Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd > Initial Report | |||||||||||||||