Magellan CrossoverGPS

Magellan CrossoverGPS

CrossoverGPS Review, by Dennis O'Reilly February 26, 2007

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• Reviewed by: NicholasMacer

  Strengths: The idea looks great on paper. Street mapping performance is better then other waterproof models I've used.

  Weaknesses: Outdoor mode suffers. No hiking capabilities to speak of, while other 'automotive only' units perform better for cheaper.

  Overall: I bought an explorist XL with the pricey Magellan 'street maps' software years ago and was utterly disgusted by its performance. So when my most recent GPS was stolen from my car, I was shocked to find the Magellan 'Crossover' on the top of the review list for waterproof (actually, only splash-proof in this case) GPS units capable of street routing, as well as mapping on the trail. I was reluctant to give Magellan any more $$ after my bad explorist XL experience and I should've listened to my instincts rather than internet reviews.As a street routing GPS unit it performs well. The interface is intuitive, the satellite acquisition is fast-ish (though pretty weak through buildings) the navigation is fairly smart (for maps that are three years old) and it has handy text-to-speech. As a trail unit it is worthless. It has no POIs except the street map POIs, which is great if you want to hike to Taco Bell, but not much use in the back country. The search feature can't even find landmarks named on the map! While a 'parks' category does exist, campgrounds and waterways are not included in that category. Marine maps can be purchased, at additional charge, however, no maps exist for Alaska, where I live. Detailed hiking maps were promised at unit launch, and are available in Europe, Canada, and Mexico, but do not exist for any of the united states. Other reviews I have read charge that the crossover is too bulky for use hiking. I do not find this to be the case. It is about an inch thick, and a bit over half the size of a CD. It's not going to be comfortable in any jeans pocket, but it will fit easily enough into a jacket pocket or day pack, and is not heavy enough to weigh you down at all. Another charge I find unjust is that you cannot access your saved street POIs in outdoor mode. Saved street view POIs are listed as 'addresses' in both 'marine' and 'outdoor' modes, and are easily accessed. In fact this charge is the reverse of truth as I would gladly trade access to street view POIs in outdoor mode for POIs relevant to hiking. Alas, Magellan prefers to again cripples a pretty competent piece of hardware with their useless software offerings.

• Reviewed by: west30capt

  Strengths: Fast acquisition time. Accurate. Color display. Clear voice. Good multi-use unit for the price.

  Weaknesses: Limited documentation. Difficult to load waypoints from PC. Self cancels waypoint when close.

  Overall: I purchased this GPS after doing some shopping. I wanted a GPS that I could use for fishing marking hot spots. The ability to use it for turn by turn navigation and outdoor use caught my eye. It's marked as water resistant not waterproof. So don't go dunking this unit. I started to Geocache with this unit. It gets me close but what what is really annoying is once you are about 25 ft. from your waypoint, it starts to beep and says you are near your destination and then cancels the waypoint. Fine for anything but geocaching. It gets me to about a 25 ft. area for me to search. So not really that good for geocaching although will get the job done. I've also noticed on some routing during vehicle nav. that when fastest route is selected it doesn't provided the fastest route. So in all will get you to your destination. Just don't know if it will be the fastest route. Makes Geocaching difficult. Hard to load waypoints from PC. Other than that great unit.

• Reviewed by: sesweitzer

  Strengths: Works well in a car. Screen is easy to read

  Weaknesses: Front window is glass and breaks easily. Detailed topo maps are not available. Battery can't be changed by user and only last 8 hours.

  Overall: I bought the Crossover when it first became available but it hasn?t lived up to the promise. The most notable problem is that front window is made of glass. The manual doesn't mention this and it's costing me $150 to get mine repaired. This seems like a MAJOR design flaw in a unit that is sold for "outdoor" use. Also, the promised detailed topographic add-on maps aren't available for the unit yet. I wanted to use the unit on my bike but they only offer a motorcycle mount that weighs about as much as my bike. On the plus side, it seems to work well on the road.

• Reviewed by: jamesmiller52

  Strengths: Fast satellite acquisition time, water resistant, excellent vehicle navigation, text-to-speech conversion, good speaker, excellent battery life, plays slide shows of photos on SD cards and plays MP3.

  Weaknesses: It has only 90 meter topographic maps, marine maps are optional.

  Overall: I bought this Magellan CrossoverGPS 2 weeks ago and I have been very pleased with its performance as a GPS for vehicle navigation and for outdoor use such as hiking and camping. I have not tried it for marine use, but this apparently is more useful with optional marine maps that Magellan sells. It comes with both an AC charger and a 12 volt DC power adapter and charger for use in your car. It also comes with both an adhesive base or suction cup mount. The outdoor use is quite good with an excellent battery life of 8 hours, it is water resistant with a rating of IPX-4 means that this GPS won't be damaged by water splashing on it from any angle. It has topographical maps with 90 meter intervals for the lower 48 states, but you can also get an optional SD card with data for 30 meter intervals.

• Reviewed by: mamabake

  Strengths: Very user friendly, lots of features and capabilities

  Weaknesses: None so far that I have found.

  Overall: This is an awesome GPS System. Have owned (2) other brands of GPS systems in the past. This one has it all over both of the others. It is very user friendly, has lots of features, is very quick to respond when you turn it on..no real wait for satellites to pick up your location. The screen is very visible in all lighting situations also.