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Magellan eXplorist XL Handheld GPS Receiver Weekend warriors find yourselves on the map in living color with the largest color screen in a rugged GPS handheld. The easy-to-use eXplorist XL delivers quick access to key features, plus limitless map storage via the built-in SD card reader/writer. 14 parallel channels with WAAS enabled Back-lighted keypad with Joystick on front housing Easy switching between map files. In a few clicks, change from Street maps to Topo maps to Lakes maps. Dimensions (HxWxD) - 6.4×2.9×1.33
Customer Review: Magellan XL GPS features are unsurpassed
I recently upgraded my GPS by purchasing a Magellan Explorist XL handheld unit. It replaced the first GPS unit I purchased a few years ago … a Magellan Meridian Gold. In this review, consequently, improvements, comparisons and features of the new Explorist XL are frequently compared to the older Magellan model.

The Hardware
Out of the box, the first thing you notice is the size and weight of the Explorist XL. At 7.5 cm (2.9) wide, 16 cm (6.3 in) long and 3.4 cm (1.33 in) thick and weighing 340 gms (0.75 lb) with four AA batteries installed, the XL Explorist is a good handful. It is a nice design, with a rubberized, waterproof, impact-resistant casing and the unit feels solid. The frequently-used control buttons are at the lower front of the unit, well-located, like on the older Meridian Gold.

There are eight control buttons, including two for map zoom, one for selecting navigation screens, a menu button, a “goto” button, a “mark” button plus a combined joystick/enter button and an “escape” button that reverses button commands. On the XL unit, these control buttons are illuminated when the backlight is on.

There is a separate lug on the case to attach a lanyard. This is an improvement over the screw-on lanyard of the Meridian Gold series; however no lanyard is included with the Explorist XL.

The cover for the four AA batteries is on the back of the unit. It is secured with a quarter-turn thumb-screw. The compartment cover fits very tightly with obvious attention to waterproofing. With the Meridian Gold, the slide-latches securing the battery cover did not provide much confidence. The XL cover is a big improvement.

The location of the power on/off button is on the upper right side of the XL unit. The button is imbedded in the rubberized covering. It requires considerable effort to activate this button. The location and stiff action is an improvement over the Meridian. In this location, the power button is not likely to be accidentally pushed. (Therefore, there is no need for a “power-protect” menu selection on the XL, as with the Meridian Gold.)

On the left side of the XL case, is a similar imbedded button for the display backlight. The backlight control on Magellan Meridian models was to hold down the power key. Having a dedicated backlight button has is a much better arrangement; however there are only two levels of illumination and “off”. One lower illumination level for night driving would be desirable.

The connection of the USB cable (supplied) is similar to the cable attachment system on the Meridian Gold. The cable connection is made via a six-contact shoe that is held in place with a quarter-turn screw. The quarter-turn is better than the screw-system used on Meridian models, but nevertheless, it takes some effort to attach the XL USB cable. Some improvements in design could be made here.

It is worth mentioning that external power to the XL unit is automatically provided while the GPS unit is attached to your computer via the USB cable. No longer do you have to worry about batteries running down when transferring files between computer and GPS unit. Curiously, there are no external power connection terminals on the GPS except through the USB cable connection. So for now, if you purchase a cable to provide external power to the XL Explorist (for example, from the lighter in your automobile) the USB cable must be attached to the XL unit and the power cable from the cigarette lighter plugs into a socket on the USB cable. This is a quirky, messy arrangement, but it works. It appears the XL was rushed to market before Magellan could offer mounts and accessory cables for the XL. I am confident Magellan will provide better one-cable external power solutions in the future.

A neat feature of the XL case design is access to the SD memory card. This is located on the right-hand side of the unit. No longer do you have to remove the batteries (like on the Meridian) to remove or install the memory card. The SD memory slot is located under a waterproof rubberized flap. The card is very easy to install and remove.

Installation of four AA standard or rechargeable AA batteries (not included) in the XL unit is straight-forward. Magellan wisely reverted to the use of AA batteries in the Explorist XL unit following negative reaction to the line-up of Explorist models with built-in rechargeable battery packs (an impractical idea for campers, back-backers and others with no means to recharge the unit or change batteries.) Good to see Magellan reacted quickly and reverted to standard batteries with the XL design.

With four AA batteries, the XL unit is advertised to last 19 hours, however, I found 12 hours with four rechargeable NiMH batteries rated 2300 mAh each was a reasonable expectation, but the discharge rate varies with use of the backlight. You can set up the XL so the backlight automatically goes off in 30 sec., 1, 2, 4, 10 min. or never.

The XL has a huge screen measuring a full 5.2 x 7.1 cm (2 x 2.8 in) This was one of the main reasons for buying this unit, and it is a fantastic feature. The 16-color screen is beautiful, well back-lit and easy to see under all lighting conditions. It is much easier to see than the B & W screen of the Meridian Gold and with color, it is much easier to distinguish between geographical features such as roads versus rivers. As mentioned, a lower illumination setting for the back-light would be desirable.

Software
Before operation, the first thing to do is register your XL unit with Magellan at their internet website. This is important later on, when it comes to purchasing and activating detail maps.

The Explorist XL unit comes with an installation wizard CD. This contains the XL USB driver, Mapsend file conversion software and Magellan Geocaching software.

The unit also came with a Mapsend DVD that contains a program called Mapsend Manager, plus several detail map software programs including Mapsend Direct Route NA, Mapsend Topo 3D Canada and Mapsend Topo 3D USA. If you pre-pay for one of these programs, an unlock code is supplied. Mapsend Manager will take you through the steps required to install the software and then to enter the code to unlock it. As mentioned previously, an internet connection and prior internet registration of the XL unit is necessary.

If you did not pay for software, Mapsend Manager software takes you to the Magellan site where you can purchase and unlock the selected software on-line.

Mapsend Manager finds all Mapsend software on your computer and provides an easy interface to access any of your Mapsend programs, plus file conversions, file transfers etc. The Mapsend Manager is also available free from the Magellan website.

There have been a lot of reviews complaining about Magellan Mapsend software. To the contrary, my experience has been good. I have had no problems. I admit Magellan’s system to “unlock” software over the internet is a bit cumbersome, however, many software companies seem to be doing this now, starting with Microsoft.

A big advantage of this system is that once the software is “unlocked” there is no requirement to insert the original CD or DVD in the drive to use the Mapsend programs. Some Mapsend software with this onerous protection feature was a huge pain and impractical.

Once the Mapsend software is loaded on the computer and unlocked, the process of compiling detailed map region files for use on the XL Explorist is easy. A big improvement in the software is there are no longer limits to the size of regions that can be compiled. I have compiled huge regions over 100 meg with no problems. After selecting and naming a desired detail map region, use the command “upload to GPS”. A requester will open and ask if you want to transfer the file to the GPS or the computer’s hard drive. It is best to direct the program to write the file onto your hard drive. Thus saved, the file can then be easily copied to the SD card or internal memory of the GPS. Hint: to transfer the relatively large map files to the SD card, it is much faster to use a card reader.

One neat feature of the Mapsend software is that it automatically creates all the necessary directories on the SD card and internal memory with intuitive names including “detail maps”, “background maps”, “geocaches”, “my POIs” (points of interest), “track logs” etc. This makes it very easy to manage and transfer GPS files.

With a USB connection, one sees the GPS as a connected hard drive which makes it an order of magnitude easier to perform file transfers compared to the old serial port (COM1) connection of the Meridian Gold. My only complaint is that you must manually switch the XL Explorist to access either the SD memory card or the 30 meg internal memory. It would be more convenient to access both GPS memories without switching, but perhaps this is technically impossible through one USB port.

Operation

The Magellan Explorist XL manual is comprehensive. It is included on the CD and can also be downloaded free from the Magellan site. Anyone contemplating the Explorist XL should download and peruse the manual before committing to purchase.

The XL model starts up fast. All the introductory warning screens of the Meridian are gone … thank you Magellan!) and the XL immediately attempts to locate satellites with the built-in “patch” antenna. The XL is designed to track and compute 14 satellites. Specifications for the unit say it finds and computes a fix from “cold” status in less than two minutes and from “warm” status in less than one minute. The unit actually locks in faster than those times and holds the signal much better than a Meridian Gold. The XL does not work indoors (as reported by some other reviewers) however; it does work in proximity to a window facing the right direction and is able to pick up signals where the Meridian Gold will not.

The Explorist XL toggles through four primary screens. One is the “satellite tracking screen” and three are “navigation screens”. The first navigation screen is the “map screen” where the zoom controls allow you to zoom in/out through an incredible scale range from 2700 kilometers (1600 miles) to 35 meters (100 ft). The zooming computations, with a detailed map, are not as fast as I would like, but adequate.

The principal map screen can be configured in many different ways. You can set the map orientation to always north, or oriented per a selected course, or oriented by the direction (track) you are following. The orientation “by track” is handy for driving navigation, but the computations to orient the map are complex and map redraw is relatively slow, especially when using in an automobile. In this respect, the XL has similar performance to the Meridian Gold.

The map screen can be set to “land use” or “marine use”. With the marine setting, water is shown blue and land is shown yellow. In land use, water is blue and land is shown white.

The base map supplied on the Explorist XL unit is very sparse in details. It is highly recommended, therefore, that you purchase an SD memory card and one of Magellan’s “Mapsend” detailed maps to fully utilize the XL’s detailed mapping capability.

A cautionary note here!! Previously purchased Mapsend software (Such as the Streets and Destinations series for USA and Canada) does not work with Magellan Explorist models … including the XL. If, like me, you had a considerable investment in older Mapsend software, you will be disappointed that you have to purchase new GPS software. However, there are a lot of improvements in the newer software versions, so the investment is worth it.

I purchased Mapsend Direct Route for North America for $130. I also purchased a 256 meg SD card. I now wish I had purchased a larger capacity card. Gigabyte SDs are available at reasonable cost these days and the Explorist XL can use this gigantic memory to your advantage, making huge detailed maps portable and available at all times.

The second navigation screen on the XL is the “compass” screen. This screen shows a graphical compass face with an electronically calculated north, a pointer showing the set course; the direction of a destination waypoint (if one is set); and the direction of the sun and the moon. Unfortunately, the XL electronic compass is not one that will point north when you are stationary. You have to be moving at least 0.3 km/hour (0.5 mph) for it to work. The technology is available, so I wish Magellan had included the type that continues to work when stationary. If you have Mapsend routing software, and set a street route, this compass screen will transform into a sequential list of turn instructions.

The third screen is called the “position screen.” This contains information such as longitude, latitude, elevation, location accuracy, date, time, and trip odometer and battery condition.

In addition to the navigation screens, several secondary screens are also available from the Advanced Features menu. There is a Fish/Hunt screen, an Area Calculation screen, a Sun/Moon screen, a Vertical Profile screen. On the Meridian Gold, most of these screens were primary screens yielding a total of eight screens to toggle. Magellan was wise to relegate the less important screens to the background on the Explorist XL … they are available if needed, but out of the way of the important screens used to navigate.

Each of the three navigation screens have optional inset information boxes and these can be customized from a list of 16 map information options; speed, distance, bearing, ETA etc. The Meridian Gold also had this feature.

Having two banks of memory with the installation of an SD card, adds the complication that you have to decide where to store files. The XL’s menu gives you a choice of SD card or internal memory. There is substantial 30 meg internal memory built into the XL, however this is too small for large detailed map files. My preference is to store detail map files on the SD memory card and smaller files such as points of interest (POI) files, geocache files in internal memory. (A note on GPS terminology; Magellan has, in their wisdom, decided that points of interest (POIs) are the same as waypoints. Therefore on the XL, all waypoints are considered to be POIs.)

Magellan had the wisdom to include conversion software for converting waypoint, route and track files created with older Mapsend software to the new format required for the XL. Unfortunately, as mentioned, the conversion software doesn’t convert (*.img) detailed map files created from older Mapsend software.

One piece of supplied software that I found to be difficult and confusing was the Magellan Geocache Manager version 1.09. The software allows drag and drop of downloaded geocache “.loc” files, but when a file-save is attempted, the program says it will be saved as a Magellan “*.geo” file. This doesn’t happen. No *.geo files are created. The file is stored as the original *.loc file. Happily, the Magellan Geocache software adequately converts and transfers *.loc files into another file format (*.gs files) and transfers these to the geocache directory of the XL unit. Again, a decision must be made whether to store geocache files in SD memory or internal memory.

The XL has a PC-like file system with directories, subdirectories and files. This is very intuitive for any computer-user and much easier than the endless lists that one had to scroll through on older Meridian Gold models.

The Explorist XL GPS operates exactly as expected. It is accurate. It has tracking and back tracking. Waypoints (points of interest), marks and tracks can be created with the GPS unit or via the Mapsend Maps on computer and transferred as files. A big improvement is that waypoints (POIs) can now be named with up to 20 characters (versus 8 on the Meridian), allowing meaningful names.

You can set up routes and with Mapsend Routing Software,you have the choice of turn-by-turn instructions for driving, or route navigation using waypoints, or simple “goto” “point of interest” navigation. The unit also has a Geocache database which remains to be tested.

Some Deficiencies

My summary list of deficiencies for the Explorist XL is relatively short:

*Change design so rechargeable AA batteries recharge when unit is connected via the USB cable.
*One additional lower backlight illumination level is required.
*Improved cable connector for external power supply should be provided (so USB cable does not have to be used.)
*The connection of USB cable to back of GPS can be improved.
*A lanyard should be supplied.
*Stationary electronic compass should be standard.
*Provision for an external antenna should be made.
*Faster screen redraws would be desirable.
*Old Mapsend software is not compatible and cannot be converted for use with Explorist XL. Magellan should at least have offered their loyal customers an upgrade discount.
*At this writing, there are few choices in brackets or mountings for the XL unit.

Conclusion
In spite of the preceding minor complaints, the Magellan Explorist XL handheld GPS is an excellent unit. It seems that Magellan listens to their GPS customers and critics, keeping the best and most desirable Magellan features, while eliminating many of the poorer features. The result is the Explorist XL model. In just a few years, the improvements made from the Meridian Gold model to the Explorist XL model are very impressive. Substantial improvements in Mapsend software are also apparent.

The price of the XL unit is very competitive compared to other handheld GPS units with comparable or lesser features. At this time, the HUGE XL color screen and SD memory capability cannot be matched in any other handheld GPS at any price. The Magellan Explorist XL is highly recommended,