![]() I was less convinced by the camera – although it produced acceptable results in good light, it struggled with less ideal conditions – the results were disappointing even compared to many phones. There are four menus accessed from the four corners of the map, one of which is used as a programmable shortcut to whatever functions or places you need, and it is easy to follow a route, or to plot a point on the map and then navigate to it. I didn’t find the controls very intuitive at first – there are alot of icons to work out and not much explanatory text – but once you become familiar with it, the eXplorist works well. The days when GPS’s needed a wide open sky to work are gone, and an accurate GPS fix is gained pretty quickly – even indoors. The lower resolution does mean that the map display appears a little pixellated, though clear enough. The electronic compass enables the 610 to automatically orient the map, even when standing still. Although not as high-resolution or responsive to touch as many phones, the screen here benefits from being usable when wearing thin gloves, and even works when its surface is running with water – a real advantage. Most of us have become used to the user-friendliness of touch screens on our phones, so it was great to see one on the eXplorist. With rounded corners and a deeply recessed 4″ screen, it certainly can take alot more knocks than a smartphone, and is waterproof too. In the hand, the eXplorist immediately impresses with its very robust look and feel. We tested the unit with full OS mapping on board if you shop around online you should be able to find the eXplorist both complete with the OS mapping, or without it (our pack also contained a voucher to buy the UK mapping for £50 – a big discount on the full quoted additional price of £149.99). The unit also has a 3.2MP camera, together with a microphone and speaker for recording field notes – or audio blogs – whilst out on your trips. The eXplorist comes with very basic pre-loaded maps, but full OS 1:50 000 mapping for the whole of the UK is available on a miniSD card. The Magellan eXplorist 610 is towards the upper end of the range, above the 510 (which lacks the barometric altimeter and electronic compass) but below the 710 (which adds turn-by-turn navigation for use in your car). I’ve been using GPS software on my smartphone for the last couple of years, so it is interesting to take a look at one of the current crop of dedicated GPS units. Satmap made the first unit able to display proper Ordnance Survey maps back in 2007, whilst Garmin followed suit with its first OS-capable GPS, the Oregon, in 2008. The earliest units had only very basic maps (some simply showed route lines) and were mostly used to get a current grid reference or to record tracks – but gradually GPS units have become much more sophisticated. GPS devices appear to be the Marmite of outdoor equipment – their use scorned by some walkers who fear the loss of traditional map and compass skills, but adopted by many others as a great aid to navigation and safety (see our article on the dos and don’ts of gps navigation).
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