Just got this unit. It's great! I think this will set the standard for handhelds for a while. The ability to add memory makes it fairly unbeatable right now. I've put down some thoughts of mine that might be helpful. The stats and whatnot are on the Magellan web site and Amazon so I won't go into those. Also go to the Magellan site for screen shots. They have a shot of each screen, it's helps to see them I think. Anyhoo, my thoughts, very random and probably not much help but.... - It's very easy on the hands. Fits nicely with all the buttons up front, no hidden or back buttons. Very nice. Also has dedicated zoom buttons for the maps, a great touch. Nothing's worse then one button for both. The rubber cover is very grippy so water will never be a problem. The battery compartment doesn't look very water tight, however the unit seems tight. I would guess water will never be problem. - This unit come with the pc cable, although the blur above doesn't say this. So you won't need to buy that cable. Makes it easier really and saves a little money for other extries. You will only need the car cable, which is cheaper. The combo looks a little large and complicated, so I'll go for the straight cig lighter cable. - The screen is very easy to see. It has 3 levels of backlighting, but I haven't needed that at all. The screen's large enough and bright enough for most folks. The detail is good, like any hand held it's somewhat limited but I have had no problems at all. - The 16MB of info is really pretty good. The detail doesn't go beyond state, national, and some limited local roadways but that's to be expected. With the Mapsend CD-ROM I would think the detail is endless, especially with the add on memory. I haven't bought the CD-ROM yet (...). Can't wait to test that out! The marine points are good. Seems to have most of the local fixed navaids, including archaeological sites. I'm on east coast so marine points are plentiful and this seems to have most. Good enough most sailing and boating, especially since one doesn't navigate solely with a GPS anyway - I hope! I would think a future marine CD-ROM is in order though. I'm not sure if the gold or platinum has more road map detail or not. Probably, but they don't have the waterway points which is a neat feature. Also has lakes and rivers, for the fishers out there - has a fishers helper time-of-day screen. - It's very easy to program and get going. I had it up and going in 15 minutes, including reading the manual. It's really easy. I'm a first time GPSer if that helps. No worries! Oh, it comes with batteries in the box. A nice touch. No running out looking for batteries when all you really want to do is play with the thing! A+ to Magellan on that one. - It's very quick at getting the sats and giving your local. Since it's my first I cannot compare but I'm satisfied with the speed. It refreshes quickly and has a nifty compass. The drive screens are well thought out and uncomplicated. - All of the prompts and menus are intuitive and easy to navigate, which seems logical for a navigation tool. But not always the case I guess. The learning curve is gentle, without losing the feeling that this is a seriously techno complicated piece of equipment. - Extras. Includes a very neat sun/moon function. It will tell you rise and set times as well as phase of moon. The GPS lets you know your position to the sun and moon at all times as well. I really like this GPS. It does everything I can think of and a little more. Heck it even has an elevation gain/loss recorder. Kinda cool after a major hike to see how far you climbed. Overall this is a must buy. If you're in the market for a GPS seriously look over this one. I think it's the top of the heap, and well worth the ticket price. Hope this helps! Now go and have an adventure.

The limits that are placed on you: 1 sd card and 1 chart -It does not matter how much memory or how many cards you have do not buy any thing more than 32 mb!
br / So if you use the blue nav software on your boat be sure to pack your computer. If you are going out of the imposed restricted zone placed upon you by Magellens"map send" fire up the generator get your computer going and then load the next chart you need. I guess this should not be a problem if you have an ocean liner - boy hope you do not have a smaller boat.
br / I would be happy with this gps if they let you register let's say 3 additional sd cards or if they did not limit you to one chart on the one registered sd card! what is the point of only one chart at a time? one chart! the charts are not that big some one needs to get on the ball at magellan and lift restrictions ASAP! or maybe Ill go back to Garmen! You dirty sons of bitches!

I purchased a Meridian Marine and was disappointed to find that the BlueNav Chart software has serious shortcomings. First you can only download one small chart on one SD card. Chesapeake bay, for example, has 3 different charts so you have to erase the SD card and re-load another map. If you are in a sea kayak it is tough to take a lap top. Also you can't download your track into a PC, which is a problem for sailboats. Your other option is to buy the extra large charts on an SD card which is quite expensive. If you buy this unit with the idea of loading Marine charts you will be seriously disappointed. Buyer beware check it out with Magellan, the website glosses over these shortcomings. The hardware works well if you want to download maps into the unit get an SD card reader it will save you hours of time over a serial connection.

I almost did not buy this unit after reding the reviews but as I suspected this is a well built GPS that fits in your hand with a large useable readout. The map software worked perfectly and had all the street info I needed even in remote areas of MI in the "UP".

Thinking it'd be great to get a GPS for your boat/ car/ hiking which will work for all three? Think again. The Magellan GPS MapSend software system makes it virtually impossible to use your GPS for more than one of these categories. Hard to believe, I know, I just got mine in the mail yesterday and I already feel duped. The killer is that the inability to crossover from the BlueNav charts to Topo or Streets is BY DESIGN. There is no software or memory restriction that would keep the unit from being able to use all three MapSend products. Plus... the waypoint managment is poor (can't load from PC to handheld or visa versa without erasing all of the waypoints stored on the receiving device), the file transfer is slow (unless you buy extra technology), the wrist strap screws in to the center of the mount area for external power/ computer communication cable/ external antenna so you always have to unscrew the wrist strap to attach anything else (I mean, come on!). I feel I've spent $500 for a nearly useless product. Avoid Magellan is my advice.

Just got this unit. It's great! I think this will set the standard for handhelds for a while. The ability to add memory makes it fairly unbeatable right now. I've put down some thoughts of mine that might be helpful. The stats and whatnot are on the Magellan web site and Amazon so I won't go into those. Also go to the Magellan site for screen shots. They have a shot of each screen, it's helps to see them I think. Anyhoo, my thoughts, very random and probably not much help but.... - It's very easy on the hands. Fits nicely with all the buttons up front, no hidden or back buttons. Very nice. Also has dedicated zoom buttons for the maps, a great touch. Nothing's worse then one button for both. The rubber cover is very grippy so water will never be a problem. The battery compartment doesn't look very water tight, however the unit seems tight. I would guess water will never be problem. - This unit come with the pc cable, although the blur above doesn't say this. So you won't need to buy that cable. Makes it easier really and saves a little money for other extries. You will only need the car cable, which is cheaper. The combo looks a little large and complicated, so I'll go for the straight cig lighter cable. - The screen is very easy to see. It has 3 levels of backlighting, but I haven't needed that at all. The screen's large enough and bright enough for most folks. The detail is good, like any hand held it's somewhat limited but I have had no problems at all. - The 16MB of info is really pretty good. The detail doesn't go beyond state, national, and some limited local roadways but that's to be expected. With the Mapsend CD-ROM I would think the detail is endless, especially with the add on memory. I haven't bought the CD-ROM yet, out-of-stock at Amazon at the time of writing. :( Can't wait to test that out! The marine points are good. Seems to have most of the local fixed navaids, including archaeological sites. I'm on east coast so marine points are plentiful and this seems to have most. Good enough most sailing and boating, especially since one doesn't navigate solely with a GPS anyway - I hope! I would think a future marine CD-ROM is in order though. I'm not sure if the gold or platinum has more road map detail or not. Probably, but they don't have the waterway points which is a neat feature. Also has lakes and rivers, for the fishers out there - has a fishers helper time-of-day screen. - It's very easy to program and get going. I had it up and going in 15 minutes, including reading the manual. It's really easy. I'm a first time GPSer if that helps. No worries! Oh, it comes with batteries in the box. A nice touch. No running out looking for batteries when all you really want to do is play with the thing! A+ to Magellan on that one. - It's very quick at getting the sats and giving your local. Since it's my first I cannot compare but I'm satisfied with the speed. It refreshes quickly and has a nifty compass. The drive screens are well thought out and uncomplicated. - All of the prompts and menus are intuitive and easy to navigate, which seems logical for a navigation tool. But not always the case I guess. The learning curve is gentle, without losing the feeling that this is a seriously techno complicated piece of equipment. - Extras. Includes a very neat sun/moon function. It will tell you rise and set times as well as phase of moon. The GPS lets you know your position to the sun and moon at all times as well. I really like this GPS. It does everything I can think of and a little more. Heck it even has an elevation gain/loss recorder. Kinda cool after a major hike to see how far you climbed. Overall this is a must buy. If you're in the market for a GPS seriously look over this one. I think it's the top of the heap, and well worth the ticket price. Hope this helps! Now go and have an adventure.