Magellan Crossover GPS
Sep
12
2006
In the upper end of the new RoadMate 2000 series from Magellan is the CrossoverGPS. (Formerly known as the Magellan RoadMate 2500T.) This GPS includes maps of North America but also adds pre-loaded topographic maps for outdoor adventures. Other outdoor maps from Magellan such as marine maps can be added through SD cards. A host of other advanced auto navigation features are included such as real time traffic reporting, an MP3 player, and a photo viewer.
This GPS comes with the Sports Guard case to make handling the device easier and also provides additional protection for the device. The CrossoverGPS will be available sometime in December January for $549.
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[...] What was initially introduced as the Magellan RoadMate 2500T has changed names before its launch and is now known as the Magellan CrossoverGPS. No changes other than the name are apparent, the price remains $549.99 and availability is still expected in December. [...]
Is there a comparison of the features or reviews of the Garmin Nuvi 660 and the Magellan Roadmate 2500t?
Which is best all around unit?
Thanks,
Harry, here is a link where you can compare the Garmin Nuvi 660 and the Magellan CrossoverGPS. The Nuvi 660 has many more features, but is quite a bit more expensive.
Hi there, are these the only two crossover gps models. I’m trying to buy one for my husband and he wants city, trails, traffic and I would like books on tape…any ideas?
looking for combo on and off road gps that leaves footprints, talks to me, etc
Rachel – my normal advice in that situation is to purchase two devices. One for handheld/trails use and the other for auto navigation.
David – what do you mean by talks to you? Just voice instructions or are you looking for text-to-speech?
I would like voice instructions for highway driving.
And footprints, altimeter, compass, for off road.
When I call Magellan, (which I have done numerous times) nobody seems to be able to talk to me about the crossover.
Garmin seems to have good customer service, but they say that the 76csx is the closest they come, and that does not have voice.
Are there any other choices?
The advice I give to most people in your situation is to purchase two GPS devices… one handheld and one for auto use. It will cost a little bit more but your overall satisfaction will likely be much, much higher than any hybrid type device could provide.
I am looking to buy a gps system for my husband to use on his atv….any sugestions. I thought maybe the magellan crossover gps, but I could use some info on what things is should be considering.
JoAnna how would he be using the device? For off-road navigation or for another specific purpose?
I did some research and the only one I found that truly did both off road and highway (without voice prompting, which is ok with me- it beeps before and at a turn) was the Garmin 76csx
I am very happy with it so far
Hi Tim, I would think that he wants it so that he can go atving by himself and not get lost. I am concerned though…how on earth can something have all the back country in all of Canada? Is there such a program? I think that it would be nice to be able to use for in the truck too….maybe there is not such a thing.
Thanks David Robert for the advice. Do you have any idea of what price point I should be looking at?
JoAnna, I would look at getting one of the handheld mapping GPS devices from Garmin. Then you could purchase the Topo Canada map product ($152) to load on the GPS.
Even something as simple as the Garmin eTrex Venture Cx might work well. ($250, but I’ve seen it online for around $180). All prices in USD.
I just bought everything about a month ago, so its pretty fresh in my mind. The GPS was about 350.
Then you have to buy an sd card (memory card) for about $60. (get at least a 1 gig card, if not bigger) Then there is the city software, for about $100. Then the topo, which is about $75. Then the case, the car holder, the battery recharger for NIMH batteries, and the rechargable batteries, all for about another $100. So its not cheap, but so far I love it. Whatever you do, get one that leaves electronic bread crumbs for back country hiking. It is the best. I wish my screen were bigger, and the unit were smaller, but other than that I am pretty happy with it.
Thanks guys for all the info. I know where to come if I have anymore questions.
Oh I forgot to ask….is it then not in my best interest to get my husband the Maggellan Crossover GPS? No good?…don’t know?
The crossover is mainly designed for auto use. For the usage you are describing (offroad ATV) he would probably be happier with the form factor and functions of a handheld device, and a device which is IPX-7 waterproof versus something IPX-4.
looking to buy GPS – mostly for car use – occassional short hike on trails with my kids….
1. loking at the new magellan crossover (2500T) best price so far $394 with shipping edwincomp.com (any other places recommended for better deal ? ) – are they reliable supplier?
2. i read above from another post that they also had to buy : ” Then you have to buy an sd card (memory card) for about $60. (get at least a 1 gig card, if not bigger) Then there is the city software, for about $100. Then the topo, which is about $75. Then the case, the car holder, the battery recharger for NIMH batteries, and the rechargable batteries, all for about another $100. ” ….
( i have an extra 512 memory card from my digital camera- can i use that? ) …
hy do you have to buy city software ? (isn’t that part of preloaded maps of us & canada streets and topo ?)
does it not come with batteries (rechargeable) and battery recharger ?
am i better off with 2200t ?
very confused
1) that looks like a great price, I’m not familiar with that company, their website looks quite scary to me. I don’t see that they sell anything… just ads.
2)You wouldn’t need to buy most any of those things. If you want more storage space you could use your digital camera card. The maps are included.
But… if you want something to use for hiking as well I’d suggest getting a auto GPS device and then an inexpensive handheld. (You can find some for under $100).
THANKS for the reply
also…. unanswered …
do you have to buy city software ? (isn’t that part of preloaded maps of us & canada streets and topo ?)
does it not come with batteries (rechargeable) and battery recharger ?
am i better off with 2200t ? or some other magellan model –
recommendations ? please … unexpensive but good quality – easy to use model ?
thanks
No, you don’t need to purchase additional maps. It comes with a built-in lithium-ion battery (see specs in top left column).
What are you looking for in an auto device? For a simple handheld, check out the eTrex from Garmin. For a simple auto device check out the Nuvi 350 from Garmin or the TomTom ONE.
Now i am really confused (and tech electronic items are not my thing) reviews all have some good points and some cons….
You mention a few others…
They all seem to be around the same $400 price –
if you had to pick one as the best – which would you pick and is easiest to use of the bunch .. Reliable …. Etc…
Magellan crossover
garmin nuvi 350
tom tom one
Ok tom tom one i have eliminated – glare, no volume , no text to speech , short battery life….Does not sound great
why would you pick garmin nuvi 350 over magellan crossover-both same price – cant do trail maps i think with garmin …. Does the magellan have issues? I know it is very new to market
The Nuvi is the easiest to use, the TomTom ONE has more advanced navigation features.
I haven’t had any problems with glare on the TomTom ONE. I think the screen is slightly better than the one on the Nuvi 350 since it can be viewed from a wider range of angles without distortion.
A few people might require text-to-speech, but for many it is unnecessary and the voice prompts work very well. See our article on text-to-speech for more information. The battery life doesn’t bother me either since I rarely use it out of the car.
Out of those three only the Magellan Crossover can currently store trail maps. But the topo maps on the crossover are not of very good quality so I recommend people get a GPS for on-road use and a GPS for off-road use. In the end you will probably save money doing it that way. The Magellan devices tend to have lower satisfaction reports than the TomTom and Garmin devices. They also seem to have higher return rates.
Thanks
nuvi 350 compared to magellan crossover ?
Nuvi best price so far costco $349
Thanks for your help so far
[sniped copyrighted review]
has that been corrected in newer models of it – or how does it work on dashboard?
Which has better acurate and quicker mapping – tom tom one or nuvi 350
The TomTom mount has worked fine for me. The face of the unit sticks 3.5″ off the dash while the Nuvi is 3.9″ off the dash. Very little difference there. Yes, the cables are on the bottom of the TomTom ONE which can make it more difficult to stick extremely low on the windshield. As to map accuracy, they are pretty much the same. Check out our article on NAVTEQ vs Tele Atlas which has info on the maps in each of those models. The Nuvi is a little quicker on 2,000 mile routes, but there isn’t much difference on 100 mile routes.
So many choices….
Going out to look at some today
*** how come you dont talk about the magellan crossover ? *****
Although new and sure price will drop in near future…. It is not much more money than the nuvi 350
See comment #26, last paragraph.
Hi Tim-
Thanks for your comments above. I’m looking for a crossover but will take your 2-unit advice to heart. Makes sense.
My question:
Are there any portable units (auto and hiking) that are interchangeable between North America and Europe? Don’t really want to buy 4 units!!
Thanks.
Kris
Hi Kris – That is a tough answer. You could get something like a Garmin mapping handheld, then purchase the additional software for Topo USA ($116), TOPO Great Britain ($300), City Navigator North America ($150), and City Navigator Europe ($300) and selectively install what you want when you want. But you wouldn’t have a device that is fantastic at auto navigation (no voice prompts, small screen, etc).
Garmin has said that in the future you will be able to load topo maps on their Nuvi devices, but we are still not sure when that is coming. Plus with the unprotected SD card slot it isn’t too useful for hiking since a tiny bit of water inside the device could cause big problems.
So my advice would be to buy two devices, one auto and one handheld. Then purchase any additional maps you might need. You could grab something like the Nuvi 270 which has both North America and Europe pre-installed and you would be covered from the auto perspective. Then pickup something like an etrex and purchase any additional off-road map sets you might want.
Thanks, Tim. That’s exactly the info I was looking for. When I had gone to their website, I had gotten the impression that it was an “either-or” situation when it came to continents. Will look into these units. Appreciate the help.
Kris.
I bought a crossover two weeks ago. 428.00 delivered. I know nothing about GPS but my wife wanted to get me a gift and this is what I ended up with. In the car the thing works great gives you choice of shortest distance, shortest time, most use of freeways, least use of freeways. I would think that for most people the base topo map would be sufficent. I live in the northeast and I can’t imagine myself ever being more than 5 miles from a road of some kind. Just for a trial I pinpointed a benchmark set in 1927 about ninety miles from my home,an area that I am not real familiar with. I found the nearest road intersection on the vehicle side of the crossover and then loaded the coordinates of the bench mark on the topo side. I drove directly to the intersection and set my parking point as base camp then followed the pointer to the bench mark a little more than 1/2 a mile from the car. The crossover started beeping and sure enough after a bit of searching around I found the benchmark. I would estimate that it started beeping about 30 or 40 feet away from the benchmark. Of course without another GPS unit for a control or knowing exactly how accurate the stated coordinates were this test certainly would not stand up. After I found my quarry I just hit return to base and went right to my car. The only bad thing so far is that the screen tends to washout in direct sunlight so I had to shield it inside my jacket. I don’t know how this unit would be for serious boondocking but that is not it’s designed pupose, for my use I think it will be just fine.
Are there any automobile units that will let you input longitude and latitude to find a location?
Chris, there are quite a few. I don’t have an exhaustive list, but I checked around with a few devices I have here with me now. The Lowrance iWay, Magellan Maestro, and Haman Kardon didn’t, the Mio, TomTom, and Garmin Nuvi devices did. However it should be noted too that with some of the devices like the Magellan’s you could create a POI file with a lat/long, upload it to the device, and navigate to your custom POI.
Between the Magellan Crossover and the Nuvi 350 which has more points of interest? I am particularly interested in finding campgrounds as I travel. How current are the POI’s in each. Can these POI’s be updated.
Garmin doesn’t say exactly how many POIs come with each of their devices. The freshness of the POIs will be similar to roads, some are quite fresh while others might be lagging behind a few years. POI databases themselves cannot be updated, however if you have your own data you can make your own custom POI categories and upload them to your device.
Is garmin comming out with a combination road marine and topo similer to the Magellan Crossover
GPS
Cam – Garmin hasn’t announced anything like that yet. They’ve announced they will add the ability to load topo maps on a Nuvi, but the Nuvi isn’t waterproof. You might want to check out our article on hybrid GPS devices.
Hello fellow buyers,
I have purchase this Magellan Crossover Vehicle GPS with Topographic Maps system for the same reason you are looking at outdoor and marine combined with vehicle navigation.
Please notice that the creator of the Crossover have good marketing and ignore the needs of the users,
If you are a internet buyer I’m sure that you wishes that everything in this navigation will be computer friendly ***NOT THIS TIME***
The main reason I bought this item is to use for outdoor. Magellan mentioned in their manual and web site that you can import waypoint but they neglect to indicate that the waypoint import features works only on vehicle Nav.
Now you guys tell me who use coordinates to find a street…. Or to put your friend on your favorite…
Sucks , Now I have to put all of my OUTDOOR ROUTS manually….. very wised
I contact customer support and they confirm all above….
am for the next 5 months on vacation in US and Canada and just bought a Magellan Crossover a few hours ago for use in vehicle and for hikes.
The unit is preloaded with the North America road map and the US topo map. I was under the perception that once I return home to Germany, that I could purchase a European road map.Looking at Magellan’s website I cannot find such a European or German map for vehicle navigation (just Topo maps as well as a version of the Crossover preloaded with a European road map).
Does anyone here know if this is correct or if I am wrong (which I hope I am…)?
I really like the Crossover (only used it on the road so far) but if no European map should be available I would try to return it tomorrow as such an expenditure purely for a holiday wouldn’t be justified for me…
Unfortunately there are quite a few products Magellan hasn’t released European road maps for, the Crossover is one of them.
hello I’am from mexico, i want to buy a crossover unit, but I want to know if the mapsend topo mexico in SD card, from magellan, is compatible with the unit, can you help me.. ??..
thanks
The Magellan website says that the MapSend Topo Mexico product is compatible with the Magellan CrossoverGPS.
On the Crossover, anyone know how to do the following:
Using the Vehicle Nav, load a file (POI file?) with lat/long and automatically create a route out of a list of lat/long. For example, one of them is a bike route with about 200 points. I want to load that in as a multi-destination route and have the Crossover guide me through that bike route, point by point. Thanks.
Waypoints with Outdoor mode:
manual and unit itself seem to imply you can import waypoints to the unit. Anyone know how to do it? Do you just stick a file on the SD card? What file format?
THANKs!
You can load them with the POI Manager software. It can take ASC, CSV, TXT, GPS, XML, WPT, RTE, and PCX5 file formats. You would use the trip planner feature to navigate the custom POIs. I’m not sure exactly how many you can load into one trip.
Follow up: I had used the POI manager, was able to import CSV, and then load them as Enchanced POI’s into the Magellan. That part worked. The part that didn’t seem to work out with this method was using the Trip Planner – do you have to select each point to be added to the trip (eg in this case all 275?), or is there a way to tell the thing “here is a file of 275 points that is a route”. That’s on the Veh Nav side. On the Outdoor side, it’s not clear how or what file format to use to load a file of waypoints. Thanks for any thoughts.
Yes, you would have to select each point… but as mentioned in my response above, there is a limit as to how many points you can add to one trip. I’ve found the answer and for the Crossover it is 20.
As far as the outdoor part goes, what you are trying to do is to perform a backtrack. The Crossover will do this with an existing recorded track, but I’m not sure how (or if you can) import your own tracklog versus using one that was recorded first-hand.
looking for a multi use gps unit. submeter accuracy for assigning lat/longs to city utilities but also has the capabilities of a vehicle navigation gps like a tom tom or a quest. Anything available for those uses?
Mike, if all you need to do is mark waypoints (coordinates) then most vehicle navigation systems (TomTom, Garmin, etc) allow you to create favorites based on your current coordinates without tying them to a street address.
I’m thinking of getting a Crossover GPS. I just got an online flier from [snip] and it’s only[snip]. I want to using it mostly in my truck for street navigation but I would also like to use it in my boat. I know the marine SD card for my area is about $75. Has anyone used the marine side of this unit?
I need the sub meter accuracy to mark utility information – and was curious if a sub meter device could also do turn by turn info like a “tom tom”. But the sub meter accuracy is the first priority. Just trying to keep from buying 2 seperate devices.
Mike, consumer-grade GPS devices don’t really offer sub-meter accuracy. For what you are doing it sounds like you need a commercial, surveying grade GPS device. It is not uncommon for consumer GPS devices to be off by 20-50 feet. It sounds like you need far higher accuracy than that which you won’t achieve with a consumer level GPS device.
I bought a crossover a month ago and have used it on several motorcycle trips, it malfunctions frequently. The map freezes and the screen changes and stays on the legs remaining screen. Nothing I can do will make it work again until it has been off for several hours. It also gets confused at odd times bringing up the music page when a map is asked for. I suspect this unit is defective but cannot get a response from Magellangps.com Anyone else had these type problems?
I just bought a Magellan Roadmate 2200T advertised as upgradable to crossover. It is not at this time. It even states on the box it is but after hours on Magellan website looking for upgrade I emailed and they confirmed there is no upgrade. Don’t buy if you want crossover.
Tim- I was just about to purchase a Garmin eTrex Vista Cx, per your suggestion a couple of months ago when I read a number of review of the MapSource USA Topo program that basically ripped it apart. Since I am primarily going to use the unit for hiking, this concerns me. Any other product better for this unit? Would I have to get a different unit to use a better product?
Thanks.
Correct, you would have to purchase a different GPS to use a different software package… depending on how you are using the software.
Thanks, Tim. The main purpose of the unit would be to aid with hiking here in the States and also in Europe, perhaps even South America.
Does Magellan (or anyone else)have any units that will accept various packages like the Vista Cx does?
Is their software any more updated and/or more detailed than Garmin’s?
I’m still unsure what types of ways you will be using the software “to aid with hiking”.
Sorry, that wasn’t clear, was it. I intend to use the unit for route selection in mountains, forests and deserts terrains. Also for retracking so I don’t get lost.
You would probably find the MapSource functionality satisfactory for those uses. You could also use something like Google Earth Plus to transfer waypoints back and forth.
I am wavering between the Magellan Crossover and Garmin Nuvi 360. Aside from the usual trip routing, I am interested in a GPS that will route me to a destination via lat/long coordinates. I am active in genealogy research and to find country cemeteries often all that is available is lat/long coordinates obtained from USGS website or topo maps and will require some walking once the roads give out. If I’ve done my research correctly, the Nuvi does not store routes and does not allow multiple desitnations where the Magellan does. Neither website is clear as to custom POIs or Waypoints by lat/long. Can either system download routes created using Microsoft Streets 2007? Any advice will be appreciated.
Crossover is a GREAT idea, but implementation is a piece of junk. I got one (not from here) and returned it – crashes often, doesn’t do 1/4 of the things advertised, lousy customer support. Got a Vista Cx with additional purchase of City Nav and really like it, would recommend waiting until Vista HCx available.
April – I don’t know of any specific programs that will convert a S&T route, although it is possible they exist. Many devices such as the Nuvi series will route to a set of coordinates, ending the route at the closest point on the closest street (which isn’t always where you want to be, but close). The Magellan and Garmin devices do allow custom POIs.
John – thanks for the comments, what you’ve mentioned is what I hear from many people.
I’m looking for a gps with the auto/marine features, to use for car and boating, but like the idea of having a unit able to provide optional live traffic navigation. I am comparing Garmin 478 and Magellan Crossover. Garmin’s is not capable of traffic nav. I had a garmin 276c, mostly used it as auto unit and was happy with the features and details; however, not impressed with the some outdated auto nav details. I like the fact you can touch the screen on the Magellan versus the risking damaging the screen of the Garmin if you touch. The resolution is better on Garmin and it has tide charts; whereas, Magellan does not. Too many pros and cons for a big ticket $ to decide??
I am having a hard time finding a local store to demo the Magellan. Obviously, Magellan is cheaper, but will I be disappointed?
JP – the Crossover doesn’t provide marine maps.
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.
Purchased a new Magellan Roadmate 2000 2 months ago. On our 1500 mile RV trip, the unit has frozen up twice, so far. Once on Yellowstone Park, and Once in Grand Teton park. The last map displayed is frozen in place and the satellite icon in upper right shows no satellite detected even though when it is pushed, several active satellites are shown on the resulting screen. I managed to clear the problem mostly by pushing the reset button, but that doesn’t always work.
Love the crossover! Had a pioneer avic-s1 before, but I traded it in for the Crosover. I’m so glad i did. The Crossover is far superior in most ways. Magellan just upgraded the firmaware to give the crossover the same great modern map display and other graphics that come with the Maestro unit. All you have to do is register your Crossover on Magellan’s website, then you can download the upgrade for free. Unit is very portable so you can take with you in your pocket or buy the pouch like i did. Route calculations are fast, and spoken directions are clear. I’ve had the unit for 1 month so far, and routing is accurate and efficient.
I am looking for a GPS to be used in an automobile that will have color screen, voice command and pre-loaded software (for US & Canada). I’d also like to be able to take this unit out the the car, and get altitude readings (we live on a bluff and would use it to determine the height, for one). Originally I was looking at the Garmin nuvi 350 but found out it does not do altitude. The Crossover was a 2nd choice, but reading this post, not sure if that’s what I’m wanting either. Can you help?
Sue, the Nuvi 350 will show you altitude, it is located on the satellite information screen.
The Crossover should meet your demands. It will give you altitude. The only trouble I had with related to using it in the wilderness and its glass screen breaking.
Good luck
Told my wife I am getting ready for my yearly fishing/camping trip. Live in Oregon where unfortunately people get lost and not found in time. Wife said “get one of those things so I/someone can find you!” Spent hours on the internet reading about GPS, Personal Locator Beacons, and whatever. Any recommendations? As I don’t plan on getting lost often, it would be cool if the device had a practical use when NOT lost. Thanks
Tim, the overwhelming majority of GPS devices do not transmit any information back about your location, they only receive information that is used to compute your location. So your GPS device will know where itself is, but the satellites won’t.
In the comment/reply from JP/Tim on July 9th/10th talking about marine maps on the Crossover Tim says marine maps are not available on this unit. Magellan website says with an optional sd card the crossover can have marine maps. Correct…incorrect??? If correct, how good are the maps? Thanks.
The last time I had asked, they were not available. However it looks like now you can load these maps.
Please give me some advice on a handheld GPS for my husband to use while he is hiking. I like the idea of the topographic info provided by the Magellan Crossover but it sounds too good to be true. Thank you for your help!
I am new to the GPS market and what small amount for research I have done it would appear that the Magellan Crossover would be the best GPS to use in a car and in a canoe. I dont do much backcountry hiking any more but still enjoy a weekend canoe/kayak trip how do you think this gps will preform on tracking your progress on a river, and it ability to find dirt road access and take out points on a river. Thanks for any input on this subject.
Les, the topo maps on the Crossover are not as detailed as those available on other handheld GPS devices, including those offered by Magellan, so that might be a concern. However a bigger concern is that the Crossover is not waterproof, it is protected against splashing water (IPX-4 rated), but if it were to fall overboard, even tethered, it isn’t rated to withstand being in water.
I bought the Crossover yesterday and returned it today. Compared to my IPAQ 5910 PDA with TOM TOM GPS built in, this is what I observed on the Crossover:
1: Cannot browse the Street Map; no pan, drag
2: Poor resolution. Every 2nd street is shown as I am driving along..and some street names are 1/2 off the edge of the screen – unreadable. I can be sitting at a light and cannot tell what street is intersecting.
3: No speed indicator on the main map screen
4: If you want Topo for Canada; Marine charts of anywhere, you need to buy downloads or SD cards
5: The claim of 1 second satellite lock time failed for me in most cases. It was more like 45 seconds to 1 minute.
6: Although chargers were supplied, lots of other GPS’s with USB now charge through the USB port making it more versatile. The crossover uses a coaxial power plug.
7: Jerky, not smooth map tracking as I am driving.
8: Lack of street addresses or block numbers as I am driving. No way to know what block I am in. Even the current position feature doesn’t say.
9; No way to tilt the 3D display
10: Highest zoom is only 107 meters.
11: No way to change orientation of the display from horizontal to vertical.
12: Very limited language selection choices.
I am looking for a GPS for my motorcycle. The
crossover stood out because its water resistant.
Anyone aware of other options. I also do lite
hiking and trails and thought it might be a nice
option. Thanks for any comments
Frank, Garmin makes the Zumo and TomTom makes the RIDER which are both designed specifically for motorcycles. They don’t offer topo maps, for that combo you would need something like the crossover on this page.
Thanks Tim, When I seen these advertized I
wonder if there where any alternatives. I was
looking into handhelds that you can purches
street maps and came across the crossover. And was hoping for a more reasonable alternative.
200 to 300$ more reasonable then the rider or
zumo. Thanks for your advise, other sugestions
are welcome…
Frank,
Just be aware that the face of the Crossover is glass and easily breaks and cost over $100 to have replaced. Other than that is should be a great unit. I just bought a screen protector from http://www.shieldzone.com/ for mine and hope that will help protect it.
Steve
Question : I have read most of your posts, and I am looking for a GPS that is good on the road, water and outdoors. The Magellan Crossover seems to be the best fit for me so far. Any sugestions?
Question 2: Does anyone know if there are any maps for snowmobiling trails?
Thanks
I don’t know of any snowmobiling maps for GPS, but there could be some out there.
Hi,i have just borrowed a Crossover from local retailer for a week to test. I have found it pretty good for vehicle nav except it always seems to lag behind, as when approaching an intersection i am always going around or through the intersection while the map shows i am still 20 before the intersection. Which is a pain.
What I need it for – i need it for work, and work in the power industry. I would like to go through a job when it is first surveyed and put each pole in as a point. This could be from 10 to 100 points in a normal job and are all about 100-300 meters apart. I would also like to record my access into the area, in the hope that I could load this information into computer and print out maps with poles and access routes marked. Would this be possible with the Crossover, or should i be looking at a different model. I would also like to load waypoints into another GPS (same model) so that other workers could be directed to the job.
Is this possible.
Thank you very much for your opinions.
Yes, you should be able to mark waypoints, create tracklogs, and export waypoints with the crossover using the outdoors mode instead of the auto mode.
ANYBODY HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH THE CROSSOVER GPS TRAFFIC KIT? I BOUGHT ONE AND ACTIVATED THE FREE 3 MONTH SUBSCRIPTION. THE TRAFFIC KIT SPENDS AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF TIME SCANNING FREQUENCIES, AND AFTER LOCKING IN ON ONE, IT REPORTS NO TRAFFIC PROBLEMS, WHEN IN REALITY, THEY EXIST (IN SPADES SINCE I LIVE NEAR NYC).
Owning a ColorTrak, Sportrac Pro, 2200T and now a Crossover (2500T), I find the Crossover totally useless as an outdoor or nautical GPS. Advertisements lead you to believe this GPS is the best of both street and outdoor navigation, while it certainly is not. The outdoor maps in Nautical and Outdoor mode suck. Whole inlets and waterways do not exist, nor do areas of the Intercoastal waterway where I live. Even though I have the Magellan 3D Topo CD, ($149) it is totally useless with the Crossover. You cannot download maps to your SD card for use in the Crossover and Magellan STILL does not offer any map upgrades for the U.S. I can see now that for this to be usable, you will have to purchase additional maps…if they ever come available.
Do not buy this unit if you plan to do any hiking, hunting, boating, canoeing or anything remotely connected to outdoors. I have given my 2200T to my daughter and put the Crossover in my car for road/street travel. I have gone back to my Sportrac Pro for outdoor use. Magellan customer service is basically non-existent. They cannot tell you when they will have upgrades that will make this unit usable in the outdoors, nor do they know how much the upgrades will cost.
I recently tried the unit in outdoor mode while navigating backwaters of the Indian River in Florida. I turned “tracking” on so as to be able to return on the same route. After about 15 minutes of tracking, the unit advised me it was out of tracking memory (even though I have an empty 2gig SD card installed) and it would have to be restarted. The SD card only seems to be usable for pictures and music, not tracking or waypoint storage…go figure.
Here is the answer from Magellan concerning my complaints, which were posted above…just as I said…NO SERVICE!
They did not address the fact that no decent U.S. outdoor mapping exists for the 2500T Crossover, nor did they give any indication it would ever be available. All I got out of their response was that I could purchase a Nautical map, or a map of CANADA from their sales department. Just read it.
Canada is available to buy at 90 meters resolution. 90 meters sucks! I live in the U.S…I bought my unit in the U.S. I want U.S. mapping at a reasonable scale…not 90 meters. Sportrac Pro gives me better resolution.
So…if you are looking for a Crossover GPS that you cannot find your way around OUTDOORS, but would like to have NAUTICAL capabilities, then you can purchase this unit, then buy maps so you can tell where you are in the water.
The advertising for this product borders on FRAUD.
Do not believe this product is your answer to ROAD, OFF ROAD, WATER, and BACKWOODS travel.
Save your money and buy something else.
Magellan’s (non)Response
The BlueNav software is supposed to have all the marine charts needed? I was about to purchase a Crossover GPS. I wish to replace my Roadmate 700 (which has been an awesome unit) with a more portable unit to use in my car as well as on my boat. The BlueNav software is $200, preloaded on an SD. Are there better units which can be used for vehicle AND boats?
I’ve been told that the Magellan Crossover does take topographical maps, but it does not display forest roads. Is that true? I have the need for a GPS unit I can carry on my long forest road journeys via ATV/Rhino and was hoping the Magellan Crossover was the one. Do you know how to display forest roads? Are there multiple units that do? I don’t need the elevation changes on the topo maps. The valuable things to me are the forest roads/jeep trails. I’ve heard that the Nuvi 350 and Tom Tom One would work. ??Thank you for any help.
Does anyone have an auto/marine unit that they ARE happy with. I’m not going to buy two units. All I want is a good auto navigator that can also do a decent job of getting me around the lakes(& help me not to get lost on the water anymore) Thanks.
1. Why does my unit continue to reset itself? Sometimes it will work fine and other times it has to be shut off for an extended period of time. This is not acceptable.
2. Why does your website state that there is software available with detailed information compatible with the crossover series, yet this location and tech support state that no software updates are available? There are very few POI’s in the current system.
3. I cannot see forest roads which are on all topographical maps. Why not? This is the majority of the reasoning for me to choose this unit. Very disappointing!
4. Why don’t your technical support representitives speak English? I’m not from India. I don’t speak Indian. I can’t even make contact with someone that speaks English. That is incredibly frustrating!
5. Magellan used to be a very reputable company. What happened? I’m very disappointed and may separate myself from your products depending on how this request is handled. As far as I’m concerned, the customer support has been far below acceptable standards and the product is not what it’s advertised to be.
Trevor, Since you used the terms “you” and “your” in the comments you wrote, I just want to make sure you are not confusing us with Magellan. We are completely independent of them and have no connection.
Amen Trevor…I did a lot of research (I thought)before I bought the Magellan Crossover. Sadly, most of the info came from Magellan. The unit does not do what it is advertised to do and if you want a usable outdoor GPS, you’ll have to wait until they come up with the maps and spend some major BUCK$.
I am totally disappointed in Magellan, their Crossover line and their customer(non)service.
Tim, You are correct. I failed to mention that I sent that same email directly to Magellan.
John, I took back my Crossover and purchased the Garmin 60CSX and love it. It does everything I want but talk to me with that sultry voice. It does beep at me though. I recommend it.
This is the response Magellan sent me in regards to the above email I sent them.
Thank you for contacting Magellan. This email is in response to your query
about the CrossoverGPS.
We apologise for the delay in responding your email and for any inconvenience
caused by this issue.
We understand from your mail that your unit has some issues.
Regarding the reset of unit, I request you to send the unit for repair.
In order to process the Repair, you need a Return Authorization number, which
will be provided by us. To know how to get the Return Authorization number,
please follow the instructions below:
** The warranty period for the unit is 12 months from the date of purchase –
New unit**
** The warranty period for the unit is 90 Days from the date of purchase –
refurbished unit**
If the unit is under warranty, then send us your Name, Shipping address,
Phone number,Date of purchase, Email address and the serial number of the
unit for us to process a request for Repair.
The Return Authorization number and the address to which you need to send the
unit would be informed to you in the corresponding reply.
If your unit is NOT under warranty, it is recommended you call our Technical
Support to give your payment and other information for us to process the
request in this case.
The Technician would inform You about the Cost involved and Provide You the
Authorization Number to send the UNIT in for Repair.
I would like to inform you that currently there is no map updates available
for this unit and the latest firmware version available is V 2.14. Currently
there is no topo map available for this unit.
If you do have any further queries regarding this issue please email us or
you can call us at 1-800-707-9971 for further assistance.
————————————
Regards,
.
Magellan Email Support.
Do not call that 800 number as you will be spitting fire after attempting to communicate with a non english speaking person. Thank goodness for Garmin.
I am looking at buying one unit that I can use in my truck and to do inshore saltwater fishing. I am thinking about getting the Magellan Crossover or the Lowrance iWay 600c. I have read all the post here and noticed the mixed reviews. There aren’t many reviews for the Lowrance. I like the fact that the Lowrance comes preloaded with both street and lake/coastal maps. The fact that it doesn’t operate on batteries doesn’t bother me. Does anyone know more about the Lowrance or have recommendations on which one I should buy. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Again I am only interested in purchasing one unit not two. Thanks.
Rusty,
I’d highly recommend purchasing the Garmin 60CSX. I bought one and love it. It does everything I want but talk to me. You can buy the maps for lakes, topos and streets. The only downfall I can speak to is the cost of the additional software. Given the performance and durability of the unit however, I have no problem paying a little more. I believe you’ll find the 60CSX more than you expected. Best of luck.
I LOVE my Magellan Crossover. I am a PC Technician and it guides me to the homes to fix dead computers and televisions. On weekends I use it for geocaching with the family and husband uses it to go hiking in the mountains. I got it for 335 at Staples (500 less 165 110% price match guarantee with Costco’s 350 price) several months ago. It has frozen up on me once or twice, but I reset it. It is much easier to use than my Lowrance and I find LOTS of Points of Interest when I need them. If find about 10% of the addresses it has trouble with (finding exactly, it does come close), but they are all WAY in the boonies and I don’t know that another brand would do better.
Read Larry #83. He is dead right and there are many other amazing flaws. [snip] Bought the lakes south SD and the unit does not recognize the SD! Had a Garmin before and it was much better. The only thing positive about the Crossover is that route calc is fast and the sat receiver is very sensitive. Will sell it or keep it for backup if I can get the lakes SD working somehow.
Mary Ellen: There are Quebec snowmobile maps available for garmin gps here http://www.trakgps.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=61
I’ve seen a group using it last year, and have purchased it for this year already
Had my unit a week and generally like it. Mag documentation is poor and registering unit advised of a firmware update, but it failed twice although instructions were followed to a T. Email support from Mag solved issue in less than 24 hr, but correct solution is not to be found on website. Routing Alog is still a little dicey, but I travel from US to Canada and back. Seems to work from Can Home to Can dest through US with region set to US as long as address from book. Will test more. Seems quite accurate on addresses even in boonies. Down loaded POIs and software again tricky to tranfer properly, but solved. Won’t view my jpegs, but will show thumbnails, hmmm? Took it moose hunting and worked great. 2.14 firmware update changed interface, voice, and unit seems faster.
Responding to message from Robert from back in August regarding the Magellan Crossover GPS w/ TrafficKit. I have the setup, and the TrafficKit, and it has never worked. It locks into a signal, but never shows a problem or routes me around jams (until I come to a stop, then it naturally suggests a re-route). I’ve already had the GPS into Magellan for repair once because of it. They didn’t have me send in the TrafficKit. Now, it still doesn’t work. Stuck in a jam for 20 minutes this weekend – well-publicized construction. So, I’m looking to see if anyone else had success in getting theirs to work.
Also, I had lots of trouble with the repair center. They lost the unit (it was delivered next door (same company runs that place too), and the Help Center kept saying it was my problem. Finally, I called Magellan Public Relations, and a wonderful lady there solved that problem.
So, I’m planning to call them again for an repair authorization, unless someone knows the solution.
John in comment 108 states that firmware update soultion is not avaliable in website. I have had no luck as well. Does anyone know how to get the update. Magellan has not responded to my emails about this
Dan
To get to the 2.14 Firware upgrade, when asked to input the software version number of your existing unit, I was advised by Magellan to input 1.68 rather than the 1.62.xx.xx my unit showed and it took me to the 2.14 upgrade location. You are warned the 2.14 firmware upgrade is not reversible, so be aware. I like the 2.14 interface but maps are still the same and routing engine still a little clunky, but overall for the price I am satisfied. You are advised to backup your address books, etc.as they will be wiped by upgrade. I only had a few in and ignored, but they were not wiped by upgrade.
Luck
John Elliott
John: Did Magellan explain why you should state that you has version 1.68 instead of the 1.62 that your crossover came with? I ask because I first upgraded to 1.68 (it took me to a 1.72 version upgrade), then later I upgraded to 2.14. The crossover works fine, but it it doesn’t get traffic reprots from the traffickit I bought. Maybe they’re related.
I love the Crossover GPS. I’ve had it for a couple of months now and haven’t run into any notable problems with it. The road directions are precise and the voice prompts are clear so looking at the GPS can be avoided completely when driving. I regularly use it for road and for geocaching. The save functions within the Road option is extremely easy to use, and the coordinates and compass in outdoor mode are accurate and quick to update. Overall its a great GPS that does what it claims. If I was looking for something to complain about, the GPS does occasionally take a minute or two to locate the sats when first starting up, and although response time was fast (under 12 hours), the support responses are clearly cookie cutter. No real complaints here. I’d recommend one to a friend.
They did not explain and mie went from 1.68 straight to 2.14. Can’t help with the traffic kitas i don’t have one. Could it be related to having the text to voice announcements turned on? You can set under user options what you want announced. I forget which tab. Poor documentation certainly makes this unit a not user friendly learning curve
Jack
I’ve been looking for a GPS unit that is motorcycle friendly and it seems that the crossover may fit the bill. Garmin has the zumo series but they are out of my price range.
Are there any other units in the $300-$400 range With similar features?
I mostly need something that is
water resistant
can use a 12volt adapter
has voice directions with auto routing
has a headphone jack
The ability to use it hiking is a plus but not necessary.
Simonov – This and the 2200T are probably your only options under $400 that offer auto routing and are at least water-resistant.
Have one Crossover 2500N and yes it has the features you are looking for. i am generally pleased, but little Mag support and routing engine is a bit clunky. Batt life good and quality of test to voice pretty fair.Limited POIs but you can add lots more. Don’t know how tough it is but mine is working OK. Documentation is out of date and you will prob have to update firmware when you get it, plus Mag has an abysmal rep for cust service. Units are being advertised new online in Can for less than $[snip] Can, but wouldn’t let ahundred bucks deter me from getting a better unit.
Has anyone been able to figure out how to display city or town names on the map for the corssover? Even the icons do not appear until the scale is down to 500 feet or so. It’s pretty frustrating and Magellan hasn’t repsponded. I had on old 315 and you could adjust the scale at which waypoints and there names could be viewed. We must be going backwards. Any help is appreciated. Thanks
Must admit I never even noticed the names of towns weren’t showing on the screen, just the street name. Have noticed a few other things
1. If you want to ‘ENTER AND ADDRESS’ from a ‘POINT ON THE MAP’ you have to be zoomed in fairly close. So if it is a distant point, you zoom out move the map to the cross hairs and then zoom back in close until you zero in on the desired point and then tap the screen. Not mentioned in the documentation.
To use the TRIP PLANNER for multiple destinations, it will OPTIMIZE the order of the route, but will not GUIDE ME through the seies of all destinations from start to finish. Only guides me from current position to each destination in the TRIP PLAN separately. Read and Reread and still no luck and no helpful response from support. In addition interface in 2.14 does not match documentation.
3. Runs out of memeory and resets on occasion, so think I have too many addit POIs loaded on unit rather than SD Cards.
Still like the unit and getting used to its excentricities. Its a challenge
I have had the Crossover for about 4 months, and am pleased with it in general. We took it on vacation and it worked pretty well for the 2,000+ mile trip.
On occasion it would have imprecise location of a road (probably not updated map) and would have tell us to make a U Turn when it was obvious we were on the right road. It always helps to review a paper map or internet map before going anywhere, as you may not realize that while you are going the shortest way you are also in the worst part of town.
I do wish as others have commented that you could scroll in real time the map and for the traffic kit to work, but it does its job 90+% of the time, which is better than many of the other GPS systems.
I just purchased the Crossover GPS for my husband. He loves it. My complaint is with Magellan’s customer service and tech support. Due to their web issues, I was unable to download MapSend Lakes West, and ended up spending a total of more than 5 hours on the phone before I found someone that would help me. Their reps would say “Let me pull up the file, hold on one moment,” then I would get stuck back on hold for 10-15 more minutes, then a new person would come on the line. Whenever I asked for a supervisor, they told me there were no supervisors available. They did not help me until I told them I was going to dispute the charge with my credit card company. I would much prefer a company that takes care of customers the first time!!
I am looking for a PORTABLE GPS system that includes Central American countries such as Costa Rica and Panama, or one that has those maps available as a download.
I have a 2200T. I want to upgrade to 2.14. Where do I get the code. I don’t care about crossover as I don’t need the unit for hunting or fishing.
John, Magellan’s website, support tab, then find your GPS model. Updates will be listed there.
This is a pretty basic and disappointing MP3 capability…why not make the licensing/software arrangements to provide the ability to play wav file audio books?
I bought a Magellan Crossover and returned it after the first time out off-road. The topo maps are worthless and no upgrades are available or planned. On a river or lake you see no shoreline or tributaries. Major topo features are not shown. A track is a line on a blank screen. It’s OK for the road, but don’t expect much beyond that.
Bill
Better check your facts. Detailed topo maps are available. Check other sites and threads for what’s available. The stock topos on the unit are pretty crude agreed and Magellan Support poor at best, but others have managed to make this unit perform quite well.
Sorry John, but I agree with Bill.
I posted on this forum many months ago. The “Crossover” is highly misrepresented by Magellan..it has no real usable “off road” maps and the “Nautical” is actually comical. I have gone back to my Sportrak Pro and for off road, backwoods and water and am now using a Garmin Zumo for travel. My 2500T is going up for sale, only because I am sick of Magellan’s “NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT” and their misleading advertizing on the Crossover.
If you know where good topo’s are, why don’t you post them. I gave up months go looking months ago….even Magellan told me they didn’t have any!
Try the following link to a thread for Crossover info. jlg234 has done a lot of work with topos and 2200T and 2500T upgrades. If you don’t find the info you are seeking in thids thread follow to some of his other postings. I have used the supplied topo maps very little and agree they are pretty rudimentary. I have not used the optional maps he refers to, but as you will find in these threads there are those who have. I agree with you completely that Magellan support and user manuals are abysmal. I also think we are on the cusp of much improved GPS capabilties for functions integrated between different hardware and software. i.e. Google Earth, the internet and mobile devices. We are seeing some very expensive units starting to enter the market that have realtime POIs, traffic, GPS, and gas prices. The next year or two will be very interesting as these hit mainstream and prices plunge.
Luck
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID =99785
John Elliot. Not sure what you found on that website, but all I could get on the Magellan Crossover was a bunch of people (mostly in Canada & Europe) wondering what maps would work on it and how to use them. No one indicated that Magellan’s detailed US topo map would work. Canada, Mexico, Bulgaria, parks, etc. yes, but NOT the US topo other than the worthless one that comes preloaded. Have to say that GPSPassion is an interesting site. Bit different navigating it, but lot of “info” if you can find it.
Have a Crossover by Magellan and a Garmin 72, If you looking for a multi purpose GPS which Magellan cross over claims to be, don’t waist your money. Used as a road navigation it works ok.
This would be a spectacular GPS if Magellan would update the maps for it. I won’t recommend it until they do!! I have been misled by the Crossover several times. On the somewhat newer bridges in my area, it looks as though the car is a boat crossing a bridge-less body of water. However, the off-road feature works well.
I was considering the Crossover befor reading the comments listed on this page.
What I am looking for is a dedicated GPS for my UTV for trail and “Jeep” roading.
Sounds like the best solution is the handheld units in which the screen is to small to navigate by.
Are there any “Good” units that are mountable, you can see (larger screen), rugged, and have basically trail/jeep roads built in or importable?
Also, does anyone know anything about the Lowrance BAJA units?
Bill Baggins – after I sent my Crossover back I went with a Garmin GPSMapping 76CSx. Couldn’t be happier. Use it for kayaking (it’s waterproof & floats) and am very pleased with the topo 2008 maps. Got the mount for the car and use it in my pickup on and off road (we go kayaking in some out of the way places). The 76CSx works great for road trips with the City Navigator maps. Only things missing are voice directions and touchscreen. Screen is a bit smaller than the Crossover, but much more readable in all kinds of light.
Looked at the Lowrance XOG crossover. Not too impressed. Support is another consideration. I’d take Garmin over Magellan & Lowrance hands down.
Bill,
Thank you for the information. I am now also considering the Delorme PN-20. Small screen but looks like a solid unit.
Again Thanks for the reply.
has anyone used the crossover for boating? this is one of my main reasons for this unit.
Bought the Crossover and used it for about 2 weeks. On the road (Auto) it works ok. Took the unit with me today on a boat trip to see how it does on water and was so dissapointed. The “Tracking” is correct, however it screwed up all of my saved “Waypoint” along the way to the fishing spots. For instance, I started the track from the launch ramp, got to the fishing spot (15miles) saved the “waypoint”, then repeated again for the next 10 spots or so. When review my saved “Waypoints” they were all off by at least 10 miles! The last spot I was at was about 14.5 miles (according to the track) but one of my saved spots was all the way at 45 miles distance!!! This is crazy and I will return it for some other better unit. Also, the unit has locked on me at least 4 times in 2 weeks! This is nothing but junk when you’re in water.
Kevin – welcome to the club. My earlier posts mirror what you’ve found. I use my Garmin 76CSx in the Gulf and it’s great. Works fine on the road as well, just doesn’t have the voice feature.
I bit the bullet and bought the Garmin 478 [snip, see comment policy] last weekend. Tried it on Sunday fishing trip and never look back. This unit works on land and water as designed and the “Recalculation” is very fast. It’s got so much features built in that I’m still flipping the manual. the tracking feature was dead on so are my saved way points. Well, better to believe you get what you paid for.
I recently purchased the Magellan Crossover GPS. The road maps are outdated for my area. It doesn’t recognize a street that I turn onto that has been here for years. I went to the Magellan site and they want me to pay $79 for a map update. I’ll be sending this unit back next week.
Bought mag C/O FOR USE ON MC slow, maps lack any detail, off road is a joke, tracks use up memory fast, hard to see in bright light, cheesy rubber shell that falls off, 12v port will leak water, will try 276c and 550 zumo, any one want to buy delorme unit??
my first one failed to power on after 3 weeks. i bought a 2nd one which failed after one week of use (faile to power on again). i like the features that i can use it for hiking or boating (no roads there). track feature is helpful but not available when in auto navigation mode
“my first one failed to power on after 3 weeks.” Julio
My unit did this a couple of times but I was able to fix with a hard reset. It occurs when you do not set power to “auto off’ and the battery goes completely dead. Sometimes the “auto off” features becomes unchecked for some reason? and will kill battery. A tip to check out. Hole it helps
John
My neighborhood [snip, see comment policy] has the magellan crossover on clearance for about 55% off the original MSRP. Would that be considered a good deal for this unit? Sounds like reviews are totally mixed.
never buy from magellan.They promise a lot on the package, but don’t mention you will to buy 450 dollars software to begin to use damn thing.Stores do not want to take their crap back.Save yourself a trouble.
jeremy – June 3rd, 2008
Have had unit since Oct 07 and although I find unit useful, Magellan cust support is terrible, documentation poor, and unit must be near e.o.l. model. Unless you can by very cheaply or need the outdoor and marine functions and are willing to invest lots of extra money, effort and time to make unit function you are probably better off to purchase a Garmin 260 for your car. It is inexpensive, works very well with similar in car features as the Crossover and enjoys excellent documentation, Garmin web support, and a massive user base for excellent forum support. Base your purchase decision on your requirements, not the price. Noah was the last person to buy anything at MSRP. Most GPS are available for 50% or less of MSRP. Google it.
Had the Crossover since march 07 more disapointed than anything… do not upgrade firmware from 1.56 to 1.68 as twice it has froze resulting in lost map and a replacement as they will not allow free download for NorthA vehicle maps. Tech mention after the fact that you should go right to the 2.14 firm ware… like others the maps for my area are over ten years old… whole neighborhoods are missing and routes given are hilarious…. Would not recommend in fact, if you want mine, check my garbage can in about a month cause if these new $76 maps still suck… that is where you’ll find it. If I don’t smash the crap out of it on Utube.
I just read several comments about the Magellan crossover and it seems like I shouldn’t buy it. I really wanted a gps I could use hiking AND in the car and the Crossover seemed to be what I was looking for. Does anyone have anything good to say about the Crossover or should I go with the Garmin?
Any one look at the Lowrance XOG. I have the Lowrance Iway 250 and is a very good basic car GPS. the XOG is Still only 12 channel but according to this review comparing it with the Magellan ( http://www.greatlakes4×4.com/showthread.php?t=71447 ) it outperforms the SiRF III?
I want something for Hiking, Biking, and my car.\
Anyone have any input?
The Crossover is a nice unit for all kinds of uses. However, the LCD screen is of poor quality. My screen cracked, within the first dozen uses, into a spiderweb when I merely pushed for a “reroute.”
That is when I found out that Magellan does not cover LCD replacement under any of their warranty programs. Even the extended warranty did not cover this vulnerable piece of the unit. What is worse, is that Magellan charges $90.00 to replace this weak link in their product!
If I were to buy another GPS, it would not be from Magellan! I recommend others avoid the company until it stands firmly behind all parts of their products.
I have owned a Magellan Crossover GPS for nine months and have used it extensively in my vehicle for navigation from dense urban (Washington D.C., New Orleans, Detroit, Baltimore, and more) to very rural Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Michigan. I have not had the opportunity to use the marine feature and have had no reason to use music or picture capabilities.
In response to other reviews. Unit has never malfunctioned, not once. It has never failed to give me correct directions and deliver me to within 150ft of a POI or address destination (error not due to GPS accuracy but rather database accuracy).
Pros: ability to use Topo and Vehicle useful in rural areas (used once to bypass closed interstate on dirt roads – excellent). Directions spot on (I usually get a voice prompt on highways at the same time I am passing a sign so it is double verified).
Cons: Touch screen can be sensitive when inputting text. Topo maps are not the highest quality (if you do lots of hiking buy a dedicated GPS – the buy two adivce).
Summary – if you want a GPS that works well for driving on road and you also do off road driving with short hikes this is a great unit.
Steve – if someone is looking for a good gps to use in the car with the occasional off road or back road excursion there are certainly better ways to go than this piece of junk. A Garmin made for road trips with added topo maps will perform rings around it. You’d have a better gps from a company that gives you great support. Hate to see a review like yours, even if it’s true, that would encourage people to follow your lead, then be totally disappointed as most of were. As can be seen in reading the reviews of the Magellan crossover, by far the majority are negative and for good reason.
I’m sorry if my own personal experience isn’t in line with what you think. I truly appreciate the “even if it’s true” insinuation.
I only own the Magellan and a Garmin Etrex (a good simple unit in my opinion). I am not an expert and do not claim to rank it in comparison with other units.
I upgraded firmware. Even exchanged e-mail with customer support because the download wouldn’t work initially, and I would give them maybe a 3 – 3.5 out of 5 (middle of the pack).
Other than the firmware upgrade I haven’t done a thing to the unit and I am fairly satisfied.
I noted the topo maps are not high quality, but they have served me well during limited use (half-day off road trips). The upgrade prices for maps are higher than I think reasonable.
There is likely a better unit on the market. I was doing research as I am purchasing a unit for my father. If anyone has a well reasoned comparison/input (more info than – “perform rings around it”) I would appreciate it greatly. The review link James C posted #149 was good, anyone know of one comparing Garmin?
Steve – I do apologize for coming down so hard. The crossover was a major disappointment, but very glad that in the end I ended up with a Garmin 76CSx. I use it the most for kayaking both inland waters & the Gulf. But, I also use it a lot on trips and it’s great. Only thing lacking is voice and while I don’t miss that too much, do realize it could be important for others. For your dad, I like the Nuvi series unless he’d use it off road a great deal of the time. Almost went with a 350 until Tim and Garmin support recommended not to because it isn’t waterproof. But did learn that just about all the Garmin’s will work well (there may be some limitations on some models) with topo and lakes maps (not Bluechart as far as I can learn). Take a look at the other reviews above as several give input on what they bought in place of the x’over. One area I do have to strongly disagree with is your evaluation of Magellan’s support. My personal experience would give them a 1 at best. If you read the other reviews I don’t think you’ll find anyone who would give a 3 – 3.5. Can’t recall anyone that hasn’t had good response from Garmin. Before buying the 76CSx, I emailed Garmin’s cartographic team several times with questions. The response was tremendous and has been on all subsequent queries. Lowrance wasn’t up to Garmin, but head and shoulders over Magellan. Am sure you’ve heard way more than you want from me, but hope it might help a bit.
I wouldn’t even give them a 1. They are worse than the cable companies.
I have just ended my time with a Crossover. I liked the GPS. Maps were old (car and waterway), but it did reasonably well. I bought the TrafficKit – wouldn’t work. Sent the GPS in, it got lost. Post office could show it was delivered to the right company, but wrong door, yet Magellan support said the Post Office had lost it (even had a signature). After over 2 months, I called Magellan Headquarters and a wonderful woman there helped escalate it so that I finally got it back. But, it still didn’t fix it. 2 new TrafficKits later, still wouldn’t work. So, they have now swapped me out with a 4250. Much more up-to-date map, but lacks the CrossOver features. They said the CrossOver is on its way out. Sad that they didn’t ever support it like they should have. Had they supported it, I think it would have grown to have a good following.
Regarding Magellan support, they are worse than the cable companies. When I couldn’t get my address files to back-up, they said to buy a new card and throw the old one (1 GB, dedicated to the GPS for back-ups only) away. I’ve sat on hold for 1/2 hour at times, and when I was working out the deal to get the new GPS, I was on the phone almost 2 solid hours.
I liked my CrossOver, but Magellan supports stinks. When folks ask me, I point them to Garmin 1st and TomTom 2nd. Everyone I know with Garmin love their support. My dad has one and I just upgraded his maps at NO CHARGE. When’s the last time Magellan did that!
I’m going to stick with my Magellan – it’s paid for and I know how to use it. My next GPS will be a Garmin. You can’t seem to go wrong with them.
Bought the Crossover about 3 months ago, and excepting the occassional missing road, or street, love it. I have used it for driving both on and off road, and for marking hunting and stream fishing waypoints. I do wish the topo maps were more accurate also. As far as outdated maps are concerned, my brother has the Garmin Nuvi350, and he is missing exactly the same streets and neighborhoods that I am. It appears that either usgs or whoever is responsible for the cartography at both companies haven’t updated my area (the upper peninsula of Michigan) in at least ten years. I prefer to blame the government, myself and put all blame on the usgs. Is this the best possible unit that I can imagine, “no”, but it is very suitable for my needs and my needs exceed the average person that want this unit for occasional off-road excursions, with the majority of their use coming in-vehicle. Haven’t tried the marine nav, as it does seem pretty pricey, and I don’t have a boat anyway. mp3 player and photo viewer are useless, as you can’t use them while navigating. Just my 3 1/2 cents guys.
Mapping for the auto side/road does not come from the USGS, it comes from private mapping companies; in this case it comes from NAVTEQ.
Similar to a previous post, I too was contemplating the Crossover in order to search and navigate to cemeteries for genealogy research.
Was also wondering if the Crossover or any GPS would be able to accurately pinpoint a grave marker as I would like to document for family tree purposes for future generations in the event there is an unmarked grave or weathering of a tombstone.
Tim, you mentioned something about consumer vs commercial grade GPS – will a consumer unit accomplish what I’m trying to do?
You can count on consumer level GPS devices to have an accuracy of about 10 meters.
I’m looking for a GPS that will navigate land and marine with voice. What do you recommend? After reading the reviews of the Megellan Crossover I’ve decided to review others, but need help.
Been using this on my V-Strom motorcycle for about a year. At $220 or so back then, I couldn’t find anything else that can touch it. The topo in WA for the fire roads is pretty accurate, the street addresses are fine and my behind wears out before the battery does. I found a mount made for bicycles for about $15 that has held up as well.
A cheap solution for bikes that has worked great for me.
Dennis, I’d recommend getting one device for the car and another for your marine use. You won’t spend much more money than you would for one and will have a much better setup.
magellan support is not good, asked maggie if map send topo canada v1.00e is compatible for crossover gps, she said YES ,i made the purchase, now they say no its not,and i now have no support from Magellan.i was considering the lowrance XOG , should have made the purchase. thanks bill july 12-08
William, I Purchased the XOG and didn’t care for it. It gave me bad road directions a couple of times. It seem to work o.k. on the water. Didn’t like it and retruned it
I have a Magellan Explorist XP, which is the predecessor of the Crossover and 2500T I believe. I’ve had it a year and a half and it has completely died twice. The first time was a week after I bought it and I just returned it to the retail store I bought it from. The second time was just e few weeks ago. Their tech support sent me a brand new “comparable” unit in the Triton 1500, but I’ve found it is nowhere near a comparable unit. It can’t be used for street directions, which is what I predominantly use it for. I agree with the general concensus here that Magellan is weak overall, especially customer support. I’m looking for a dual use unit mostly for driving. I think I’ll check out the Garmin 76CSx.
I’ve had the Crossover since Jan 08 and overall I’d have to say it’s been a good GPS. Fortunately, it’s the only one I’ve ever had so I don’t know what it’s lacking. I got the CO because I wanted a GPS for the car and my boat. I’ve seen the limitations on the auto map but their nominal, so far. I’ve just recently purchased marine software and am a little disappointed with the amount actually received. For example, SC has about 12 lakes and the Lakes software only comes with 4 of them. Fortunately, I the 3 I needed were included. I have used the outdoor tracks when boating and it worked extremely well. I was especially thankful with boating at night. (I only used the outdoor mode to backtrack a route that was established in daylight)
Support has been horrible. When I tried to update the firmware, I couldn’t. If I hadn’t found out to put in a bogus firmware version on a forum like this, I’d still be stuck. When downloading the marine software, it wouldn’t work. The directions were for the explorist and tech could’ve simply changed the name for my peace of mind. As luck would have it I noticed the downloaded file conflicted with the directions. (the last three numbers of the of the file should correspond with the serial number on the unit. It didn’t. I renamed the file and then suddenly it worked)
I’m taking the unit on the lake for the first time to use the marine software and will let you know how it does. It’s not very detailed so my expectations aren’t great. However, if it lands me on fish, I’ll think it’s the greatest invention ever. But we’ll see.
Dennis thanks for the info. I use the crossover on the water alot.works quite well , you have to learn to trust it. If any one knows how help make topo maps work, I would like the help.
John – Afraid you experienced what most cross-over buyers found with Magellan support & the X-over. I returned mine and went with the 76CSx. Couldn’t be happier. Use it kayaking, biking and on road trips. It has performed flawlessly. Have had questions and Garmin support has been outstanding. Answered my questions, gave good pointers and excellent advice, all very quickly. While it doesn’t have voice directions for routes on the highway, it does give audible signals as turns are coming up and visuals on the map. If you can do without the voice, I think you’ll find this one is an outstanding unit.
Everyone reading this article might very well be interested in this latest news, Garmin has released a hybrid GPS that might very well be the answer many of you are looking for. The Garmin Nuvi 500 is almost here!
Is there a way to turn off the quick spell for addresses on my crossover? it gueeses the wrong city.It greys out the letters that I need to spell my town. Maybe I have to be in a more accurate time zone?
If the QuickSpell isn’t letting you enter a particular location, then either the location is not spelled correctly in the database, you are not spelling it correctly, or the location itself is not in the database.
Per Tim, you are not spelling it the way it is listed in the database, it doesn’t exist in the database, or you have it set to the wrong region (depends onfirmware version you have- I have 2.14.
i.e. DeFuniak Springs, Fl must be entered as D-E-space-F-u etc. not d-e-f-u. Also some suburbs or rural areas insist on the legal Municipality Name not the mailing address. i.e. Stratton, ON, must be entered as Morley (the township). Also the region must be set to Canada or the US depending on which country the city is located in.- I think that was rectified in 2.36 where the Region is US and Canada rather than separate. Hope this helps
Jack
ok, I was wondering if it needed a region. Where do I change that? Thanks!!
Gary
Start up Veh Nav and go to the second page and under User Options you set the Region, in ver 2.14 and earlier. Don’t know about later versions. This works kind of weird when you start out in US and want directions to Canada or vice versa. Change the region to the location of the city you want to navigate to, look it up and enter the address and away you go, no matter where you are starting from. The weird part is if you want to look up POIs on the way and haven’t entered the “Region” you are going to yet, you have to change back to your current ‘Region’ to look them up I think). Frustrating but it works. I forget if custom POIs work regardless of ‘Region’ you are set to.
Lots of other little quirks in this unit as well, like fairly frequent “resets to first user” to clear up memory freezes. Also try to keep trips under 600 mi and use the ‘Trip Guide’ to force routing you want to take. Some good threads at GpsPasSion Forums with lots of workarounds on this unit. Luck
Ok, got it, thanks. I just got this for snowmobling around Pa, NY and Maine. Do you think I will be satisfied? I can return for 30 days…
Cracked Crossover screen during normal use. I bought my unit used through Amazon. It broke after 3-4 uses, was never dropped or abused. Screen had spider cracks with normal pressure on the screen. Talked with Magellan in July & found the $90.76 repair cost. Waited too long – they no longer repair & must buy refurbished for $159+. Customer service via email was non-existent. Sent several emails & 1 out of 3 might go through. Most bounce back. Customer service persons were nice but there was no further support they could provide. Very unsatisfied with Magellan service & product. The Crossover is good concept but requires additional software to make it work offroad. Ok for a street unit but not at this price.
I have found a brand new magellan crossover for [snip]. I think its a good purchase, considering that it retails for $400. I need one mainly for tracking on water at night and would like to use it for highway travel as well. Would like everyones thoughts/ advise and experiance with this model?
Hello,
Would appreciate your advice and guidance on best selection of an economical GPS for use on my sailboat, either preloaded with USA east coast marine charts, or an in-car unit capable of accepting BlueNav downloads. I don’t need alot of bells and whistles, just want to know where I am, where I’ve been, and where I’m going
Thanks,
Mike
I have the Magellan Crossover and I would like to know how you can upload the tracks from the gps to my computer and print them out so I have a hard copy of the map. Do I need to put the SD card into the computer to upload it? Or could I just plug the gps in through the usb cord?
Thanks
Also what program would i need to create the map on the computer?