TOPO or Meridian Gold/Color?

[Ecoman]

Ok, I'm a complete Newbie and have been trying to decide which unit will suit my needs. I'm an advid Mt.Biker and want to map trail systems.
I've narrowed it down to the Magellian Gold or Color or the SporTrac Topo.

Any suggestions what will work better. How detailed is the Trac Topo? Am I better off just dowloading from the topo program and getting the 64 mg chip?

Other uses will be for fishing and some driving.
How important or useful is the color display?
What Features should I be looking for that a newb wouldn't think of?

Any Comments or suggestions are welcome.

[Wook]

I used to have the sportrak (not colour), but changed it for the Meridian (also not colour) mainly cos of the functionalityof having the expandable memory - SD slot.
Meridian is slightly more bulky but has a bigger screen, I use mine for Mt. biking too, and the bracket for the handle bar is v. good.

So I would definitely recommend the Meridian, but can't comment on the colour versions.

[WillyRose]

Any chance of an update from either/both of you guys?
In the process of spec'ing hardware and software for off-road mountain biking and want to make sure I buy the right kit.

Current thinking is Meridian Platinum - for its built-in compass and ability to plug-in SD cards.
Is it the SD cards which expand the Magellan's functionality to use other mapping products? Lots of talk about SporTrak only being usable with Magellan's own mapping offerings....

Any advice very gratefully received.
All the best,
Clive

[Dave]

[WillyRose]

Many thanks for your response, Dave.
Yes, I appreciate Magellan and Garmin products tie you in to their maps.
What's more, their respective Customer Service departments appear equally useless - either not responding to- or not properly reading eMails!

Fugawi (?) or Memomry Map look like they might offer better detailed mapping solutions but I'm spec'ing this for someone else and I'm not sure that their budget will stretch to a decent PDA/Jacket AND software.

Magellan seems like good, sturdy (to be used for mountain biking), waterproof (with occasional dips in the canal!), functional solution with reasonable maps available for the budget.

Any additional tips would be very gratefully received, though.

All the best,
Clive

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