User Review: Magellan Triton 300

Magellan Triton 300
Above: The current Triton 300, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed January 9, 2008 by Williarc

Rating:
Price Paid: ~$150

Since none of the reputable tech sites have decided to review the Magellan Triton series, I will take the task upon myself. I found no good information on Tritons before purchasing one, so I hope to arm you with the information you need to make a wise decision before purchasing.

First and foremost, if you value customer support whatsoever, keep in mind Magellan has the worst customer support known to man. Everything is outsourced straight to India, and they are rude, incompetent, and offer absolutely no technical knowledge about any of their products.

Now to the Triton – and the bad comes out first. I was excited to find a product within my price range (I have the 300), but as often as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. The learning curve is somewhat difficult if you are used to a Garmin. The menus seem somewhat illogical to navigate through; it seems like it’s a one way street…you’ll understand if you operate one. The buttons are not comfortable or backlit in the cheaper models, and are very difficult to push.

The operating system can be a bit confusing at some points in time, and often overcomplicates a task that would be much simpler on other units.

It’s also extremely sluggish! It takes a full 6 seconds to load the manual coordinate input screen; so that’s 6 seconds for the Lat, and another 6 second wait for the Long. The coordinate insertion process also takes a bit of getting used to. Finally, the basemap is extremely basic and disappointing.

On the plus side, the unit possesses the Sirfstar III antenna dramatically increasing accurateness and reducing satellite acquisition time. To my surprise, I first loaded mine inside the house with full bar reception.

Aside from the learning curve and sluggish behavior, the operating system is very aesthetically pleasing – it just looks good. The screen resolution, colors, and navigational screens are easy on the eyes. In daylight however, the screen is quite dark without the use of the backlight.

The worst part about the Tritons is, by far, the software compatibility. I still can’t manage to load any detailed maps from previous Magellan software, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to. Also, DO NOT BE FOOLED: The National Geographic maps (or any detailed maps for that matter) as advertised are not free by any stretch of the imagination. Even if you pay for them, good luck getting them to work with the VantagePoint software.

All in all, not the best unit I’ve seen. Once you adapt to the unit, it gets the job done. It may be decent for the price, but I have not yet decided whether to return it, and take my chances with something else.