Sean Slavin
Adventurist
Kind of intrigued by this unit. I had been considering mounting an iPad Mini in the truck but I this may be a better option. Same price too.
anyone played with a magellan TRX7?
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Equally interested. An all-in-one unit would be nice as an off-the-shelf solution but it advertised for street use but gives no examples of it in that configuration. Any reviews I've read in that capacity have been somewhat mixed.
Wish Hema would come out with their similar unit for use in North America.
Wish Hema would come out with their similar unit for use in North America.
Gallowbraid
Adventurist
It appears to come out of the box with no street functionality at all. Magellan indicates they're releasing a software update that will add this capability. Seems like a neat little unit but I'm a bit torn. It appears to be an Android based tablet that's locked down to only run Magellan's proprietary items. Why not save several hundred dollars, buy a good Samsung tablet and Backcountry Navigator? You end up with basically the same thing but with a lot more functionality. From the video reviews I watched it also seems a little slow compared to tablets that are on the market today. Back when I used to sell GPS units Magellan's were known for being sluggish...doesn't appear they've changed.
This.
Sean Slavin
Adventurist
Thanks for the input. Pretty much what I wanted to hear.
Echoing with others have already said, it seems rather limited in functionality for it's cost. There are some near GUI features as well as some cool things you can do with rating trails and adding meta data descriptors like if you need 4wd/4hi/4lo, if there is mud, water, rocks, and if so how deep/sever. However most of that can be added in rider files of almost any other navigation software.
My personal preference these days has been Gia GPS on either my iPhone or iPad Pro. I have yet to see anything out of the TRX7 that can trump what I'm doing now with Gia, plus I can do so much more on my iPad than just navigations --- and I'm already carrying my phone anyway. Plus, one of the key mantras for an outdoor adventure enthusiast is, "any item carried needs to serve multiple functions." Right now the TRX7 fails that test for me.
My personal preference these days has been Gia GPS on either my iPhone or iPad Pro. I have yet to see anything out of the TRX7 that can trump what I'm doing now with Gia, plus I can do so much more on my iPad than just navigations --- and I'm already carrying my phone anyway. Plus, one of the key mantras for an outdoor adventure enthusiast is, "any item carried needs to serve multiple functions." Right now the TRX7 fails that test for me.
GFB_Steve
Adventurist
A little late to the party, but I have a fair amount of experience with the TRX7 (as it's all we use at work now), so i thought I'd post my thoughts. To give some history, I have used an iPad with a few different apps for quite some time and really like them. On top of that, I love the easy and intuitive interface of Apple products (yeah, you either love or hate them). That said, the only problem I've always had with Ipad navigation is there is always set up and prep time... for every trip. These days, I just don't have the time, though, and do everything I can to spend time having fun instead of getting ready for it....
The beauty of the Magellen off-road products is it's pretty much turn-key. I've taken brand new units out of the package, mounted them in a car (usually UTV's) and put a couple hundred miles on them in areas I know nothing about and have found more than sufficient trails and roads are already on the units even without updating. The website is pretty cool, too and allows sharing of tracks which I like. I think as the number of users grows, the value will as well. No, it's not perfect, but it's pretty damn good right out of the box for those that don't have the time or want to mess with apps.
The app on an iPad or iPhone also works pretty well but is limited on features and, of course, doesn't have pre-loaded maps.
BTW: For those using a GPS in an enclosed vehicle (in other words, "ruggedized" not required, Magellan makes non-waterproof version that's significantly cheaper.
The beauty of the Magellen off-road products is it's pretty much turn-key. I've taken brand new units out of the package, mounted them in a car (usually UTV's) and put a couple hundred miles on them in areas I know nothing about and have found more than sufficient trails and roads are already on the units even without updating. The website is pretty cool, too and allows sharing of tracks which I like. I think as the number of users grows, the value will as well. No, it's not perfect, but it's pretty damn good right out of the box for those that don't have the time or want to mess with apps.
The app on an iPad or iPhone also works pretty well but is limited on features and, of course, doesn't have pre-loaded maps.
BTW: For those using a GPS in an enclosed vehicle (in other words, "ruggedized" not required, Magellan makes non-waterproof version that's significantly cheaper.
Nobody can seem to answer this question and since you have TRX7 experience... let me know. I'm interested in an all-in-one unit - street and trail navigation. The website is vague and I've never gotten a clear answer. I want a unit I can plug in a street address or do trail work... doe this unit accomplish that goal?
I'm interested as well. I had a Magellan Crossover and IMHO it was way ahead of it's time. Lots of great trips with that thing.
GFB_Steve
Adventurist
I haven't used it much, but it definitely does street navigation. I used it last year when the family and I were quite a way from cell service and needed to figure out if we could get out of an area some way other than road we came in on (which was sketchy with a longbed, four-door dually with a Lance camper and a 22 foot vending trailer). I entered the business we were headed to and it found it easily and we drove right to it.
That said, when I'm out of cell service and in an area I don't know is just about the only time I would use the street navigation feature. Not due to any drawbacks in its part, though. Simply because modern cell phones with street navigation apps are super convenient and work so well there's rarely a reason or opportunity to use anything else.
ArkansasDon
Adventurist
I read both good reviews & bad reviews on the Magellan TRX7. I too was interested in the Magellan TRX7. I do not know if the bad reviews are by user's who do not know how to use it or have troubles understanding it. I know I am NOT tech savvy, especially on GPS of any sort. The wife & I use maps but we have a small handheld Garmin 64st which we are slowly understanding it. I think were are more to be using this as keeping gps coordinates for good camping spots & trails that have nice scenic views. I've read so many write up's on I phones & app's (which the wife & I do not own that type of phone) & tablets with Gaia & other programs we are just flat out confused. Like I said were not tech savvy when it comes to these things of understanding about this topic.
Yep, still have mine sitting in a drawer. It was an awesome unit for both street and off road nav. Downside is it had a serious bug when in off road mode, it would randomly lockup or stop tracking. Sadly this unit never got the support from it's developers and they never fixed this problem. Street nav, it worked 100%. Really wish they would have continued developing this 2 in 1 product, that I really have never found an equal/better replacement.
Yeah, it really was a cool unit.
Two in one is where it's at. Give me something with street nav that easily transitions at pavement's end to show trails, and that let's me plug in a coordinate to navigate to a fixed point, and leave breadcrumbs to find my way back, and that's ALL I really need.
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Exactly! Why this seems to be a lost concept is beyond me.
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ArkansasDon
Adventurist
I've owned my Magellan TR7 for 6 months, IMO it's not a perfect GPS unit or it's NOT my main go to. However, my main use has been building trail maps when I go out somewhere new, or following behind a few folks to record a specific trail or Back Country Discovery Route to run in the future. Mine has the camera, I do not use it & I am not the least bit interested in recording video. It has certainly worked good for what I described above. It's loaded with vast amount of trails & the web site TRX Trailhead is a pretty good site to research & down load new places to explore. The ease of use is a plus, saving tracks made & adding waypoints is just as easy, the large 7" screen makes for a nice view, in some cases I wish it offers or comes with sunshield. The TR7 is a windshield mount only I had to modify it so I can use it on a RAM short arm & order RAM windshield cup mount both 20mm ball to push the screen closer to me or the wife. The Pro's: turn-by-turn trail & street navigation, pre-loaded with over 160,000 4WD, ATV, motorcycle, & snowmobile trails in the USA, street navigation to get you straight from your starting point to the trail, it does leave bread crumbles as you make tracks & keeps record of miles offroad, you can rate trails by difficultly along save & share & publish tracks with all of your waypoints on TRX Trailhead site or keep them on the unit for future use. The editing of your trails made & stored are fairly easy to do.
The Con's: the mounts sucks, the position of the camera is smack dab in the middle of the back of the device which limits you to modify a new & better mounting system (I used) RAM type mount with the same magnetic bracket & small length RAM arm, if you want to pre-load data from their site TRX Trailhead it's very easy, but! if you want to pre-load data from another site with this device you will have to transfer it from an online source via micro SD card & it can be a real pain in the you know what.
Overall Sally & I use the Magellan TR7 mainly as recording & keeping new trails or campsites, IMO it has it's place for us. Our main go to for navigation is either our Garmin Nuvi LM 50 for street & for Trans America Trail & other Backcountry Discovery Routes in conjunction with micro SD Card, & our Apple I 17 Max Smart Phone with Gaia.
The Con's: the mounts sucks, the position of the camera is smack dab in the middle of the back of the device which limits you to modify a new & better mounting system (I used) RAM type mount with the same magnetic bracket & small length RAM arm, if you want to pre-load data from their site TRX Trailhead it's very easy, but! if you want to pre-load data from another site with this device you will have to transfer it from an online source via micro SD card & it can be a real pain in the you know what.
Overall Sally & I use the Magellan TR7 mainly as recording & keeping new trails or campsites, IMO it has it's place for us. Our main go to for navigation is either our Garmin Nuvi LM 50 for street & for Trans America Trail & other Backcountry Discovery Routes in conjunction with micro SD Card, & our Apple I 17 Max Smart Phone with Gaia.
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