Magellan Crossover 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Road and Trail Navigator Reviews

• Crossover crosses over pretty well

  
  By A33UWJ6W34NO6C on 2007-06-26
  One the whole, I like my M. Crossover. Generally speaking, it does everything I need it for in regard to GPS. I do not use mine for the audio or visual playback and do not care about those functions. To date, I have done nothing with the computer software either and cannot vouch for that aspect.
  
  The best features to me were in having a GPS unit that I could use to plot courses in the car and yet have a GPS that would work well for hiking. I have driven all over north Texas with the unit and had it mark my travels in both the road mode and outdoor (hiking/contour map) mode. I have not used it in the Marine mode. With just a few exceptions, it has had all the roads I have been on. The exceptions were a couple of very small roads in the middle of nowhere and roads in a brand new development. No surprise. Strangely, it had some dirt roads that I would not have expected. So that was really handy.
  
  In the outdoor mode, I have plotted various key points and had it track my progress, both while driving and while hiking. It has done this all relatively well.
  
  Before I go further, let me say that if I lost this unit, I would not hesitate in getting another. However, it is not a perfect unit and has some shortcomings that are a bit of a bother, but not fatal at all. It has been my experience that all GPS units seem to have various shortcomings, often varying depending on the type of intended use of the unit. I do think the Crossover, with its shortcomings, does enough of the cross over functions to cover my needs sufficiently well and I do not currently see any other units on the market that match it in such versatility.
  
  I have run the unit on battery (most of the time) and while charging in the car. I have charged it with the 120v outlet charger as well. They promise 8 hours of run time and so far I have run as much as 6 on full screen brightness and not run out of power. The 8 hour estimate seems good.
  
  On my recreational property, I have plotted the locations of the property corners, gates, and other specific locations. Subsequent return trips have the show very good match between my previous plots and locations, to just a few feet, well within the unit's specifications. It performs consistently well in this regard, as it should.
  
  The shortcomings...
  In the 150+ hours of use with probably 80 or 90 start-ups, I have had it fail to properly boot 4 times. This necessitated the use of the reset switch on the side and after resetting, the unit booted fine.
  
  The green rubber ring around the unit is to help absorb shock if dropped and it probably does help to some extent (I have dropped it once). However, it is prone to slip off when carried in a pocket or pack during periods of lots of motion and the grippy aspect of the rubber can make it hard to extract the unit from a snug pocket if one wants the rubber ring remaining on the unit.
  
  The on screen controls vary with the mode that it is in and as such, the features I like in one mode are not in the same place in the other mode and that can be a bit annoying if you go between modes on a regular basis. This is especially true of the brightness function that is onscreen on the map page in the outdoor mode but not in the car mode.
  
  You can't plot points in the car mode, but if you are in the car mode, the map does not show the icons for gas/food etc. that it does in the outdoor mode. That seemed a bit counter-intuitive.
  
  I have medium-sized guy fingers and sometimes find that I have not been able to precisely press an onscreen button properly. Maybe I need more practice or smaller fingers.
  
  Even on the brightest setting and while out in the sunlight, it can be hard to see the image on the screen. As long as sun is not shining directly on the screen in the car, it does well enough.
  
  As with all GPS units I have used or experienced in the past, letting the GPS decide your route from point A to B should not mean that the traveler should blindly accept the route as the best option, even with the various choices given (fastest, shortest, most use of freeways, etc.). It will get you from point A to B, but what it asserts is the best route may actually be much less than optimal.
  
  I don't know of any other way to charge the unit other than with the accessories provided. You can't take the unit on a 2 day hike and use it all the time without running down the battery and you can't change out the battery. It would be nice if there was a separate battery pack that could be jacked in or a solar charger. Otherwise, the unit is somewhat limited to either sporadic use on multi-day hikes or day hiking because of the battery limitation.
  
  Lastly, while it can track something like 14 satellites, it can lose track of them as well. While hiking in Big Bend with the mountains, signals came and went a lot. It was a bit annoying. No doubt this will happen with other units as well, but the access to 14 didn't seem to make it keep track any more often or continually than with other GPS units I have used.
  
  As I noted above, I would buy this unit again if I had to replace the current unit. I harped on the shortcomings because if you have read Magellan's promo for the Crossover, then you know what it can do and it has been my experience that it pretty well does what is claimed. I only point out the shortcomings such that other potential buyers can make a better informed decision.
  
  

• It gets me there... but...

  
  By A3PVFK2NO5X7K on 2007-03-07
  It has gotten me to where I wanted or needed to go. That said, however, I've had one main difficulty. It has locked up on me several times now. This has happened when I was programming the unit, and/or when I had just turned on the unit. It has not locked up on me during a trip. I turned the unit off and then back on, only for it to do it again and again. I discovered that you have to move the reset switch to off, and then back to on. That seems to do it. If you were actively tracking something (using the outdoor topo features) at the time that it locked up, you will lose your trip information (speed, length of trip, time of trip). Of course, having a brand new unit lock up is not acceptable. When it doesn't lock up, it gets me to my destination. If you drive off the course it tells you 'calculating route' almost immediately and tells you what to do next. POI's (points of interest): I don't know where they get the data for these, but some of it is really old. The first place I told it to find me was my local gas stations. The first one on the list is one that's been closed and long gone for a minimum of 10 years. A brewpub it took me to had changed owners and names over a year-and-a-half ago, although it got me to the address where it was!
  
  This is my first GPS and it's 'fun'. And, it's very intuitive. I was able to figure out most everything without having to get to reading or checking out the manual. That's really good in my book, because I'm a 'manual reader'. The voice is female and pretty easy to hear (vehicle navigation only has the voice). It has a headphones jack which I connected to the 'aux in' of my audio system in the car, and so get the voice through the car speakers.
  
  I still much prefer printed maps to a GPS. But, there's a lot to be said for a device that's your navigator, when you are driving somewhere alone. If it didn't have the locking up problem, I'd rate it 4 stars. And, if the POI's were more current (I don't know if they ever even upgrade/revise these), I'd rate it 5 stars.
  
  

• Crossover GPS 2500T: well worth the money

  
  By AQ3THKWYIHGPH on 2007-08-13
  I have a Garmin c340: I used it to find my work site from Lamar, CO south on Colorado 287 to County Road E, about 21 miles south of Lamar. It kept trying to turn on every county road because I told it to do shortest route.
  
  I bought a Magellan Crossover GPS 2500T and drove with the Garmin and Magellan side by side. On a training trip to Sweetwater, TX (450 miles south east of Lamar); by the time I got to Bosie, OK, I pulled the Garmin off and used just the Magellan. With the Magellan Crossover GPS, it allowed me to choose the most direct route using highways.
  
  The Magellan took me through the highway from US 287 to I-10 to Texas US82 to Sweetwater. The tricky part was through the ring loop through Lubbock, TX. It took me back west then south-east on US82, a drive that would have had me asking directions if I was navigating by maps.
  
  Being from western states, I am used to mountains as point of reference. I have no such reference in the high plains area. With the off road capability, I will map every one of the 200 plus GE wind turbines that I work on. The problem is when I am on call; after sunset, I just have a truck mounted utility spot light to locate the tower, look out for the range cattle and keep from driving off into the field and do ecpological damage to the grasslands. The other part is during the drifting snow, I need to stay on the roads as well so going to the wind turbine is a challenge when I cannot visually drive through the fields normally marked with fences. This off road topo mapped gps will get me there this winter!
  
  

• Works nicely, great for daily commute or new adventures, BUT...

  
  By A3RYR22WC4IW49 on 2007-04-04
  One of the main reasons I bought the Magellan Crossover GPS was to take advantage of "SmartDetour to route you around slow freeway traffic" (copied and pasted directly from Product Description). This feature DOES NOT WORK as it ought.
  
  Complaints:
  
  #1) The answer is NO, SmartDetour does NOT receive traffic report data, contrary to popular urban myth (see Magellan TrafficKit for this functionality). The unit simply detects when you're traveling too slowly on freeway routes and then displays a detour option (SmartDetour) on the left edge of the touch-screen. Aside from the convenience of popping up the detour option on the screen, SmartDetour is EXACTLY the same feature as the detour feature of Magellan's cheaper models. This feature allows you to "route around slow freeway traffic" by electing to leave the freeway for a selected number of miles/kilometers, theoretically routing you around and beyond a given traffic jam by way of alternate routes then bringing you back onto the freeway.
  
  #2) SmartDetour doesn't work efficiently, rerouting in inconvenient directions and often entailing a great deal of backtracking. I've found that manually rerouting using the "Least Use of Freeways" option is much more accurate and efficient for getting around traffic jams. My assessment of the SmartDetour option is that it's mostly useless for its intended purpose. There's nothing smart about it!
  
  #3) Attempts to contact Magellan Customer Service on the SmartDetour issue have ceased. I've spent all the time I'm going to spend waiting for return correspondence from Magellan. It's almost as if Magellan is saying, "We don't care about you or your complaint, as long as we get your money for our products". If customer service is high-priority for you, don't opt for any Magellan GPS product!
  
  #4) It sometimes takes too long - often several minutes - for the Magellan GPS Crossover unit to "get cranked up". More than once, I've needed GPS guidance in a hurry, powered the unit on, and have lost too much time waiting for instructions. I guess it takes a while to start triangulation sometimes. Meanwhile, I've just unknowingly missed my turn! Argh!! Some moments later, GyPSy utters aloud, "Calculating route..." Humph! Finally! Some seconds later, she smugly instructs "When possible, make a legal U-turn". Oh yeah, like it's my fault! Now you tell me! Of course I have to make a U-turn, Ms. GyPSy! I needed your guidance a mile back when I asked for it!
  
  Rant's aside, the unit is quite handy and useful. It consistently keeps me on-track, even when I deliberately drive "off course" or when exploring unfamiliar territory. Day or night, even without looking at her, GyPSy keeps me from getting lost. Aside from the obvious G, P & S in her name, I call her (the voice guide) GyPSy because she's a lady of the streets - she knows them well - and she has a firm yet somehow earthy voice. The voice guide can optionally be muted through touch-screen selections.
  
  I was expecting a bit more sophistication for the extra $160 I spent on the Magellan CrossoverGPS as a replacement for my broken Magellan RoadMate 2000 (see my review on that product). But the Crossover is still a good reliable product which I'd recommend for most common uses. And the price has already come down nearly $30!
  
  By the by:
  
  #1) The little tab loop for attaching a lanyard which is shown as being at the top right corner in many pictures of this product does not actually exist, at least not on all/most units of this model.
  
  #2) The "Green" part of this product is just a removable soft rubber sleeve. The unit itself is black.
  
  

• Good unit overall, some bugs

  
  By AH8P6O7AM1VI8 on 2007-03-18
  So far I've found this to be a nice unit. I don't know why the last reviewer said there are no maps, the built in street maps are very accurate even out here in the middle of nowhere where I live. The topo map is very detailed and includes roads that I would better describe as cow trails. Magellan will supposedly release more detailed topo's soon.
  
  I am disappointed in the computer support. The only computer support is the POI generator and you can only generate POI's from Lat/Lon coordinates. This is very weak, I should be able to create POI's by typing in a name and an address. I should also be able to manage my address book and create trip plans on the computer and download them to the unit. Music and pictures? I have much better electronics to do that.
  
  I have had the unit for about three days and have experienced one lockup that required me to power off and restart it. I have also encountered one software bug. DON'T zoom the topo map out as far as it will go. Apparently a programmer forgot to check an upper limit and the unit will lock up, restart and then will lock up and restart every time you try to view the topo map again. I have had little to no response from tech support yet on this issue, but was able to fix it myself by searching for a POI, selecting one and then viewing it on the map. This caused the map to rezoom back in to the minimum and it's been OK since.
  
  Overall, I have found this unit to be well built and programmed. There are some improvements that can be made and I will be looking forward to firmware upgrades in the near future.
  
  ALSO, the technical details on the Amazon page are in error. The unit DOES include both the AC and car adapter. So you DON'T need to purchase additional power adapters like I did.
  
  
• Finally Just What I wanted
  By AG9NGWDW60OH6 on 2007-03-25
  I've had a magellan map 330 for forever, and I wanted a color screen, a gps that stayed on the road (not 100 feet or more off the road)and annouced directions. I've used the magellans in rental cars, and was happy with their capabilty. The crossver meets my expectations, and its great to have all the maps as part of the cost. I am planning to buy the enhanced topo maps, because I use the unit for hiking as well. About 8 hours of battery time. My only issue is why do I need a gps to play music or show pictures. Magellan stick to what you know.
  
  
• Nice Product- Only one with hiking/ driving/ boating GPS functions
  By AZ4QKNBWUHCWM on 2007-03-22
  This is a decent product for the money, but best be served with a separate in-vehicle and outdoor unit. It is the only one on the market that does both driving, Hiking/ Geocaching and Boating all in the same unit. It is also the only combo unit that is splash resistant. NOT WATER PROOF!!! IPX4 is splash resistant up to so many liters/ minute. Better than a unit that would zap out even if damp!!! Easy to read screens with multiple color options for maps. Very nice automatic night viewing option that changes the screen to a 'negative' light. Very clear voice turn-by-turn directions. Very fast rerouting when you go off course. Great functions for steering around traffic.
  The unit does have some negatives. Fisrt, Magellan put this stupid sticker on the GPS screen to 'simulate' the screen while in the package. The sticker left the sticky residue all over the screen. Alcohol and a soft cloth took it off, but why do something like that Magellan? Also, the mapset is OLD. I could not find my work location via the search. The road is not on the map and the address is not in the database. Granted, my work developement is newer (2000). The map data NAVTEQ (mapset provider) has on their website HAS the road. Magellan does not have a map update from NAVTEQ on the support site. The POI's are also old. A lot of gas stations I pass are not on the map. Restaurant icons are in places there are no restaurants. I had one instance that the GPS was WAY off, which required a restart to get my 'vehicle icon' back on track. One thing Magellan doesn't tell you is that the installed Topo map only goes to 300 feet detail level and in order to get detailed Topo maps (with rivers and greater detail), you have to purchase separate software from Magellan. A bit misleading if you ask me.
  Overall, I'm happy with the unit. Hopefully, Magellan gets on the ball with a mapset update. I already have an email into them.
  UPDATE: This is an update to my original review. Unfortunately, it only gets worse. One update has come along from Magellan, and it did not fix the inaccuracy of this unit. It has sent me in circles, only to come back to a road I had already crossed, and then advised to turn. Side by side with a Garmin Nuvi 660, the Magellan took me onto side roads that the Garmin maintained highway travel- much better routing with the Garmin. Support from Magellan is rediculous. They still have no map updates available. NAVTEQ mapset IS updated on their site and they advise to contact the manufacturer for updates.
  Another issue that has come about with the Magellan is its ability to maintain Satellite contact in the woods. I went for a hike and then reviewed my data only to find that coverage was spotty. Not what I had expected with a WAAS enabled receiver. This could be attributed to the farther north location that I used the unit, a symptom of lesser Satellite reception due to distance from the equator/ southern hemisphere.
  I would recommend an in-vehicle unit and separate outdoors unit- both from Garmin- to anyone that is looking for a 'mixed use' unit.
  
  Edit your post:
  UPDATE: This is an update to my original review. Unfortunately, it only gets worse. One update has come along from Magellan, and it did not fix the inaccuracy of this unit. It has sent me in circles, only to come back to a road I had already crossed, and then advised to turn. Side by side with a Garmin Nuvi 660, the Magellan took me onto side roads that the Garmin maintained highway travel- much better routing with the Garmin. Support from Magellan is rediculous. They still have no map updates available. NAVTEQ mapset IS updated on their site and they advise to contact the manufacturer for updates.
  Another issue that has come about with the Magellan is its ability to maintain Satellite contact in the woods. I went for a hike and then reviewed my data only to find that coverage was spotty. Not what I had expected with a WAAS enabled receiver. This could be attributed to the farther north location that I used the unit, a symptom of lesser Satellite reception due to distance from the equator/ southern hemisphere.
  I would recommend an in-vehicle unit and separate outdoors unit- both from Garmin- to anyone that is looking for a 'mixed use' unit. Guidelines
  
  
  
• cool product, but needs tweaking
  By A39810LB38X79O on 2007-08-30
  I've only had mine for a month, but i've come across a few cons. Main trip so far was driving from SF to Yosemite and 4 days of backpacking around. Some of this may go away with experience, but lots of these i think are product flaws (hopefully a firmware upgrade will come along soon...):
  - it has locked up many times (especially in topo mode when you turn "hold" on/off). Turning unit off and back on seems to fix, but takes a few minutes.
  - PC tools are not very user-friendly, i was hoping for some nicer ways to import my waypoints for my backpacking trip, very tedious
  - Lots of missing POIs. It didn't know about either of the places i wanted to stop for lunch on the drive out (del taco and in n' out, both major chains in CA). We found these the old-fashioned way :).
  - as advertised, the pre-loaded topos are lacking. I was surprised that Polly Dome Lakes did not appear at all... these are on much less detailed maps... I'm looking fwd to the detailed topos being made available, but it seems i won't be able to use these and my custom POIs at the same time. Need to look into this...
  - lots of little usability issues. Not as intuitive as i would hope. Hiking and driving apps are totally separate... Would be nice if you could switch back and forth more easily. For example, when driving dirt roads, sometimes i want the topo view.
  - rubber case is flimsy and falls off easily
  - sometimes screen becomes unresponsive for 10 seconds, then comes back to life (noticed when zooming around maps a lot)
  - when driving, it has picked some pretty strange routes in my hometown. Great when you don't know where you are, but not finding any new shortcuts for me :)
  
  All in all, not bad though. I'd be much happier if the locking issue would go away. This is my first gps and i kind of expect that my expecatations are a bit high. Any gps would probably have many of these short-comings. I can't wait until my iphone is talking to my gps over bluetooth and has wi-fi internet access to live POI data, yelp reviews, google maps/earth, etc. :). Give it a few years...
  
  
• Crossover -crossed up
  By A3C5THRJDYSIGW on 2007-04-03
  Ordered crossover in January and while entering waypoints it locked up. Sent back to the GPS store for an exchange. Just went on trip from Boise Id to Las Vegas and the new unit locked up and kept returning to the Blue Screen. Contacted Magellan and they said a software update would fix it. Downloaded update last night and it appears it fixed the problem. Will see. I was ready to try to exhange it for a different unit but Magellan said this would work-Hopefully we will see. The tech support guy I talked to was difficult to talk to. He sounded like he was revved up on Red Bull and took forever to get him on the line. Tech support sucks. To use the topo and marine functions you have to buy memory cards loaded with the program at $200 a pop. That really sucks to have to buy cards at that price. Half that I could swallow. Further use, more money spent on sd cards will tell if it performs as expected. So far skeptical.
  
  
• Great so far
  By A2SQ02G61FQJW3 on 2007-02-26
  I am still learning all the features of this unit, but everything I have done so far works flawlessly. I have been able to chart our local address, add friends and family, and even put in the lat/long location for our lake house to guide me late at night on the water. I have not tried the music player or picture viewer yet, but I already have gadgets for that. This thing seems to be able to find its location quickly, and keeps track of every move I make. One drawback is that it appears to prefer large interstate highways, so when asked to give the shortest time or distance to a point of interest, it seems to prefer to stay on the big roads. Looking forward to using it this summer to hike and go boating.
  
  
• The Mapless GPS Unit
  By AM418T1MAFSAM on 2007-03-17
  I'd recommend waiting 6 months to see if Magellan produces Topo Maps and map updates. There are nice features, but without maps it is just a paper weight.
  The unit works fine. I wish it had better computer support. Planning trips of any distance on the computer is much easier. The unit works good around town, but cross country is weak.
  The real weakness is a lack of map/software support. If you want to go fishing you're in good shape, but the system Topo map is too small scale to be useful and the good Topo maps do not exist. POI's are so out of date the day the software is published that it is a shot in dark (reality for any unit), but I like the ability to add my own points, but again computer map support would make this unit much more useful. POI's need to be updated on a regular basis. If Magellan wanted to improve their offerings POI updates on a 6 month cycle would be good, and annual map updates for 10 years on any unit would go a long way to fixing their problems. The updates do not have to be free, $100.00 per year to be able to find things certainly works for me.
  The great electronics highlight the lack of software and maps. So if you like weird green paper weights, this unit is the right one for you.
  
  
  
  
• I had higher expectations
  By A2UGKAJMASYC3M on 2007-06-10
  I guess I had higher expectations for this product. I bought it to use for road travel as well as hiking an Geocaching.
  
  For the on-road use there were several things that annoyed me. First, there was a delay at some times when pushing buttons. I did not now if I had pushed it or not. Also, to mute it you have to go into a sub-menu then hit a mute button, then save. Should be a single click.
  One of the first times I used it by blindly following the directions, it had me take an exit only to immediately take a turn on to the entrance ramp to get back on the same road.
  The voice feedback is good, but it reads out every letter when typing in a street name. If I am typing, I am obviously looking at the screen and I don't need it to repeat each letter back to me. Also, for several of the street names it was difficult to understand. I knew the street name but I could not recognize it from it's verbalization.
  For hiking use, I could not figure out how to download the coordinate files (loc or gpx) into the system. Maybe there is a way, but after an hour I gave up. It should not be that hard for something advertised as a hiking system. Also, It was not clear to me when I bought it that it includes 90 m (contour lines) topo maps, but the 30 m map is extra. I'll stick with my $100 model for hiking.
  
  For many people this product might be ok but I expected better usability. It almost seems like a knock-off of a well designed product (a lot of advertised features but hard to use), but if that's the case it should be half the price.
  
  The pouch (extra accessory) is very nice and well made.
  
  
• Crossover does just what it says
  By A79BX9C4RTVJ4 on 2007-05-30
  After purchasing this unit & using it in various applications I have found it to fulfill all my needs. I purchased this unit because of the preloaded Street & Topo maps. I do quite a bit of motorcycle travel and hiking. We have also begun Geo-Caching and found this GPS to work fantastic for that purpose. You can program in a cache location and use the Street maps to drive to the area, then flip over to the Topo maps to hike to the location.
  
  The only downfall I have is that there is no mapping software to install on the comupter in order to layout routes and such, and the multi-stop routing is no mare than stringing all of the legs of a trip together in a row. I would much prefer to have a routing software similar to Streets & Trips that you could do on your computer then upload. But as it is everything is still very usable and reliable.
  
  If you are looking to do Streets & Topo on the same unit, this product can not be beat. Especially for the money.
  
  ALSO: It seems very durable, as I have dropped it and once tossed it over a car by accident. It still works flawlessly.
  
  
• DO NOT BUY MAGELLAN PRODUCTS
  By A1EX862HNDWT8T on 2007-11-16
  Before you make your purchase, pick up the phone and call customer support. You will find it is in India and it is worthless. They will lie to you about shipments you have been promised, know nothing of the products and are completely useless. To test this report, I challenge you to try to find anyone in the USA to speak to. Every phone number is routed to India as if there is no US presence at all. DO NOT waste your money. Buy anything but a Magellan. Call (909)394-500 to verify that what I am telling you is true.
  
  
• F- Magellan Crossover Vehicle GPS
  By A2DE6QM4Y4K9IU on 2007-04-26
  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....
  
  
  
• Great product with some slight reservations
  By A1TI79RDRGC56M on 2007-05-22
  I'd actually give this 4 1/2 stars out of 5 if I could. It can provide navigation and mapping capabilities for roadway, water, or off-road hiking (I'm not a boater so I can't judge the waterway aspect) which makes for wonderful versatility. The road navigation works very well and is fairly easy to use. The topographic maps that come pre-loaded for hiking are not as detailed as I would like -- according to the users manual, one can purchase (at considerable cost) more detailed 30-meter topos on SD chips to replace the 90-meter maps that are programmed in, but actually these are not yet on the market (as of mid-May 2007 I was told it would be "a few months" before they would be available for purchase). The device can not export waypoints and tracks to other more sophisticated mapping programs such as Topo USA. The unit lacks a magnetic compass (but rather calculates directional bearings based on your movement) which is a slight disadvantage if you turn on the unit while standing still and want to know which way is north, for example. Satelite reception is excellent. Battery life is excellent. It is a bit on the heavy side to carry into the field. All in all it is a great product, with the caveat that if you are into serious hiking or mapping you may need a separate GPS unit dedicated to this purpose -- I plan to hold on to my Garmin ETREK for this reason.
  
  
• Perfect
  By A3J8ZOEBOMA4RO on 2007-05-25
  I love this GPS...for one thing it has a large enough screen that I can see the map without pulling over and putting on reading glasses. Very friendly verbal driving directions. I like that the color scheme automatically changes in the evening making it not so bright then. My only complaint is that the green rubber protection piece (which can come off) is a bit loose. A tighter fit would be better. It comes with the car cigarette adapter which was not clear from the Amazon page.
  
  
• Great little GPS
  By A3DPJ12ZEGXE2B on 2007-10-24
  Just got this unit a couple of weeks ago and overall I love it.
  
  The street nav mode is excellent. I don't really have any complaints on it. Of course it's not 100% perfect, but I realize map data is always a year or two behind.
  
  Haven't used the marine mode.
  
  Hiking mode is great with one exception. The unit likes to lock up once in awhile. While geocaching, I'll realize the screen isn't updating and I have to reset it and then find that I've gone right by the cache. Other than this annoying flaw I love it.
  
  One other really minor complaint when using for geocaching, is that once you get close to your waypoint, the information telling you how far you are goes away, so if you start to wander too far you don't realize it and have to retell it which waypoint you want headings to. The arrow pointer is also kind of big and covers up the x of the waypoint when you get close.
  
  I have figured out a fairly easy way to load waypoints into the hiking mode. Convert your data into a .upt file and put it on an SD card. You can then load them into the unit. Does have a memory limit of 250 waypoints, but I just create different files for different areas when geocaching and load the one I need. I also load my data into the supplied POI PC application which will convert them to .mgln files and let you load them into the unit so I get the same waypoints as POI points in the street nav side.
  
  Haven't really used the tracks feature, but it allows you to track where you have been and backtrack if you need to.
  
  
• Great product, horrible customer service from Magellan!
  By AY2WHFFELCNSS on 2007-11-13
  I just purchased the Crossover GPS for my husband. He loves it. The big screen and ease of use is wonderful. 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 five hours on the phone over four days 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. I was repeatedly transferred back and forth between tech support and customer service. 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 to own a product from a company that takes care of customers the first time!!
  
  
  
  
• WARNING TO ALL!
  By AZGF9L8Y6JID4 on 2008-01-08
  I received this product as a gift. It malfunctioned after a few days and magellan authorized a return repair stating it would be returned within "10 to 12 Days". In the meantime, they advertise a fishing marine map which can be downloaded. I purchased the chart for $99 but the download link was never provided. Many, many calls to technical support have provided no solution. They state that the download server is not functioning but refuse to stop selling the "downloads" to unsuspecting customers. In the meantime, after over a month, they "lost" my original Crossover GPS. They have said repeatedly that they would send me a new one "within 4 or 5 days", but never have, and will not provide any additional information. STAY AWAY FROM THIS CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION!!!
  
  
• Magellan Crossover Works Great
  By A13MUY88UWCTUO on 2007-07-31
  I am very pleased with the Magellan Crossover GPS system. It works as well as reasonably expected. On major highways, the spoken directions are clear once you become familiar with its maneuvering instruction set. The vocal directions read exactly the language on the signs where there are forks in the road to guide you timely and exactly in the right direction. Of course there are places where there are several quick change sequences that may be confusing to follow and execute, but that is an inherent problem due to the design of the roads and how quickly drivers can follow directions.
  
  Satellite coverage is great with 20 channels, though it still takes about 2-4 minutes for location detection. Maps are relatively new and accurate at least for S. California, though not perfect. One con is the need to hold the "on" button for at least 10 seconds for a good boot (the Magellan tech said to press it for 20 seconds which is a bit much). Download the latest firmware 2.14 as of July 30, 2007 for a new interface that I think works a lot better than the old one.
  
  
• magellan crossover
  By A31BOMQK3HTAAR on 2007-06-09
  great GPS easy to use compact and detailed. this unit came with all we needed windshield mount (really good one, too!) car adapter and ac adapter-- and you can remove the gross green rubber cover when you dont need the extra protection. battery lasts and lasts -- best one Magellan put out
  
  
• Topo maps very poor; no upgrades
  By A2C81EBMYU74J7 on 2007-10-18
  Great idea to have topo and roads on the same unit, but topo maps are 90 meter (so topo lines about every 300 feet of elevation) and other map features such as streams are missing. I couldn't find a way to get any map upgrades--an FAQ on their website says none are available, although the instruction manual claims you can use programmed SD cards for upgrades (and even shows pictures of how much better the upgraded maps look on the unit). That's pretty deceptive. I bought this to replace my old sportrak pro, which has great downloadable maps and navagation features, but is slow and has a poor screen. This unit might be great for driving, but don't buy this if you also intend to use it in a serious way for outdoors or hiking. I'm returning mine today.
  
  
• all-in-all a nice gps
  By A2SH72FGQWSP7J on 2007-10-18
  I have owned this for over a month now and overall I am very pleased. There are some things, though ...
  
  Fist the good stuff. Mostly I got it because it has just about everything - text to speech, serf II for great gps acquisition (I can get 4 bars from my den and not near a window), traffic (I didn't get the subscription), and auto, marine, and off-road options for a really versatile little box. The non-slip cover that comes with it works great in my car sitting on the dash or actually wedged in this spot on the console, I don't even need to install the mount (doubly nice because then thieves are not alerted that you have something in there). Did I mention being able to set up routes with multiple waypoints? I mean, something without that is pretty worthless to me and most of them don't have that. Also in 2D mode you can drag the map to pan to areas that are not visible at your current zoom level. A really nice feature but I don't think it's documented. Overall it's relatively easy to use but some of the features are not intuitive, it can take some digging and as a last resort going to the manual to find out how to do something. The manual is nicely written using a "how-to" style. I'm rather pleased with the overall operation and so far have not had the hanging-up that some other people have mentioned.
  
  Now the not-so-good. The software came with an older version (1.62 in my case) and when I went to the website to get the update I wound up in a loop back to where I started. I wrote them and they said when it asked for version, I needed to enter "1.68" in order to avoid the loop. They said it was a bug and hopefully fixed soon. The install of the new version was pretty easy just following the directions. The downside is that the manual is not updated so many of the "how-to"s are not entirely correct. "A" for effort, though. The voice prompts are clear and the volume easily adjustable.
  
  When you switch modes (off-road, marine, or road) it has to reboot, which takes about a minute or so, not really a problem unless you're just playing with it.
  
  The auto-navigation routes it gives are sometimes misleading and of course the database is from 2005 and so far no updates are posted. That may be a big negative but I don't know how often the others are updated. One of the nav quirks is that it doesn't always tell you to turn when you need to nor even turn the right way. For example, let's say Main Street intersects East River Road, yet Main is the one that turns and going straight on the road that was called Main actually takes you on East River. Well a) it doesn't tell you to turn, it figures that you will just stay on Main wherever that goes, and b) if you were supposed to turn on East River it will tell you to turn left (assuming Main turns right), even though you actually need to go straight. Granted it usually shows the turn if you look at the map, but unless you do that all the time it can take you by surprise. If you do incorrectly go straight and wind up on East River, though, you will hear "Calculating route ..." in short order so it does at least let you know you didn't go where it expected.
  
  Many times it can get you 99.8% of the way to your destination, but it gets kind of flaky when you get very near. For example once it took us to the Mariott in Hartford, but when we got to the traffic light next to the hotel it told us to turn left when the hotel was clearly on the right. Maybe "B" for effort this time. Don't rely on it to know exactly where a particular house is - it can get you close but it's unlikely it can get you in the driveway. Ok, maybe that's too much to expect, but sometimes it's several hundred feet off but I'm sure they do some kind of linear interpolation of the addresses otherwise the database would be too large.
  
  It would be nice if you could enter the street for a destination without knowing the city. For example, you can enter an intersection as a waypoint but you need to know what city that intersection is in and sometimes roads can span multiple cities. Also it would be nice if I could identify the intersection by picking it from the map view. Again, I suppose I'm expecting too much.
  
  A couple of nit-picky things:
  o the screen is not very viewable in direct sunlight, no matter what it says.
  o sometimes you need to be looking at the screen - for example in a multi-destination route it is necessary to "resume" the trip after you pass a waypoint and there is no voice prompt to do so.
  o it seems to take a really long time, maybe 5 minutes, to pick up the satellites if it has been off for a while. My advice - turn it on about 10 or 15 minutes before you need it.
  
  Well so far I'm pretty pleased overall. There are some negative things but I suppose all of them will have that. It has nice battery life and I think will go the 6 or 8 hours it says between charges. It's relatively intuitive and has a very rich set of features and additional maps that can be downloaded. So far I am very glad that I got it and frankly it was the only unit that had all of the features that I wanted.
  
  
• Promissing Product with Proper Upgrade & Support
  By ABAU1DGMGQ9G1 on 2008-01-31
  Car GPS portion works at acceptable level- "3.5 star". Not as refined as Garmin or TomTom but it works.
  Marine GPS map is nearly useless. It shows gps points and water boundary lines. No bathymetric charts, no road ways other than freeways, no lakes and no rivers. -"0 star"
  Outdoor topo map is very basic. A large lake longer than 5 miles with 13k acres doesn't show up in 2miles scale map. Very Basic - "3 star"
  Manual is a basic operation instructions. Not much of substantive content in CD-ROM pdf manual - "1 star"
  Customer support is "0 star"
  SD interface horrible. I could only get 15MB out of 2GB Lexar card. Called tech support. After ~15minutes wait, a tech support says nothing larger than 1GB card and only SanDisk & Toshiba cards are supported. I couldn't get sincere admission of the SD problem. I want to know if firmware upgrade will be coming soon? or it has a hardware problem which requires return for repair. Only response was use 1GB SanDisk/Toshiba card.
  SD card based maps and downloadable maps may not be available yet due to same SD card problem.
  Not recommended to buy yet. Xover seems to be released for sale soon after initial beta prototype for 2007 Xmas season.
  
  
• Great idea...not so good execution
  By A2HBXEA432ZM5K on 2007-05-13
  First of its kind. Claimed to provide a good mix of on and off road, and water, navigation. I find the mapping is not good in my area, Northern California. It sends my to non-existent roads, is unable to find streets in places like bend, OR. It had me exit a freeway and then re-enter at the same spot???? The included off road maps do not shown forest service roads however their is an optional Topo Map which may or may not, they can't tell me. It may be a mute point since the Topo maps are only available on CD and this unit uses SD cards. Seems this was a rush to market product before Garmin. Great concept...not so good execution.
  
  
• First GPS and pleased with performance
  By A2QV8GUKJ2FU66 on 2007-08-13
  OK, so I can't compare the performance of this GPS system to any other as this was the first time I've ever used or needed something like this. But I read a lot of reviews, and I do mean a lot of them, for a couple of weeks before making my decision and I'm pleased that for a first experience I purchased a Magellan Crossover.
  
  Let me explain, I work in sales. I travel to a lot of large towns/ small cities in my territory that are in Arkansas. I had never been to these towns before. Apparently, the city leaders do not care if one can find their way around them because most of them have terrible city maps available and/or do not bother to put street signs up. This made it a challenge to find my customers even with a map.
  
  So the idea of a GPS came to mind and I took the plunge. This little unit worked exactly the way I wanted for 2 days then stopped working half way through the second day. Not even pressing the reset button helped. (sigh) I called the people I purchased it from and they paid to have it Fed-Exed back to them for replacement. Apparently I got a defective model. Hey, it happens to all of us. So by the end of this week I'll have my replacement and will be ready to roll again.
  
  This was a great time saver for me. I would get to a town, input the first address and it would get me to my first stop. When I was done there I would input the next address and it accurately got me to the next place I needed to be. It literally saved me a couple hours a day in wasted travel time by my not having to stop, get directions from a local (that were usually wrong) and repeating that process over and over.
  
  The screen was bright and easy to read, the voice plenty loud enough. And the unit was easy learn to use. I gave it 5 stars for performance. I can't really fault the manufacturer for a faulty unit. Those things are hard to predict and usually are few and far between.
  
  So, unless the next unit is also defective, at which time I will then have to reconsider and write a more negative review LOL, this little GPS unit is a great buy for a first time user.
  
  [...].
  
  
• Updates
  By A3OH41ZQ0FEC7Q on 2007-09-11
  There are no map updates for this product. There are many errors in the existing maps.
  You have to purchase the water navigation maps for an additional $200.00.
  
  
• A GPS for all seasons & reasons
  By AR368OFFIJBWW on 2007-05-14
  I researched every GPS on the market with specific needs in mind. I needed a unit that was versatile enough to be used in my Land Rover during off road jaunts, Weather resistant for when I get caught in the rain on my Honda Gold Wing motorcycle and easily moved from my vehicle to a rental car when I travel for business. The Magellan Crossover GPS fits the bill in every respect. The unit comes with all of the map data necessary out of the box to satisfy almost all of your needs. The optional Topographical maps complete the package. The unit acquires satellite signals rapidly and the automatic detour function is very handy when needed. The "text to speech" feature is clear and easily understood and heard even on a motorcycle. The battery life lasts for about 7-8 constant hours of usage. I will be purchasing a second Magellan Crossover GPS in the near future.
  
  
• Really execellent product...
  By A76TZTKNWVUZE on 2007-08-23
  Being new to GPS we bought this unit initially for use on a trip at St. Louis. I can't say enough about how much less stressed it was trying to drive from place to place, not having to worry at all about how to get there. Also the "Points of interest" features worked great finding places to eat, muesums, parks, etc. One minor thing there that is probably unavoidable on any unit...we were directed to a restaraunt or two that no longer existed. I did have one time in maybe 200 destinations where it just got the spot wrong along a road by about 15 minutes worth. I have yet to know what the issue was. I suspect maybe the address numbers were resetting frequestly along the road or something. Most of the time (like 99.5%) it "just works" for whatever I'm trying to do with it.
  
  I think most of the main features are straight forward for someone who is okay using a computer or setting up the home stereo/tv/dvd/vcr etc. Even at that, to learn detailed feature use enough to become second nature took a week or three. Granted I never went through the user guide, which is only on DVD, step by step. Once I used it for a couple weeks though I was able to find most everything without having to dig deep into the user guide, so that's a good thing.
  
  I found once we had the unit home I used it *much* more frequently than I thought I would. It's shown me shortcuts to places. It's allowed me to call a place (on my cell) I knew was somewhere close...get the address...and be on my way to some unplanned spot in a matter of minutes.
  
  I really like that on a long trip it gives you warning of a turn 2 miles out, 1/2 mile, and then seconds before you have to turn.
  
  I have only used it driving so far. I expect the water and land features will be awesome as well. Like the idea that I can mount it on a motorcycle and not worry about water. It seems an excellent comprimise between adequate screen size and portability. I've used it in multiple vehicles constantly with no more trouble than carrying a wallet or a purse. Just stick it up on the window with the suction cup and plus in the lighter. Done.
  
  Have to say this on Amazon itself too: Amazon had a price $200 (about 2/5) less than the local Best Buy on this model, and the second lowest price returned by zdnet, nexttag and the like, and then product arrived in days. The lowest price was a much less reputable company with low ratings. The whole expecrience has defintely encouraged me to use Amazon more often for stuff other than books...
  
  

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