Magellan eXplorist 600 full color GPS

$470; 800 707 9971; www.magellangps.com

These days the sky is the limit with GPS technology—smaller units, more powerful antennas, longer battery life, tons of stats and best of all, easier to use interfaces. Magellan’s portable eXplorist 600 is about the size of cell phone, but packs a full-color punch that will have you tracking everything from hikes to the high peaks to trips to the grocery store. Magellan has steadily improved on previous technology to create the best back country GPS to date.

For starters, a new stronger antenna gives extremely accurate and fast readings. The WAAS/EGNOS receiver will pinpoint your position within 3 meters (American defense initiatives do not allow receivers to be 100% accurate). The information gathered from the heavens is displayed on a full color, back lit LCD screen that is easy to navigate and operate. Your position can be examined from 100 ft to hundreds of miles above. Tracking software keeps a trail of your precise footsteps, citing distance, bearing, altitude, vertical profile, proximity to waypoints (locations marked on the GPS), speed, max speed, and more.

Thanks to the interactive ability using Magellan’s Mapsend software, you can load detailed topographic maps loaded onto the unit. By using standard SD digital cards, you can impart your 600 with enough memory to give detailed maps of an area as large as Switzerland on one card. Simply load info onto a second card if you need more detailed maps of another area.

Other built in features include a barometer, thermometer, and 3-axis electronic compass. The compass is a notable improvement over earlier units that required the user to be moving to get an accurate reading. Now, you only need to hold the unit flat in your hand and the compass will find north without having to move around. Finally, the whole thing is powered by a quickly-charged Li-Ion battery that gives up to 17 hours of power per charge.

All those features are nice and dandy, but what really matter is how the unit performs in the outdoors. In our tests, we found this to be the best backcountry GPS on the market. The interface is easy to learn and use and the antenna stubbornly tracks, even in overcast and stormy weather. The unit fits nicely in your hand and the waterproof rubber armor means the 600 can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’. This was beneficial when geo-caching took us to some remote areas where the 600 was banged, dropped, and rained on without ever malfunctioning.

What I enjoyed most about the 600 was how easy it was to chronicle hikes, bike rides, and climbs. Simply turn the unit on at the start of the day and set the unit to track your steps. Marking the occasional waypoint helps keep a visual diary of your steps and when the day is done, load the tracks onto your PC or Mac and check out the places you’ve been. For a map-o-phile such as myself, this is too much fun! You can even see the terrain you’ve traversed in 3-D, along with details on where you went the fastest and slowest.

GPS adds a new element to the outdoors that is both fun and extremely useful. If you are looking for a GPS that does it all and can handle the rigors of the backcountry, the 600 is the unit to have—that’s why it has earned the tech gear of the month award for January 2006.