Gear Review - Magellan Triton 2000 GPS

We recently had the opportunity to review the Magellan Triton 2000. This tough little GPS device proved durable enough for mountain terrain, always found satelites, and had an impressive look and feel.

The Magellan Triton 2000 is a hand held GPS with a built in 2 mega pixel camera. The camera has 3x zoom and you can associate pics with points on your trip. This would be a fun little feature for geocachers and hikers alike.

The navigation wasn’t quite as intuitive as I would have liked. You start out with the screen you see to the right. Six options that can be a bit confusing on where to go if you just want to look at the map. One cool feature about the navigation of the device though is that you can use the small pointer to tap the screen and choose options. The screen is also touch sensitive, so you can use your finger to drag the map or select buttons. If the touch screen ever goes out you can still use the buttons at the bottom.

We used this device in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. The area is pretty remote so it was nice to see that the device always picked up several satelites and was very accurate.

A built in flashlight also comes with the device which can make it pull triple duty on the trail for the lightweights out there. You have your GPS, camera, and flashlight in one package. The casing is tough as well with a rubbery material coating it. There is a small handle at the top of the device so you can use a biner to clip it to your pack.

One thing that I found odd with this device was Magellans decision to use 2AA bateries. Many devices today are using rechargable lithium batteries. I understand the reasoning here however. If your lithium battery goes out, you won’t likely have easy access to a replacement. But a combination would be nice for this particular GPS. It would be great to have a 2AA option as well as a built in lithium. Then you have the option and a back up if needed. Disposable batteries just seem so old school these days.

I had an issue a few times on the trip with the battery showing low. Then if I rebooted the device it would show full again.

The built in maps are not much to get excited about. If you like to see where the state borders are and where the interstates are you’ll be happy. Otherwise be ready to immediately go out and buy map software or download maps. The good thing here is the Magellan is very compatible. We used the National Geographic TOPO! map for this trip to the Bighorns which worked well with the Magellan. The two companies have gotten together to make it easy to grab full color maps and use them on your Magellan. TOPO! is also releasing a powerful online tool to download quads for $1 soon. We’ll be reporting full details on that soon as well.

The Triton 2000 retails for $499.99 and can be found at Magellangps.com or at most outdoor retailers.

Other cool features…

• SD card expandable
• Audio Jack (add your digital music to the Triton)
• Barometer (watch for approaching weather)
• External Antenna capability

1 comment August 25th, 2008