It would be zero stars if I could
The unit worked great in the US, we moved to Europe, I bought MapSend Direct route Europe, in the UK... The software didn't work, their customer service is non exsistant! I am proceeding with action in court, having wasted countless hours in emails, phone calls and letters, not including money spent pursuing them...
AVOID AVOID AVOID, ( I recently bought a Garmin Nuvi.... aahhhh!)
All the good reviews are meaningless, as they obviously haven't attempted dealing with customer service!

Magellan Explorist 500
Like many others, I find the manual instructions are useless. Positive comments: I like the saved route function that can be played back for review in color code for the different travelling speeds. Or maybe I'm impressed easily. NEGATIVE COMMENT: waterproof NOT! Already had to replace the battery due to the cover does not remain sealed. I suspect the lid is not stiff enough to retain its shape. You can press the lid down when the one and only screw is tightly secured. Not good. There may be other damages...not sure. The company apparently does not to provide any updates or patches to allow using the new vista computers or linux operating systems. It would be nice if file names could be set through the computer and sequencially named.

Poor quality product
I really wanted to like this unit. The graphics were nice, features were nice, my family had a lot of fun with it at first. Then the memory went out on it and I called Magellan (long wait time) and they said to send it in. After 2 months I got it back and it didn't work at all right out of the box, then I noticed it wasn't even my unit, they had exchange it for a different one that didn't work! Of course I had to send it in (again at my cost) and after another 6 weeks wait they send me back the second unit in working condition - well it worked for about a month, which, for me included using it about three times. No, I didn't mishandle any of these units. I am very disappointed with it.

Magellan support doesn't exist
I purchased a new Explorist 500 in August 2006. It works fine although doesn't seem to lock onto satellites as quickly as Garmin GPS. I have on occasion tried to get through to their support both in email and on the phone and I don't think Magellan support exists. When I had to buy a new home computer and it came with Windows Vista, I received a canned reply from Magellan that said basically I was out of luck that there is no way the Explorist 500 will talk to Windows Vista. I will not buy another Magellan product due to the lack of support and the fact they seem to be way behind in technology. Windows Vista has been around for almost two years. Plenty of time for someone to develope a patch.

Magellan GPS Products - Customer Beware
Megellans "customer service" is by far the worst we have experienced. Based on our experience, it appears that Magellan's customer service tactic is to put the customer on hold for long periods hoping that they will hang up, always making the customer call back, never agreeing to follow up with a return phone call or e-mail and making false promises. I'm assuming all with the intent that the customer will eventually just give up. Not only has Magellan not stood behind its product, its customer service people are obviously trained to give customers the run around. What a NASTY way to treat people. Read on if you want details of what we have been through.

In April of 2006 I bought my husband a Magellan Explorist 300 for his birthday. It was to replace a 10 year old Magellan that was much larger and heavier. After several months the NAV button wasn't working properly. By the time he got around to call "customer service" it was a couple of weeks after the 1 year warranty. He was told the warranty would not be honored as it had expired. We paid to ship and repair the unit. When we got the unit back, it was not the one we sent in as it had a different serial number. The NAV button of this replaced unit did not work. My husband called within a week, of receiving this "repaired" model and was told by "customer service" that the Explorist 300 was discontinued, they would not honor the "repaired" model and that they were no longer servicing the model. He was then told he would just have to buy another model. He indicated that this was not acceptable and pressed to speak with a supervisor. He was first told no supervisor was available and with further pressing was put on hold for 10-15 minutes before a supervisor responded. She indicated that they would provide him with an Explorist 400 at no charge, but that they were out of stock and he would need to call back in a week. After the week, the call was a series of holds (always 10-15 minutes each time) before a supervisor came to the phone. This supervisor said the Explorist 400 was out of stock as well as the Explorist 500 and that they would ship him an Explorist 600. After two weeks went by, my husband called to find out if the Explorist 600 had been shipped. They said it would be shipped within 1 week and when my husband asked by what mode of transport, they indicated UPS. When he asked them to provide the tracking number he was told to call back in a couple of days for it. He calls back a couple of days later and again after a series of holds was told the Explorist 600 was being shipped out and that he should have it in a few days.....again he's instructed to call back for the tracking number. He calls back days later, again a series of holds, and is told the computer system is down and he will have to call back the next day. He calls back, again a series of holds. The "customer service" rep promises that this time it will be shipped and that he will even send an e-mail providing the tracking number within 24-48 hours. You guessed it....no tracking number. My husband calls every week and is "promised" that it will be sent (this time) and he will receive it in 3-5 days. This has been going on for over two months now and still no replacement model. My husband is determined to get Magellan to stand behind their product, but I think it is an exercise in futility and that he will never get the replacement model he was "promised".