Author Topic: Galileo Whistler.........good or bad? (Read 712 times)

Flash · « **on:** July 05, 2004, 03:10:05 AM »

The local Wal-Mart has these marked down to $70 from $200 and the updrade kit which includes CD's, 32mb of memory and a USB cable is discounted down to $15 from $90. This is a tremendous savings but is it a good unit?

Dalton Masterson · « **Reply #1 on:** March 04, 2005, 07:26:54 PM »

I want to know too??? I already have the expansion kit, and found the units on sale now. Any info??? Thanks. DM

Siskiyou · « **Reply #2 on:** March 05, 2005, 01:09:29 PM »

The Whistler Galileo? I had not heard of it before. A little research found it on E-Bay. But I did not find it in other areas that I normally find gps information. I found it on the Whistler page, but it was late and I did not lookup what kind of support they provide for it.

How long has it been on the market?

I just found two reviews on this product at Amazon.com.

Dalton Masterson · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2005, 05:47:38 AM »

Well, I went ahead and bought one. Yikes. Taking it back tonight. Took over an hour to find the satellites, and sometimes shuts off on its own. Checked batteries, good batteries. Only zooms in to .10 mile. My Ifinder goes to .02 I think. Not impressed at all with it. Dont recommend it unless its for target practice. :twisted: DM

Siskiyou · « **Reply #4 on:** March 08, 2005, 11:35:36 AM »

Dalton Masterson: Thanks for your feed back. I would consider it as a good review. That is two out of three, yours being #3 which do not consider it a good product. One of the reviews was wishy-washy. In line with my pessimistic nature it is a buyer beware product.

Your ifinder was a good item to compare to and the Galileo did not make the grade. What are you looking for in an upgrade?

Dalton Masterson · « **Reply #5 on:** March 08, 2005, 11:37:58 AM »

Not looking for an upgrade. Just wanted a second unit for the inlaws geocaching. This just happened to be on sale. Gonna sell the upgrade kit on Ebay. DM

Siskiyou · « **Reply #6 on:** March 08, 2005, 04:50:47 PM »

Dalton Masterson: The Lowrance company is noted for it's fishing electronics and a comer in the gps world. I have read some good reviews on their gps units. If you have time it would be of interest to read your impressions of the ifinder. Clearly the Whistler could not meet it's standards.

I have a buddy who has a couple of gps units. He was into the gps world well before me. He just ordered a magellan exploriest 100 at under $60 for his son. Normal price is around $110 for that unit.

My suggestion to those who want to buy a low cost gps unit from companies just getting into the gps business is; Buy it from a store that has a good return policy.

Remember when you power up a gps the first time out of the box it will take longer to find itself. The true test will be when you power it up there afterwards at home. Time frames will very some because satellite Orbits very. My normal satellite reception is four to six satellites, and if on am on a ridge I might get seven. Today I was getting eight satellites with my Garmin 76C down in a narrow drainage. I normally get four in this area.

Another time your satellite might be slow booting up is after a major operating system software download. The first boot-up might be a little slow depending on the contents of the update. After that your start up should be normal for you unit.

This evening I am setting in the computer room with a Garmin GPSMap76C and a Garmin Etrex Legend setting on the monitor before me. The reception is varying between the units. The Legend at times is receiving more satillitates and a higher degree of accuracy. I have read not to read to much into side by side comparisons. These units are almost touching. Apparently one unit will bleed the signal off another. I have seen this happen with portable radios. The good thing is both units are receiving signals from the outdoors under a roof and with large trees just outside the window.