Explorist 710 Speaker Blown Out?

kc27

My Explorist 710 was being used in vehicle navigation mode at full volume when the speaker began sounding very distorted. I thought the cause was weak batteries, but fresh batteries did not resolve the problem.

What repair options are there for these units?

patruns

They still sell them. I would say you can probably send it in to Magellan if it is still in warranty. Otherwise, they offer a replacement at a reduced cost.

http://www.magellangps.com/Warranty-Repairs-Returns

kc27

Thanks, I'll contact them to learn the price of a reduced cost unit.

zee

Also "google" Jungle Ghost and Bills Electronics in Canada, for repairs.

kc27

I heard from Magellan. They suggested updating to the latest firmware, which I am already at, and if that fails send them my serial number (not sure why). They also spelled out two options for an out-of-warranty unit:

Replace it. Send them my current Explorist 710 and they will replace it with a new unit with a 1 year warranty for $329.

Keep my current unit, and purchase a second one. They sell refurbished 710's for 399.99. Those carry a 3 month warranty.

There is no repair option from Magellan. I am going to check out the two repair sources zee mentioned.

Boyd

With all due respect, that price is crazy for a refurbished device that hasn't been very popular - and only a 3 month warranty?

You can get a new Garmin Oregon 450 - arguably a better device with lots of free maps available - for $200.

If you still want something for the car with spoken directions, junction view, lane assist, lifetime map updates and other features, the Nuvi 40LM costs about $130. So you could keep the Explorist and get two new devices for the same price ($330) Magellan wants to swap your Explorist.

There are plenty of other options that cost less than those Magellan prices. If it were me, I wouldn't "spend good money after bad" on Magellan...

If you really like the Explorist though, you could call Magellan again and explain all this to a supervisor. Maybe they have the power to make you a better deal?

kc27

Boyd

I agree, none of those options are worthwhile - Amazon sells new Explorist 710 units for $350, so their "Customer Loyalty" discount price is really only a $20 discount off of a real-world retail price. The Magellan website has the price listed at $499.99.

The unit had fuzzy sound a couple of days ago, now it is totally silent. The gps functionality is fine. I'm going to see what the repair costs would be. and then make a decision to fix or replace it with something else.

I do have a portable vehicle gps unit, so the loss of audio isn't mission critical for me. Vehicle navigation with the 710 is more of a convenience than anything else when you already have the 710 in your hands, and even now it is still useable without the audio.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

kc27

I ended up getting the speaker replaced. Parts, labor, shipping brought the cost to $151.50.

The sound from the new speaker doesn't seem as clear as the original speaker - it sounds as though there is some distortion (kind of like a speaker with the volume turned up too high) in it - but it works again.