Whether you’re on your way to the florist, lost in the forest, or just a tourist, the Magellan eXplorist will help keep even a dimwit like you from wandering onto a missile-testing range or something. It’s loaded with more bells and whistles than the NBA Referees’ Handbell Choir, and if you keep it in your shirt pocket and pray very hard, it might even prevent a bullet from piercing your heart.

One of the few consumer-electronics firms named after a fifteenth-century Portuguese seaman, Magellan bestowed far more features onto the eXplorist than a mere GPS tracker. How does 8 MB worth of maps grab you? What about the ability to save 500 points of interest and 20 routes? How do you like the built-in thermometer and barometer, letting you keep tabs on the weather and determine your present elevation? And what of the electronic compass that works whether you’re moving or standing still?

They tell us something called Magellan TrueFix technology makes the eXplorist more accurate, utilizing 14 channels supported by both WAAS and EGNOS. Maybe, maybe not – we’ll have to take their word for it, because it’s all Portuguese to us. The point is, if the original Magellan had had one of these, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten offed in the Phillippines.

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