The Triton 2000 is currently Magellan's most powerful recreational GPS receiver. It has a 2.7-inch, 240x320 pixel backlit color display, with touch screen capability. Navigation features include a built-in 3-axis electronic compass and a barometer. It features a 2-megapixel camera and a built-in microphone which can take still photos or videos with sound. It also has a built-in low-power LED flashlight, a digital music player, an external slot for memory expansion, an external antenna, and a earphone jack.

Besides all of the usual GPS features such as the SIRFStarIII chipset, WAAS enabled, and being waterproof to IPX standards, the Triton 2000 has a high-sensitivity antenna that works very well in the field. It runs on standard AA batteries, and runs a good long time on one set.

The Triton 2000 includes a built-in basemap for North America, with major cities, highways and waterways. It is ready to go out of the box. If the built-in basemaps are not enough, Magellan markets an add-on map product called TOPO USA, from AccuTerra. It features high-resolution topographical maps, and a searchable database of over 1,000,000 points of interest. It is available for download by region, or in a complete package on an SD card, covering the entire USA.

One of the most exciting features of the Triton series of GPS receivers is the compatibility with National Geographic TOPO! products. These are the popular topographical map sofware packages that are based on 1:24000 USGS quadrant maps. The Triton 2000 interfaces directly with NG TOPO! version 4.x and NG TOPO Explorer, which will allow the user to download actual 1:24000 scale topographical maps, and display them on the screen. TOPO! will also exchange track and waypoint data with the Triton.

The Triton 2000 is managed with a PC-based program called VantagePoint. This is a very powerful tool, which will archive waypoints and track data from the GPS, or send premade tracks, waypoints, and GPX files to the GPS. It displays your tracks and waypoints on the screen using the same basemap as the one in the Triton 2000, and if you have purchased the AccuTerra product, it will display your data on that map as well. It will also back up the data and map files on the GPS, including NG TOPO maps. Firmware revisions in the GPS and version maintenance of itself are also handled very well.

VantagePoint is a very nice feature, as it streamlines the management of track files. Since the Triton 2000 can store only a limited number of tracks, it is easy to reach a point where you have to delete one track or lose another. With VantagePoint, you can easily transfer all of your data from the GPS to your PC and back again, if needed.

All-in-all, the Triton 2000 is a very good GPS to own. The screen is large enough to be easily read, and the backlight works well even in daylight. It is very accurate and holds its satellite fix very well, compared with other GPS receivers. It gets really good battery life from a pair of AA batteries. The touch screen makes it easier to enter text such as waypoint names and comments, and the camera takes surprisingly nice pictures.

The negatives are very few. The biggest flaw is that it is not possible to operate the Triton 2000 by touch screen alone. Most menus are not reachable without pressing at least one button. the touch screen is mostly useful for entering text. Touch screen functionality is enhanced by a tiny stylus which inserts into the body of the unit, which is on the left side, but should be on the right. Another is the way the unit is customized for the user. There are three user-configurable profiles, which are hidden under the View menu, and another menu item called Settings.

In early versions of the firmware, the menu system was difficult to navigate, but most of those problems have been corrected by an almost complete rewrite of the user interface. There are still some issues, like the profiles and settings menus being completely non-intuitive, but these issues are not extreme.

Nerds in the Wood recommends the Triton 2000 based on the relative ease of use, long battery life and the ability to maintain a satellite fix even in difficult conditions. The large screen is easy on the eyes, and the added features like the flashlight and camera make for a pleasant owner experience.