The Magellan FX324—button ergonomics, user interface, and cartography are good, and receiver sensitivity seems excellent.

Missing from the April 2003 review of color chartplotters was any offering from Magellan, a company that led the way into GPS navigation for pleasure craft back in the late ‘80s, but then suffered a few ownership and identity crises, and gradually fell behind as Garmin took the market by storm. (Some readers will remember the Magellan Nav 1000, the white, blocklike, single-channel receiver that introduced many to the wonders of GPS.)

Magellan is now owned by Thales Navigation, part of the much larger Thales Group of companies, which are based all over the map. …