Cobra GPS 500 2MB Global Positioning System with 18 Channels
By: Cobra Average Rating: 1.0 Total Reviews: 12
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 On: 2006-11-20
We have had problems similar to the ones that many of the other reviewers have had with their Cobra 500. The first unit we had worked marvelously for over 10 months. Then one day while hiking my wife pulled it out of her coat pocket... Dead. She contacted (phone) Cobra service. They suggested to send it back in to them. It would be repaired or replaced. Three weeks we received a new unit. This unit was used simultaneously with a friends Cobra 500 on a hiking/geocache trip. The discrepancy was startling. Although we were standing nearly side by side the two units show a difference of over 500 from the cache site and the compass arrows were off by 31 degrees. After further testing we found out that our new "replacement" unit was the one that was in error.
Another call to Cobra and another bad unit back to the shop. We received out third Cobra 500 via FedX three weeks later along with a sheet from the technician tell us that the old unit could not be repaired. Therefore, they were sending us a replacement unit at no charge. Now understand, we were out of the original warrantee period by over a month. (This is the reason for the 2 stars.)
We immediately went out on a multi geochache hunt. Four finds in 2-hours. This third unit is the winner: acquires satellites within 30 seconds, updates continuously, and is accurate to within 10 of the stated geocaches Lat/long.
Do I like The Cobra 500? I like the third one. ( I just hope it lasts for a few years of heavy use.) Would I buy another Cobra GPS unit? No!!! Absolutely not!!!
To Cobra:
I have used your CB radios for over 30 years. Professional truck drivers convinced me that your radio products are the best. I agree with them. Your Corbra GPS model 500 left me with a bad feeling for your product line. In a little over a year you have reduced my positive feelings about your products that I have had for over 30 years. I feel like you submitted a product to consumers well before you should have place your name on it. I do not appreciate buying a "beta" unit when your advertising stressed the advanced technologies in your product. Your Cobra 500 was supposed to be faster and better than your competition. Maybe the third unit has those attributes.
Time will tell.
 On: 2006-10-12
I was lost in the woods, due to the Cobra500, since it is unable to lock on any satalites, when a skunk tried to attack me. I threw my Cobra500 Gps at it, sending the skunk away. And it worked. Maybe this GPS is just a skunk defender tool of some sort. Because as a GPS it is really skunky. Seriously, This product should have never been sold to the public. It is faulty in all aspects. Stay away!! Buy the Etrex
On: 2006-10-04
My parents got this for me and it does not function at all. It is completely worthless. I spent many frustrated hours trying to get it to work. Im sure it took a few years off my life.
On: 2006-07-30
The bargain GPS I got seemed to work fine on the trip home from town, except the build in maps only list major roads.I spent the money on the interface cables, power cable and mapping CD roms only to discover that the 500 will not allow map detail information like roads to be uploaded! What then is the point? I wanted to be able to download the routes and use them with maps. The software is horrible compared to Microsoft or Delorme.
Save your money.By a GPS package for your laptop or get a middle priced Garmin or Magellan! I understand why I got it so cheap. I got what I paid for. Just wish I hadnt spend money on the accessories!
On: 2006-07-17
The unit works brilliatly as a paperweight to hold your map in place so you can orient by compass. First time out with the GPS as our guide, we stayed lost for 6 hours. Stupidity on our part to be sure --- for getting lost in the first place AND for thinking the Cobra 500 would do a lick of good helping us find our way. If it locks, look fast, its going to lose the lock. If you are fortunate enough to actually get it to lock long enough to establish a waypoint or 2, it may decide to wipe them out for no reason we could find. I wonder if Cobra became passive-aggressive toward the public after the CB died? This unit could not have performed to any appreciable standard in pre-release tests, so why did Cobra release the thing? Id really like to know. Then again, I think the company headquarters is in southern Arizona. How could one get lost in southern Arizona when all you need are binoculars? Perhaps, but only perhaps, this unit performed to someones idea of a standard when they could eyeball their way home.
On: 2006-04-25
I purchased a GPS500 for geocaching, mainly attracted by the low price and "FAST" acquistion feature. Screen resolution is terrible, acquisition times vary from 6 minutes to never, accuracy (compared to friends GPS units) was way off, and it proved to be utterly unreliable in the field. I returned mine 10 days after I bought it and got a Garmin eTrex Legend. I am now quite pleased.
On: 2006-01-13
First day I got it, it had trouble connecting. Second day, it wouldnt turn on anymore. I dont understand how a company can sell something of such poor quality.
On: 2005-05-17
Recently upgraded a cobra 100 for a 500... first time out, it failed, leaving me in the woods all night till I got a bearing on the sun in AM... When they say take a compass with you, they mean use your compass and leave the gps in the car!!!
The unit looks nice, and works well enough as long as there are no trees, clouds or perhaps birds flying above you.
Its great as a childs toy, or to find the parking lot where you left your car (but not the car itself) $5.00 for a compass and twenty cases of beer, or a gps500, for about the same price... Its your choice!!!
by: Anonymous On: 2004-04-15
Repeating the sentiment of the earlier reviews? Yes, I am. Important to do so? Id say, yes, it is, since you might think the other three reviewers were just unlucky.The Cobra 500 is absolutely useless. It locks onto the required 3 satellites ... sometimes. Usually not. But when it does lock on, it loses them within a couple of minutes. On the other hand, when you look at all the features listed in their literature and compare it to the modest price, you think its too good to be true. Unfortunately, it is. Truly a P.O.S.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-03-09
I purchased (through the Air Miles rewards program) the COBRA GPS500, not once, but TWICE. I first purchased the unit and believed it to be faulty it performed so poorly. Signal acquisition time seemed "forever" and it frequently lost satellite lock. On several occasions, between establishing lock, loosing lock and again re-establishing lock, the unit tells me Ive moved upwards to one half mile whereas Ive remained stationary, only changing the direction the unit was pointing. Simply changing the direction the unit was pointing (like changing direction in your car or boat) was enough to loose satellite lock! Very poor! I was able to exchange the original unit (unfortunately NOT able to return it) and when I received the replacement unit, it, like the first one, performs very, very poorly. The features offered on the unit would led you to believe it would "shine in the dark," whereas in actual fact, it is the poorest of any GPS unit Ive ever used. And to add insult to injury, while I was awaiting deliver of this second unit, believing the first one faulty, I wasted an additional $100.00 by purchasing the PC interface cable, power cord and auto mount. What is that COBRA slogan: "Nothing comes close to a COBRA" You better believe it! Not even a satellite signal is able to get close!
On: 2004-02-27
Ive just bought this gps , and Im gonna tell you Im totally dissapointed with this unit.At the same time my father bought a Garmin eTrex unit and its much better. I now regret all the fun Ive made about his GPS and mine because mine has 18 satellite connection and his just 12. Fisrt of all the Garmin connects in about 45 second while the Cobra in 2 minutes.
Meanwhile the Garmin gets 9 sats the Cobra only gets 5. Now Im working with UTM coordinates and the Garmin shows me all the info I need while the Cobra doesnt.
The unit handling is friendly user for the Garmin while the Cobra doesnt.
An overall qualification 0 out of 10.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-11-28
I purchased a Cobra GPS 500 unit to upgrade from my base model Garmin Etrex. I had thought the 18 channels and FAST circuitry would make it operate better then my Etrex. I was sadly disappointed. The Cobra will not hold satellite lock in any kind of cover at all. I am an experienced GPS user and outdoorsman who does a lot of hunting, and I can tell you without any doubt that the Cobra GPS 500 is totally useless for use in the woods. The Cobra GPS 500 loses satellite lock in areas where my Garmin Etrex held it easily. (This situation appears to be common to the entire Cobra GPS line because I have a friend who purchased a GPS 100 and he complains about the same thing.) To top things off, I contacted Cobra Customer Service about these problems and they wouldnt even respond to my email. So what you have here is a truely terrible product backed by terrible customer service. I would recommend that any potential buyers of this product avoid it at all cost, and spend their money on a Garmin or Magellan unit instead.
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