A lot of people become brand loyal, without ever having used the other brands. I have used both that's why I can say what I am with some experience on the subject. If someone is telling you that theirs is the best that might be fine, but at least make sure they have used both and are not basing it on what they got used to first.

I had once really wanted an Etrex because they are small and waterproof. I used a friend of mine's Etrex yellow. I was geocaching in some woods with another friend and it kept losing satellites. It was a joke trying to get it to stay locked. The friend (not the owner) that was with me remarked "If this is how GPS receivers work, I don't want one". The problem is that all of the Etrex models use the patch antenna which is fine in the open, but not in the woods. All of the magellans and some of the other Garmins use the Quadrafiler antenna which works a lot better in the woods.

One of the reasons I hid one of my geocaches in some dense woods was just to mess with the Etrex users.
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=14803

One day I was talking to my sister about wanting a GPSr and she said they had a Mag 315 that they had never used. I bought it for $80 and I love it. It locks onto satellites a lot easier and doesn't lose lock nearly as easily in the woods. The problem with the 315 is that it's not considered to be waterproof.

The prices you quoted seem to be a bit high. If you want a Mag 315, I would buy the SporTrak yellow instead. Awesome accuracy (same antenna as SporTrak Pro), and waterproof for the same price as the Mag 315. See this review and be sure to click on the links to see how the SporTrak Pro's accuracy kicks butt on the Garmin 76S.
http://www.gpsinformation.net/mgoldreview/sportrak-pro-rev.html

Here is what I found at harmony computers:
http://www.harmonycomputers.com

Mag 315 $145

SporTrak Yellow $145
SporTrak Map $165
SporTrak Pro $240*

Meridian Yellow $189
Meridian Gold $229
Meridian Platinum $239
Meridian Marine $240

*COSTCO (or costco.com) has a better deal on the SporTrak Pro kit (GPSr, Mapsend streets and Destinations CD, Cable for attaching to car power supply, case, car suction cup holder for $279 - $50 rebate = $229. I'm not sure why it's $10 more in the store though.

http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=product%2Easp&catid=79&subid=82&hierid=3401&prdid=10028442&log=

Magellan is having a $50 rebate now when you buy software with a GPSr.

By the way, I ordered a Magellan Meridian Platinum and the Mapsend Streets and Destinations CD today from harmony computers. See why I decided it was a no-brainer for me to get the Meridian Platinum over the SporTrak Pro here. http://opentopic.groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=5740990093&m=5170905835

I'll pick up the memory from Costco because it's cheaper there.

I'm not sure if I'm going to keep my 315 as a backup or for friends to use, or sell it. A guy at work has already offered to buy it for the $80 I paid.

Good luck on your research. They are a lot of fun.

Dale