A Review of Magellan GPS Navigators
Nearly all of the major GPS device marketers are making efforts to further develop their wares. They are offering more up-to-date features to make navigation easier for travelers who use wheels, sneakers, or any other method of transportation in between. Although these companies are really trying to keep these GPS devices affordable for the middle-class consumer, the consequence of all the technology housed in the device will understandably be larger price tags. The best that these designers can do for those of us who can’t pay for all the latest technology is to market absolutely basic models of the GPS devices which are affordable for Joe 6-cylinder. A nice option is the Magellan Roadmate–70 Portable GPS Navigator.
Magellan GPS devices are slightly different because Magellan has always manufactured their top-selling models to be inexpensive but also convenient. The disadvantage of affordability, logically, is that brand new technology is hardly ever found at low prices. Consequently, the quality of Magellan’s GPS models has received mixed reviews. Magellan addressed this issue by producing several high-end versions for the most demanding GPS users.
Magellan Maestro
If you are searching for a reasonably priced navigator for your dashboard, the Magellan Maestro line-up provides many devices that are specifically for car navigation. Magellan Maestro models are available in the 3000, 4000, and 5000 classes. All of the 3000 models are very reasonably priced with one or two like the Maestro 3100 available at less than $200 which is amazingly cheap for a GPS unit with 2-D and 3-D mapping capabilities. Probably their most appreciated ability is the QuickSpell feature, that enables uncomplicated input for road names.
Every other measurable quality, as well as the performance is barely satisfactory and hanging is quite constant. With the exception of some of the 4000 and 5000 models, the Magellan Maestro is simply not reliable, but the price is still reasonable.
Magellan Roadmate
As explained by the name, this group of Magellan GPS devices are designed for cars also. Although they are different from their Maestro cousins as far as appearance. Roadmates are designed to be easier to carry, having a slimmer footprint but providing the same interface. As a result the Roadmates are just as easy to use and even easier to keep than the Maestros. A great unit is the Magellan Road mate–70 Portable GPS Navigator.
In the area of performance, the Roadmate is a bit improved with one or two models such as the Roadmate 1212 offering the Centrality Atlas III Processor. If you prefer playing with the menus, you may observe a fairly irritating delay while pressing the buttons. The battery life isn’t remarkable either; it’s usable for somewhere near 3 hours at which point a recharge is called for.
On a happy note, the Roadmate is considered an improvement over some of the Maestro budget devices, logging far more POI’s as compared to the Maestro 3100 which has a meager 750,000 points of interest. The Roadmate closes the gap with other brands by offering in excess of 6 million points of interest. Text-to-speech, which is always a handy feature, is additionally included in a few of the reasonably priced models. The price isn’t much of a concern either, which is notable for a slim device. A good device to look into is the Magellan Roadmate–70 Portable GPS Navigator.
Despite the fact that there are only two collections to select from, they each have at least 10 models within each set all with different prices and functions. The least expensive Magellan devices aren’t recommended for constant users on account of the regular crashes, but the higher quality models are quite satisfactory and will be sufficient for travelers to be pleased with.
Joseph Aaron writes for an online project helping consumers make educated purchase decisions on GPS Navigation Systems. Amongst the highest rated GPS units recommended on his website is the Magellan Roadmate 1470.
