Saturday 12 December 2009

Choosing the Magellan Brand of GPS Navigation Units

By Joseph Aaron

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 rather singular since they have always made their top-selling models to be inexpensive and convenient. The downside of affordability, naturally, is that state-of-the-art technology is almost never available at low prices. Predictably, then, the quality of Magellan's GPS models has been given mixed reviews. Magellan addressed this shortcoming by producing several high-end products for the more dedicated 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 terms of performance, the Roadmate is a bit improved with several specimens such as the Roadmate 1212 having the Centrality Atlas III Processor. If you are fond of navigating through the menus, you will likely notice a slightly frustrating delay after pushing the buttons. The battery power isn't that spectacular either; it's usable for about 3 hours until 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.

Even though this company offers just two collections to choose from, they each have at least 10 models for your consideration, in a range of different prices and functions. The cheapest models aren't recommended for frequent users because of the repetitive crashes, but more expensive models are quite satisfactory and will be sufficient for motorists to be pleased with.

About the Author:

No comments: