|
 - Granny CakeAbove all the rest (Garvin Road Mate, Garvin Nuvi and Magellan 4000). Easy to use. Rating:  - Im surprised, great GPS, much better than I thought for the deal This is a nice GPS, been using for a week with the latest hardware/software update(4.6). I have owned several gps( navigon 7100, garmin 370, nuvi 660, mio c320, garmin streetpilot c330c) I dont know why people buy GARMIN, they are junk and ugly as hell. I liked the navigon a lot( the display and lane assist + free unlimited traffic was great plus, though it was slow) tha magellan 4250 surprised me( the graphics are not as great as navigon though). It has everything you need. I was hesitatant to get it as I hated the roadmate series, but this is a completely different experience PROS: The voice command is awesome!!! Very easy to use. POI is wonderful Very fast recalculation 6M POI AAA service is awesome good colors Auto shutoff and auto night/day fast search above all, what i paid for it, $129 for refurbished on amazon gold box deal VOICE COMMAND Split screen on turns and exits slim and looks good fast satellite easy rerouting and detouring CONS: This possibly has the worst car mount I have seen on a GPS No volume control on the hardware EAsy blutooth connect but its not that great SUMMARY WORTH THE $$$$$$. ITS BETTER THAN THE GARMIN NUVI any day I do like the navigons display much more and ther reality view does help a lot (it looked very nice in the car), but excluding that and free traffic, this is a much better GPS as its much more practical, glad i tried it Rating: - Awesome GPS unit!We have been looking into buying a GPS for quite some time now. We had been waiting for Garmin to release their voice command activated unit. But now that it is in the market, its little over our budget. In the mean time we started looking for feature we like and find the models that provide it. From Cnet reviews, Magellan 4250 has all the GPS qualities we are interested in without the extras of mp3 player, pix viewer etc. Since then I had been reading the reviews on Amazon website for consumer feedback before we make the purchase. There seems to be a lot of contradiction about the map updates. So I decided to call Magellan. Here is what they told me. If one buys a brand new magellan unit (not refurbished) then it is eligible for a free 2008/2009 map update for free within the first 30 days of purchase. This requires the buyer to register the unit online and contact them regarding either faxing or emailing the proof of purchase. And the company will send the DVD for the new maps. (this was also mentioned in one of the previous reviews for this unit) Also if you are a AAA member, you get another year of extended warranty for free. This also requires the buyer to register the product upon receipt and to stay an active AAA member during those two year for the extra warranty to remain effective. Warranty upgrade is automatic if you provide your AAA member number during registration. With AAA member discounts one can also get 15% off all the following map updates. For further information check http://ww1.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/AAAOnline?page=Automotive93&association=aaa&club=20&zip=60504 As far as customer service was concerned, they didn't put me on hold. The call went outside the US (most likely Philippines) but the representative spoke fluent English, and answered my questions very clearly. So we went ahead with the purchase. The unit is very sleek, screen has very good contrast. We upgraded the firmware and the map looked even better. It even locked on the signal inside the building on the fourth floor. It also catches the signal in our house! I called the customer support for the new maps. They called me back within half hour of faxing them the proof of purchase. We were charged 10 bucks for shipping. Pros: Chimes when you approach the turn Love the split screen when approaching a turn Voice command large screen AAA features essential POIs Excellent customer service locks on the position very fast and very well recalculation is quick and rational (e.g it tells you to make a legal U turn when possible than telling you to drive another mile to an intersection) It has everything that we wanted in the GPS! Cons the movement of the car on the screen might be a little slower than reality but it still chimes at the right time! So no biggie! We would have liked to have a voice control button on the hardware. Overall we are very happy with this purchase and can't wait to take it on a road trip! Rating:  - Old maps come with the unit - upgrade is $80!Prepare to immediately put down another $80 for the up-to-date street maps. I just got mine today - bought it from Amazon few days ago. Was very upset to find that it came with pretty old maps (beginning of 2007) and upgrade is NOT free even for the brand new units. Called their tech support and was told that this is the company policy and that I have full right to return my 4250 if don't like this. Decided to use this great advice and so will be returning my device - taking into account the price of this upgrade it'll be cheaper for me to get some nice Garmin unit. BTW - this is the second Magellan device that I have, the previous one needs map upgrade as well so I decided that instead of paying for the maps for my old RoadMate unit I'd rather get a new smaller device with new maps. Now you can understand the level of my frustration! No more Magellans in my house for sure! Very unhappy with Magellan - sure they will be losing a lot of their customers on such stupid upgrade policy. Rating: - Magellan GPS in CanadaWe selected the Magellan Maestro 4250 after reviewing comments of reviewers of different GPS receivers. It was selected because of the screen size, price, and the inclusion of software for Canada since we were planning on a trip to New Brunswick, PEI, and Nova Scotia. The Maestro saved us a lot of nervous tension regarding getting to our destinations. However,everyone should know it was not 100% accurate. On a few occasions, we found ourselves going in a circle and in one case, a dead end. One time, we ended up on a gravel/dirt road. I would say it was accurate about 95% of the time. Do plan on having a paper map with you. In general though, I think it was a smart move to have purchased it before the trip since it allowed the driver to see more of the surrroundings without the tension of driving in unknown areas.One problem yet to be resolved, is to get the current software for the supplimental traffic advisory service. I was not able to download it from the internet as suggested in the paperwork received at purchase.
|
