Choosing the Magellan Brand of GPS Navigation Units

Many of the more established GPS device marketers are making efforts to improve their wares. They are providing us with more advanced applications to make navigation easier for travelers who use wheels, hiking boots, or any other method of transportation available. While these companies are honestly intending to make most of the GPS devices accessible for the normal consumer, the consequence of all the technology contained in the product will naturally be rising costs. The best that most designers can do for the consumers who can’t pay for all the latest gadgets is to produce starter versions of the GPS devices so they will be affordable for Joe 6-cylinder. Another great model to consider is Magellan Roadmate 1470 Portable GPS Navigator.

Magellan GPS devices are rather distinctive since Magellan has always manufactured their most popular models to be reasonably priced as well as convenient. The negative aspect of affordability, logically, is that the latest technology is hardly ever found at reasonable prices. Consequently, the quality of Magellan’s devices has garnered mixed reviews. Magellan responded to this complaint with several high-end versions for the more dedicated GPS users.

Magellan Maestro

When you are shopping for an inexpensive buddy for your car, the Magellan Maestro series offers a number of units made just for car navigation. Magellan Maestro models come in the 3000, 4000, and 5000 range. Every one of the 3000 models are very reasonably priced with some such as the Maestro 3100 available at not quite $200 which is wondrously cheap for a GPS unit which offers 2-D and 3-D mapping capabilities. Perhaps their best ability is the QuickSpell feature, which allows uncomplicated input for street names.

Every other single aspect, including the performance is mediocre and hanging is all too frequent. With the exception of a few of the 4000 and 5000 versions, the Magellan Maestro is simply not reliable, but the price stays reasonable.

Magellan Roadmate

As suggested by their name, this collection of Magellan GPS devices are intended for cars too. However they are unlike their Maestro cousins in terms of appearance. Roadmates are constructed to be easier to carry, having a smaller footprint but keeping the same interface. Consequently the Roadmates are just as easy to navigate with and far easier to pack than the Maestros. A nice option is the Magellan Roadmate 1470 Portable GPS Navigator.

In the area of performance, the Roadmate is slightly improved with some styles such as the Roadmate 1212 offering the Centrality Atlas III Processor. If you enjoy playing with the menus, you would detect a slightly frustrating delay when pressing the buttons. The battery life isn’t remarkable either; it’s usable for around 3 hours until a recharge is needed.

On the upside, the Roadmate is regarded as superior to several of the Maestro budget models, displaying considerably more POI’s than the Maestro 3100 with its meager 750,000 points of interest. The Roadmate gets even with the competition by including over 6 million points of interest. Text-to-speech, which is always a welcome feature, is also included in some of the mid-range models. The price isn’t too bad either, which is remarkable for a slim device. Another good item to look into is the Magellan Roadmate 1470 Portable GPS Navigator.

Despite the fact that Magellan has merely two collections to pick from, they each have at least 10 models within each set in a range of different prices and functions. The lowest priced Magellan devices aren’t a good idea for constant users because of the occasional crashes, but high-end models are quite satisfactory and should be suitable for travelers to be pleased with.

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