 Wonderful evolution of the Magellan line |
| Review Date: April 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Comdet, |
I've been a Magellan user for several years - have owned four of their GPS systems, and always appreciate how they have improved their products. This unit is my 5th, and replaces a Magellan 4040. After using it for a while I've confident in saying this is the best one yet!
The most visible change is the actual size of the unit. The screen size has been increased, but the unit is thinner and lighter. Very sleek appearance, and the screen is a real joy -- sharp, clear graphics even in the sun, and bigger on-screen buttons for easy use. The mounting system has also been streamlined, and looks and works well. It mounts very easily on a NavMat holder (basically a bean-bag system that I got on Amazon. I'm a huge Navmat fan - makes it a snap to hide the GPS with narry a trace. Best accessory by far for any GPS).
The power connector was not well thought out, however. You have to connect it to the GPS unit AFTER you mount it in the holder. They should have moved the connector it a wee bit to the side to avoid that.
The only button is a slide-type power button on the top. Boot-up time is OK -- not speedy, but not a huge delay either. It does not have a "sleep" mode, so you have to do a cold boot every time. Not a problem in real world use - by the time you get situated in your car, the unit is ready to go.
Voice is clear and easy to understand. Not as natural sounding as a TomTom, but understandable.
Pretty much any recent GPS unit will get you where you want to go. I've found the routing on the Magellans to be very similar to Garmins - could be because they both use the same mapping set (Navteq). The Magellan shines, however, in features that I find helpful. The direction of the next turn is always visible regardless of how far away the next turn will be. Up until recently, Garmin did not offer this (they do now on some of their units). Sounds like a small issue, but I find it very helpful. The Magellan also allows you to very easily exclude a route (or portion). That's a fairly standard feature nowadays, but Magellan allows you to do it in a snap.
In terms of routing, Magellan offers four options (fastest, shortest, most use of freeways and least use). You can see all four options on the map (as a summary) at the same time so you can pick the best one for your needs. Perfect!!
Love the AAA Guidebook, which is a unique Magellan feature. Lets you get details about restaurants and other points of interest just like the paper version from AAA. I used it a lot in my 4040, especially when traveling out of town.
Other unique Magellan features I appreciate is the "ding dong" sound right before a turn (incredibly accurate!) and the fact that the software reminds you to "stay on the current road" when you encounter major exits. Some find that to be nagging, but it has saved me from inadvertently exiting on more than one occasion.
A new feature for Magellan is the lane guidance. Very nicely done. I've used this feature on Navigon units, and found it rather unhelpful. Magellan's implementation is far more useful, with better, clearer graphics. However, lane guidance is not available for every road.
The software is also nicely done - very logical to use. If you're a past Magellan user you can pick this up and use it in a second. If not, there's a short printed user's guide in the box (plus a CD-ROM with more in-depth info) that gets you up to speed quickly. The box also includes the mount, power connector for the car, and a USB cable. It does not include an AC adapter.
OK, now for the bad news. When it comes to customer service, Magellan has been horrid. We're talking so bad it's almost funny. I'm hoping this situation will change - the company was bought by Mitac late last year, and perhaps this will signal a change for the better in terms of customer support. Lord knows, they couldn't get any worse.
The leader, in my opinion, for customer support is Garmin. They are nice to deal with on the phone, answer emails promptly, and offer regular firmware updates. Whenever I buy a GPS as a gift I always buy Garmin since I don't want to saddle the recipient with the miserable service that Magellan offers. It's a shame, since Magellan offers some real benefits over Garmin, and more value for the money. Tom Tom is also decent when it comes to support, but they use TeleAtlas maps which are less complete than NavTeq (sp?).
Bottom line -- if you're looking for a straightforward GPS at a good price, this should be on your short list. It lacks features such as Bluetooth and an MP3 player, but for me, I want a GPS to offer guidance and not entertainment. This has a very robust feature set, great screen, and well-designed software. It also has traffic capabilities -- did not test that feature out, so I can't comment on it.
The "safe" bet continues to be Garmin. You'll pay a bit more, and get less features, but you can be assured of solid support. Whether Magellan's new owners will put them back on the right track (if you'll excuse the horrid, but unavoidable pun) in terms of customer service is not yet clear. I hope so -- they make a great product!
UPDATE: 5/21/09 There's a firmware update on the Magellan site. No new functionality (in terms of new features) but, according to the release notes it improves overall performance. Easy to install - just follow the included step-by-step instructions. It seems like it makes the unit a bit faster, but that could just be my imagination.
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Magellan RoadMate 1470 a winner and best buy for ALL
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| Review Date: May 5, 2009 |
| Reviewer: James Keh, San Jose, CA USA |
The NEW Magellan RoadMate 1470 is a feature rich product at an affordable price. I can tell you this unit includes tons of features that are not normally found in the low $200 price range.
My first impression of this unit is without reservations or doubt this unit by far is one of the better GPS unit offered by Magellan. One must ask how Magellan can offer so much at a price that is so reasonable. What RoadMate features has been eliminated for this new Magellan RoadMate 1470?
Answer: Nothing, Magellan gave us everything at a price that is unbelievable!
The NEW Magellan RoadMate 1470 offered at a price of less than $239 and is currently the best value for your dollar. This full feature Portable Navigation Device offers all the features you will need to route from point A to Point B anywhere in North America, Puerto Rico and even Mexico if you select to purchase the optional unlock code for this expandable GPS device. Magellan have introduced the most affordable full feature GPS currently available and I feel they have accomplished this successfully.
The Magellan RoadMate 1470 offers so much more, it is BIGGER, Thinner, Smarter and faster than all the older GPS system offered by Magellan at a competitive price similar to the older RoadMate units. Currently this MRM 1470 is the lowest GPS priced available that offers a large 4.7" display with full features including full map coverage of NA map and expandable to Mexico and future Europe maps loaded in a Micro SD card as an option.
How is this entire GPS product possible at the price it is selling for? It offers a much bigger display, 4.7" diagonally and yet the overall physical size is slimmer than a GPS that offers a 4.3" display. It includes smarter features such as OneTouch, quick spell, smart city search, this unit will find street address or POI you are looking for much faster than what is currently available on the GPS market. This unit is Faster and have the ability to search through the entire NA map data base without having to select different map regions such as Canada, Alaska, Mexico to start a route, it covers the entire NA mapping software in one region so one would not have to fumble around switching regions to route to a destination that is not in the lower 48 states. These RoadMate 1470 also calculates a route much faster and offers not one route but 4 different route options. Route options such as Fastest time, Shortest distant, Most use of freeway and Least use of freeway all presented to you on the display map when you select to view the route options. This will not limit the user to only view the route the unit recommends the user to take but at the same time it will display all available routing options. User has the option of selecting different routing method or to view all the available routes on one[ display screen at the same time .
This Magellan RoadMate 1470 is Thinner and a more attractive GPS unit over all. It is almost the thickness of an iPhone yet offers much larger display in almost the same size form factor as the older Magellan Maestro 4250/4350/4370 units.
This new generation of Magellan GPS systems is also Smart enough to not only detour at a specific selected distant such as by 3 miles, 5 miles and 9 miles if one wish to bypass a certain stretch of road or highways that is on the route under detour option, but one can also selectively detour one segment of the route by selecting the street or highway you wish to avoid. This type of flexibility offer the user the ultimate customizable routing option available on some selective higher price GPS products, and this type of features may not be found on some affordable lower end competitive GPS products currently available on the market.
Unlike some similar competitive GPS units that require you to pre-plan a route on a computer and input the routes you wish to take to customize your route. The multiple route destination feature list allows user to plan a trips or destinations one after another in advance, this unit can store multiple routing destination from one destination to the next in advance, and this can aid the driver from having to input each address they wish to go as they reach each destination one at a time. The route optimization feature option offers even more benefit to users, it will optimize your multiple route destinations by distant and time, this feature offers the most efficient way to calculate multiple routes to ALL of your selected destination starting from the nearest address to the furthest without you having to figure it out on a paper map or on a computer. This type of advance multiple destinations routing feature is found mostly on more expensive higher end GPS units.
The OneTouch feature revolutionized the industry by allowing user to quickly find the destination without having to fumble through address book or points of interest category and fields, without having to select cities, streets and numbers, it is truly a OneTouch feature that allows user to quickly and efficiently route to their most visited or desired POI or addresses quickly. This feature is by far one of Magellan best offering to eliminate the need to hunt for certain locations you can simply store most used POI such as the brand of gas station you use like Chevron or Shell, the coffee house by brand such as Starbucks coffee or Peets coffee, banks, ATM, rental car facilities, airports etc. This OneTouch feature enable user to only find the nearest brand of POI you wish to patronize and will not display ALL irrelevant brand of the gas stations or coffee houses near you when you select the OneTouch feature. This option reduces a lot of time for sorting out unwanted contents.
AAA Tourbook option enable user not only to view the many AAA approved Hotels and Restaurants by diamonds rating and where one knows it is safe to patronize, but it allows additional TourBook Destinations such as Attractions, Events such as Art and Wine festivals, and city sponsored events such as Harvest Festival Art and Craft, Santa Cruz Clam Chowder Cook-off among many other events that is available. This type of benefits was only available to AAA members in the past and now with these new Magellan RoadMate GPS systems, they are including this benefit with all their GPS units. The AAA Category option also offers Approved AAA Auto Repair recommendations as a benefit. AAA hold their approved AAA auto repair facilities to a much higher standard, and they oversee any complaints or dispute issues that may arise from any auto repair facilities that is AAA approved. Should their AAA customers be dissatisfied with their car repair, AAA will interject and help mediate and resolve complaints. AAA may act as a mediator to resolve any differences between an AAA approved repair facility and their customers. Most of the time you will find AAA will side with the consumer and request the repair facility to resolve any disputes or complaints. This benefit is extremely useful considering if you are traveling in unfamiliar locations and your vehicle should happen to need repair, you would wish to participate with an AAA approved auto repair facility.
The Tourbook also offer a guide to Nearest Campgrounds, this is a great points of interest category to include for outdoor type users.
The final offer unfortunately is only for AAA members that carry an AAA membership card. For all AAA members, they offer a member ship discount benefits aka Show Your Card and Save. This benefit allow AAA member to save as little as $1 off to 10-20% off on many services and merchandizes including restaurants, saving from company such as UPS stores savings up to 15% on copies, faxes, mailboxes etc and 5% on shipping or save from truck rentals such as Penske Truck Rental from 10% for local rentals and 12% on one-way rentals. Theme park discounts, hair cut discounts, vision care discounts to discounts to sporting events, the list just keeps going. This type of benefits is very worthwhile if one was to decide to make a road trip or go on a vacation. These benefits are also great from someone that is driving all the time.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with AAA but I have been an AAA member for many years and enjoy the savings they have to offer. Remember to enjoy these show your card and save benefits, one must be an AAA member or be with a friend that is an AAA member.
This new Magellan RoadMate 1470 is bigger, slimmer and it is also smarter. For those of us that have a difficult time spelling out street names and Cities in Hawaii or Puerto Rico, names like Kaneohe or Wahiawa in the State of Hawaii, one may have difficult time guessing how to spell the city name. With the Magellan RoadMate and the smart city search feature, it will display the City name as you type in a few letters on the spell screen, and also will blank out the letters that is not associated with any cities making it easier to find the city of your choice. If you are near the city you are searching for, the name of the city will pop up first which makes it easier for you to find surrounding cities near your location. This Smart City Search is an excellent feature to aid anyone in spelling cities or street names. The Quick Spell street name search functions similarly that it only offers alphabets letters of available street names and will blank out letters that are not associated with any street name in that city. This enable the user to narrow down the search unlike many competitive units that requires the user to type in the full name before it can determine if it is available or not.
Audio quality provides louder speaker volume output. One of the biggest complaints as to portable GPS systems are the audio output is never loud enough. This new Magellan RoadMate 1470 outperforms in sound volume than the higher end Magellan Maestro's 4250 and 4350/4370's. So if volume is a concern to you, this would be the unit for you. If you drive a loud/noisy vehicle such as a large SUV, truck or a convertible, you may wish to consider this GPS model.
The Magellan RoadMate 1470 Text size is physically larger making it easier for vision impaired user to see the input keys.
One feature that is very helpful is now the unit will display the ETA on the POI menu when you select a category and POI, this will allow user to understand what the approximate ETA will be to route to the POI user selected.
The Exit POI is a very a nice feature that allows users to know what Gas Stations, Hotels, and Restaurants etc that are available in the up coming exit while routing on freeways and highways.
This unit being offered at less than $239 includes the latest and freshest mapping software version 35 which is Q308 mapping software from NavTeq. The average map update cost these days is $49-$79 and considering all the new features this Magellan RoadMate 1470 unit has to offer, it's a bargain and the intelligent solution to keep your GPS fresh and up to date. Remember when you buy these new model GPS units, also includes the 1 year factory warranty.
Lane Assist feature is new to Magellan on the RoadMate product lines. Again this type of advance features are normally offered in higher end PND products. Lane assist enable user to know well in advance what highway or freeway lane they should be in before the exit. This feature is extremely helpful in cities such as Los Angeles that have multiple freeway interchanges, exits and entrances that could easily confuse any driver, with the lane assist feature, the user will be knowledgeable as to which lane and exit they need to take before it is too late. This by far is one of the more desirable feature much like Text to Speech, it keeps the driver better inform as the routes the GPS is directing the driver to take.
The famous patented Magellan Chime/ Bell just-in-time warning feature offers a warning such as "ding-ding" just before the execution. This warning feature allows the user not only to be sure that they are asked to take the turn or exit at the right time, but that they are taking the correct turn and not the street before or after. Too often on short city streets that a warning such as left turn on 3rd street may not be enough if you are in heavy traffic and focusing on the heavy city traffic on the road, sometimes street signs are not easily found and the bell chime confirms that you should make an immediate turn after the chime offer user another level of confirmation.
By far the Magellan RoadMate 1470 offers the most warning of any GPS units, on a normal freeway exit, it will announce 2 miles before the exit, 1 mile before the exit, .5 miles before the exit, .2 miles before the exit and the warning chime just before the exit. On shorter city streets it may only announce .2 of a mile left turn on 3rd street and the bell chime will sound off just before the necessary turn. And if the warning is not enough, you can always select the repeat audio command feature to hear the distant count down if you are unsure when you are going to make the turn. You may ask yourself how this warning feature is different than most other GPS systems currently available. Most competing GPS products may only announce left turn ahead and you may have 2 streets one after another and will have to confirm by taking your eyes off the road and reconfirm via map screen which is not the safest way to navigate in a busy city. Magellan has the right solution by offer both Text to Speech and bell warning chime Just-In-Time before the turn. This is something that is a feature that is much desired and not found in competing GPS products.
Traffic Information, if you are a heavy commuter and requires as much traffic information as possible, you may consider the Magellan RoadMate 1470 offers free lifetime traffic service with the optional traffic receiver. This is a necessary feature to have if you are spending a lot of time on the freeway or highways.
Overview: Bigger, Thinner, Smarter, and Faster. This Magellan RoadMate 1470 is currently the only FULL feature we can find at less than $239 and we feel for a portable navigation device that includes a large 4.7" display, OneTouch patented feature, Text To Speech, Lane Assist, AAA TourBook, millions of points of interest, 2D-3D views map display with a loud audio output speaker is the only intelligent choice for educated consumer to consider. This is the unit that we recommend for the consumer that is looking for the right product at a great price without sacrificing a lot of the advance features currently available on the market today.
No GPS unit is without its limitations, this unit lacks some of the features such as Voice Recognition, BlueTooth, MP3 player, Picture Viewer, Pedestrian mode, ability to route to Lat/Long coordinates, and the DC power cord mount is not user friendly since it interferences with the windshield mount and there is no real way to remove the unit from the mount using one hand.
There appears to be a slightly longer boot up time than most GPS, approximately 3-40 seconds which feels long when the average units boots up in about 10-15 seconds.
Although there are tons of new POI's, there are some older POIs that are missing for whatever reason I am not sure, but the POI seems to be different not necessary a lot more but just more new categories.
Over all, this unit is highly recommended for the features it has to offer, the sturdy routing and the Magellan legendary ease of use.
James Keh aka GPS4ME/PND4ME also Auto Nav 2000 Plus, Inc / Auto Nav Direct |
My PT Cruiser will never be lost again!
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| Review Date: April 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: PT Cruiser, CA USA |
My previous experience with GSP navigators has been in rental cars when traveling many years ago. I've forgotten who made the units, but I thought they were more trouble than they were worth, trying to figure out how to use them and then dealing with all their weird little quirks.. I remember one time up in the Seattle area being on the freeway when the device told me to get off at an exit that was about 20 feet away with 3 lanes of traffic between me and the exit - no warning prior to that. Then it kept repeating over and over again that I had missed the exit. I was ready to pour my Starbucks coffee over the thing and I never wanted a GPS device after that.
But now I've had the opportunity to try this Magellan RoadMate 1470 and you would have to pry it out of my hot little hands to get it away from me. This thing is so different from the units I've tried in the past. This one is actually fun. First of all, it's super simple to set up. I hate to read manuals (and rarely look at maps until I'm so lost and out of time that I'm forced to do so) and was pleasantly surprised at how simple and intuitive this unit is, even without reading any instructions. I mounted the holder on the dash of my PT Cruiser, which was the perfect spot for it, plugged the USB power cable into the unit and then into my cigarette lighter and it was ready to go. It found my location in just a couple of minutes. Then, I pressed the "Go to" button on the touchsreen, selected "Address" and typed in the city and street that I wanted to find. It has the smart type thing which fills in the word after a few letters or gives you some suggested choices so you don't end up having to type a whole lot. It found my destination right away and I was ready to go.
The screen is nice and bright and you can easily see where you are going. It's zoomed in about a quarter mile, but you can zoom in and out if you want to see the bigger picture. The voice is pleasant and it's loud enough to hear even with the radio on. You can adjust the volume. The thing I like best is the lane assist and the several advance warnings about when you're going to turn and what lane you need to be in. There was plenty of time to be where I needed to be without having to rush across several lanes or elbow out other traffic on the freeway.
I tried several different destinations and it found all of them without a problem. It said the area that I live in wasn't covered, but it turns out that it is. There are all kinds of POI's (points of interest) already loaded in and there's also a AAA tour book feature that will be really helpful when traveling.
I never realized how nice it would be to just get in the car, set the destination, and not have to worry about paying attention and watching for streets when going to a new place. Did you ever try to find a location where you have to make a lot of turns on city streets that have little signs blocked by trees or hidden behind big trucks? You know how it is, trying to pay attention to traffic and slouching along, annoying other motorists, trying to see those little signs? With the Magellen 1470 you won't have to worry about any of that, it tells you when the street is coming up and when to turn. There's even a little "ding ding" when you need to actually turn. It gives you a sense of freedom. I travel a lot for work and this is going to make things so much easier for me! This unit has a good size screen and is slim and light, but still a small enough unit overall that I can put it in my medium sized purse or briefcase when I leave the car. And everything you need is right there in the box: the dash or window mount, cables to connect it to the computer for updates, power cable connectors for the car and even an alcohol swab to clean the dash or window before attaching the mount. (I have this Case Logic Compact Portable Hard Drive Case (Black) that I'm stealing from my external hard drive because this Megallan 1470 fits into it nicely. I posted some pictures of it in the case on the first page and also some pics of it mounted on the dash of my PT Cruiser.
The only flaws I can find so far are that sometimes the touch screen doesn't respond right away and you have to press a button more than once. This is usually when I'm rushed and hitting one thing after another very quickly. The other is the USB power cable connector location, which is right next to the little slot where you mount it so that you have to mount the unit prior to plugging in the power cable. The space to plug it in is small so it can be a little difficult. I'm sure there's some hack to make it easier.
All in all, it's a unit that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a GPS device with a sleek design, nice sized touchscreen that's simple to use right out of the box, but still has enough bells and whistles to keep it interesting. Two thumbs up for this unit!
Update 5/13/09 - I've had a chance to use and compare the Garmin nüvi 760 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Automobile Navigator that I bought for my husband a couple of months ago to this Magellen. The screen on the Magellen looks significantly larger even though it's only a fraction of an inch. I like the "ding ding" on the Magellen when I'm at the point where I should turn or enter onto a freeway. I prefer the data entry on the Magellen where it dims out letters that you probably don't need once you start typing. This lessens the chance of hitting the wrong key and makes entering data quicker. The Garmin has bluetooth where this one doesn't, but since I use an earpiece for my phone, that isn't a factor. My PT Cruiser is kind of noisy on the road so the noise cancelling earpiece works better for me anyway. Another thing I prefer about this unit is that it has the little gas icon right on the side of the main map, so if I need to get gas I don't have to go hunting through as many menus.
If I had to choose for myself between the two units I would choose this Magellen.
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GPS Unit great, traffic receiver NOT great.
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| Review Date: April 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Visual360, |
I've just received the unit yesterday together with the FM traffic receiver. Being a new product, I was hesitant to order this as there are no reviews, etc. to compare it to. I do have a Maestro GPS unit as my current device, and it works without a problem, so I decided to give a go.
The unit came with everything that will get you started right away. USB cable, DC cable, windshield mount, CD, and manual. Setting up the unit is pretty straight forward. You will set up the time zone, language, etc. Off the bat, the unit couldn't get any signal. I set up my location per instruction on manual if acquiring a signal is a problem. That didn't help much, as the unit still couldn't get a signal. I finally left in the car turned on for a while. When I get back after an hour or so, the unit finally got a signal, and is now on location. I tested it by turning it off, and on, and see if I can acquire a signal without waiting for an hour. To my delight, the unit was able to pick up a signal fairly quick, and I'm online pretty fast.
I only received this yesterday, and more time will be needed to see how well this one performs overtime. So far, I love this unit! Gorgeous screen, very nice intuitive interface. One gripe would be the boot-up time. It just takes a long time compare to my old Magellan Maestro.
The traffic FM receiver on the other hand is a bit dissapointing right now. It always looses, signal, and acquiring signal always takes forever. I'm not sure if the signal suppose to go off after certain a while or not, but the receiver I got always seems to no have a signal. I'll have to read up more and see if there's any settings I have to make to get this unit not loose signal.
Overall, I'm giving the GPS unit 5 star, and the FM receiver 2 star. I got the FM receiver for free (promotion till end of April), and when it works, it's really is a great feature to have. I'm just disappointed how it takes a long while to acquire a signal, and not keeping the signal.
I'll be driving to Las Vegas next week, and I'll be able to test the unit more thoroughly, and will update my short review as necessary. |
Looking for an upgrade
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| Review Date: April 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: BEG, Oak Creek, CO |
Also received mine yesterday. Took a three hour drive today in the Colorado mountains. I also have a Garmin nuvi 260, and I was looking for something a little better.
I find the 1470 better in every way. The screen and map is gorgeous. A Lot of POI's. You can have them show on the map when your driving, and you can just tap the icons when your driving by to see whats out there. Names all the lakes and smallest county dirt roads that you didn't even know were out there.
The goto works great. The voice is very pleasant and clear. Speaks the names much clearer than my Garmin. Much more precise actual turning and map relationship. This one just seems to correct some of the quirks that my past units have had.
So far, so good. |
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