|
| Magellan Maestro 4050 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator | 
 enlarge | Brand: Magellan
Category: CE
List Price: $799.99
Buy New: $265.90
You Save: $534.09 (67%)
New (10) Used (3) Refurbished (2) from $148.52
Avg. Customer Rating:  66 reviews
Sales Rank: 7363
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Native Resolution: 480 x 272
Display Size: 4.3
Includes MP3 Player: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.4
Dimensions (in): 5 x 4 x 1
MPN: Maestro 4050
Model: Maestro 4050
UPC: 063357116954
EAN: 0763357116953
ASIN: B000NMJJPM
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 66-66 of 66 | | « PREV 1 ... | | |
 Shouldn't have been released this early... June 12, 2007
27 out of 29 found this review helpful
June 12, 2007
I have used portable GPS units for some time, namely my old Garmin 2720, which has been a trouper over the years. The biggest problem was when we updated the software, and Garmin stopped getting satelite reception whenever it was turned off. This could be quite annoying, with the only solution being to tell Garmin that you were not in the state you were actually in, so it would use a wider search pattern. Because of this bad experience, and noticing prices were much cheaper now, I went with a different brand, and tried what I thought was top of the line.
The Maestro met all my initial expectations. It linked up with satelites quickly even when I was surrounded by tall buildings. The maps seemed more updated than the updated Garmin map I was using. The map style was improved over Garmin, and the detail level better. You could have POI's show up on the map, even if you were not routing to them. The voice prompting was much better, and had more customization (not voice but what information is communicated) than Garmin. The turns were described better (not everything is left and right some you keep on the highway you are on)and pictures described the turns as well. All the basic things were better.
Then there was the voice recognition.
The voice recognition comes on all the time, even though it is only supposed to come when you say Magellan. When it does, you can just say cancel, but the popup is annoying. And if you verbally cancel route, it does not default back to the map. There are not a lot of voice command options either. A lot of time the voice recognition stops responding, and will only start up again when you 'reset' the device. Overall, you just want to stop up the microphone with a wad of bubblegum.
And then I saw an add for this same model (in Smart Home I think) which mentions an mp3 player, which my machine does not have. Which I thought it might, since it has a slot for an SD card.
This machine is fine in the basics, but the rest is just messed up. I am hoping to get a software update to get the kinks ironed out of this one.
July 10, 2007 UPDATE...
Well, thought I might add a few updates to this review, as it takes a while to fully test a GPS unit, especially one that is quite loaded with features. So, let me just say that there is STILL no official update to the software on this unit, which I purchased on memorial day, and I find this a bit surprising. I suppose they are trying to get a fix-all patch, or a combo firmware software update. If they ever do get a fix, I feel I owe it to you to let you know if they have it and how well it works...
Address/POI routing: Most attempts have been pretty close(I usually use the address, not POI's), but the ones that are off might be off MORE than 1 block (happened at least four times to me). One time, when I POI routed to Radio Shack, Magellan told me it was five miles north of Shawnee. I found a natural gas well at the actual location it routed me to. But still, overall, pretty good with address routing.
POI's: Mostly current, but some quite out of date, and it seems to be missing some places I would expect (like Bass Pro Shop, and Abuelo's in OKC).
Traffic updates: Coverage is very sparse (say it limited to interstates in Oklahoma City), but I have not been routed to a major construction delay. I have, however, been routed to a 10 mile stretch of construction on I-35, but it did not prove to be much of a delay. Now, you could call that failure of the system, or you could say that the traffic update was geared towards traffic DELAYS. I don't know what to make of it.
08/01/07 Update
Miscellaneous Weirdness: Interupting the power while routing can cause catastrophic reboot. Basically what happens is if your DC car outlet switches off with your engine, and you happen to stop for gas while you are routing, it can cause problems. You might expect this, and it was a real problem with my older unit because it took some time to relocate the satelites. In general, relocating the satelites is not a problem this unit, and you can interupt the power on the unit any time and start up again while routing without a problem. In fact, since it has a battery, when the power is interupted it goes into a 30 second countdown if you want it to go into sleep mode. Yet, on at least four occassions, I have had a problem with the unit under power interuption circumstances. Basically, it wont come back on. Normally, when you restart the power, it comes out of sleep mode, but on these occassions, even when I have double checked the power connections on both ends of the cord, the unit does not power up. When the power button is held for a few seconds (the normal method of powering up the unit), the unit does not power up. When the button is held for longer than a few seconds, the unit does not power up. Only after the button is pressed several times for extended periods of time does the unit power up. And then, when it does, it shows a progress bar, which indicates that it has rebooted. The routing is not reset however. I have not tried the reset button, however, although it has occurred to me to try it next time...
Till later then...
|
|
|
Copyright
©
2006 Adminpal LLC | |
