|
| Magellan Maestro 4250 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator | 
 enlarge
| Brand: Magellan
Category: CE
List Price: $599.99
Buy New: $235.00
You Save: $364.99 (61%)
New (61) Used (2) Refurbished (2)
Avg. Customer Rating:  185 reviews
Sales Rank: 52
Color: Silver/Black
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Tracks: Unknown
Batteries Included: No
Native Resolution: Unknown
Clothing Size: 2GB
Size: 2GB
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 5.1 x 9.8 x 2.1
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: Magellan Maestro 4250
Model: Magellan Maestro 4250
UPC: 763357118032
EAN: 0063357118033
ASIN: B000V4PZCI
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Masterful, outstanding GPS June 21, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
First and foremost, this is a truly great GPS. Second, you MUST upgrade the firmware to the current level -- makes it perform at peak level. (Also, if you're a AAA member, upgrade the AAA Tourbook data and get your free, members only warranty extension -- see [...]). Third, make your own assessment, don't put too much faith in the negative reviews -- I frankly question the honesty in some of them.
I've only had my 4250 for a few days, but both my wife and I agree that it's an incredible device. Read the previous review by BrandonNM, "Jeff" and see that I agree completely with his comments. But also notice that many of the cons are being addressed by Magellan with the new 4350 and 4370 to be released in July 08. I read many, many reviews and user comments in trying to decide whether to buy the Maestro 4250, wait for the new one or go with the Garmin 760. I'm glad I chose the 4250 and can happily wait a couple of years to get a newer Magellan replacement.
If you have or buy the 4250, be sure to tap on every icon and every info box to see what it will display. The manual is definitely too brief (that's a minor negative) and doesn't show all the options (and that's a major plus -- there's more here than meets the eye). An example, tap on the "Arrival time" box when you're in a route, it changes to remaining time and remaining miles before going back to arrival time. It seems everything has buried options underneath.
I read many reviews and user comments. Some are clearly biased, others I wonder how they got a unit that was bad. Mostly I just don't accept the negatives I read. Except for not having enough time to see if it will break down, I've exhaustively checked every option more than once. Most complaints about the 4250 not doing this or that are because the reviewer or user didn't take the time to find the proper path or method. Another example -- a major review that said you can't change a planned route once it is entered. I planned a route for my current 1000-mile round trip. I then Optimized and Saved it. I went back and added a new stop (Append) and re-optimized. I went back and deleted one of the stops and re-optimized. All went perfectly. It even found for me a shoe store in a huge shopping center -- the shopping center wasn't mapped, but the shoe store was pinpointed on my GPS and it told me I was there when I got to within 50 feet.
The new firmware definitely improves responsiveness and re-routing if you make a wrong turn. For example, a new stretch of highway was put in where the older instructions said to turn. Before I was 100 feet on the new road, I heard the "calculating route" message and a corrected route taking me in from the opposite side was displayed. Fantastic! And that happened more than once! (Lots of new roads on this trip.) The map is the same NavTec map in use by all current GPSs -- an update is expected this Fall and hopefully that will resolve some of these. I had no problems finding any of the POIs we chose -- that will certainly be hit and miss as on any GPS as places change over time. But the AAA data was accurate and up-to-date to the last quarter. We have been AAA members for many years and have always relied on the AAA tourbooks, getting new ones for every trip. Now we don't have to get the newest annual book unless we want it -- the most recent updates can be downloaded every quarter to the 4250.
We haven't yet tested the Bluetooth, but our phone is supposed to be compatible. At this point using Bluetooth is problematic between any two devices, so it's just not a big issue for us.
One thing I want to point out, is that Magellan appears to be addressing many concerns with the 4250 (the 2007 high end model) both with firmware updates and corrections in the manufacturing stream (later purchases don't have the same issues are the earliest ones). They are also making changes is the 2008 line (4350, 4370, etc.) to address concerns like not being able to enter addresses with voice commands (the 4350 will have that as well as a "pedestrian" mode.
Some more good things: The touch screen is quite sensitive and almost always responds to a tap. Occasionally, it will miss (just re-tap) or will pick up a double-tap (oops, go back) minor stuff. The screen brightness is great, but definitely bright at night. Volume and brightness can be adjusted with the Options menu and there you also can see your battery level. The volume is orginally set to High -- too loud for our relatively quiet Camry, but that's fine with loud music. We found no problems at all with the Magellan responding to our voice commands. Normal tone of voice, picks up my low voice and my wife's higher voice with no problem at all. I actually like the window mount. Set it up properly, and it easly turns from side to side (driver to passenger) while staying in place for finger taps and remaining level to both views.
I also had to contact Magellan Tech Support because of a difficulty signing up for the 2nd year warranty (it never told me it worked). I got a response within 24 hours confirming my extended warranty.
If we have any problems over time, I'll post here. We are extremely happy with our purchase. If you don't like some of the current concerns (no voice address input, 2007 map, etc.) wait for the new releases and pay a few hundred dollars more. Or do like we decided -- get a great GPS and plan to upgrade in a couple of years when it's a lot better. (You can see the new features for the 4350 series on the tigergps site -- Amazon will probably add that info soon.)
Love it!! June 20, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I purchased the Magellan Maestro 4250 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator Magellan Maestro 4250 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator about a month ago. It is awesome! Easy to use, small and light, it is exactly what I needed. For those of you that have not owned or used a GPS, they are great for traveling, but also can come in handy around your home town. Plug in the address, and it will get you to your destination with very little stress. I recommend this product hightly.
New firmware available - Great GPS with tons of features June 18, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I really like the 4250 so far and I can't figure out a few of the poor reviews. Some of them sound like they never even bought the unit but just want to rip on Magellan. I have not found this GPS "buggy" and mine has never reset on me. I think the unit is solid, well built, and attractive. I also don't have problems turning it on as long as I hold the power on button for a few seconds (manual says 2 seconds but I usually hold it a little longer).
After having it a couple of days I checked the Magellan site and found that there was new firmware available that took mine from version 2.24 to 3.34. Speed and response time was good but I think it got better with the firmware upgrade. The firmware update also supposedly improves routing and fixes some reset issues. I hope it also corrects the the issue several have mentioned where it pronouces "DR" as "doctor", not "drive", haven't tested that yet. Route calculation is fast on this unit, easily as fast as my TomTom.
Besides what I mentioned above here are some of my Pros/cons.
Pros:
- I like the map screen way better than the Garmin's or TomTom's. It is more attractive and easy to see in direct sunlight. My TomTom's screen was almost impossible to see in sunlight. It also has more info than the Garmin's. I like that the 4250 shows the compass direction you are traveling and satellite reception on the map page, the Garmin does not.
- The Current Location screen shows altitude as well as all the typical stuff. None of the other models I considered display altitude.
- Voice Command is really cool. My kids love speaking to it and I have found that it works very well after you learn how to properly address it. The number of commands are limited but it is very handy.
- POI's on map screen are easy to see and the icons let you know what is there. My TomTom had a generic indicator for POI's no matter what kind they were.
- The AAA info is very nice and handy. Descriptions are quite extensive.
- The spoken street names and exits are nice. My previous GPS did not speak street names. Many people think this is a must have feature. Personally I don't think so but I do appreciate it.
- The female voice is fine, easy to understand, and plenty loud. I can't imagine it not being loud enough, as some people mention, unless you were in a convertable.
- The trip planner with multiple destinations is great. The other model I considered (Garmin 260w) only supports a single destination and one way point. It is nice to be able to plan the whole trip in advance and be able to save destinations in the address book.
- Rerouting is very fast and it doesn't just tell you to make a U-turn!
- Interface is easy to use.
- Arrival time is much more accurate than my TomTom.
- Includes AC and Car adapters, case, USB cable, etc...
- I haven't used traffic since it is not available in my area but I do like that it is an option if I travel somewhere were it is available.
- No mp3 or picture support. I bought a GPS, not a PDA so why would I want that stuff?
- Very fast satellite acquisition.
- Included software allows adding customer POI's.
Cons:
- Map data isn't old but it isn't as current as the Garmins. My map data is from Q2 2007. An update is supposed to come in Q3 2008. Several recent POI's are not listed.
- ?? Not a con yet for me since I haven't used it, but I have read from the reviews that support is not very good. The web site is quite helpful though.
- I agree that the night screen is a bit too bright.
- Basic cradle that comes with unit is kind of lame in it's adjustments. I liked the TomTom one better.
My decision came down to a choice between the Garmin 260w and Magellan 4250 because I didn't want to spend more than $300. The Garmin 260w is also a nice unit but for the price the Magellan includes so much more. To get a Garmin with similar features costs over $100 more. Overall I am very happy with the Magellan 4250 and would recommend it.
mappies June 18, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Pros
1. AAA info is valuable. I know in advance what to expect from each POI.
2. Text-to-speech is great. I don't have to look at the monitor while driving.
3. Small enough to put in a pants pocket.
4. The estimated arrival time is very accurate.
5. The voice command is fun to use.
6. Interface is so easy to use. (Better than Garmin and TomTom in my opinion)
7. Never lost once since using it. No more paper map, no more mapquest's printed map.
Cons:
1. Voice command is limited to some operations. It also need further improvment because most of the time it did not recognize my commands.
2. Should have come with an air vent mount. This is because not all states allow the use of a window mount.
3. Not all POI has AAA information.
4. Some POIs are no longer exist for years.
 worst purchase ever June 18, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Don't be fooled by it's fine-sounding capabilities, this unit has hair-pulling problems:
* resets randomly or during menu selections - because it runs on windows CE 5.0 and has buggy code.
* power status is not clear, nor is how to fully power down, you will have a dead battery when you need it to work
* "fast" route often is NOT the faster route.
* voice recognition is a no-go, doesn't work unless it is 2 inches from your mouth and the car is silent
* the hardware itself is prone to breaking - specifically the USB port.
* customer support is needed, and unfortunately it's awful.
* was promised a replacement unit for my defective one in 5-7 days. Called back after 3 weeks, and it had not been processed. Asked to speak with manager. Manager put me on hold, then just hung up on me after 20 minutes.
* 5 more phone calls and they shipped a replacement unit, which also did not work because the A/C connector didn't quite fit the chargers and so it couldn't take a charge. Horrible quality control.
* even if you THINK this sounds like a cool unit, believe me, it's not. You are likely to not get a working unit.
* Their support essentially told me that their engineers have a "laundry list" of issues to work out, and there is no solution. Which also explains why they are dragging their feet - they are caught with their pants down and stalling for time."
* avoid it like the plague
|
|
|
Copyright
©
2006 Adminpal LLC | |
