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Saturday, June 18, 2011
Magellan RoadMate 700 3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Magellan RoadMate 700 3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I have owned a few Garmin units over the years and was always generally pleased with them. This was my first Magellan and I must say that I have been extremely impressed.
The screen quality is incredible. Regardless of lighting conditions it is always easily visible. It is also the largest display available in a portable unit.
I especially like having the entire US mapping built into the unit. No downloading or swapping memory cards on extended trips.
I have found that the voice prompts are clear, audible, and make sense MOST of the time. It does have some quirks such as telling you "Left Turn Ahead" when the road on which you are travelling has a large curve or similar change. Again. play with it for a bit and you will learn to discern the quirks. The proposed routings, even on back roads, are not always perfect but are usually pretty close to what a knowledgable traveler would do. At the very least, it will always get you there and it has never tried to send me up a one way or into a lake as some other units have. In some instances, increased "intelligence" about certain roads would be welcomed. In Pennsylvania there are a number of so called highways which are more like parking lots with traffic lights every 1/2 mile. In these cases, the RoadMate does not always have the smarts to know that there are some roads which are hardly the "fastest route". In some instances, the parallel "secondary road" is a better choice than the "highway" but the Magellan does not know this.
I do like the ability to exclude a current road from the route. This has bailed me out of a traffic jam in unknown territory on more than one instance.
I do agree with criticism that it should be easier to add a waypoint to the address book and I hope this might be addressed in a future software upgrade. The database of restaurants, attractions, etc. appears to be very complete and thorough as I have discovered in numerous states. Even local pizza joints are listed.
The unit seems to lock onto signal quickly and holds it well. Most of the time I am in the blue signal which shows WAAS. Yes, WAAS was another big plus on this unit in terms of accuracy.
I agree that the unit should ship with more than the vent mount. The vent mount either works very well or not at all depending on vehicle. However, a quick call to tech support and they sent out a windshield mount ASAP when I simply mentioned having trouble with the vent mount. Yes, it should also ship with the PC cable as it does on the 500. Finally, while the touch screen works well, a remote would be a welcome accessory when cruising down the road at high speed.
Bottom line is that right now this is probably the best portable GPS unit available. Maybe not as good as the $3,000 custom install but perhaps better in other ways. I demand a lot from my electronic toys but I have no regrets about this purchase.
UPDATE: Several years now since I wrote this review and the RoadMate is still hanging in there over many journeys. What has really impressed me is the software updates. Magellan has updated the interface, added voice announcement of street names, etc. I consider this a real testimony to supporting their products rather than forcing them into obsolesence so that yoy buy the next model. If you purchased one of these and have never upgraded the software you are really missing out. I have tried several other brands and newer models. While features like bluetooth are nice, I have yet to justify the cost of replacement. One of my newer cars has built in GPS. On really long trips I still take the RoadMate as it often finds roads not shown on the DVD based system.
Magellan RoadMate 700 3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
BUY Now Magellan RoadMate 700 3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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