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Magellan RoadMate 300 GPS Portable NavigatorUser Review: - Magellan RoadMate 300+This GPS receiver has been great for me, although it takes some getting-used-to. First, unfold the antenna! It was taking forever to locate me until I relized the antenna should be lifted up. Second, use the windshield mount, fairly low. On most cars, this gets the GPS out from under the front edge of the auto roof, so that it can "see" the satellites. (I wonder if those two factors are responsible for some of the complaints I'm reading) Third, remember that anything highlighted in yellow is what will happen if you press "enter", so use the touch screen to save numbers and street names when you have completed an entry. I live out in the country, 50-miles North of Dallas, and I'm amazed that all the small rural roads here are on the Magellan map. Incorrect directions occur extremely infrequently, but they can happen, so don't follow the voice instructions blindly. User Review:  - Serious bug in onboard softwareSo I bought this from Radio Shack's Black Friday sale today. After just a couple hours, I ran into a serious bug without any effort on my part. When I finished one route and was ready to try another one, I touched "Select Address" on the main screen. Prompted to "enter street name," I proceeded to entering the first few letters (the unit features an auto-fill feature). But after just the 2nd letter, I was greeted with an error pop-up:"Street name error, blah blah blah," basically telling me no street started with the first two letters ("sm" for "Smith") in the entire region of Northeast! This is just bull. My heart sank. I backed out to the root screen and touched "Select Address" again. This time I was going to type in one of the destinations I had already tried earlier. Well, after just one letter ("f" for "Fruit"), the error came up! I was just upset. After restarting the unit at least half a dozen times, the error suddenly went away. I think I'll call tech support to find out what's going on. Meanwhile, I plan to return this thing to Radio Shack tomorrow for a full refund. (Good thing I didn't clip the UPC for rebate yet.) I have the 300R+ model which is supposed to be totally integrated with all North American maps. The software is a pain to use, to say the least. I've tried a lot of GPS systems and this is by far one of the worst (probably still better than this FineDrive [name??] I tried before). Stay away. User Review:  - a great unit for the priceI bought the Magellan 300R+ at Radio Shack for $199 after rebate and I love it, although it isn't perfect. Here are a few things to consider: 1. The unit will take some time to find a satellite, up to 10 minutes in some cases. Make sure you have the antenna folded up. 2. Select only the areas that you travel in frequently. If you select several areas during the setup process, it takes longer to "find itself". 3. Remember that the windshield mount will be a red flag for thieves. Fortunately, the 300R+ can fit in your pocket so you don't have to leave it in the car. I bought a different mount on eBay that sits in my car cup holder. It is easier to remove and the unit still works fine. 4. Voice prompts for turns are clear, but the final prompt will be right at the point you need to turn. You can get used to it. When you miss a turn, it will recalculate a new route in a few seconds, which is pretty nice. I know people that own much more expensive units that do the same thing as the Magellan 300, they take you from point A to point B. For $199, you can't go wrong. User Review: - Worst GPS ever! Horrible customer service.I must start my rant by saying the only way that this trashy piece of pittyfully designed equipment has a rating of 4.5 stars is because the company wrote the reviews desguised as happy shoppers. This is my third GPS unit and the second one that I have hated. My first was the first miowalker a pda/gps. It was incredible to say the least!! Just over 400 dollars it was perfect it connected to the sattelite no matter where I was in under a minute, even if I was moving around town. It had a battery so I could take it with me on foot, and was a fully functioning pda. Then, cause I live in L.A., my car got broken into and it was stolen. So I decide to "upgrade" by purchasing a more expensive unit from a more recognizable name "Magellan." The only reason I switched was the gps was a little glitchy. I blamed that on all the pda features that I didn't need, boy was I wrong. The magellan arrived from amazon two months after I ordered it, and then cancelled the order. The download process was relatively complicated compared to my mio, and of course I had to purchase a seperate sd card (which at the time was an extra expense). So here are the problems with the unit. a) It works for a few weeks and then stops finding you. The only way to fix this is to reformat the machine with your computer. This process takes a long time, and is not convenient if you are on a road trip. When it stops finding you what I mean is it takes 15-25 minutes to locate you if you are sitting still and if you move, it might take an hour or never. Compared to my Mio's one minute you should be dettered yet. b) The way it finds addresses is so annoying, without a phone book you will be completely lost. I was recently in montreal canada looking for a hotel on a street the hotel claimed was called demaisenneuve. So I typed it into my gps and it said not found. I was annoyed because this is a major downtownstreet in a major downtown area. So in an attempt to outsmart the system I physically dragged the curser over montreal and manually found the street. It took about half an hour sitting in my car wasting gas and time. I found the street. This thing was less like hal and more like shallow hal when it came it A.I. Wanna know why the machine couldn't find the street. Cause the streets real name was boulevard de maisenneuve. I mean are you serious. Are you telling me that couldn't pop up as an option. My mio would have had me half way to my poutine by the time this thing even knew I had a heartbeat. 3.Megellan dousn't care. I called them to complain. They told me, to reformat. I did and it worked. The funny thing is they told me, rudely, that it is normal to take 15min to connect. Well you know what, who the hell needs 15 minutes to find something. You are better off taking mapquest or a map and finding it yourself. Mio's policy is better, it should take under a minute. Trust me, this product is bull, the software is confusing and poor, the hardware is not up to par and is over priced. Only purchase if you like being lost and then looking stupid as you tell your friends "dont worry I got a GPS." When half an hour later they are twiddling their thumbs in the middle of southern america while duelling banjo's is heard from a nearby farm. Magellen should go to hell. User Review: - Map updates, customer service HAHAHAHAThe maps are old, an customer service is clueless. The website is worthless also. The product works, but the old information constantly makes you travel out of the way before you get to your location. I for one will try another brand. |
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