Magellan RoadMate 800 Portable GPS Navigator

User Review: - Great, just what a wanted
The GPS works great and I have been very pleased. And for the price I could not ask for better. I am taking a cross country trip soon and will really put it through its paces.

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User Review: - Don't buy
Magellan Customer service is the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. They offer a free 30 day map update since all of their products ship with out of date maps. This would be a good thing except it is in the fine print of their products and their customer support email address that their website list is the wrong address. I had to get through to their customer service by posting a bad review on their website. By the time they responded my unit was beyond the 30 day limit and they refused to give me the update. This is a bad business practice. Garmin has a 60 day guarantee which is posted directly on their website in plain view.

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User Review: - The right tool for the job
I just started a new job as a Construction Project Manager and with my new job I have to travel from site to site at different locations.

When people try to give directions to their location, I just ask them to give me the physical address and I will be there and I haven't been lost yet.

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User Review: - Steer Away from Magellan
Had to give a rating so gave it 1 star - would have preferred to leave it at 0. The only thing worse than their product is their customer service. You won't be able to talk with anyone in the US. The 800 number is direct to India. They will repeatedly lie to you - and you never get to talk with the same person or a supervisor - they'll tell you a supervisor will call you back - don't wait for the call. You can call their corporate headquarters in the US - the only problem is that nobody is there. Steer clear - look at a different manufacturer - anyone EXCEPT magellan.

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User Review: - Comparison of Magellan 800, Magellan 1412 and Navigon 2100 max
I used to have Magellan Roadmate 800 and a few weeks ago I purchased Magellan Roadmate 1412 then I found a coupon for Navigon 2100 max. And here is the comparison chart; some of the entires are my personal opinions and might not reflect everyone's opinion... here it is:

M08- Magellan Roadmate 800
M14- Magellan Roadmate 1412
N21- Navigon 2100 max

Device specific features
M08- Heavy; can play mp3s; can store JPGs
M14- Slim and light
N21- Slim and light (not as light as Mag 1412 tho)

User Friendliness
M08- Yes
M14- Yes
N21- Not as good as Magellan - buttons can be too close to each other depeding on the menu and the screen

Volume
M08- Can set up the volume manually with a control on the edge of the device; Volume increases at certain speed
M14- Can set up the volume through the touch screen; Has only 5 settings; Volume doesn't increase over certain speed which can be hard to hear
N21- Could not find the volume settings; Volume setting for over a speed can be set (No increase / Low increase / High Increase); Voice can be staticy

Text-to-speech
M08- No
M14- Funny pronounciations on certain words; "in" sounds like "an" ... "Turn Left in 2 miles" sounds like "Turn Left then 2 miles" - "Freeway entrance" sounds like "Freeway an trans"
N21- Pronounciation is more accurate then Magellan 1412

Live Traffic
M08- No
M14- No
N21- Yes - Might have to be purchased seperately; reroutes based on the traffic

Zagat - Restaurant Ratings
M08- No
M14- No
N21- Yes - Might have to be purchased seperately

POI
M08- ~1 million POIs
M14- ~6 million POIs with wide range of categories
N21- ~1 million POIs with limited range categories; shows actual brand logo on the map

Lane Assistance
M08- No
M14- No
N21- Yes

Mount
M08- Easy to mount
M14- Easy to mount
N21- Hard to mount, hard to take it off

Password protection
M08- Yes
M14- No
N21- Yes

Compass
M08- Yes
M14- Yes
N21- Not by default, has to be modifed in settings

Recalculation
M08- Screen goes blue with a progress bar until the calculation is over
M14- Immediately
N21- Immediately

Vehicle Type
M08- Car only
M14- Car only
N21- Car / Bicycle / Pedestrian

Arrival Time
M08- Display approximate number of minutes the route will take
M14- Displays the arrival time
N21- Displays the arrival time and the minutes it takes to the destination

Distance left
M08- Shows the miles left until the next move; Shows the miles left until the destination
M14- Shows the miles left until the next move
N21- Shows the miles left until the next move; Shows the miles left until the destination

Turn by turn view
M08- Yes
M14- Yes
N21- Yes

Better for
M08- Within the city travel
M14- Within the city travel with better POI options
N21- Long distance travel with live traffic and lane assistance

Sluggy
M08- Smooth menu items, sluggy map over time
M14- Not sluggy
N21- Sluggy menu items, smooth map

Route options
M08- Fastest Route; Shortest Route; Most use of Freeway; Less use of Freeway
M14- Fastest Route; Shortest Route; Most use of Freeway; Less use of Freeway
N21- Fastest route; Optimum route; Shortest route; Scenic route

Tollway option
M08- Can not avoid
M14- Can avoid
N21- Can avoid or forbid

Allowing U-Turn (or not)
M08- Not modifiable (Allows)
M14- Not modifiable (Allows)
N21- Can allow or forbid U-Turns

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