Wonderful evolution of the Magellan line
I've been a Magellan user for several years - have owned four of their GPS systems and always appreciate how they have improved their products. This unit is my 5th and replaces a Magellan 4040. After using it for a while I've confident in saying this is the best one yet!
The most visible change is the actual size of the unit. The screen size has been increased but the unit is thinner and lighter. Very sleek appearance and the screen is a real joy -- sharp clear graphics even in the sun and bigger on-screen buttons for easy use. The mounting system has also been streamlined and looks and works well. It mounts very easily on a NavMat holder (basically a bean-bag system that I got on Amazon. I'm a huge Navmat fan - makes it a snap to hide the GPS with narry a trace. Best accessory by far for any GPS).
The power connector was not well thought out however. You have to connect it to the GPS unit AFTER you mount it in the holder. They should have moved the connector it a wee bit to the side to avoid that.
The only button is a slide-type power button on the top. Boot-up time is OK -- not speedy but not a huge delay either. It does not have a "sleep" mode so you have to do a cold boot every time. Not a problem in real world use - by the time you get situated in your car the unit is ready to go.
Voice is clear and easy to understand. Not as natural sounding as a TomTom but understandable.
Pretty much any recent GPS unit will get you where you want to go. I've found the routing on the Magellans to be very similar to Garmins - could be because they both use the same mapping set (Navteq). The Magellan shines however in features that I find helpful. The direction of the next turn is always visible regardless of how far away the next turn will be. Up until recently Garmin did not offer this (they do now on some of their units). Sounds like a small issue but I find it very helpful. The Magellan also allows you to very easily exclude a route (or portion). That's a fairly standard feature nowadays but Magellan allows you to do it in a snap.
In terms of routing Magellan offers four options (fastest shortest most use of freeways and least use). You can see all four options on the map (as a summary) at the same time so you can pick the best one for your needs. Perfect!!
Love the AAA Guidebook which is a unique Magellan feature. Lets you get details about restaurants and other points of interest just like the paper version from AAA. I used it a lot in my 4040 especially when traveling out of town.
Other unique Magellan features I appreciate is the "ding dong" sound right before a turn (incredibly accurate!) and the fact that the software reminds you to "stay on the current road" when you encounter major exits. Some find that to be nagging but it has saved me from inadvertently exiting on more than one occasion.
A new feature for Magellan is the lane guidance. Very nicely done. I've used this feature on Navigon units and found it rather unhelpful. Magellan's implementation is far more useful with better clearer graphics. However lane guidance is not available for every road.
The software is also nicely done - very logical to use. If you're a past Magellan user you can pick this up and use it in a second. If not there's a short printed user's guide in the box (plus a CD-ROM with more in-depth info) that gets you up to speed quickly. The box also includes the mount power connector for the car and a USB cable. It does not include an AC adapter.
OK now for the bad news. When it comes to customer service Magellan has been horrid. We're talking so bad it's almost funny. I'm hoping this situation will change - the company was bought by Mitac late last year and perhaps this will signal a change for the better in terms of customer support. Lord knows they couldn't get any worse.
The leader in my opinion for customer support is Garmin. They are nice to deal with on the phone answer emails promptly and offer regular firmware updates. Whenever I buy a GPS as a gift I always buy Garmin since I don't want to saddle the recipient with the miserable service that Magellan offers. It's a shame since Magellan offers some real benefits over Garmin and more value for the money. Tom Tom is also decent when it comes to support but they use TeleAtlas maps which are less complete than NavTeq (sp?).
Bottom line -- if you're looking for a straightforward GPS at a good price this should be on your short list. It lacks features such as Bluetooth and an MP3 player but for me I want a GPS to offer guidance and not entertainment. This has a very robust feature set great screen and well-designed software. It also has traffic capabilities -- did not test that feature out so I can't comment on it.
The "safe" bet continues to be Garmin. You'll pay a bit more and get less features but you can be assured of solid support. Whether Magellan's new owners will put them back on the right track (if you'll excuse the horrid but unavoidable pun) in terms of customer service is not yet clear. I hope so -- they make a great product!
UPDATE: 5/21/09 There's a firmware update on the Magellan site. No new functionality (in terms of new features) but according to the release notes it improves overall performance. Easy to install - just follow the included step-by-step instructions. It seems like it makes the unit a bit faster but that could just be my imagination.
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