Love it...with a few suggestions...
I actually had ordered the 4250, but the marketer in an unintentional manner sent me the 3250 and I decisive to keep it since the only divergence in truth seemed to be size, and I found the 3250 to be more spectacular than I thought.
I did a lot of pre-purchase exploration and had settled on Magellan partly due to the AAA integration, but then chose the Maestro **50 series because of the integrated live traffic updates which I think is a GREAT feature - particularly since I work in a high-traffic share of the Northeast which I think has a heap of of the most illfamed and even nightmare-inducing roads.
I actually take delight in the voice command features even though I wish more of the scheme responded to them. For example, it would be nice if they could build in for basic commands to always be recognized (e.g. "Cancel" or "Yes/No").
I am finding the touchscreen to be easy to use and responsive, but would have liked a volume control wheel on the side of the device so that I could control the volume without having to back out of another screen I might be on.
Entering of addresses is unquestionably bettered over older Magellan GPS gadgets that I've applied in rental cars - a suggestion here, however, would be to make the type screen set up like a standard keyboard (think Blackberry) rather of laying out all of the letters in alphabetical order, but this isn't a big deal.
I love the Bluetooth integration, and it works outstanding with my phone even altho it wasn't on the pre-loaded list (the only thing it doesn't pick up are SMS messages, but I'm okay with that). A suggestion here would be if it could mechanically connect to my phone when I turn it on (like my Bluetooth handsfree does) rather than forcing me to manually connect them both each time which is kind of annoying.
The only other issue I'm having right now is with turning the device on... Sounds strange, I know, but it doesn't seem to always want to come to life when I hit the power button - even if I hold it in for a few seconds. It comes back on without apparent effort when I leave it plugged into the car, notwithstanding with GPS thefts on the rise, I have taken to unhooking it and keeping it with me.
Overall, it's a outstanding GPS for the cash and the live traffic, AAA integration, and voice response are, in my opinion, it is best features. You can't in truth go faulty here.
good product, not so good client service
I've been using the Magellan 3250 for a couple of days now and so far it's been a pretty good GPS unit. Among the positives:
Text-to-speech is precise (although it pronounces DR as Doctor).
Driving on the open road I was systematically picking up 8 or 9 satellites. In a parking deck I was still pulling 2 to 4. The unit powers on and is ready to run in beneath a minute.
Missed turns and detours are calculated beauteous quickly and the route exclusion works well if you are attempting to modify the suggested route.
The screen is bright, even though it did get a little washed out the afternoon setting sun.
Among the negatives:
It's crashed once already. We'll see if that is a reoccurring feature.
The route exclusion works great unless you undertake to use it twice. Then the unit goes back to the introductory route you didn't want to take in the original place. I held attempting to get it to follow my apparently distinctive path to the interstate and it never once figured out where my preferent exit was even with repeated re-route requests.
Don't call their client service. I'm presently in the procedure of getting my three month subscription code to active the traffic monitoring service. The code was supposed to be in the box, but along with a finish lack of instructions or documentation there was likewise an empty spot where my code ought to have been. I've called Magellan twice in the last 3 days with no luck. I might get a callback within the next 24 to 48 hours with my code, but I don't think anybody I've talked to knows who has the authority to issue these codes.
This wouldn't be such a huge issue if their traffic monitoring service wasn't what set them detached from Garmin. With the Garmin you have to spend $130 for the particular OTA traffic antenna in addition to a year subscription. The 3250 has the value added perk of including this antenna.
Overall it's a good unit, but so are Garmin's. For the most share GPS widgets work the same everywhere. So if you don't care when it comes to the traffic monitoring service and you think you might need to call tech help - go with the Garmin.
Great features and Amazon price!
I purchased this unit last night to replace my Garmin i3. The Garmin is a outstanding little unit, but I was ready for a few more features.
To read up in regards to the Garmin i3 (and i2/i5) check this site: http://reviews.cnet.com/car-gps-navigation/garmin-streetpilot-i3/4505-3430_7-31468216.html
Short version:
Magellan 3250 is a great GPS unit and the price from Amazon was far the best one that I could find. Also, I ordered it last night and Amazon/UPS had the unit on my doorstep 24 hours later (and I didn't pay for overnight)!
Long version:
Within 30 minutes of having the unit out of the box, I was competent to take it on a 90 minute road trip and compare back-to-back with the Garmin. Below are a few of my findings:
Screen size: The 3.5" Magellan screen was a nice bonus when equated to the Garmin's 1.5" screen. I was happy with the Garmin display, so I am that much more happy with the Magellan.
Screen Zoom: While the Magellan was fine, the default zoom level on the Garmin provided just a bit more data (zoomed out a little more) and I find that the added view was helpful when navigating unfamiliar areas.
Brightness: I never had a problem with the Garmin, but the Magellan was unquestionably brighter.
Re-calculation: The Garmin was more quickly to observe that I had left the route and commence the recalculation. Once the Magellan detected that I was off route (usually at regarding 75% re-calc on the Garmin) it would initiate and finish the re-calc very quickly (usually at the same time as the Garmin, in spite of the Garmin's 75% head start). The quickness with which the Garmin detects that you have the left route is NOT always a blessing. One of my few complaints with regards to the Garmin was that it was/is U-turn crazy. That is to say that it detects that you have the left route and tries to strength you (repeatedly) into a U-turn to get back on route. I had no such disturb with the Magellan.
Bluetooth: The Garmin i3 is a budget model and does not have this feature. With the Magellan, my SMT5600 Smartphone is not on the supported list. However, it still works as a bluetooth headset, which is sufficient for me. The quality (both on my end and on the end of the person that I made the test call to) was better than my Motorola bluetooth earbud.
Traffic: This is another innovative feature of the Magellan, which the Garmin does not have. I was not competent to test this feature because I have not yet started the free trial.
Maps: The maps are from NAVTEQ*** (6/2007) and were very accurate. The Garmin likewise uses NAVTEQ maps (~2004 edition) and are also very good.
Routing: Both the Garmin and the Magellan calculated the same base route when going from A to B (and it was a route that I recognise well and may attest that the chosen route was good).
Re-routing: Here, the Magellan is the hands-down winner. Not only did the Magellan NOT display the "possessed U-turn demon" of the Garmin, but it seemed to make smarter assumptions (i.e. not forcing me back to the highway when local was just as fast) when re-routing.
Mounting: Because the Garmin is very little (fits in the palm of your hand), the mount is a ball-and-socket which makes it very easy to adjust to any angle. I was enjoyably astonished that the beefy Magellan mount provided a similar range of flexibility.
Navigation: While both systems navigate rather well****, I have to give the nod to the Magellan. Whenever there are elaborated branches, the screen splits into two (map and branch) distinctly showing which branch is the rectify one to take. The Garmin describes the branch (stay left/right, then stay right/left), but a picture is worth a 1000 words! In a lot of cases the Garmin did have a few extra niceties like the top screen banner indicating what the next major action would be (e.g. "on I696 to exit 165 John C. Lodge south"). Also, the Garmin uses names for highways (e.g. "John C. Lodge") while the Magellan uses the highway numbers (e.g. "M-10"). If you are local, the names might make more sense, but I know from experience that out-of-towners would prefer the highway numbers over the names (here the Magellan wins again). The Magellan has text-to-speech and the Garmin does not; I may see that this would be utile for out-of-town adventures.
Finally, one point to the Garmin for verbosity. The Garmin was/is always talking before the Magellan and on occasion even when the Magellan sat quiet (e.g. "stay straight for next 9.9 miles" would come from the Garmin after merging onto the highway). The Magellan said not one thing to ascertain me that I unified to the right path; possibly a minor point I don't know.
Controls: This is the #1 reason why I am replacing the Garmin. The Magellan has a touch screen (as do most GPS gimmicks now). The Garmin i-series uses a thumb-wheel. While the thumb-wheel is very fast to use while sitting still (possibly more immediate than the touch screen) it may become closely possible to use while driving on less than perfective roads (a bounce may send the selection up/down causing you miss the selection or select the wrong item). I recognise that you are not supposed to play with the GPS while driving, but candidly - who doesn't!?? Since I do, the touch screen is a definitive winner.
Boot-up: The Garmin always boots fast and doesn't antagonize with the nag screen for too long. The Magellan seemed to boot a little slower, but what in truth bothered me was the nag screen that sticks around for assorted seconds after it has been dismissed.
POI: Do NOT underestimate the importance of the POI database. In this case, both the Magellan 3250 and Garmin i-series have 6 million built-in points of interest. A lot (most) of the budget systems have "millions", which commonly translates into just a few more than 1 million. If you do not believe that 6 million is a big vantage over 1+, buy two schemes and compare for yourself. You will be shocked at the divergence that it makes in finding incisively what you are looking for. BTW - Both the Garmin amd Magellan POI database includes exact phone numbers as well. This is particularly great on the Magellan because you may call directly from the GPS unit by way of bluetooth to your cell phone!
NOTES (a.k.a. Why all the asterisks?):
My firstborn attempts at replacing the Garmin were all a bust. The systems could not hold a candle to the Garmin for accuracy or sheer number of POI.
*** Something that I noticed on the other units is that they were all using TeleAtlas maps rather of NAVTEQ maps. In a great deal of cases the TeleAtlas maps had N-S streets swopped with E-W street names. I in truth ran into a circumstance where the map claimed that there was a street where there was none, and plainly hadn't been one anytime in the past 20 years. Some humans blame the navigation for these errors (i.e. the GPS marketer and not the map maker), but distinctly inaccurate maps are not the results of a GPS navigation issue. They are merely bad maps. My counsel is to keep out of the way of units that use TeleAtlas maps.
**** An issue, which in all likelihood is navigation related but could stem from the bad maps, is that one of the systems systematically took me to the back side of destinations. On a trip to Radio Shack, this is not a big deal. On a trip to the airport, this is a big deal because it may lead you miles out of your way!
