Magellan Maestro 4050 Widescreen Bluetooth

Okay, it's February, just after the Super Bowl. In other words, it's a little early to be announce publicly or officially the winners for "best GPS 2010". Having said that, there are assorted front runners, which according to Amazon, will surely be challengers for the title. Let's look at these in turn.

Best GPS 2010: Garmin Nuvi 780 4.3-inch Widescreen Bluetooth GPS

The Garmin Nuvi 780 4.3-inch Widescreen Bluetooth GPS is one of the hottest vendors on the Internet right now. Whatever it's marketing for right now, I may guarantee you that you're getting a ton of features for the price. With the Garmin Nuvi 780, you get the widescreen and Bluetooth, of course. But also you get text to speech (actually says street names), multi-point routing, and 9 months free MSN real time traffic and weather.

Best GPS 2010: Magellan RoadMate 1412

Although rather a bit for less than the Garmin Nuvi 780, the Magellan RoadMate 1412 shares some of it is features. It's got the widescreen and text to speech. In addition, it's got multi-point routing. The RoadMate is a somewhat older series than the Nuvi 780s are, but I don't think that genuinely makes much difference.

Best GPS 2010: Garmin Nuvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS with Traffic

If you like the real time traffic option of the Garmin Nuvi 780, you might want to consider the 755/755T model. It's got lifetime traffic! In addition, the Garmin Nuvi 755 has "Lane Assist" which helps you locate the rectify lane to drive in when in intersections. Like the 780, the Garmin Nuvi 755 is very well priced.

Best GPS 2010: TomTom XL 330-S 4.3 Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

One of TomTom's top merchandising GPS navigators is the TomTom XL 330-S 4.3 Inch Widescreen Portable GPS. It's being sold at Amazon at a very lowcost price, in particular when you realize how a good deal of features it's got. You get the widescreen and text to speech. But likewise you get TomTom's "Map Share" technology, which lets you change Tom Tom's database. Also, it's got a outstanding Help Me! feature, which instantaneously locates the nearest emergency facilities.

Best GPS 2010: Garmin Nuvi 765/765T 4.3 Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic

The Garmin Nuvi 765T is like the Nuvi 755, but with Bluetooth. It's a higher end model, but still very, very affordable.

Best GPS 2010: Garmin Nuvi 285W/285WT 4.3 Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic

Again, if you like the 755, but don't need rather all the features, there's the 285. It's got the widescreen and Bluetooth. Also, it's got traffic, but no multi-point routing.

Best GPS 2010: Magellan Maestro 4700 4.7 Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

The Magellan Maestro 4700 4.7 Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator is portion of Magellan's Maestro line, which is a little newer than the RoadMate line. The Maestro 4700 comes with text to speech, Bluetooth, and multi-point routing. Also, the screen is even larger than the Garmin's I've noted here.

Best GPS 2010: TomTom EASE 3.5 Inch Portable GPS Navigator

The TomTom EASE 3.5 Inch Portable GPS Navigator is sort of the "Mini Cooper" of GPS devices. What I love with regards to the EASE is...well, it is ease of use. When you turn on the device, you see just two icons. If you want magnificent navigation, but don't need the other bells and whistles, then the TomTom EASE 3.5 Inch Portable GPS Navigator could without apparent effort be the right model for you.

With built-in AAA TourBook® travel selective information and fellow member roadside assistance details, the Magellan Maestro 4040 Portable Auto GPS System is the uttermost travel companion. Re-engineered for easy use, it combines modern features, elegance, and simplicity to make driving more gratifying and less stressful. A few simple touches are all the Maestro 4040 needs to audibly guide you with turn-by-turn street name directions to almost any destination in the United States and Canada. You may even custommake your navigation method or route to get there quicker and stress-free.

With fresh graphics and an intellectual touch screen, the Magellan Maestro 4040 is the extreme travel companion.
View larger - Side view

Easy to use navigation features SmartDetour and automati re-route. View larger.

Access built-in AAA info from your GPS touch screen. View larger.

AAA-enabled
With built-in AAA travel information, the Maestro 4040 gives you instant access to the most trusted source for trip planning; searchable AAA TourBook® listings, Show Your Card & Save® emplacements for fellow member discounts, approved automati repair facilities, attractions, events, and more. The Maestro 4040 likewise provides AAA members roadside assistance details, with precise emplacement and a toll-free help number. The Maestro 4040 is also Bluetooth-enabled, so you may connect your Bluetooth cell phone directly to AAA for prompt help when you need it most.

Note: AAA fellow member roadside assistance requires AAA membership.

Easy-to-Use Navigation
Enter nearly any address on the freshly designed graphical touch screen, or select from 4.5 million preprogrammed points of interest and get turn-by-turn voice guidance to anyplace in the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, right out of the box. Just turn it on and go. SiRFstarIII™ gives you the quickest GPS position accuracy in the industry, while SayWhere™ text-to-speech tells you the street name for each maneuver so you may focus on driving. Smart buttons and Magellan's distinguishable QuickSpell™ function enable error-free spelling to minimize steps and give you a customized route to your destination with just a few screen touches.

Bluetooth, Traffic Updates, and More
The Maestro 4040's Bluetooth wireless engineering science lets you make hands-free phone calls with your Bluetooth-enabled phone. You may likewise store or sync numbers and contact selective information through the easy-to-use touch screen and make calls by way of the Maestro 4040's integrated microphone and speakers. Add the optional Magellan TrafficKit™ to this device and you'll be equipped with live traffic incident reports, so you'll never get stuck on the freeway.

Additional Product Features

Sophisticated and simple: Streamlined touch-screen buttons denigrate steps to locate a destination
Sleek design: Integrated GPS antenna provides magnificent satellite reception in a slim and compact design
Graphical interactional maps: Maps and destinations for the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada are built-in, so you may travel far and wide and always know where you are and where you're going
Traffic-enabled: Add the Magellan TrafficKit™ to your Maestro 4040 to get live traffic incident reports; activation and subscription fees employ
Voice command upgradeable: Add Voice Command control for hands-free operation with an upgrade from Magellan; activation fee applies
Bird's-eye 3D view: Clearly see your environs in 2D or 3D; likewise choose amid Map View, TrueView™ 3D split screen, and Maneuver List
Rechargeable battery: Navigate even when you don't have access to power
Multi-destination routing: Select up to 20 destinations and choose the order that best fits your needs
SmartDetour™: Automatically prompts you to route around all of a sudden slow freeway traffic
Auto re-route: Never miss a turn and quickly get back on track whenever you make a detour
Auto night view: Adjusts color and contrast for easy night looking at
QuickSpell™: Easily enter addresses with distinctive auto-complete feature that even corrects spelling
Complete mobility: Transfer to any vehicle with no installation
4.5 million points of interest (POIs): Optimized database to effortlessly find gas stations, restaurants, ATMs, and more. And with smart emplacement you may search by name, category, and region. There's even a Coffee category so you may quickly find caffeine whenever you need it.
Interactive POI icons: Touch an onscreen icon for a nearby destination, see name and address, and get an instant route
Customizable route method: Fastest time, shortest distance, least or most use of freeways, stay clear from toll roads
Route exclusion: Select streets and freeways to keep away from so you may get there your way
Address book: Create and store personal points of interest for easy reoccurring trips
Instant locate: One touch shows your location; quickly advise roadside assistance or emergency services

What's in the Box
Magellan Maestro 4040 Portable Auto GPS System, windshield mount and cradle, adhesive dash mount disk, cigarette lighter power adapter (12-24 watts), AC wall power supply/charger, quick reference guide, reference manual CD, and USB cable.

Is this the best GPS?
I've been using GPS systems for various years, and I'm always asked "what's the best GPS?" Unfortunately, that's not an easy question to answer. Just like there's no "best" car for everyone, there's no such thing as the "best" GPS.

Needs work, help and perchance a good deal of re-engineering.
Well, I am not the GPS buff a lot of the reviewers seem to be, so you'll get this review from a regular guy. My only former experience with GPS is renting a Garmin 330 with a rental car twice. My wife hated the Garmin, I liked it, but I was awe struck by the tecno-factor. So we went looking on-line to see what was available. We purchased this unit distinctively because it met my wife's criteria. She loved that it spoke street names and not just "turn right", "turn left". She likewise like that it was loaded with the AAA data. We have been AAA members for more than 35 years, so this feature appealed to us. If you are not a AAA member, then any GPS that has POI's is in all likelihood adequate for the purpose for you. She also demanded one feature - she hates highways and wanted something that would provide the shortest distance without using highways. This was the only unit that did that as portion of a popular routine. For everyone else it was either not possible or required spacious navigation to get to the screens where you could program it to use that criteria.

My experiences therefore far have been luke warm. When picking "shortest distance", it doesn't always pick the shortest distance, even even though it was programmed with the roads that were shorter than the map it gave me. On the other hand, it went to galore extremes that were not reasonable to get the shortest distance such as having me take an expressway off-ramp and on-ramp because they went in a straight line while staying on the expressway made a curve around the exit area that in all likelihood added 100 feet to the trip. It also had me taking miniature turns in little towns, likewise just to save a few feet. All in all, the shortest route was very hard on driving and gas and not always right. To make matters worse, the unit out of the box would crash constantly when you picked the "shortest" route. All other choices worked fine. I went online and got five software updates and the crashing problem disappeared. However, the most recent maps for this unit are the 3rd quarter of 2006, so there are a lot of things not on there. We missed various streets in Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and Southern California because they were not yet programmed into the GPS even though the streets were at least a year old.

The unit likewise suffers from overly menu-driven programming. Things must be remembered from time-to-time so you may just reuse standard data. Sometimes this works and now and again it doesn't - at least not intuitively. For example, when you program your "home", it takes eight dissimilar menus to select it as the place you want to go. Just to add it to the database took assorted minutes of typing in information. I assumed I could park in my driveway, click on something that said "add current location", give it a name and be done. That doesn't happen. When you are searching by categories and such, it doesn't have a paging menu. If ten items are listed and you want to scroll, you have to do it one item at a time; for example, you type in Columbus because you want to go to Columbus Ohio. You get 12 hits, Columbus, Ohio being number 9 on page two since they won't all fit on one screen, and you have to down arrow nine times to get to it. I would have liked to hit next page and down arrow once or twice to get to it. These may sound petty, but when you are programming and driving this is a distraction (and I don't inevitably mean programming while moving, just pulling over and taking this kind of time is annoying).

Finally, I am sending the unit back because the hardware is defective. The clip (called the cradle) that attaches the GPS to the holder doesn't fit the unit. It just keeps falling off. All the experience you have read above came from having the unit sit on my lap while I tried it out.

It also gives odd changes and distances from point-to-point. This is just an sentiment because it isn't wrong, but let's say you are going twenty miles on an expressway before you get off. The unit doesn't say you are going twenty miles. It says you are going six mile, then seven miles, then seven miles. Each distance is when you cross a major highway or a region line. It is not applicable selective information for any reason I may grasp. It knows where I am going and ought to just count down for me.

My last comment is a feature recommendation that will have to be considered. The trip computer is very fixed in the selective information it provides. When I employed the garmin, I could touch one button and a thing popped up that looked like an automotive dashboard that told me speed, ETA, miles to go, miles traveled, all sorts of good data with regards to what happened, what is happening and what is yet to happen. It was very thorough, including top speed this trip, intermediate speed, time stopped, etc. The trip computer on this unit says intermediate speed, distance, elapsed time and that's regarding it - plus it takes four menus to get to the info - again, not utile if you want to track when and where you are going and how your progression is doing.

I gave it a three because after the software fixes, it will get you where you want to go, but it is not worth the differential we remunerated amongst it and the newer versions from Garmin. Again, that's a judgment call on my part, but I employed the 320 and 330 and they now have the 350 and 360, or if you want the 650, 660 and 670 whose feature set is mainly expanded from the one I firstborn experienced.

All in all, unless you are actually tied to user simplicity, I wouldn't commend this unit.

Magellan Maestro 4050 Widescreen Bluetooth

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