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159 of 162 humans found the following review helpful.
Excellent and FAST GPS
By A
I've had an older GPS for a great deal of time now that I haven't substituted because I could not find something that was sufficient of an betterment to warrant replacing my older Garmin unit.
Finally I have ran into such a device.
This is an magnificent step forward for a portable GPS. It acquires satellites speedily and is exceedingly quick to recalculate routes. I never thought I would need the wide-screen version, but now that I've applied it, I am rather pleased with the further and added view that it offers. Plus the maps are rather current for my area right out of the box. E.g. a gas station that just opened 2 months ago was on the POI for this device.
The screen is huge and very clear. You have a huge assortment of customization choices as well; from navigation and map settings/preferences, respective auto-settings, and what actually appears on-screen to routing predilections and even keyboard layout.
The speech on this unit is rather clear and easy to understand at low or high volume. Unlike other GPS devices, this does not loose clarity when the volume is increased and I may distinctly comprehend directions without the need to worry in regards to my stereo volume.
Advance warnings of upcoming turns are well placed and as cited previously, recalculations are very quick. I missed directions and purposely turned the opposite direction on the way home tonight and recalculations specifically took place before I made it through the intersection.
Overall I'm very please with this upgrade and it was delivered next-day without issue. Packaging is solid and well designed as well.
If I had to rate anything under the five-star mark... it would be the touch-screen sensitivity.
The coming from touch-screen mobile phones and laptops, this screen could be a bit more sensitive. However, when comparing to former GPS devices, it is NOT lacking. Perhaps my sensing has just changed due the other devices. It could also be the initial placement in the vehicle. I'll work with this numerous more and update after a real road trip.
If you are looking at the map update for life option on this unit, please be sure to read the details of that offer in the bullet point in Amazon's listing or at Magellan's site, so that you know the terms of that agreement. Amazon did a good occupation of including applicable data in the second bullet point of their listing as well as providing Magellan's URL.
Overall though, this is not sufficient to drop this item from a 5-star rating. They did a great occupation on this GPS and you will have to have no worries with regards to the quality, ease of use, accuracy or speed with this model.
79 of 80 people found the following review helpful.
NAVIGATION FOR IDIOTS
By L. Solomon
The whole point of the Magellan 3030LM is idiot-proof simplicity. You take it out of it is beautiful box (which is very nice and makes a outstanding gift presentation), turn it on and wait a few moments. In a matter of seconds, the device knows where you are. All that remains is to choose a few personal predilections (audio volume, brightness, etc.) and you are ready for anxiety free road trips. Of course, you are going to have to enter a destination in order to watch the 3030 do it is thing. The input protocol is simplicity itself. Answer a few apparent questions by way of the touch screen and that's it. The touch screen itself is flawless in it is "fingernail tip" entry. This is a unfeigned pressure sensible screen. You have to actually tap the screen for data entry. It is quick and accurate. Another great feature of this Magellan is it is scheme speed. There is no "progress bar" needed. All directions take place seamlessly and without delay. If you miss your turn, this Magellan is right on it. Gone is the annoying "calculating route" dialog. It's actually that easy. So, here you have the idealisti "my initial GPS". For owners of former Magellan units, the interface will be a nicely polished old friend. If you are coming from earlier models or other brands, you may well be amazed at how well this little gem works.The price is right and the performance is excellent. The nice lady voice is clear and even comforting. Any down side? That depends on you. If you are looking for all the bells and whistles, the 3030LM may seem a little too simple. Gone are all the useless features like audio output, vehicle speed indicator ( you have a nice huge speedometer for that) and so on. It has everything you need and a little more. The screen itself is lovely, with solution to spare. The audio is clear and (if you like) earsplitting sufficient to be annoying. The virtual controls are nicely thought out and visually appealing. In short, the visual interface looks like a modern computer operating system. Speaking of operating systems, this little GPS is not compatible with Macintosh. All this means is that you'll have to find a PC in order to update the maps. The year of develop is late 2010, so my guess is that you'll have to wait a nice long time before map updating in necessary. The client service is fast and pleasant, as it the online registration process.
The bottom line- If you're looking for a nifty electronic toy to tinker with, the 3030 will bore you in minutes. On the other hand, if you want to open the box, plug it it and get on with the day, you won't be disappointed. Even the oldest, most ornery driver will find this a welcome addition to automati travel. There is even a one-touch emergency button that summons police, ambulance etc in case of accident. Have I left anything out? Nothing that you in truth need to know. Happy motoring!
80 of 82 persons found the following review helpful.
Bug in software?
By Y. Li
Other than the software bug I found (I believe it is software and not hardware), I am happy with the unit's feature and performance.
I purchased this unit when Amazon had it on sale as a Gold Box deal to replace my crippled Navigon 2100 (no audio 99% of the time). I received the unit last night and used it this morning to get to work. I took roads which is dissimilar than what the GPS recomend to get around the general traffic congestions. Within 5-15 minutes after I started my trip, I noticed that I was no longer getting any audio. The rest of the GPS function was still working fine. About 10 minutes later, after I was competent to stop (waiting at a train crossing), I power cycle the unit. When the unit came back on, it started playing back all the instructions that I missed when the audio was not working (it played for when it comes to 2-3 minutes). After that, for with regards to 2 minutes, it made faults on the street names (I was on a local road which the GPS in the right way shows on the display, but the audio said I287). After that, the unit function in the right way the rest of the way. My guess is that the thread/task for the audio playback died, but the data for it to playback was queued up until the thread got restarted after the power cycle, then it started playing back all the queued data.
I called Megellan tech support, and they confirmed that my unit has the latest firmware (this is a new model for them). So presently there is no software update to fix this problem until their software engineers may fix the problem with a new release. I will in all probability try it out for a few more trips and if the same problem occurs, I will return it.
Update: The problem happened again so I am returning the unit.
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