Remanufactured Magellan Roadmate Vehicle Windshield

There are assorted big display GPS receivers on the market today. Some come loaded with features that may be utile to galore of us while others come with just basic functions. In this Magellan 1700 review, I go over a lot of of the features on this model and where you may get it at a low price.

Know How Big The Display Is!

The display on the 1700 measures approximately 7.5 inches x 4.25 inches which, if you don't account for this, may be a bit huge for mounting on the windshield of a little car. To find out how much space it would take up in your car, cut out these dimensions from a piece of cardboard and place it where you would want it in the windshield. Another mounting option is the use of a navigation mat that fits either on the dash, floor or seat depending on your vehicle type. A navigation mat is an substitute solution to mounting on the windshield. A bean bag like accessory, it may be employed in any car, truck or SUV. Still yet another option is the extended mounting arm that may be purchased seperately and secures to the windshield or dash.

Plain And Simple Functions, No Bells And Whistles

If all you want is a GPS receiver with a big display and basic functions, the 1700 has it. Don't look for a Bluetooth connection, a live traffic update feature or MP3 player capablenesses because you won't find it on this model. You'll be pleased to find that it does come with the Triple A TourBook guide giving you triple A approved hotels and restaurants, over 6 million Points Of Interest, Multi-destination Routing and QuickSpell with SmartCity Search permitting you to effortlessly enter city and addresses by proposing possible city or street names as you type.

Highway Lane Assist

The Highway Lane Assist feature gives you visual aids to point you in the right direction well in front of your turn. If any of you have ever owned a GPS before, you recognise how not having this may be discouraging and hindering particularly when you're on a busy freeway with exits coming up one after another. I may recall a few instances where I ended up on the opposite side of town because I didn't have this feature on an older GPS. Having this feature on a huge display GPS makes getting to where you are going a lot less stressful and just makes it requiring little effort all around.

The Magellan RoadMate 1700 comes with a vehicle power adapter, adhesive disc for dash mounting, windshield mount, protective pouch, USB cable, and user manual.

ReviewThe remanufactured Magellan RoadMate 700 GPS navigator just keeps profiting in popularity. Bestowed the honor of being named one of "Oprah's Favorite Things for Holiday 2004," this version of the RoadMate 700 includes the accessaries that former incarnations omitted, including a windshield suction cup mount, a 12-volt DC vehicle power adapter, an AC power supply, a USB info cable, a universal cradle, and, of course, a user's manual.

The Magellan RoadMate 700 offers a powerful dash-mounted navigation tool with turn-by-turn voice prompts, making it easy to get to new and unfamiliar locales anyplace in the lower 48 U.S. states and Canada (for a fee, you may visit the Magellan Website and load the navigator with European maps thru the included USB cable). It likewise features a bright color TFT LCD screen (2.25 by 3 inches), touchscreen input, WAAS reception (for 3-meter accuracy), and multiple ways to select your route and then view it onscreen.

TrueView 3-D navigation shows you the actual road layout.

The RoadMate 700 is one of the few GPS gadgets that's ready to go as soon as it's unpacked. Its whoppingly huge 20 GB internal hard drive comes preloaded with elaborate road maps for all of the U.S. and the southern (most populated) section of Canada, so you won't have to fiddle with selecting map regions from a CD-ROM and transferring the info from a PC. If you keep your addresses on a PDA with IrDA capabilities, you'll take pleasure in the RoadMate's capacity to upload the addresses wirelessly and point you right to your destination. In fact, each of the three tracked profiles is allotted space for 100 addresses, resulting in a total of 300 available addresses. Of course, the most important address--home--can always be accessed with just a few clicks from any menu. Once selected, the RoadMate 700 will guide you back with ease.

You may likewise choose a map view or the maneuver list.

If you are planning on using the RoadMate 700 with an older car, make sure it has a cigarette lighter power adapter. As an alternative, you may completely charge it in your hotel room or office with the supplied AC power cord. This likewise means that you won't be capable to use the RoadMate 700 as a handheld device outside of your car. As for mounting, the included suction cup mounting hardware is rather easy to use and allows you to mount the unit on any glass surface in your car. The RoadMate unit effortlessly clips into the provided windshield bracket and may be tilted and turned thru it is adaptable arm so you may see it without apparent effort and safely while you navigate.

Quickly locate points of interest and amenities along your route.

One of the gains of the windshield mount is that you may move it in seconds from car to car with no difficulties at all. The suction cup model is an betterment over the older three-pronged mount that applied to come with the RoadMate units, which never provided a very secure fit.

The RoadMate 700 shines as a virtual co-pilot. During our tests, it systematically acquired a satellite lock quickly (within a minute) and displayed our current position. From there, we searched through the tremendous library of POIs (points of interest) to find our destination (Seattle's baseball stadium). The RoadMate 700 has four dissimilar modes to get you to your destination--shortest route, shortest distance, least use of freeways, and most freeways. Selecting the shortest route got us to this venue using very practical directions that weren't far off from what we would commonly choose.

If you're journeying to a destination that's not a widely known POI (such as a friend's home), no problem. You may enter the precise address into the RoadMate 700 using the touchscreen--simply tap the rectify letters and numbers into one of the a great deal of search screens--and give rise to a route. You may likewise save 100 destinations in the address book.

QuickSpell minimizes typing.

The voice prompting was clear and audible thanks to the two built-in speakers, and we were given ample warnings for upcoming turns. One of the RoadMate's nicest features is the Repeat button, which is smallish but is easy to find (it's the only button on top of the device). If you miss a turn, merely press the button to repeat the former voice prompt. Of the three view modes, True View was our favorite--it displays a 3-D street-level view that helped us orient ourselves to our surroundings.

Overall, we were rather thrilled with the RoadMate 700's features: the color screen was bright and readable even in direct sunlight and the voice prompts were clear and not distracting to our driving. Best of all, the UI (user interface) screens are easy to navigate and--thanks to the huge hard drive and map database--the RoadMate 700 is ready to go as soon as you open the box. While the price is not for the faint of heart, it's a priceless tool for a good deal of drivers--from business folk to parents--who need to get to unfamiliar locatings speedily and smoothly. --Agen G.N. Schmitz

What's in the Box
RoadMate 700 GPS, windshield suction cup mount, 12-volt DC vehicle power adapter, AC power supply, USB selective information cable, universal cradle, user's manual.