Magellan Maestro 3100 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
by Magellan
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List Price: Our Price: $30.99 You Save: $119.00 (79%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Magellan Maestro 3100 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: incredibly disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
My Maestro 3100 only lasted a few months before I started having problems with it. It stopped holding its charge, despite always being plugged into it's power source. Having sent the unit in for repair under warranty, I'm compelled to advise Amazon buyers to stay away from Magellan products. I had to send the unit in at my own expense, and now Magellan can't tell me where my unit is, or how long it will be before I get it back. When I called to check on it, (as I was told I'd receive an email confirming receipt and repair status and had heard nothing) I was told that the units take upwards of a month for repair. I wish I'd known that before I sent it in.
I bought the unit based on price and because I had no experience with GPS devices yet, and figured I'd invest the least I could in a technology I wasn't sure I'd utilize. But I am definitely sold on GPS devices in general and the Maestro 3100 certainly served its purpose before it stopped working. Complaints that it is sluggish are very true, and it sometimes seemed like it was a little "off" with the position.
Overall, I'd suggest you select a more reputable company with a better track record of customer service and warranty repairs. A friend of mine has a Garmin and I've been really impressed with it while driving with her, and I will certainly purchase my next unit from them if my Magellan never returns. Spending a little more on the unit is probably not a bad idea either. I think, at least here, you get what you pay for.
Update: The unit was returned two months after sending it in. I got no communication from the company on the repair status --it just showed up one day. I used it for a WEEK before it died again. I now own a Garmin. Magellan is dead to me forever.
Customer Review: Decent Unit, But Flawed
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this unit a year ago, and it did decently. However, it tended to recommend routes that really didn't make sense at times. After my son's recent usage to navigate home from his honeymoon destination he complained that it needed updating. Soooooo, armed with access to the Magellan web site I set out to update my unit. There are two updates available: a free download to update the firmware, add points of interest (POIs) and add Hawaii and Puerto Rico maps. There's also updated North American maps available for a cost of $79.99 ($67.99 for AAA members).
Here's where the fun began. First--the free update only works with Windows XP (according to Magellan's web site). I'm running XP, so no problem. And, it's massive (over 900 MB) takes a long time to download even with fast DSL, dialup--FUGGEDABOUTIT!!!
I connected the unit with the USB cable and the fun began. The added hardware wizard in XP never seemed to run quite properly. Made it seem like I had two new drives hooked to the computer. Onward, I slogged.
When I started the update program (which I had previously unzipped) it then started to uzip itself even more. SHEESH
It hit the POI update file (a monstrous 898MB) and took 20+ minutes to upzip it.
I then got several error messages that stopped the whole update process.
Oh, it also erased the unit's firmware. I now had a big fat paperweight.
A quick Google search found several sites warning folks about doing this update.
Luckily, I stumbled across a site with instructions on how to manually update the unit. Three hours from when I started I finally had an updated unit.
I can hardly wait until the map update arrives!!!! More to come---
Customer Review: Magellan Maestro 3100
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow. This is so simple to use and is accurate down to a couple of FEET! I needed one of these years ago.
This model does not "announce" street names, but it shows the street names on the screen. It does use voice announcements you when you are approaching a turn, then when you get to the actual turn a soft chime sounds to let you know to turn now. If you miss the turn, it will announce that and recalculate an alternate route. It does not support bluetooth or telephone functions.
You can enter and save your HOME address; then wherever you are in the USA, you just tap on the house icon and it will lead you home! There is also an address book so you can enter frequently visited addresses and then you just recall the address and select either "shortest route" or "fastest route" and it will direct you to that address. It also shows points of interest along your route (gas stations, ATM's, restaurants, motels, etc).
There is a suction cup windshield mount that really works (doesn't fall off like many of those suction mounts) so that installing is quick and easy. The 3.5 inch full color screen is large enough for easy vision and it has a sufficient back light so you can easily see the screen directions even in broad daylight. The rechargeable batteries are powered through a cigarette lighter adapter. (AC adapter is available as an extra charge accessory).
Has an SD memory card slot so you can expand the memory. Includes USB cable so you can download updates from a CD or from the Internet.
There are GPS systems that cost hundreds of dollars more, but as far as directing you to your destination, I don't know what they could do any better or simpler than the Maestro 3100.
Customer Review: Awful product...DO NOT BUY!
Summary: 1 Stars
I was given the Magellan Maestro 3100 for a birthday present back in August of 07. I used it for no more than a month and it froze on me and would not reboot or anything. I called the customer service and they told me to send it in for repairs. I did this, after 3 months of calling them weekly I got my system back. Their customer service was awful, they kept telling me they were doing updates which is why it was taking so long. I finally got it back right before Thanksgiving and used it. It worked great here and there and then I went to put the newest updates on it and it froze again and the my computer kept saying something about the files being corrupt. So now, not only will my computer not complete the updates but the device is frozen. So now I have to send it in again FOR A SECOND TIME to get repairs. The device itself worked alright. Other than the minor problems I had with it: I live in a rural area and with all the trees I could not get a signal from it for about a mile to two miles. It did not say the street names before you turned on them other than saying the turn was coming up in .5 miles. I visited family in Philadelphia often and this was extremely unhelpful because you can't really take your eyes off the road long enough to see where you were suppose to be going. Plus with the how long it took to get a signal I was stuck roaming around in the city until it could tell me where to go. It took sometime to recalulate where to go so you missed the instructions before it even had a chance to tell you where to go. Between the little quirks, the system freezing twice on me now, and the horrible customer service, I would NOT recommend this product to anyone. I feel awful that someone spent money on this product for me.Customer Review: Too many stars. Give it a -5. PIECE OF JUNK!
Summary: 1 Stars
Slow. I mean, SLOOWWWW. Few waypoints. To test it I directed it to find the nearest named store. I was only a block away from this store and it told me the nearest one was 15 miles away. Drove to Wendover NV from Salt Lake City and it told me to take an off-ramp that was 40 miles east of Wendover out in the middle of the desert. Soon after that it locked up and I had to do a reset to get it back to working. Unable to get a download to update the firmware because as Magellon puts it, "It is still in testing". This is my second GPS (have a Garmin NUVI 200W) and the Garmin is wonderful.
Feb 08: Finally got the firmware update. Had to download several times because the file was always "corrupted". Does not sound like much but when it's a 900mb zipped file, that takes a while. No update to POI's. Still won't find auto parts stores, major stores, home improvements stores, etc. Will find gas stations, hospitols and banks quick enough but don't depend on it finding much else. Many locations have changed names in the last few years and the Magellan has not kept up. One place I looked for changed its name 10 years ago and Megellan still has the old name. Talk about out of date.
Mar 11. In 2010 I was able to obtain the 2008/2009 Map update on CD. Got it installed but had to delete all the (other than english) language files because the machine ran out of memory. Now I find that Magellan no longer supports the 3100 (not even firmware updates let alone no more map updates). Still locks up in the middle of the Utah desert when it tells me to take a right turn in the middle of the desert. Currently looking at a GARMIN that also includes free lifetime map and traffic updates.