Magellan Maestro 3140 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
by Magellan
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Magellan Maestro 3140 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Garmin 5 Stars
I have the pleasure of testing both this unit and the Garmin 370 (basically the Garmin 370 is a bluetooth 360, just with European maps included....and $150 more for me than the 3140).Comparing both, here are MY experience/conclusions:
1.) 3140 has the brighter/saturated screen (about 2 notches better on a sliding scale--at the expense of battery life, of course) AND *louder/crisper/clearer* (less rattly) speaker (it can be a *BIG* factor if you're hard of hearing or have a noisy this brightness/saturation is rather moot as strong direct sunlight will do a good job of markedly washing out the screens of both units (still useable though). At night, both screens do the job just fine as they switch to BLACK in "night mode", so brightness doesn't factor as much.
2.) 3140 is made of sturdier plastic. Definitely more bulletproof, but at the expense of being a little thicker and heavier. Also, antenna is built-in vs. the garmin's flip antenna which could be foreseen breaking off at some point.
3.) TTS is less robotic sounding on the 3140. It has only a female voice option, but it's very natural! Thusly, the pronounciations also are clearer and MORE pleasing (less grating) than the 370.
4.) Touchscreen inputs are easier on the 370 b/c the electronic keyboard is bigger--less input mistakes (note, however, that I'm 6'4" with large hands). Also, the 370 allows you to scroll around the map with your finger (sort of what like Google maps allows you to do) -- *AWESOME* for getting a lay of the land!! The Magellan anchors your map and only allows the typical zoom in/out feature found on most GPS units.
5.) While both use Navteq maps (what Google Maps uses), the 370 has a SLIGHTLY better sense of "intelligently" routing you. This is, of course, on a case-by-case basis of your area (your results will be different than my specific areas)! For instance, going to work in my area of San Jose, the 370 takes you off the highway at the correct exit. The 3140, on the other hand, takes me off the highway an exit early and routes me through the final portion of the expressway to my destination--a good route nonetheless, but it ISN'T "FASTER" than the Garmin's suggestion (i.e the route I choose all the time) due to the insane streetlight clog-ups during the morning commute (i.e. highway is generally always better than expressway in my area). Regardless, both units will get you to your place in one way or the other...
6.) The 3140 gives you *MORE* flexible access/choices for routing (faster, shorter, more hwy, less hwy, avoid toll roads). Also, the "Detours" function is more customizable as to *WHEN* to route you back onto the freeway (3mi, 5mi, 10mi, 12 mi, custom). The 3140 screen also SPLITS telling you when to get off the freeway--better to have this for sure, but not necessarily better as the Garmin picture routing is simplistically very effective.......BTW, Re-routing calculations are CRISP/Fast on both units.
7.) The 3140 map is more detailed and not as simplified the 370. I like this! But again, not instrumental in getting the job done (Garmin's philosophy is: less is more). However, more street detail allows you to use your brain on how to guide yourself when the computer will inevitably put you on a ridiculous route or stumble you onto a clogged streetway (which is bound to eventually happen on any GPS!)
8.) Satellite lock is FAAAST (~10-40sec) on 3140.....markedly faster by minutes (~1-3 minutes) than the 370. This difference can make a BIG difference when coming out of a car park in a strange hustle/bustle city. The antenna sensitivity is also *BETTER* on the 3140 by a GOOD margin--surprising, since it's built-in! In the middle of a huge warehouse store, the 3140 (and other Magellans) had several satellite locks (6-7 sats), while no other unit from any maker aside of the Tomtom (1 sat weak signal) could get a signal. Inside my home, the same is true. The 3140 gets 7-8 satellite locks, the 370 gets about 3 locks. In the car, the Magellan gets more satellite locks as well.
8a.) Satellite *accuracy* is also higher on the 3140. For instance, in my house that's at the "U" of a dead end street, the 3140 will pick up my location from my house. The 370, on the other hand, thinks I'm at the house on the other side of the "U" of the dead end street and plots a route from that location. Of course, the 370 corrects itself when you get in the car and go on your way.....But still, in one case, when getting on the hwy at a critical multifacted juncture, the 370 mistook a parallel road next to the hwy and guided me on that road giving me confusing misdirections (I used my brain to 2nd-guess the computer's advice)--it took over a ~3 minutes driving on the hwy for the 370 to correct itself (my wife found that error unforgiveable due to the separation distance of the parallel road to the hwy.)--this type of error hasn't happened on the 3140 b/c it's proven to me time and again to be more *PINPOINT*! Another great thing of the 3140.....if you're stuck in the middle of nowhere, it's nice to be able to call AAA (for which the Magellan has a handy "all in one" icon with AAA phone #/plot-point data on the screen) and give them EXACT longitude/latitude and not more effy plot points the Garmin gives me.
9.) POIs: I get more hits with the 370 in MY AREA (your results may vary). Not surpisingly, it could be b/c the Garmin has a 6m+ POIs vs. the Magellan's 4.5m POIs (which is huge regardless & very competitive in the marketplace). HOWEVER, the 3140 does have the AAA Guidebooks which is *FANTASTIC* for roadies!!!! BUT!...The AAA POIs do need to be *INTEGRATED* into the 3140 POI database! Both are accessible only by pressing time wasting *separate* buttons/screens--hopefully, in the future Magellan will address this issue with future software upgrade??!! Magellan are you listening??......So again, it depends on what YOU value most from each of these units. One way or the other, it's all about tradeoffs folks! If Magellan brings up the POIs to 6m+ in an update and integrates the AAA databse then that would be fantastic!
10.) Bluetooth is gimmicky on both units. Quality of call from both ends ain't that great--but doable. Battery life takes a good hit when bluetooth is on.
11.) Accessories is better on the 370. The 3140 lacks an AC charger or pleather case, albeit with that $150 price difference you could purchase these things in auction....and then some! BTW, the $30 Garmin dashboard beanbag (portable friction mount) for the Nuvi units is awesome(!)--especially for us Californians who aren't allowed to suction cup things to the windshield--lest we get a ticket!
12.) Maps can always be upgraded with Garmin and customer service is second-to-none among GPS mfgrs. The Magellan? Where are your European maps? How about upgradeability and more readily **accessible**/knowledgeable customer service? The 3140 does have an SD card slot so I'm sure product is coming out for its use, but as of this writing, I'm not aware of any 2008 Europe maps.
Which leads me as to why I'm choosing the Garmin 370 for MY NEEDS. I travel to Europe on a constant basis and the 370 has the Europe maps included, so my choice, BY DEFAULT, is obvious........FWIW, to add Garmin Euro maps to your non-370 unit, it costs $300(!!) from Garmin! So if you ever think of roadtripping Europe more than once, it's *MUCH* better paying the price premium on the 370 over the cheaper 360 (you'll save money in the long run).........If Magellan had Euro maps, then it'd be a different story--also, hopefully much cheaper(!!) than Garmin's ridiculous eye-gouging pricing of its maps (indeed, for $300, it's better then to get a latest technology Europe-specific GPS)!!
If you don't need Europe maps, then it's a TOTAL no-brainer to take the cheaper 3140 over a Garmin 350/360. Aside from Garmin's ~1-2% more sensible routing in certain parts of my area (though LESS satellite accurate leading to errors, as explained above), the basic performance or price premium difference isn't warranted in the least....and even if they were at the same price, then it would become a matter of which gimmicky side-features you value more....To me, a MARKED advantage to the Magellan--if only for those AAA guides! (who here nowadays doesn't already have a much better sounding/more functional MP3 player than the Garmin anyway??!)
I have faith Magellan will come out with Europe maps/updates in the Fall. But until then, if you frazzle easily with electronics or need your Europe fix *NOW* (like me) then Garmin will hold your hand much better as a customer....at least for the time being. It all depends on your specific needs and comfort level with these GPS devices.
All in all, the 3140 is an extremely solid, simple to use unit and isn't shamed in the least by the famed more expensive "Mercedesesque rep" of the Garmin Nuvis.
Customer Review: Wish I hadn't bought it.
Summary: 2 Stars
I have had mine for about 3 months now. I chose this model because of the good reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. I have been very disappointed.
The biggest problem is that the POI database is hopelessly out of date. When I purchased it, this was a product that had only been on the market a few months, and yet the POI database was over two years old! We have taken it on several trips now, and we have regularly been taken to places that no longer exist. Some of the places we've been taken I am pretty sure never existed, because there is no building of the type that, say, a Panera would be in at the address. And we will sometimes type in, say "Panera" and be told that there are none in 50 miles, and then we pass one half a mile later. The POI database is not completely useless, but it is a serious problem.
The roads database also appears to be out of date - we have been taken to dead ends on a few occasions, some of which had clearly been changed many years ago, but this has been an infrequent problem compared to the POI database.
The other significant problem, for me, is that one of the reasons I paid for this more-expensive model was the text to speech, and the quality of the TTS is terrible. Much of the time the TTS is incomprehensible. If you know the name of the road already (because you know the area, or because you just saw a freeway exit sign), then you can usually figure out what it was trying to say. If you don't have this prior knowledge, then 75% of the time you have no idea what it is saying, unless it's simply reading numbers. And why is it using TTS for numbers anyway? Recorded voice should have been used for numbers 0-1000. I have used factory GPS units in several vehicles which had considerably better TTS than this unit. Haven't used any other TTS portable units.
The other advanced feature that led me to choose this unit was the traffic capability, and I have not tried that yet.
All in all, it works well as a regular GPS navigator where you enter an address rather than use POIs and where you do not use TTS. But then, devices providing those capabilities are available for much lower cost than this unit.
I would not recommend this product to anyone.
Update, 2/18/08:
As I have used this device more, another problem that I noticed but ignored at first has become more central for me -- the touch-screen scrolling is dysfunctional to the point that I sometimes want to throw the unit down and jump on it. The problem is that the screen tends to jump back to a previous position after scrolling, so there is a tremendous amount of wasted motion, and frustration. I've used many other touch-screen devices over the years and never had consistent problems like this. Sometimes they need more or less pressure, faster or slower motion, etc., but I have found no way of scrolling this one that doesn't fail regularly.
Also, the battery life has dropped off dramatically -- down to 1-1.5 hours per full charge. In the beginning the battery exceeded the specification, going 3-4 hours on a full charge.
There is finally a firmware update available. I will report back in a few months on how that changes things.
To update my overall view of this product, I will probably never buy any other product from Magellan - it's that bad.
Update, 6/27/09:
One thing I like about this unit is the AAA database. It's nice to get a little bit of information about a POI rather than just a name. Unfortunately the AAA database is very limited, so finding something you are looking for nearby is rare. But when it's there, it's nice.
Now back to the complaints:
After 4-6 months of use the included power cord began to disintegrate.
After a year, the battery life was down to 'don't go anywhere without the cord.'
Software updates improved some minor problems, but the major bugs (like scrolling) remain.
When I first got this thing, I noticed it took forever to get a GPS fix, compared to built-in navigation units in other cars. I assumed this had to do with the built-in antennas on the factory units being better. But in the last year I've been doing a lot of work with cheap GPS units hooked up to embedded computers, and I've done a fair amount of testing in cars, and these $30 devices get a fix in a tiny fraction of the time that my Magellan takes. It's particularly bad at getting a fix when it has been moved while turned off (even only a few miles).
There are lots of small user interface problems with this thing. It sure makes you appreciate all the intelligence built into, say, Google maps.
Oh, and the routefinder... slow and stupid.
Here's a fun scenario I've played out dozens of times:
The GPS waits until the last second to tell me to turn, so I miss a turn. It then reroutes the _entire_ freaking route. Which takes forever. So, frequently, it completes the new route and tells me to turn while I'm in the middle of another intersection. Then it has to reroute again, and we continue this dance. Why the heck doesn't it prune and replan the head of the route instead of the whole thing?
Have I mentioned that I'm not entirely satisfied with this device?
Customer Review: My highest recommendation.
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't say enough good things about this little marvel. I waited for this model and I'm glad I did. It's my first GPS but I think it absolutely ranks in excellence, or even exceeds anything on the market.
I started a courier job delivering documents in a huge metropolitan city and there is no way on earth I could have found the addresses this device guided me to. The accuracy and joy of use was stunning. It is so user friendly and intuitive, it almost anticipates what you want to do before you have a chance to tell it what you want.
The pleasant lady's voice is not robotic or aggravating with too much information. It just gives you precisely what you need as if you were riding with someone who built the roads you are traveling. It will alert you to upcoming freeway divisions in plenty of time to position yourself should you need to exit. It will state to stay left, or bear slightly right, or stay on the current road. You would not possibly be able to mess up.
As you are nearing turns or maneuvers in your route, the display will automatically go to split screen. The right half of the screen will continue showing the large overall view. But the left side will show you a zoomed in closeup of your turn and a large arrow indicating exactly which way you are about to be turning. Just a quick one second glance at the screen and you see instantly what your turn looks like.
This zoomed in closeup comes in so handy because it shows you whether your turn is a right angle or if you are only turning slightly to the right or left. This feature is in addition to the constant voice instruction. This is just one example of what I mean when I say it is so user friendly.
The routing calculations are almost lightning speed. As you are pulling up in front of the door at your destination, the lady will politely say "you have arrived." And you can count on it that you have!
It will even announce which side of the street your destination is on. If your road has a median and you are required to make a U-turn to pull up in front of the building, it will say, "at your first opportunity, make a 'legal' U-turn." Then it will guide you back to the address front door. It just doesn't get any better than this.
If you bought this and didn't like it, I just couldn't imagine why. I am not easy to please but this ranks as one of the most amazing and user friendly gadgets I have ever owned. The peace of mind and sheer ability to relax while driving with this guiding you exactly where you want to go is almost too good to be true.
Street names, freeways and all roads, are announced by name. As you are approaching a required turn, incredibly it will even give you a chime at the precise point you should turn. It's hard to imagine how this can be so accurate. If you happen to not hear a command, you simply touch the bottom left of your screen and the last prompt is repeated as many times as you want. So no worries if you don't hear it the first time.
The maps are the latest and most current of anything on the market. I haven't even used a fraction of the goodies in this thing yet and already I just couldn't be more pleased.
I can also speak highly of the customer service attention I received from Magellan. An AC home charger was not included in the box when I received it from the internet seller I purchased it from. This was not a mistake on the part of Magellan.
The particular seller I bought it from sold the unit without the home charger included. I made a call to the California office of Magellan and told them this. They said they would take care of it and I would not be charged anything. The AC charger was in my mailbox three days later. Their concern for my satisfaction was superb.
If you purchase it, be sure to push the power cord into the unit very firmly. It can fool you. It is a very tight connection. It will not receive the charge otherwise. Also, initially I thought the voice volume was too low. But soon I was hearing everything even over the sound of my radio. It is something you will adapt to very quickly.
Hertz chose Magellan as the company to provide the navigation devices for their cars. I see why. The quality of this unit is outstanding.
The only thing that could be even more amazing than what this GPS can already do to dazzle you, is if it drove the car for you.
I am proud to recommend both this GPS and Magellan without reservation.
Customer Review: Thee Best Portable 5 Stars
After having tried the Tom Tom Go 910, Garmin Nuvi 350, I can say this is the best GPS! Why? Well the 3140 just came out in April of 2007 (Look at Magellan homepage for press release) so it's one of the newer versions.It gets the satellites fast! Re-Routs you fast and even allows you to re-route ahead of the time (if you want to look ahead at the way you'll travel), and is FAST to re-route while on the road if you come across an accident, bridge out, etc. And as I just wrote, the feature of route planning (with multiple stops), you can plan this all out ahead of time, actually look where you're going and plan stops and save them.
The voice prompts are loud enough while driving so that you do not have to keep looking at the screen.
One thing I wish it had was the ability to scan across a map. That is to roll your finger across the screen to go from place to place.
The antenna is built in so that you don't have to worry about it breaking off like Garmins can. And the antenna is STRONG! In the house I get 8-10 satellites signal, and this is away from a window!
And you get 4.5 Million POI. Yes, Garmin has 6 million POI, however a lot of those are churches and such.
What is really great is the exclusive AAA feature. It gives you the ability to look for AAA rated POI, and that give a AAA discount (membership required). AND what's great if you're traveling and have auto problems you hit one button and it gives you the emergency AAA number, and your location both in the cross streets/lane and Latitude and Longitude! Very handy if you're in unknown country!
With the AAA POI feature, you can see the AAA rated hotels, restaurants, etc. so that you don't end up staying at a hotel with has loud parties all night long, or eating at the "greasy spoon" that effects your stomach the next day.
It would be nice for it to of come with a case and AC home adapter. But with the discount here at Amazon, you can purchase them single at "auction" sites online and still be ahead in the price.
IMHO, if you're going to spend the money on one of these, then spend some extra for a carry case, and screen protectors. The case can be purchased here at Amazon as well as the screen protectors (or else both at other online sites or stores). The case will protect it when you take it from the car and/or carry it in a bag. The screen protector is a little piece of plastic you put on the screen so that your nail or such does not scratch the screen. The protectors do not leave the screen sticky or such (when you remove them if the protectors get scratched.
From the research I've done I think the 3140 is better than the 4040 Maestro's as people seem to have problems with the 4000 range. Not sure if it's a firmware problem, but do a search on the Internet or look at the Amazon reviews and you'll see. And look at Magellan homepage, the updates they have for the firmware and maps are stuff that's already inside the 3140! Seems they rushed the 4000's out the door before they were ready. But if you need a large screen and don't mind downloading upgrades, the 4000 range may be best for you.
In the year 2007 there really is no excuse to get lost and waste time and get stressed out over finding your destination! With these GPS, you'll never have to worry! And if you know where you're going ahead of time, you can plan and save the trip on the GPS so when you're in the car you have it saved!
All in all, this is very good GPS!
UPDATE: 10/27/07....IF your area has heavy cloud cover or a storm, give the unit an extra minute or so to lock onto the Satellites and give you full bars. Seems storms and heavy clouds, effect the unit to not be as speedy in locking onto Satellites, but that's common with weather effecting electronics. Weather effects radio waves, TV satellites, etc.
Customer Review: Does the Job for the Most Part
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had my Magellan Maestro 3140 GPS for almost 3 months now. I really like it, although it is not perfect. The unit will get me right to the destination, or close to it. The real problem that I have with it, is that it will get you to the street, but it does not always get you to the exact address correctly. In that case, you still need to look at the address on the house or building. Once there, you can save the location into your address book, so that the next time you visit, you will have the exact location.
One good example of how this unit performs, just days after I bought it, was a business trip to Atlanta, GA. My colleagues and I were caught in rush-hour traffic on I-75, heading to the airport. We were in the far left lane when the airport exit was approaching. We TRIED to get over to the far right lanes to exit, but could not get over in time, and missed it. The unit recalculated a route 2 exits below, onto a local road that ran just north of the airport. We took the local road back over to near the airport exit, and right to the rental car return. I would not have been able to figure that out so quickly, especially when driving. I was impressed!!!
The other things that I like on this unit is:
- Clearity of the voice, although some streets are not pronounced exactly right
- Picks up satellites fairly quickly, and even can detect signals through the roof of my house, when on the 2nd floor!!
- Detour function, which is great in large traffic jams and other unexpected problems on your route
- Fastest, Shortest, Most Freeways routing choices
- Points of Interest and AAA Tourbook information, which are like having yellow page and AAA books with you
- Current Latitude/Longitude/Altitude/Speed
- Next street ahead and last street behind, with distance
What I think needs improved on this unit:
- Greater accuracy of the final destination
- Ability to set way points so that the route is more accurate to the way you want it, instead of the unit calculating the newer route as you miss its suggested turns [on purpose]
- Bread crumb trail to follow back, as on some other GPS units
- Ability to avoid very curvy or hilly routes
- Ability to add new roads instead of it telling you that you are off the road, which is rare though
- Longer battery time, as currently is only 3 hours compared to some other GPS units out there
- Additional points of interest, especially churches, which are not listed
Overall, this unit does what I need it to do, so I recommend it. It comes in really handy, especially for roads that you have never been on. I travelled on such roads at least 5 different times since I have had it, and I never got lost! So why rent Magellan's commerical unit, NeverLost (from Hertz), or any other, when about 10-20 days of rental will buy you a unit that you can fit in your pocket, minus the mount. And you really don't need a mount to use it, although it can be more difficult to just glance at the unit without it. [I highly recommend the Nav-Mat dash mount since the Maestro only comes with a window mount, that doesn't stick when the window is cold.]