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: It likes to circle around
Summary: 2 Stars
This is the first time buying a GPS. I am easy to get lost and thought right now is a good time to buy a GPS that is decent and reasonably
priced. At first I was really excited about this Magellan 3140. The fact that it didn't come with an AC adapter didn't bother me too much, after all I'm only using it in the car. I was really excited about AAA and the blue tooth feature. But within a week I had decided this is
really not worth my money and time, i'm returning it. Good thing I bought it from Amazon.
1. Routing: I tested around my town, and used it to drive to work, into the city, going home, going to friend's house. No matter what routing option I choose it doesn't rout me the shortest distance, or fastest. Knowing most of my way home, I find that this machine keep telling me to circle around the destination rather than a simple street to cut through all that circling, and that cut through street is not a cow road or some little side street but a major, direct street. It does the same thing for all the other destinations i went to. Circle around streets with most traffic lights, college area full of people, and doesn't take the quicker and shorter roads. I live near by Boston, the city and my town are both very old, none of these are new roads. The detour option worked great at first, but once getting into local road it's goes on its circling-going-the-long-way routine.
2. Bluetooth- at first I was really excited I can use this unit to make hands-free calls. The first call I was holding the unit, the sound came out loud and clear, and my friends seem to hear me just fine. But I realized that once i install it on my windshield I have to yell for the person to hear me. The bluetooth in this unit does not sync with my cell phone address book, so I thought I'll just enter a few people whom i talk to the most into the address book in this Magellan so i can get to them quickly. I go into the phone feature, choose to select contact from address book. it opens up the address book and i select the person. The next window that comes up is the routing window, and the routing button, there is no button to let me dial the phone. By this point, basically i'm not doing anything with the phone nor bluetooth. I have to use call history. Only the call out history shows up, the calling in history shows nothing even though i just had a friend calling in a couple hours ago.
3. I didn't use it long enough to use the AAA Option, but the AAA point of interest is very limited.
To me, not getting lost and be most time efficient is the most important, and is the core reason i buy a GPS. I liked this GPS also because it doesn't have MP3 and photo type of thing that are basically useless to me on a GPS system. Although text to speech is helpful, but if it doesn't rout efficiently and accurately I'd rather read a map myself.
Customer Review: Good but not perfect
Summary: 3 Stars
I have used other GPS units in the past - so this is not one of those 5 star reviews from someone who is excited about their first GPS unit. Overall the unit does what it is supposed to do but with a few shortcomings.
- the battery doesn't seem to last anywhere near the time quoted. I like running the unit without the power cord connected to the lighter socket in my car, however the battery always seems to run out much sooner than expected. I have given up on cordless and use the power cord all the time now.
- the lack of a hardware volume wheel is annoying. If you want to turn the volume up (or mute the volume) while the unit is navigating, the response time can be very slow as the processor is using cycles for other tasks. I like to keep the volume off and then turn it up if I am dealing with a tricky intersection. Sometimes the unit takes too long to respond to the volume request and I am already through the intersection.
- when I navigate to intersections (e.g. corner of A and B) the green route marking is often a mess, e.g. a dozen crossed green lines all over the screen. The turn by turn directions are accurate but the green route depiction looks like graffiti
- some of the routings can be boneheaded (or even take you to the completely wrong location) but I realize that is likely the licensed map data and not the fault of the unit
- finally (and most annoyingly) I have had this unit for nearly 8 weeks and Magellan have not yet released the traffic kit for 3140. The Amazon description and the features section at the Magellan web site both state that the Traffickit is an option. What they don't tell you is that the option is not available for purchase. This is BS. I have called Magellean and they keep giving me different answers on when the Traffickit will be released. If it's not out by the end of this week (10/15) I am going to send this unit back to Amazon.
There are also positives with this unit. The two features I like most:
- the screen is bright,
- the unit locks onto location very quickly
If you want the Traffickit (or think you might) then check with Magellan on availability before buying.
UPDATE: I sent this unit back to Amazon after endless BS from Magellan about when the TrafficKit was going to be released. How can they market an optional extra that does not exist?
Customer Review: Good GPS
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently bought the 3140 as my first GPS unit. I did about three weeks of research before I bought it and I'm glad I did. There's a lot out there so it's good to do some homework so you don't have any remorse.
I liked the 3140 because it has the basic features of a GPS plus some extras which are neat. Like text-to-speech feature. Instead of just saying "turn right in 300 feet," it says the street or highway name that you should watch out for. It also pronounces the names correctly. I live in Spanish-street-name-heavy San Diego and it pronounces everything as it should.
The screen is easily readable and you can zoom in and out easily to just see freeways or see each little street name as you drive. I just wish it was a little bigger than 3.5 inches so if you mount it further away from your eyes, you can still see it easily. The downsides are that it takes a lot of keystrokes to get back to the map after you've entered an address or used another feature deep in the menus. It also doesn't let you scan around a map like you can in Google Maps... dragging the map. (You know what I mean.) It only does when you've entered an address to go to and asked for a map of that location in reference to where you are at that moment. It lets you drag the map around at that point but not in general when you're just driving along.
I've also had a couple of occasions where it's sent me on another freeway that is unnecessary to get to my destination. I've entered addresses that I already know how to get to and it's told me to get on freeways that only end up putting me on the original freeway I was just on. I don't know why. I think it likes to route people on the most direct route regardless of how many roads you actually need to take. It also needs a couple of minutes to lock into at least three satellites when you first turn it on. Make sure the unit's top has a clear shot of the sky from your car.
If you're interested in getting the traffic option for it, be aware that it costs $150 for the extra equipment plus a $30 fee per month after the first month. Kind of expensive....
But all in all, it's a great unit and I'm happy about my purchase. I definitely recommend it.
Customer Review: Near perfect!
Summary: 4 Stars
Magellan Maestro 3140 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
I love this thing! It's as easy as they say. I picked it up at the post office, took it out of the box, plugged it in, and it was ready to go. The only problem I had, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was that the traffic isn't included (which doesn't matter too much - for the price) and the screen is 3.5". Other than that, get one! Day 2, found a hassle. Taking it off the windshield thing is quite a hassle. Maybe because it's new, idk, but it was hard. No biggie though, still working better than I expected.
Okay, I'm adding to my review again. I just returned from a trip to Vegas. We used the gps everywhere we went! As soon as we landed we drove to L.A. then to San Diego, no problems, it was perfect. Came back to Vegas, that's when all the flaws showed, before I get to that, we also drove to the grand canyon in Arizona west and Utah and we also went to Hoover Dam...problems? Yes! Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon don't have addresses so I couldn't put an address, it's also not on the points of interest. I actually had to go old school and make a print out on yahoo maps. Then there was the ever changing Vegas. In this situation, I don't blame the gps. The streets were there, but with all the new freeways, they've moved the streets! She (my gps) pointed us to a dead end street or street that no longer was there, only they were...they were moved about a 1/4 mile down the road!
I also found that previous points of interest are kept in the unit after updating. For example, (in Hawaii) Ala Moana shopping center Macy's used to be a Liberty House, she has both as a point of interest, hmmm.
All in all, I don't know how anyone can drive in the states without one of these, but expect to be led to a dead end once in awhile...well unless you buy map updates, which could run a little over $100 just to get a few more roads on there. She re-routes you, so I wouldn't worry too much.
Customer Review: Helpful Gadget
Summary: 4 Stars
We bought this as a Gold Box special, so the price ($149) was quite low. We had been thinking about a GPS for a while, but the low price grabbed us. This is a cute little thing, easy to stick in a purse (without the window mount, of course). We are wary of theft, so we never leave it in the car. I've sometimes used it without the window mount, just sitting in the seat beside me, relying on the voice directions, and that's worked fine. We put it through a couple good workouts on college road trips to unfamiliar areas, and it got us where we wanted to go. When I tested it locally, it did not always choose the routes I prefer (based on my knowledge of traffic patterns, traffic lights, etc.) but the route choices were reasonable. The one thing I find annoying is that when you are on a major highway, "she" (there's only one voice choice) keeps telling you to stay on the highway by saying "In 2 miles, stay on the current road followed by stay on the current road" which seems redundant and gets tiresome. I don't need to be told over and over NOT to take an exit. I just want to know when I need to get ready to exit. Despite this quirk, when it's time to exit the highway you get plenty of warning to prepare for your exit and you know which side it's on. Sometimes in local roads, when making a lot of sequential turns, I got confused about exactly when to turn. There's a chime when you reach the turning point, but it only chimes when you get to the intersection so you might not be in quite the right place to make the turn. It helps to scroll through the directions ahead of time. Fortunately, if you goof up and take the wrong turn, "she" will start "recalculating" and figure out how to get you to where you want to go. Since this is our first GPS, I can't compare it to others, but it did the job and for what we paid, we felt we got a good deal. We also accessed the AAA info (since we are members) and this helped us in picking restaurants along the way or finding specific restaurants when we were in the mood for a particular spot.