Magellan Maestro 4000 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
by Magellan
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List Price: Our Price: $24.99 You Save: $425.00 (94%) 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 4000 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Very Good GPS
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been very pleased with my Magellan 4000. I have owned it for 2 weeks and it has traveed 2000 miles so far.
Pros: Good screen size, very accurate, easy to use out of the box, comes with all the accesories that you need, partnership with AAA, excellent color/visibility, reasonably priced
Cons: Incompatible with Mac, must buy Unzip in order to update unit, sometimes one touch does not register, no mileage scale
I chose the 4000 because I didn't want all of the add ons. I believe a printer should print, a fax should fax, and a cell phone should make calls. I believe purchasing each device for its intended use makes for a better device. This why I didn't want the bluetooth or MP3 capable GPS's. That is one of the big reasons I wanted Magellan because you could get the large screen without all of the other features, unlike Garmin. Also, the Magellan was partnered with AAA of which I am a member, I was familiar with them from renting Hertz vehicles, and the price was over $150 less than Garmin for a comparable (used loosely) unit.
I have owned 2 Honda Accords with navi where I thought the Navigation was vastly superior to the Magellan, but they were $2000 options of which I hope to avoid in the future. Also, I am sure just by virtue of being integrated fully into the automobile makes the factory installed navi more advanced. Having said this, if I had never had navi before, I would think the Magellan was a perfect GPS. It proved very accurate and trustworthy on my recent trips to Florida. I think any one would be happy with this unit that is looking for a simple, reliable, and inexpensive GPS.
Customer Review: Had some trouble right out of the box...
Summary: 3 Stars
The screen is big (4.3 in.) the graphics are beautiful, the voice commands are very clear, it works very well, this units packs plenty of volume, so it is very easy to drive to your destination without having to look at it. The sensitivity is excellent, as it tunes to satellites within a few seconds.
My only gripe was with accuracy, as it always showed my vehicle's position about 1/2 block BEHIND at all times, it was also very slow re-calculating routes and that was a bit of an annoyance, but it resolved all this issues by installing the new firmware available as a free download at the Magellan site. NOTE: Updates are PC only, no Mac support that I'm aware of. For some reason the battery only lasts about 30-40 minutes, so the power supply cable has to be connected all the time or the battery quits suddenly.
The POI's are VERY limited in this model, so don't even count on them.
I've became accustomed to hearing the street & freeway exits by name with my Garmin and my older Magellan 760 (an earlier unit that was stolen from my car) but the Maestro 4000 does not speak street names, although the unit became very accurate and much faster after the updates. For those of you who like to hear the street names, this unit does not have this feature and it is not upgradable via the firmware.
In general this a very decent unit at a very decent price, nice display & voice, but it is a bare bones basic unit compared to the other Magellan models costing just a few dollars more.
Customer Review: A Good GPS but with some Drawbacks
Summary: 4 Stars
A good GPS Navigation system that gave me the courage to explore new cities, after updating the firmware (a free download from Magellan's website), the map display updates are quicker. The new firmware also gave me the ETA, time left and distance left display and it also labels streets much better than before. I really like this unit, but it has a few drawbacks:
1. Slow to Acquire GPS Stateliest. If you arrive at a new city at the airport, you will have to wait in the open area (e.g. most Parking garages can't receive GPS signals) before you can start your trip. It seems to take about 5 minutes to acquire satellites once you arrive in a new city. It takes it a while to acquire the satellites (this maybe an inherent limitation of a GPS satellite tracking).
2. Slow Processor. Some times, it takes too long to recalculate routes, or to search addresses. A faster processor would have been really nice in tight quarters such as certain downtown areas where streets are too close and often not labeled clearly and you tend to miss turns. I drove around downtown Seattle for 15 minutes because this thing was too slow to calculate route.
3. POI has errors. I don't think you can blame Magellan for this, who ever the vendor for this data is most like to blame for the errors. I called a restaurant from the Points of Interest only to find that the name and the type of food served had changed two years ago (so the POI is two years old??)
Customer Review: Better than ever
Summary: 5 Stars
Why did I buy a Magellan 4000? I have a 4040 sitting on the dash of my car (I needed the Canadian maps) And it has always come through for me. So when my wife's old GPS passed on, I knew just which one to buy.
It's easy to use. You enter your location and it tells you where to go wonderfully. The maps are easy to see. It even offers the name of the road you're supposed to turn onto. They have modified the program a bit from the 4040. On the 4040 the computer tells you how long the trip will take. The new 4000 tells you what time you're going to arrive. Much better for long rides or business trips. I might add that it was correct from Tampa Fla to NY. and Cleveland Ohio to NY. When you stop for fuel or a meal, the arrival time changes.
It lacks the Bluetooth of the 4040, but between road and car noise, the cd etc, the background noise makes it almost useless on the highway. You can hear fine, the background noise makes you hard to understand.
Once in a while, like most GPS's it offers a somewhat roundabout way of getting from point A to B but that is often because you have chosen "Most use of freeways".
It does exactly what it's supposed to do, and does it well. And for the price here on Amazon, you can't beat the value.
Customer Review: I love my Magellan Maestro
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this about 4 months ago and have found it to be very useful. Its easy to use even without first reading the whole instruction book. It is very accurate. It gives you 4 different choices on how to get to where your going and lets you know quickly if you've made a wrong turn. The touch screen is easy to see and use in both daylight and after dark. The POI are good enough to get me to a mall if I'm in a strange city.
When I purchased this I was not a AAA member, I stopped at a store and my car wouldn't start and I needed to have it towed to the dealership, I was able to still use the POI to locate the closest towing company and it gave me the phone number to call. (I have since signed up for AAA)
My favorite part of this is the freedom that it provides me when I have company come into town. I put my Magellan in their car and they can get around without my having to try and give directions. Everyone that comes to stay with me falls in love with this little tool!
I've taken several trips (over 5 hours each) and haven't had any issues with it at all. Its been working great and I couldn't be happier!