Magellan Maestro 4040 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
by Magellan
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List Price: Our Price: $62.97 You Save: $537.02 (90%) 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 4040 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Good GPS with terrible technical support
Summary: 3 Stars
The Magellan 4040 is a good GPS that can be great if Magellan tweaks its software and improves its technical support. I recently bought the GPS and returned it within a week due a screen problem.
The unit I received had a problem with the screen where 40% of the screen was dimmer that the rest. I emailed Magellan technical support and it took them 2 days to respond back. During that time I tried calling tech support and it took more than 5 attempts before I was able to talk to a real person. Instead of replacing the GPS, Tech support (email and phone) wanted me to send the unit back to them for repairs with me paying for the shipping. Although the GPS is brand new (Defective on Arrival), Magellan would not replace the GPS. Why would anyone accept a repaired unit when they paid for a brand new GPS?, especially if its defective from the very beginning.
I ended up calling Amazon and they were very responsive. It took me less than 30 seconds to talk to a real person. Amazon immediately agreed to replace the GPS with a new unit. They stand behind every product they sell and thats why I am a repeat customer.
Terrible technical support. If you buy a Magellan GPS, hope and pray its not defective on arrival and you need technical support.
Text to Speech needs improvement. Most times you simply cannot understand what the turn directions are. The voice sounds too robotic and streams the road/exit names in a single monotone sentence.
Customer Review: A long trip with the Magellan 4040
Summary: 4 Stars
The Magellan 4040 is my first GPS system.
Summary: A very good product, I don't regret buying.
I took a 2300 mile trip with it. The trip covered parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta (Canada) and Idaho. The roads taken were about 60% interstate.
Before the trip, I updated to the latest firmware. This was quite simple to do.
The support upgrade offered by AAA was painless. The Tour book feature worked well, Reserved a room in Billings Montana. The paper tour book has room rates, the Magellan does not, otherwise they appear to have the same information.
The exit poi feature worked well to find a timely gas station. Disapointed that rest stops are not available this way.
Arrival time estimates were very close on the Interstate roads and city roads, but very long other wise. (e.g.Montana limit for trucks is 60 mph, 70 for others)
Navigation: turn notification is accurate and timely, accuracy on destination is hit or miss, Some times exactly right other times 1/2 a block off. Destinations (eg an ATM) which happen to be in a mall can be hard to find.
Biggest disapointment: the mount. There is no 'bean bag' mount. the window mount does not work well in vans/suvs. The sticky adapter requires a flat surface in the right place.
Biggest wows: The portability, (fits in my shirt pocket), the number and accuracy of dirt and gravel roads, The number of POIs in so many places.
Customer Review: 5 Major Defects
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought the Maestro 4040 because I had a great experience with a previous Magellan GPS product. The Maestro 4040 has the following major defects using software version 2.04 that came with the unit:
1. Calculates routes that are not possible because the streets don't intersect.
2. Tells you to turn onto streets that are not there.
3. On many occasions the voice directions are the exact opposite of the green line on the screen which gives you the route to follow.
4. Occasionally calculates the incorrect distance to final destination. If you are 2 miles away it may say that you are 18 miles away, and as you approach the final destination it corrects itself.
5. The tap to repeat the last voice command does not work on the main screen. It only repeats when the split screen appears on the unit.
I called and emailed them with no success on fixing the defects. They are overwhelmed with complaints and many times the emails bounce back as undeliverable and their Maestro 4040 technical phone support system is down most of the time. When I do get in touch with them they say the problems "probably" will be fixed when new software is released; however when I ask them if my problems have been identified and are scheduled to be fixed they tell me they don't know if my defects are included in the next release of the software.
A potentially great product with a company that is NOT customer friendly.
Customer Review: Great device
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to disagree with most of the complaints. Whereas a lot of people got the wrong cradle - I am guessing this was a quality control issue when the product first shipped. The cradle in my package was correct and works great. I would think this has since been resolved. The gps connects to the satelite within 10 seconds everytime. Entering an address is simple and it also allows you to just type a city (for example Boston). This is nice if you need to get somewhere but don't know the exact address. I have 20 address stored in memory - not sure how many it holds - but that is more then enough for most people. If you deviate off the suggested path - it re-calculates with 1-3 seconds. The only thing that I have found to be a little slow is when entering a POI. If you know the address - that is the way to go. The screen is very clear and easy to read. Not sure what people are complaining about there. The navigation is simple and my 8 year old kid figured it out in 2 minutes. The bluetooth is very good. My hearing isn't the best but I can use it as long as I turn the stereo off. The manual is very good for a technical manual. Lots of pics to explain how to do everything. It is in PDF format - so the computer ignorant won't like that. Nothing I can say bad. I can't comment on the customer service - but why deal with them in the first place? If it is broken - bring back to where you bought. No??Customer Review: Magellan 4040
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this GPS unit as a Christmas gift for my husband. I knew very little about these little devices, but did some research and had my son do some research. My son found the Magellan 4040 at Amazon and told me it was a great deal for the money. Well, I decided to buy what I thought was a good deal from one of the home shopping networks. I purchased a Garmin with a 3 1/2 inch screen (same price as the Magellan). When I received it, it seemed so small. So, I ordered the unit my son suggested. I gave them both to my husband and he used them together on a trip. It became very clear that the Magellan was the best unit. The screen is larger, the unit is very easy to operate and it has more features. We have used the unit several times and it has always taken right to our destination. It was especially helpful when we recently traveled to a doctor appointment in Baltimore. We were ready to get on the beltway and saw a very long back-up caused by an automobile accident. We knew we would be late so the unit reprogrammed itself and took us to our location via a route we would have never known to take. Anyway, we LOVE the unit and you can't find it any cheaper. I recently saw the Magellan 4040 at a Staples store for a "special" price of $449.00!!! I highly recommend this unit. We are quite pleased. And Amazon is great to deal with. By the way the OTHER unit has been returned.