Magellan Maestro 4050 Car GPS Receiver

I wanted a GPS unit because I travel alone and find it hard to navigate with a paper map. My first experience with GPS was with a Hertz rental car that had a Magellan GPS unit (Hertz Neverlost) and it was fantastic. I selected the Magellan Maestro 4050 because of the many features it has, and the ease of use advertised. I purchased it directly from Magellan. Even though I could have gotten it cheaper through other sources, I opted to go through the manufacturer to save on state tax (PA 6%) and also to get a AAA discount (15% or $50 maximum). Both of these savings made the cost more competitive than their list price. I had read other reviews, and people had complained about not having a software (maps?) upgrade that they were waiting for, and after calling Magellan, was told that the upgrade would happen within the week. Customer service seemed to be pretty good on the politeness scale, but did not seem to be too knowledgeable. I am pretty sure I was speaking to someone in the US, too.

I received the unit in a timely manner. The out of box experience was less than stellar. I expected the first thing I would see would be a reference card or instruction sheet on setting up the unit and getting started. You get nothing. In the box is an assortment of cables, mounting devices and a CD. No manual! However, if you turn on the unit and you have no fear of pushing buttons, you're good to go. The unit is activated by pushing the on/off button, located on the side of the unit. After you acknowledge a warning statement (don't be distracted when you drive, etc.) you get to the main screen. You touch the screen to select the icon, and your choices are minimal but that's all you need. Start entering addresses and it will calculate the route immediately. The first thing you want to do is enter your home address so it has a point of reference for future entries. Some of the data entry is not intuitive, but the learning curve is short. The "manual" is a PDF file located on the CD, so of course, I read the instructions AFTER I played around with the unit and figured it out. The manual points out some of the finer details which you may or may not need. I don't like not having a book to take in the car with me in case of problems, so I printed it out - 80 pages!

My first trip was a 2.5 hour venture from PA to NJ. It was a route I had taken before so I had a point of comparison for how it would direct me. Upon turning on the unit, it calculated the route and estimated the time of my arrival at my destination. I forgot to tell it to keep me on the highway instead of the "quickest route" so when I strayed from the route it selected for me, it immediately recalculated the route. The time difference was less than 5 minutes from the route it originally selected for me. I presume it calculates the ETA based on 55 mph, because as I travelled at 65 mph, the ETA would change to reflect the speedier trip. On my return trip I wanted to stop at a shopping mall mid-way between my destinations. It got me there just fine, even when I took a wrong turn.

The GPS screen, which is easy to view and understand, always shows the next turn coming up, or if you are staying on the main road, it shows that you should stay on the main road even though it is merging or dividing into another. It announces at 2 miles ahead and 0.5 miles ahead when you need to make a turn. Then at almost precisely when you need to turn (or exit the highway) it makes a dinging sound. When you are coming up to a place where you need to make several turns close to each other, it announces the first turn, then stated it is followed by the next turn. It does not wait for a specific distance. This allows you to turn into the correct lane necessary to make the next turn. It is capable of pronouncing most road names, but has problems with abbreviations. When turnpike was abbreviated TPKE, it would pronounce it as t-pac. Lane, abbreviate as LN, was pronounced L-N. Whatever. Overall, the navigation and directions are excellent.

The Traffic Kit never kicked in during this trip. I did buy this unit because of this feature. I have been stuck on the NJ Turnpike due to accidents, and wanted to have a way to get where I was going in case of that scenario. I only know the one way to go, and although I hope to not need it, wanted to have it for that purpose.

I have no need for the voice command, but did play with it just to try it out. It works in a satisfactory manner. I live in the suburbs so I don't need it for driving around here, but it would be handy for a city. It is useful for finding gas stations, restaurants and that sort of thing.