Andrejs 4 Comments

Answering the title question about Magellan Roadmate GPS system I would say, it’s only when a GPS device I would have got for free.

Magellan has declared themselves as a leading portable GPS navigation consumer electronics company. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

I never had Magellan portable sat nav device but many various reviews have been heard.

I was interested in making some research after comments of my reader who praising the Magellan GPS system.

To get a general idea of portable Magellan GPS, let’s take a look on a budget range device-

Magellan RM9412SWLUC Roadmate 9412t-lm 7″ GPS Device with Lifetime Maps & Traffic Updates.

Price

Cheapest Place to Buy: Amazon.com

Display: 7-inch touchscreen

Coverage: Preloaded maps of the 50 United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, lifetime maps and traffic updates

Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.6 x 3.4 inches

Display  Resolution: WxH WVGA

My ratings: 5 (out of 10)

Someone could demur, why I rate just to five? I would like to remind that made my conclusion solely from the information which was obtained from the Internet.

I stick with my favorite way of reviews and from the beginning the  Product Description from Amazon.com

„The Magellan RoadMate 9412T-LM 7 in. GPS Device with Lifetime Maps and Traffic Updates gives you a feature rich GPS navigation experience. Enjoy the ease of an expansive high-resolution touchscreen that automatically adjusts color and contract for clear day or night viewing. Easily create icons of your favorite places and searches, such as your favorite coffee shop, restaurant, gas station or bank. Just touch the customized icons to see the nearest locations of your favorite chain destinations while within any city. Preloaded maps of the 50 United States, Canada and Puerto Rico make this perfect for navigating new locations. “

So far looks good enough to consider this particular Magellan GPS be written on my upcoming shopping list.

From the beginning let’s see features, benefits, and opportunities offered by the manufacturer.

Let’s say that we are looking for car navigator, exactly with 7-inches screen and made by well-known brand.

Magellan RoadMate 9412T-LM 7 fit in close to $200 price tag in company with Garmin nüvi 2757LM 7 and many of unknown name devices. I did not find any new TomTom 7-inch GPS device around the $200 price tag.

In fact, that not so a large selection. I remind that we are looking for known brand names.

What I like in this Magellan device or the pros, as adopted say.

–       Beautiful large screen;

–       Friendly price;

–       Lifetime maps and traffic updates (see at Cons what I do not like regarding so called FREE updates);

–       „Crowd-sourced data“ real traffic information. Sounds cool if working as announced (option) but, for RoadMate 9465T-LMB is the standard feature;

–       multiple point trip creation whereas this possibility is missing even for some of TomTom or Garmin models;

–       what else customers wrote as „good” is easy to read and Magical Traffic problem/Re-routing feature;

–       Best Parking is another great feature that makes parking in the city much easier. Sounds great unfortunately did not find a real customer review of this feature.

Maybe I missed something to say what I like about Magellan Roadmate GPS system, if any, I will add later on.

Now let’s look at what I do not like or Cons.

– A royal pain is an „update“  issue. I found so many complaints about Magellan’s Content Manager that this only problem lowers the value of this brand GPS devices significantly.

I read many of those complaints about updates and customer service problems and believe that it is not a fake or company defamation action.

 I know how to feel when you are calling to customer service and the employee answer you unkind or definitively unprofessional. Even when quitting emotions, you are not able to solve the problem. Next time I will never watch towards their product.

One more thought or life experience fact about so-called Free Lifetime updates.

 C’mon guys, the map updates is business and word „FREE“ is just a hook to catch a fish like you and me. None of electronic chart software and chart makers work for free. There is so much work invested in the final product creation and a good result is a satisfied driver.

Every time I see this FREE I become very careful.

Yes, there are exclusions. For instance, the free smartphone app called Maps.me. I used to use it abroad as it works offline. It is not a perfect navigation tool but in the case of emergency or as a backup device to save on cellular traffic works just great, and real free regular maps updates.

Well, back to Magellan Roadmate cons.

–       Some complain about the weak battery, but none is eternal and at any time can be plugged into the charger;

–       There are many of claims that brand new devices are shutting off itself. Even five times in 200 miles trip.

In conclusion, I would say that Magellan RoadMate 9412T-LM 7 inches and hope other similar RoadMate series devices are acceptable as long as they work well, and no needs to contact the customers service. When you do not care about latest map updates and complicated procedure of data processing then it might be one of the cheapest purchase of known brand GPS device.

Never trust solely to the information given on the company home page.

One more advice for casual GPS for cars and boats seeker. Never trust solely to the information given on the company home page. Yes, read it first but after that spend some time on the net to obtain info from the real user’s experience.

Sometimes producers include so many unusable features in their products to raise the price but often the result of such innovations is negative. The unit price is higher but many so called innovations only would prevent the device to perform it the direct task – in the best possible manner show you the way to your destination.

None is perfect, but if it comes to choose my next GPS for my car I would choose a proven, maybe a bit more expensive values and for me it is TomTom car GPS navigation systems.

Safe and pleasant driving!