Magellan Roadmate 700 GPS Receiver

Nice GPS at last.

Posted Mar 5, 2006 - After using Garmin Street Pilot III, Navman iCN510, and Palm GPS product, this is by far the best. After almost a week, I am quite pleased with this product. You can get it for under 500 bucks on eBay or at BJ's Wholesale Club. You can also get a SW upgrade for $99 that will give you all the functionality of the 760 model costing few hundred more.

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Could be good but mine is not

Posted Feb 12, 2006 - Overall product design is good. But I believe there are some serious quality control issues. It makes hissing sound straight out of the box. Many times the sound just stops and you have to reboot to have sound again. Once the touchscreen stopped working. And I've only had it for a couple of hours... Overall: If you are lucky enough to get a properly functioning unit, it is a good buy.

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Outdated Map Updates + Hardware (Sound) Failure = Avoid

Posted Feb 12, 2006 - I have used the technology of the Roadmate through the Hertz Neverlost, and figured it would be worth it to get this unit. I was skeptical about purchasing a new piece of hardware for over $1000 considering it hadn't had any kind of track record before. But, I loved the Neverlost system, so I got it 2 years ago. Great! At first. Then, I noticed that the sound started sounding strange, like hissing and whatnot. And then, the sound.... just.... failed. No voice prompts, no *ding dong!* For trying to navigate, try having a GPS unit guide you with no sound. It ain't good. So now I unplugged the unit. Over a grand, and what I understand is that it's hardware failure. It doesn't add up that this unit, 2 years old, could do this. My father has electronics that are from the 1980's and they still work. And they cost alot less than a thousand bucks. There is also the problem of outdated maps, even though they are sold as updated. Case in point, my 4.26 version software. Try taking the Frederick (MD) exit off I-70 east and there's an exit configuration not in the software. I just bought the software just a few months ago, and there have been a number of routes that aren't working. In Atlanta just this week, I drove on the exit to reach a hotel north of the city in Lothian on I-20. The unit showed there was a mile to go before the exit but the exit was behind me when I realized that the mapping was wrong there. I want to swear by the company and the unit I purchased. But it's now a failure. Beware before you buy. At the very least, purchase some kind of product insurance. In the meantime, I have notified Magellan and plan to check with the Better Business Bureau and check on another course of action.

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I bought the Magellan for my wife. We just moved ...

Posted Mar 2, 2005 - I bought the Magellan for my wife. We just moved to a new area neither of us know, she is a "chicken" driver (won't drive where she hasn't previously been escorted to), and she has a poor sense of direction. She is not technically proficient either. She learned how to use it very quickly with almost no help from me. By the end of the first week, she was calling me at work to tell me how she was on her way from stop 3 to stop 4 of her day's journey and how much she loved this thing. The only issue encountered was when she went out and forgot to raise the antennae. The device will not pick up your location with the antennae down. That said, even when up, it can sometimes take a couple of minutes to locate you. I have seen instances where the audible direction is not as specific as it could be, which can cause some confusion. For example, we were going down a street that came to a split. The street curved to the left, and the right split was actually a ramp to another road. We needed to stay on the street around the left hand curve to the next intersection about 150 feet past the curve, where we were to make a right. Prior to reaching the split, the audio told us to make the next right, while the screen showed the correct path around the left curve. It seems that since the street continued to the left, the audio did not consider it necessary to point out to stay to the left at the split. I will also mention that the windshield mount does not hold as well as it should. It uses a mechanized suction cup, but it will give out from time to time. Today, it fell off the while my wife was driving my son to school. Fortunately my son caught it, but not until after it bounced off the dashboard. I can only hope it is still functioning after the bounce it took. Overall, it's a good device. I have a navigation system in my car, built in from the factory. The Magellan is almost as good with directions as that, except for the specificity of the voice directions. If they can figure out a more stable mounting mechanism for it, it would be better.

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When I first took it out of the box it thought I w ...

Posted Feb 15, 2005 - When I first took it out of the box it thought I was in San Francisco (I live in Los Angeles). I thought maybe in would lock onto a satellite and adjust itself but it didn't. There is nothing in the book that tells you what to do in this case. I found but pressing buttons that there is a diagnostic and you can put in your current location & then it was fine. After that it knows where I am at all times without any problem. I really like that address input is easy and the 4 choices of street or freeway use is great. The voice is easy to understand and give you very good instructions & gives you plenty of time to react also. Some of the downsides that I can pinpoint are: mounting. I haven't even tried the windshield device as I have a car with a wide sloping dashboard. I dont' want it setting right up there and the device doesn't extend or retract. I consider this a pretty high end device. I would think that Magellan would come up with various mounting devices depending on car/van/pickup or whatever vehicle. Sell it as a universal kit, I dont' care. Also as I tried to indicate in the above weakness area, I was in a very unknown area and trying to get out. All the instructions were to proceed to route. Well if you don't know where that route is that is no help. If you make a wrong turn it is great about recalculating the route so that you dont' have to go back to where you made the mistake & start over. Since it can do that so well (and believe me I've already made a few wrong turns or taken another road that I knew better and it recalculates immediately to let you know what to do) I can't figure out why it won't tell me which way to go to start. Don't get the wrong impression from me. I think this is great device. I even use it around home just because I enjoy using it not because I need directions!

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I purchaed this GPS in July 2004, and have used it ...

Posted Dec 23, 2004 - I purchaed this GPS in July 2004, and have used it professionally ever since. I own and operate an executive car service and this GPS is without questions a very valuable tool to have. It took me longer to figure out the mounting bracket than it did to operate the actual controls. Once I actually read the manual, I was up and running in no time. I now use the GPS even when I KNOW where I am going. Having information at my fingertips such as estimated minutes or mileage to my destination is very handy. In terms of accuracy I am very pleased. If the GPS doesn't get me exactly to where I am going, it is off sometimes no more than a few feet. It does however, have trouble once in a while figuring out what side of the street an address is on, but it's so helpful that I don't mind an occasional blip. I like the bright display, the audio is nice and loud, and it's easy to use. I'd like to see a radar detector built in but I'll leave those comments in the "nice to have" collumn. Hope this helps.

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After considerable research comparing Garmin 2620 ...

Posted Aug 24, 2004 - After considerable research comparing Garmin 2620 and the Roadmate 700 I am very pleased with my deciding on the 700. Turned out to be about $80-100 more expensive but so far it is terrific. One word of caution, if you travel in excess of 250-300 miles from your starting point you may have to adjust the GPS. You will know if you are not getting a signal. Good product, to bad its French.

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I have had several auto navigation systems because ...

Posted Aug 20, 2004 - I have had several auto navigation systems because I am a toy freak AND I had not found one that worked for me! I have tried Pioneer, in-dash, even PocketPC NavMan. Enter the Magellan RoadMate 700! I could not ask for more. The maps are up to date and accurate. Driving directions are right on with my position. The lcd is viewable in all lighting. You do not have to sit in your drive waiting for it to acquire gps! I love this unit. Pricey? Not for what it delivers and the fact that it works!

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Extremely useful when you go to a place that you h ...

Posted Sep 21, 2004 - Extremely useful when you go to a place that you have never been before. Advance warning is good, allowing you to prepare to turn. Excellent for night driving. I would recommend to anybody who does not want to get loss

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This is a great unit. Very easy to use. (I have ne ...

Posted Jan 14, 2004 - This is a great unit. Very easy to use. (I have never looked at the owners manual) As for the previous review, if I want to know how fast I am going I look at the speedometer on the dash or my HUD. The Magellan tells you when and where to turn. This unit has saved me a lot of heartache within the first week of ownership. How much easier can it get? The only time I am interested in altitude is when I am in my airplane.

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This could have been a contender! Any GPS knows th ...

Posted Jan 6, 2004 - This could have been a contender! Any GPS knows the instanteous speed, altitude, direction, up-comming cross streets and time of day. But YOU CANNOT SET THIS UNIT TO DISPLAY THAT INFORMATION! In contrast, even the Garman III+ will let you choose what information is shown (and continually updated) on the screen. The Roadmate 700 offers no choices. The menus are shallow. You have to stop navigating to your destination to find points of interest. The unit doesn't even tell you the exit numbers or road names coming up as drive along. If you don't have a destination programmed, all you get is a little arrow in the center of the screen, moving along a verticle line that is your road. No side road names, no current speed, no current time, no altitude, no adjacent addresses. It's totally lame. With a destination set, you only get the remaining hours until arrival, and still no current time, no future arrival time, no current speed, etc. You cannot set it to show this information! If you are driving down I-5, there is a bar at the top that says "I-5", and a bar at the bottom that says "Driving on I-5". Well, duh! The ONLY thing this unit has going for it is that it has every address in the US. If you know your location and destination addresses, it will definitely get you there with precision. But pull out your Garmin Ique 3600 or Street Pilot III or GPS III+ if you want continuous display of the current time, arrival time, miles to destination, current speed, altitude etc

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