Customer Reviews

Magellan 750M 3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Definitely recommended. You have to know the street address and the correct city/town name to get optimal results, but there is absolutley NO comparison between having this in the car and using maps or hand held units. You can not only use it to guide you, but to check the traveltime, distance, etc., when planning road trips. Unlike web based map services, when there is a recent change to conditions, routing, accessibility, etc., the unit instantly recalculates and provides revised and optional routing. I believe that this is a "must have". The newest software also offers travel services, including gas stations, restaurants, business services, points of interest, etc...like the cell phone and email, how did we ever get along before we had this?

I live in Switzerland and keep going forward and backward to the USA doing business every time in a different place. I use to rent cars from Hertz with their Never Lost Navigation system which also is a Magellan 750 but not portable. It was okay for me except I had to rent Hertz every time, and sometimes I find better deals at other rent a car or even Price Line. So I looked for the portable unit at the time and found out that this system is the best comprehensive portable navigation available. This system is so easy to install in less than 2 minutes. Now it has West and East maps and it covers the entire USA on road and off road navigation. What makes this system so easy to use is it's huge database of all kind of point of interests from Airports, Restaurant, Tourist Attraction, Hospitals to Shopping Malls. You name it has it. It eliminates the need to enter addresses manually or look up the address for a hotel or a restaurant. You can also look up point of interests by their distance from your location, like the nearest restaurant from where you are.

I love this system because you do not need to change CD's for different states like other units. All the info is stored on a large hard drive for easy access. Simply take it with you from one city to the other and from one car to the other.

The only advantage DVD navigation has over the Magellan 750M is it's a bit faster in calculating routes, and until now I am not a ware of any company that makes DVD portable navigation systems.

Finally, I know this unit is expensive but it is worth every dollar you pay for it.

Mine is on the way back to Amazon for a refund. Large stores that have been available around my area for 5 years are not included in the database. This includes a large Target and a super grocery store. Roads where I live changed 2.5 years ago, but the maps in the unit still don't reflect this. To top it off...my hometown, Columbus, MS, isn't even in the system! That's a town of about 50,000 people! Many, many state parks aren't listed, and no campgrounds are mentioned at all.

Just to see if it was all a fluke...I had a friend try to route to his family's house in Nampa, ID. The unit found Nampa, but not his family's street. It's a newer neighborhood true....but it's been around for 4-5 years. Not good performance at all.

If you're a full time RVer as we are...save your money. Exit information includes no phone numbers (so you can't call a service center for a tow even though they show up on the exit services screen). Gas stations have no info as to whether they sell diesel, propane, or have big rig parking. These needs may sound like niche requirements....by up to date maps and a robust cross referenced databases would solve them. Nothing fancy is required...just accuracy.

Until GPS manufacturers start to address the usablilty of their units in real world situations, I'm keeping my money in my pocket. So, my recommendation is, for the money, pass on this unit. The Garmin Street Pilot isn't much better, but at least it can find most state parks and has real exit service information. It's databases don't cross reference, so you'll have to run 3 types of searches to find out whether a service is really near the exits along your route....but it is quite a bit cheaper and much more mobile. For me....I'm still waiting....I've tried the Garmin unit also and find it not very useful for full time RVers either.

My wife and I, recently, rented this unit (or, perhaps, another model, but of the same company) with a car from HERTZ. While being excited about "smartness" of the unit during our driving from Washington, D.C. to New Jersey, we were stunned later, when it guided us to a street we wanted to reach in Manhattan. Instead of Manhattan, it brought us to Staten Island to... a street of exactly the same name (Clinton). We were lucky that time of the day was early afternoon and we were able to finally to reach our destination at daylight, using, again, the device. However, at this time we specified intersection of the street we were looking for and of another street in the area. Also, the unit did not recognize one way streets.
The conclusion I would make, while using the device, be familiar, in general, with the area and carry a map, as well, just in case. :-)

Ok... first things first. You must know a few simple rules about this unit. Setup - very important and it takes just a few minutes. Once you follow the setup the rest is easy! It's like they say "if all else fails, read the instructions". Well, I promise you, if you set it up right, it works!

I first used this unit with Hertz. It takes a few minutes to get used to it, but it's a phenomenal product. Since that time, I purchased one for my daughter when she went off to college in the "big city". I don't have to worry about her going off to some unknown area of town. It allows you to pick locations by street, address, places of interest, etc., etc.
However, you have to READ the instructions. I was looking at some of the other "comments" written by other users... they obviously didn't read the screen. For instance... if you use the option to find a street - well obviously, you need to select the town! I mean, it tells you what to do, you just have to READ the screen. The first time I used it, i went from Dallas to Fort Worth and within that short distance went to at least 15 different locations, including resturants, hotels and airports. I never got lost. (at hertz they call it the Never lost system) If you do take a wrong turn or exit the Magellan AUTOMATICALLY re-positions itself and tells you how to get back on track. It changes the route to get you back to where you were going.

There are some other really great features..... such as "shortest time" ... this is great to get someplace in the shortest time. There are all sorts of options. Yes, there are times that a point of interest is not available, but it's pretty rare - at least from my experiences.

I have to admit, my daughter DIDN'T follow the instructions and didn't position the unit properly.... so, she got bad results the first few times. After her complaining i found out that she didn't read.... of course. Now that she has it set up properly, she says it's great and she hasn't gotten lost since.
Obviously, I'm a fan... but hey, don't take my word for it. Rent a Hertz car and try it out..... ok, that's a little extreme, but hey.... i knew what I was getting before I bought it.
Best electronic investment I have made this year - and believe me (I'm a gadget fanatic), I've made lots of purchases this year.