Customer Reviews

Magellan Maestro 4350 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Bluetooth & Integrated Traffic

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

As this is a lengthy review, those not wanting to wade through the entire text can find a summary under the 'Conclusions' heading.

Test Conditions:
All tests were conducted in the Northeast U.S. Although I don't own another portable GPS, I do have a factory installed navigation unit in my 2006 Audi which I've utilized for several side-by-side comparisons (the Magellan is actually for my wife's car).

Updates to the 4350's operating system and navigational firmware are available at no-cost from Magellan's website. These significantly improve the functionality and stability of the unit and if you own one you'd be making a mistake not to install them. The procedure is made relativity easy by the CD based instruction manual that comes with the unit. It took me about fifteen minutes to bring my unit up to date and in a month of testing since, it has never crashed, frozen, or seriously misbehaved. All findings posted here are based on a unit updated to the following: OS Version 00.42.01.0919 and Navigation Version 8.3.2.64084. As the 4350's were just released in September 2008 there are no map updates available or required.


Startup:
If powered by an ignition controlled power source the 4350 turns on/off with the car. Otherwise pressing the power button for about two seconds turns it on.
Acquiring satellites happens very quickly - we're talking seconds, not minutes. Only once, inside my house during a very heavy snowstorm, did it take longer (about two minutes) to lock.


Display Screen:
The display is plenty bright and the touch screen feature is very sensitive (sometimes too much so). An optional power-saver feature dims the screen somewhat between turns when using the built-in battery. I found this very useful as besides saving the battery it tends to catch your eye when it 'wakes up' to normal brightness. Since that happens about five seconds before the first spoken notification regarding the next turn it gives you a visual heads-up that a verbal instruction is imminent (so if you happen to be blaring Hendrix on the car stereo you have time to lower the volume a bit). Touching any part of the screen will also restore it to full brightness.
The menu system is well organized and intuitive. There are a few things I'd change but overall it's very good.


Audio Quality and the MP3/Photo/Video Player:
The audio is loud and clear even with the volume all the way up, which was never necessary for me. There's a male or female voice option for each available language (English, Spanish, and French).
Like most units in this price range the 4350 announces the actual street names along with the turning instructions. The pronunciations are occasionally off but they get the point across. One odd thing was although the male voice pronounced 'county' properly the female would say 'count'. I.E... "In one quarter mile turn right onto count route 513".
The built-in MP3 player and the photo viewer are nice enough and get the job done. The video player only handles Xvid .avi files, which limits its usefulness, but I believe this is the only GPS to have a video player so you probably can't do better elsewhere.

Now to one of the two big gripes I have with this unit...
There's no headphone/line-out jack! What good is an MP3 player without one??? This restricts you to listening through the single (mono) speaker or using the FM transmitter to send the signal to your car stereo (more on that later).


POI's (Points of Interest) and AAA:
Magellan claims 6 million POI's reside in the 4350's database (my Audi only has about 1.7 million). Locating one couldn't be easier. You can search by name, category, and/or area. In addition to this is a listing of all facilities reviewed by the AAA, complete with descriptions, ratings and member discounts. AAA members also get an additional year of warranty coverage and one-button access to local certified garages. Although it's not mentioned in the rather sparse instruction manual, you can import your own POI's as Google .kml or .kmz files. To do this you'll need Magellan's 'Content Manager', a free download, which if you updated your firmware you'll already have.


Route Selection:
Planning a route is extremely easy, as is adding interim stops (something you still can't do with many GPS models). The keyboard can be configured as QWERTY or ABC and it gray's out irrelevant letters as you type - a nice feature.
Once you've selected your destination the 4350 calculates four possible routes: Fastest, Shortest, Most Economical, and Simplest. The fastest route is chosen by default but you can examine the relative times and distances or see the routes compared visually on the map before selecting the best one for you. Some or all of these routes may be the same as multiple criteria are often met by the same route. I found the [post-upgrade] route selections to be very good, certainly on a par with my Audi's unit.
A 'One-Touch' menu allows you to store your favorite destinations as icons on a single menu. 'Home', 'Previous', 'SOS' (emergency), and AAA 'Service' icons are there by default. You can add five of your own which can point to specific addresses or POI lists. I.E... A list of all Starbucks in the current area.
Finally, being a portable device you can select your type of 'vehicle' from: Car, Bus, Emergency, Bicycle, or Pedestrian. In another undocumented feature, when switching to pedestrian mode you'll be asked if you'd like the unit to remember your car's location. Garmin makes a big deal of this feature; you'd think Magellan would at least mention they have it too. Go figure...


Guidance - On the Road:
On the road is where this unit really shines. The 4.3" screen packs in a surprising amount of map detail without looking cluttered. Maps can be displayed in 2D or 3D (I prefer the 3D view which my Audi doesn't have). Landmark buildings can also rise from the map in three dimensions but in my rural area I've yet to see this in action. Information regarding the next turn is displayed across the top of the screen and I especially like how the names of cross streets appear as I approach them, then disappear. You can select which POI categories appear on the map - I chose restaurants and gas stations. Unlike some other units this feature works in 2D or 3D mode. For major chains (BP, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, etc) the generic symbols are replaced by the company logos, allowing you to see at a glance what type of establishment is coming up.
An optional warning displays the speed limit on the left side of the map when you approach or exceed it by a percentage you preset from 70 to 130%. You can also set an audible alert for this if you wish (I have a wife who performs that function). Although I don't consider this an important feature, those who do should know that in my area it only worked on the interstates.
A new feature called 'Lane Guidance' is one of the primary reasons I choose this unit over the Garmin 760. At complicated interstate exits it displays a visual representation of the overhead highway signs to show you which lane you need to be in for an upcoming maneuver. The Garmin models with a similar feature called 'Lane Assist' are far more expensive. The only other GPS to offer lane guidance near this price range is Navigon's 7200T but its POI database is small and its search features are reportedly poor.
The verbal directions are extremely clear and precise. It always beat my Audi in giving me a heads-up regarding the next turn and was usually more specific as to what I needed to do.
Besides the detailed spoken instructions the 4350 also produces a 'doorbell like' chime at the point you should be turning. It even chimes differently for left, right, and U turns. This is a feature that several prior Magellan owners have mentioned missing after switching to another brand. For some reason Magellan initially omitted it from this model but the firmware update restores it along with another enhancement that tells you which side of the street your destination is on.
Lastly, recalculations (required if you go off the designated route) were very fast, taking about the same amount of time as my Audi's unit and often producing a better result.


Bluetooth, FM Transmitter, and Traffic Info:
At first the 4350 refused to find my Blackberry Curve but after doing a hard reset (as suggested by Magellan's website) the units paired right up. Bluetooth connectivity has been fine since then but all is not well... When making/receiving a hands-free call I found the audio on my end to be satisfactory but I had to shout at a distance of two feet from the unit in order to be heard faintly at the other end. In actuality I had to speak 1 to 3 inches from the built-in microphone in order to be heard properly. Compounding this issue is the fact that there's no external microphone jack like on some other brands. This was the most disappointing aspect of this test. Even though I don't use this feature, some of the people I gave these to might want to. Therefore if you need Bluetooth capability I must recommend you look elsewhere.

In my initial review I stated that the FM transmitter (which sends all sound from the 4350 to the car's audio system) worked like a charm in my Audi but didn't perform so well in my wife's Sable Wagon. I attributed this to the Sable's rear mounted antenna and the fact that the U.S. severely limits the transmitter strength of these units. However, further tests have resulted in excellent results with both cars. One thing I did notice is that the DC power cord seems to act like an antenna so if you're having reception problems plug the power cord into the 4350 (this seems to work even if you don't plug it into the cigarette lighter). My MP3's played back with FM quality and were automatically muted during turn instructions. As this feature draws universal complaints from Garmin users, I wasn't expecting much from Magellan but I'm pleasantly surprised by how useable it is. With that said, the volume from the 4350's built-in speaker is more than adequate for most applications.

The 4350 comes with a three month trial for a real-time traffic avoidance system but the service doesn't extend to my area (coverage areas are shown on Magellan's website) so I haven't seen it in action. According to Magellan's website a yearly subscription costs $39.95. Some competing GPS's come with free lifetime traffic alerts but be aware that those contain commercials.


Conclusions:
The best things about the 4350 are all to do with its core functionality - it gets you from one place to another with clear maps and explicit verbal instructions given in a timely manner. My Audi's navigation system sometimes fails to provide all pertinent information regarding an upcoming turn, or it alerts me too late to react when driving in heavy traffic. The Magellan unit never faltered in that regard. In fact some may consider the 4350's guidance to be too chatty but I like to feel confident that I'm prepared for the next move, even in traffic, and this unit gave me that feeling.

Magellan has produced a full featured unit with superior performance at a very competitive [street] price. This was why, despite the missing headphone jack, I gave it five stars. Had I discovered then that the built-in microphone was so lacking that it made the hands-free feature useless, I might have gone to four stars. Still, it's a great choice for anyone who doesn't need the Bluetooth capabilities.

Pros:
Brand new full featured model.
Excellent volume and audio quality on navigational prompts.
Highly detailed display with 3D maps.
Lane Guidance feature and informative audio prompts.
All accessories included (case, AC & DC cords, USB cable, sturdy mount, owners manual on CD).
2200 ma heavy duty battery.
Great value due to low street price.

Cons:
Terrible built-in mic and no external mic jack renders the Bluetooth hands-free feature worthless.
No headphone jack!(What's with Magellan and a few five cent jacks?).
Must update the firmware to have a ready-for-prime-time unit.
Power and traffic cables plug into the unit (instead of the mount).

It's been few days since I bought the Magellan 4350. It is an excellent piece of art. It's ready out of the box. Although I had little difficulty connecting it to my smart phone (8125), it worked very well after that. The FM transmitter is a nice feature where you use the car audio system to listen to GPS directions, MP3 and make your own phone conversations with good quality sound. The Magellan 4350 price is not even comparable to the premium price paid for the GPS option built in new vehicle.

On the other hand, Magellan customer service is very poor. Cannot even get through and talk to technical support for help. I was going to rate it at 4 stars, but because Magellan has many different GPS products with same weak customer service, I decided to fairly rate this unit (4350) with FIVE stars.

After using the unit several times, the GPS directions are clear and very helpful, for example, its instructions for the next turn are clear and helpful that you won't miss your next turn or exit (I ran through such problem with my old Garmin Street Pilot c340 where I missed my next turn/exit several times). Also, it's important to mention that Magellan 4350 recognizes "Michigan" U-turns very well. The FM transmitter is a nice feature, moreover, the unit interrupts the MP3 function and speaks the directions/warnings appropriately. The only thing I found that to be careful of is when using the unit's Bluetooth feature with the phone, the unit does not interrupt the phone conversation to speak directions; therefore at this point, you'd need to be aware of the directions and next turn, displayed on the unit screen, when making phone calls.

Hope this helps.

I purchased a Maestro 4350 based on superior professional reviews and price value. My limited usage to date shows it has excellent features. Some nice features my daughter's NUVI 760 does not. That's where the good ends!!
Magellan provides little or NO service. I downloaded the software updates and the unit hung up, said "please wait" for over 18 hours. I called C/S and reached a person with very limited English skills and could not solve the problem but gave contact to get return instructions. A week and a half later got a call to give instructions for return and repair, a really fast response you think?? I had already returned the unit for a refund. Bought a second one from Amazon/BestSeller21 and received FANTASTIC service. It was delivered in less than 3 days!! At the Magellan web site, which overall is infantile, you can't tell what it is that you are going to download as an update!! To make sure that I didn't foul up the 2nd unit I sent three text message about more information on the downloads and proper procedures. NEVER GOT A RESPONSE!! I received a request from the Magellan Web Master asking for a review of my experience. I gave them this same information and got no response from my previous messages or the surveys input. Before I wrote this review I visited Magellan's site and they have eliminated the down loadable updates??#*

I've had this Magellan Maestro 4350 for about two weeks. It replaced my Magellan 4250. At first,upon approaching an intersection or a road on which I was to turn, I was expecting the warning tone as I did with the 4250. I didn't receive one. However, this Magellan does give more descript directions such as: Turn right in 1000 ft. and it reminds you again as you get closer to your turn : Turn right in 400 ft., however, I don't think about if I am 400 ft away or ask myself how far is 1000 ft from where it gave me the directions. It is especially hard at night when on unfamiliar roads. I have passed up the road on which I was to turn for lack of good road lighting. The 4250 was better in that respect. This GPS is a litte more complicated to use. Also, it cannot be updated with maps of Europe, if you plan to travel over seas.

I did not have a problem with Customer Service either. I called to ask about the alarm feature and was told there was an update. Magellan forgot to include it with this model and the gentleman stayed on the phone with me during the entire update. At first, it wouldn't load. I uninstalled it and we began over again. I'll bet he stayed on the phone with me for over 2 hours just explaining the differences between the 4250 and the 4350. He was located in the Phillipines.

Also, the reference booklet is not included in the box. All of the information is included on a CD, which you have to read online. The booklet was included with the 4250.

The FM feature is great, too. Sometimes, the voice activated directions cannot be heard while others are talking in the car or you have turned on the radio. This way, you hear the directions clearly over your FM station and can increase the volume, if needed. This feature was also included with the 4250. The other thing about this model is that you cannot access your voice command. Magellan didn't include it with this model. In other words, you cannot call out, "MAGELLAN" and expect it to ask you for your next command, which could have been done with the 4250. This is good for when you're driving and you want to know where the next gas station or coffee shop is located, which is much better than trying to touch screen what you are searching for while driving. The 3D features don't interest me much. I got this one for the pedestrian mode. If on foot, it will take you to where you need to be. Now, if it could only keep my location and tell me where I left my car, this model would be awesome.

All in all, it is an okay model but aside from the pedestrian mode, the 4250 would have been just fine with me. Oh, the download for the update did restore the alert feature but sometimes you are right on top of the road to where you needed to turn and it doesn't always work. It's easy to pass your turn. I can't complain too much about that because the 4250 has done that a few times too.....gave the alert when you are right on top of your turn but the alert on the 4250 always worked. This model's voice features a man's voice which I found to be more audible than the woman's voice on the 4250.

The cost of this one began at almost $[...] but I found it on [...] which was shipped from Sixth Avenue Electronics. I then found it online for [...] and Sixth Avenue Electronics matched the lower price and credited my charge card with the difference. I saw the credit within 2 or 3 days. Currently the price for this model is [...]. I don't know if the shipping is free but it was from Sixth Avenue Electronics and I didn't have to pay tax either.

I would recommend this to friends if they wanted the MP3,Blue Tooth and 3D effects. I am technologically challenged but I will keep this one for now. Happy Shopping and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. :)

My Magellan Maestro 4350 is my first GPS device. Naturally, I'm impressed with all the capabilities and I'm enjoying it. I'm looking forward to a 300 mile trip to a neighboring state in a couple of weeks when I'll give the GPS a real test....all road conditions and plenty of changes in the route.

While I hate to say the product has been anything but perfect, I have to confess that I've had a problem or 2 and it wasn't like I wasn't forwarned. I've had software lockup issues. The most common is that the screen just freezes. This is remedied by a "hard" off, my term for the action of turning a regular computer off by depressing and holding the ON button. When I turn it back on, it goes through a full software boot similar to the out of the box boot. I use it approximately 3 hours a day and this has happened about every other day, maybe a little less.

Then, I had the grandaddy of freezes. I actually had a Windows error box indicating that a program module had failed to close. Didn't matter what I did, I couldn't get the thing to reboot. I called customer service and probably had the best experience I've ever had with mfg. help. The advisor was polite, knowledgeable and very helpful. Most importantly, he was honest. I don't like smoke blowers...I'd rather have someone tell me the truth. I accept that not all goes well in product development and manufacturing.

The gentleman told me that the 4350 and the 4xxx were new models and they were continuing to assess the issues that had been encountered...that my call would be useful in helping Magellan rectify problems...that if I encountered any additional problems please call under the refernce number I was given..etc., etc. The resolution was to "reset" the device.

I'm keeping the device, comforted by the fact that I have a year to work out the bugs and believing that there will probably be a software update at some point in the next few months.

I've owned this model (the Magellan Maestro 4350) since approximately April 4, 2009. This review was written on April 29, 2009.

This was my first portable GPS navigation unit, and I did a lot of research before deciding to buy it. My wife and I were looking for some specific features, and this was the only unit that seemed to have everything we wanted. After looking hard at the Maestro 4250 (previous model), I almost went with a Garmin because of the complaints of instability with that model. However, the Maestro 4350 has been solid in that department. I've only experienced one software freeze, and I'm pretty sure that was due to the unit overheating from being on, playing music, and left on the sunny dash during a 5 hour car trip.

After reading reviews here and elsewhere, I made sure to update to the latest OS and firmware versions as soon as the unit was charged. So I can't comment on problems people were having with older firmware except to say that I haven't experienced any annoyances when using this unit. The routes it chooses are good, and it recalculates quickly when missing a turn. One nice feature is that when a couple turns happen in quick succession, it will give brief instructions like, "Take the next left, then take the next right." This is handy when you're in a busy city area and need to be thinking a step ahead.

This unit is especially strong in trip planning. You can specify multiple destinations, and even ask the unit to optimize your route. Destinations can be added, removed, and moved around in the trip order even after you begin driving the route. With the Plan on Map feature, choose your destinations on the map screen by dragging the map around with your finger, and then touching the point where you want to go. You can also add a destination by address, of course, and the address entry is very well thought out. I haven't used other GPS units, but from reading comparison reviews, I get the impression that Magellan has a best of breed address entry system. You can also choose a destination from the Points of Interest database, or enter latitude and longitude coordinates. Geocaching, anyone?

After setting your destination(s), the unit calculates up to four routing options that you can choose from: fastest, shortest, economical, and simple. (I say "up to" four because sometimes some of the options are actually the same route.) It'll list the distance and estimated travel time for the different options, and you can choose to see them on a color-coded overview map. You can also choose to look at the turn-by-turn directions for each before you choose one, if you want. (Although in practice, the map overview is usually enough.) There's even an option to see a simulation of the route before driving. This is pretty helpful if you're in an unfamiliar area to get an idea of what you'll be doing before you're actually out there on the road.

Routes can be created ahead of time and saved for future use, although it may be more helpful just to save the destinations in the address book and call them up one at a time. I say that because when driving a multi-destination route, it seems to give the estimated travel and arrival time for the entire trip, rather than just to the next destination. There's also a quick access menu (called the One Touch menu) where you can save up to eight addresses or POI searches, for quickly choosing an often used destination. I use it to call up locations of nearby ATMs belonging to my bank and gas stations that I can use my gas card at. It's really quite handy.

Once a route is chosen, you can pull up the maneuver list and select certain maneuvers or roads to avoid, for example if you know there is construction or bad traffic. I looked specifically for this feature when doing my research, and I couldn't find any Garmin or Tom Tom units that let you do this for a specific route, ie when you create the route. You can also specify as a global setting and per-route what type of roads to consider for the route (highways, toll roads, unpaved, private access, etc).

The map screen is full of helpful info without feeling cluttered or confusing. The distance to and name of the next street is displayed prominently at the top (or the name of the current street if you aren't driving a route). The bottom left corner shows one of: estimated time of arrival, estimated driving time left, distance to destination, or current speed. The planned route is easy to see on screen, especially in night mode, which I recommend leaving on all the time (you can set the unit to switch automatically). Night mode changes the "ground" to black instead of pale green. Since the planned route is highlighted in green, it's easier to see against the black. Road names on the map are easy to read, and the map scrolls fine as you're driving.

The POI database seems very complete. Driving around the city where I live, it has listings for small businesses that I wouldn't have expected. Searching by name seems to be a better option if you can, because, especially for restaurants, the categories aren't always accurate. The AAA guidebook information is nice, but it doesn't give you that much. Their diamond ratings are misleading, because it's not actually a quality rating, more of a level of amenities rating. For example, a hotel that was a five-star type hotel when it opened is listed as five diamonds, even though the facilities may be run-down and have poor service now. It has listings for events, but the dates are all in the past, so not too helpful for actually attending one. Really the only thing you can use the AAA info for is to estimate the cost of hotels and restaurants, but I guess that's better than nothing. The Freeway Exit POI feature is really nice, though. Basically, if you're on the highway, an icon shows up on the map screen that lets you easily find gas, food, lodging, and car service spots off of upcoming freeway exits. I don't think any other GPS brand has this.

The unit has FM transmitting, meaning it can play sound through your car's radio as an alternative to its built-in speaker. The FM quality really depends on your car's antenna. In our Ford Taurus, the quality is great, even with the antenna being at the rear of the vehicle. In the Ford Fusion we rented for a recent trip, there was a hiss no matter what station we tuned the unit to (and no hiss with regular radio, so it wasn't the radio). The ability to play MP3, OGG, or WMA audio files from an SD card through the unit to your car's radio can really make long trips fly by with all the available audio content out there now (podcasts, downloadable audio books, etc). If the FM transmitter doesn't work out, or you want to listen to the radio, the built-in speaker does fine for navigation purposes. It's plenty loud and very understandable. You can play audio from an SD card through it, too, but it obviously won't sound as good as your car's stereo system. This unit does have a headphone jack, if at some point you want to use it as just an audio player. (Don't wear headphones while driving.)

The unit comes with a 3 month traffic subscription, and it can use traffic alerts to reroute you. However, I haven't enabled the traffic on mine, so I can't comment on how well it performs. I also did not test making calls using the unit with the Bluetooth hands-free feature, although it did pair with my phone (a Nokia 5310 XpressMusic) without difficulty.

I gave this unit four stars instead of five for two reasons. First, the maps seem a bit old. A new freeway on-ramp was completed near where I work at the end of summer 2008, and it's not in there, even though the maps are supposedly from Q3 2008. (I guess the maps could be from just before it was complete.) And Magellan doesn't offer free map updates like some of the other brands. My second issue is that some dead pixels appeared on the screen during our recent long car trip. The dead area is small and seems to fluctuate (it's gotten a bit smaller since the trip), so I'm going to wait and see what happens, but I might need to send it back for a replacement.

Over all, though, this is a great GPS for car navigation. It performs well, and feels solidly built. I would definitely recommend it.


6-22-2009 update: The dead pixels completely cleared up after a couple weeks, so I'd give this product a 4.5 star rating if that were an option. I'd still like map updates included.

The features and price of the 4350 are impressive. The routing, at least for me, was anything but. Maybe that's the reason the price of the 4350 has dropped like a rock since it was released in September 2008.

The poor routing is my biggest complaint and was very concerning. Two cases in point: 1) I set up a route to my parent's place (about 950 miles away) and no matter what routing option I selected, it took me on some really weird routes when I got within a few hundred miles of my destination. I am very familiar with the area so I knew it was a very poor choice. That didn't give me much confidence if I was traveling in an unfamiliar area. 2) No matter which routing option I took from or back to my home, it never set up the most direct route. It always took me a mile north of my place and brought me back south or sent me on some side roads that didn't make any sense.

I updated the software/firmware as soon as it became available. Unfortunately it didn't make any difference. I was hoping it would improve the routing because there were quite a few things about the 4350 that I liked.

I returned the 4350 and picked up a Garmin 265WT and I have yet to encounter an oddball route. Both of the above examples route perfectly on the Garmin. That Garmin model doesn't have all of the bells and whistles that the 4350 does. Ultimately all of the extras don't mean anything if the routing isn't precise and I don't have confidence in it.

I was also never able to pair my RAZR to the 4350 but succeeded on my first attempt with the Garmin. The FM transmitter was also extremely weak. The speaker for the TTS sounded the same to me on both units.

The OneTouch Interface of the 4350 was very user friendly. I also liked being able to search by zip code and the way it grays out the letters and numbers not applicable to the address I'm inputting. Magellan also doubles the warranty if you're an AAA member.

If I was strictly basing this review on the features and price of the 4350, I would give it 5 stars. But because the accuracy, simplicity and confidence in the routing is the most important part of a GPS, I'm giving it 1 star and that's only because 0 stars isn't an option.

UPDATE December 2009:

After about 8 months the battery in my 4370 would no longer charge at all. Fortunately, being a AAA member doubled the warranty. I called tech support and after about 40 minutes on the phone to India I received a repair authorization. Sent it in and received a refurb back in about two weeks. Hopefully, the battery problem is not widespread.
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I have owned the 4370 version of this unit for several months. The only difference between the two is that the 4370 has an even higher res screen but is available only at a big box store.

I have probably owned about 10 different GPS units over the years, going back to when they did nothing more than display a 3" monochrome map. Current units include this one, a TomTom, a Garmin, a JVC, and a defunct DASH.

The Pros:

This series marked a major upgrade to the Maestro interface which had been growing kind of old. The engineers did an exceptional job. The interface is, dare I say, even more intuitive that Garmin's. The predictive text is still the best in the industry. The display is detail rich yet easy to read. The lane guidance is amongst the best I have seen, it is very easy to follow.

Routing is also excellent. It very quickly calculates and presents a variety of route options. This lets you quickly add your own knowledge of roads, traffic, etc. to determine which route is right for you. Much easier than recalculating each option and then deciding which you want to follow. Most of the time "fastest route" is indeed fastest but again, none of these systems knows that route XYZ is a parking lot every morning.

Physically the unit is small, light, and attractive. The traffic receiver connects through the power cord and is unobtrusive. Traffic is actually better than expected.

Configuration is a plus, especially compared to Garmin. You can set quite a number of options and preferences to tailor the system to your liking. It is the balance between configurability and ease of use that really sets this apart from some others.

Magellan has always been good about providing software updates that adress problems that improve the system. One big concern is, what will happen now that Magellan has sold off the GPS business to Mio??

Cons:

The bluetooth microphone is the worst I have seen in years. The speaker is OK but people on the other end of the call will not be happy. Almost unusable.

I have had the system hang up on my 2 or 3 times in 3 months. Just driving along and it locks up requiring a hard reset.

Although the windshield mount is well designed, a minor nit is that the power cord attaches to the GPS and not the mount. This means you need to unplug the cord each time you tak eit down from the windshield.

In Sum:

I have yet to find the perfect GPS, they all trade off something. However, I will say that the 4350/4370 are now at the top of my list of favorite navigation units. It looses a star for the poor sound quality when using bluetooth but is otherwise overall excellent.

I would look at the 4370 as well.

I bought the unit at a Black Friday sale for under $200.00. I tried it out on two different routes the first week and it took me where I was going with very little discrepancies in the route. It may look at shortest route to get you there. I like the idea of doubling the warranty if you are an AAA member. Also the many AAA features included in this unit make it worthwhile when you are in an area you are not familiar with.
If you can get used to using the cd for instructions, use it. Otherwise print the manual for on the go reference. Great unit with a 4.3 screen.

I was excited to receive my new Magellan Maestro 4350 GPS. I still own a Garmin StreetPilot c340 which is several years old and the model is discontinued. Magellan did add some nice bells & whistles, but it was with the basics that I felt the Magellan lacked in performance. By the way, I did upgrade to the latest firmware incase you're wondering if that is the fix - it's not.

- Navigation: I tested the Magellan with routes that I am familiar with and found the Maestro 4350 went where no other Garmin would go. And for that matter, I checked with Mapquest, Yahoo Maps, Google Maps and Expedia and found they all agreed with the way I would navigate and with the way my Garmin would. I also had a newer Garmin (the Nuvi 265WT) and it also did not agree with the Maestro. This surprised me since Magellan uses the same Navteq maps as Garmin but have since learned it's not just about the maps and that is where differences start showing up between different GPS companies.

- Speaking Street Names: This was absolutely disappointing. The Magellan Maestro says a lot of "turn left", "turn right", "make the next left" but only occasionally speaks the actual street name. Not only did I find this not as advertised, but it is actually quite annoying to hear the same commands over and over again. When you happen to be driving locally, it may not be uncommon to hear directions like turn left, make the next left, turn left... It gives you the feeling like you are being given the same direction over and over again. I think it should say turn left on Main Street, etc.

- Touch Screen: Either too sensitive or just the opposite, having to tap several times for the command to register. Sometimes rather sluggish when responding.

- Voice: Only 3 choices, American English, Spanish and French. I personally use British English, so again disappointed to see this omitted.

- Sound: I found sound quality to be good. This is one of the reasons why I only had that Garmin 265 for a short period of time - the sound was terrible as if it was coming from a cheap speaker and vibrating off the plastic casing. Made it difficult to hear street names. If not for that, I would never have purchased the Magellan in the first place. But other than lacking in voice choices, the Magellan has much better sound quality. No complaints there.

- POIs: Though the Maestro 4350 has many options for POIs, I think navigating around to find what you want is a bit confusing and too many steps. The AAA info is separate and feel there are too many places to look to find what you want. Too many screens to have to tap into - and therefore making it less safe to use while driving. Also, once into some of these screens, there was no easy way out but to tap your way out page by page back to the home page. I looked and read the manual too - there seem to be no shortcut to get back.

This was a nice looking unit, loved the interface for entering info, gives you more options and control over the unit than most Garmins, but the awkward routing and lack of speaking street names was a deal breaker for me. Also wasn't happy with only 3 months of free traffic when even Garmin is offering Free Lifetime Traffic on many models now.

Would I recommend this unit to a friend? Sorry, but the answer is NO.