Customer Reviews

Magellan RoadMate 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Don't get me wrong I know this is a very feature limited unit and I am one of those people who can find their way around just about anywhere without a paper map. I have a built in compass and can get the feel and layout of a metro area in less than a day, so I was pretty skeptical about the utility of these devices. boy was I wrong. Without a doubt its pretty useless, for instance, on I-95 going from New York to Miami - its pretty hard to get lost on one thousand miles of straightaway, but the great thing about this is when you have to go off path. Everyone would prefer to skip the roadside gas stations and pull off into Florence a couple miles to find gas at local retail as opposed to full pit-stop price, or how about a better meal than McDonald's, maybe your wife would prefer to stay at a seaside hotel in Savannah instead of the Motel-6 along the interchange? You don't have to worry about getting lost or detoured by unfamiliar terrain anymore. No more missed turns, looping round-abouts, one way dead ends. Sure, you still have to use your common sense with the gadget, but the only time I missed my destination was when I failed to make the turn it recommended because it didn't look right. This small, low feature unit is all you need - and by the way - the screen has tremendous zoom in - out ability. If you have a trip coming up BUY ONE TODAY!

I bought the Magellan Roadmate GPS because the viaMichellin I had owned for 4 months stopped working. They would not repair it so I went to a name I can trust, Magellan. My unit has performed without a flaw and I highly reccommend it to anyone. It gives me the instructions at least 2 miles in advance of a turn. On a freeway at 75 mph this is very important. The unit is light and the screen s ery easy to read. I love it!

I have been using the Magellan RoadMate 1200 for over a year. I find it to be the equal of the NeverLost GPS supplied in Hertz Car Rentals. In more than 5 years of using that system, I have never been lost in many locations in the USA. I liked the 1200 so much, I bought one as a gift for my daughter. She loves it too.

I received this product as a wedding gift. It is portable, takes a while to update maps and stopped charging after a year. Not what I was expecting after a year of use. When I called the help desk, I was told since I didn't have a receipt and it was over a year (2 weeks over a year), I would have to buy a new product. They offered a preferred "loyalty" program, which for the same price as a new device you can get a refurbished model, some "loyalty" program. I don't use it everyday, just when needed, so it could have broke before a year, and I just didn't know. Spend the extra money and get a better unit.

We live in Minneapolis, and have had several times where the GPS couldn't pick up where we were located, so we couldn't use it to map out our destination. It would stick on a previous location we had been, and even after driving for 30 minutes, it still wouldn't update our location. Each time this has happened it has been plugged into the car charger because the battery was low, so I'm not sure if that affects it, but we have been disappointed that we can't always use it when we want. I would expect that it would pick up our location in a city as large as Minneapolis, even while charging.

I had to replace the 1st unit after a few months since it stopped charging. They replaced the cable but then they had to replace the unit. Now, the replacement does the same thing and will not charge. I've had the replacement now for 5 months. Spend a few extra dollars and get a unit that has good hardware components.

This unit is junk. I just had to throw mine away because Magellan won't fix it. Customer (dis)service dragged me through 4 e-mails before they told me that it can't be fixed. I downloaded the software upgrade as requested, but the GPS wouldn't update.

The touch screen was hard to use before it failed. The touch screen failed, and now it's useless. I thought my Garmin unit was bad. At least it works!

I would have given this zero stars if I could. Do yourself a favor. Buy another brand!

I had high hopes for this unit, but it really disappointed.

In my particular area it was unable to find major chain stores, and other places that have existed for over 15 years.

It could not find a major hwy (hwy 70 -which was formed in 1926), which runs through the middle of town.

It all has to do with too few points of interest (POI's).

This 1200 unit only has 1.3 million.

I used a family member's magellan 1212 which has 6 million POI's and it was excellent for finding places in my area.

Bought mine online from dell and requested an RMA the day after I tried/tested it.

It would be nice if there were some way to "test drive" a set of POI's online; to see if they will be sufficient for your area. [example: comparing 1.3 million against 6 million and see if POI's in your locale can be located.]
[maybe there is a place online for doing this testing; a website(s) that I just am not aware of].

As far as this 1200 unit goes, they should switch to a "section" of the USA, like southwest, northwest, etc; offering POI's maps for those most often traveled areas.

I could/would use one of the southwest only,(TX,NM,AZ,CA) rather than their current
"stripped down national" map.

Really frustrating that Magellan makes it so hard to open case. No screws, case sealed. Can't access battery, which would be like $12.00 on ebay to replace. Otherwise when working the unit was often irritatingly slow and incorrect.


Update: you can open, rubber plugs cover up screws. Problem was USB port broke on the inside. Will up my rating a bit. And buy a solderer.

I purchased this to replace an entry level GPS unit that was stolen during a break in. The unit I was replacing did not have any more features than the Magellan. The user interface is fine and I have no complaints with the layout or how to operate the unit. The reason for such a poor review is the directions calculating functionality is worthless. I made one test trip with this unit and it happened to calculate the route as good as could be expected, no initial complaints. Since then, and now that I can't return it, it has failed every trip I've made. I have used it both on urban and rural trips and every trip it makes a severe miscalculation. It's most noticeable in urban settings (i.e. Portland, OR & Seattle, WA), but just as frustrating on rural routes. I will never buy a Magellan again and wish I could send this back. For the time being it has been relegated to novelty use, I turn it on just to see how far off it's going to try to take us.