Customer Reviews

Magellan RoadMate 3030LM 4.7-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Lifetime Map Updates Included)

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I've had an older GPS for some time now that I haven't replaced because I could not find something that was enough of an improvement to justify replacing my older Garmin unit.

Finally I have discovered such a device.

This is an excellent step forward for a portable GPS. It acquires satellites quickly and is extremely quick to recalculate routes. I never thought I would need the wide-screen version, but now that I've used it, I am quite pleased with the additional view that it offers. Plus the maps are quite current for my area right out of the box. E.g. a gas station that just opened 2 months ago was on the POI for this device.

The screen is large and very clear. You have a large variety of customization options as well; from navigation and map settings/preferences, various auto-settings, and what actually appears on-screen to routing preferences and even keyboard layout.

The speech on this unit is quite clear and easy to understand at low or high volume. Unlike other GPS devices, this does not loose clarity when the volume is increased and I can clearly understand directions without the need to worry about my stereo volume.

Advance warnings of upcoming turns are well placed and as mentioned previously, recalculations are very quick. I missed directions and intentionally turned the opposite direction on the way home tonight and recalculations typically took place before I made it through the intersection.

Overall I'm very please with this upgrade and it was delivered next-day without issue. Packaging is solid and well designed as well.

If I had to rate anything below the five-star mark... it would be the touch-screen sensitivity.

The coming from touch-screen mobile phones and laptops, this screen could be a bit more sensitive. However, when comparing to previous GPS devices, it is NOT lacking. Perhaps my perception has just changed due the other devices. It could also be the initial placement in the vehicle. I'll work with this some more and update after a real road trip.

If you are looking at the map update for life option on this unit, please be sure to read the details of that offer in the bullet point in Amazon's listing or at Magellan's site, so that you know the terms of that agreement. Amazon did a good job of including relevant information in the second bullet point of their listing as well as providing Magellan's URL.

Overall though, this is not enough to drop this item from a 5-star rating. They did a great job on this GPS and you should have no concerns about the quality, ease of use, accuracy or speed with this model.

The whole point of the Magellan 3030LM is idiot-proof simplicity. You take it out of its attractive box (which is very nice and makes a great gift presentation), turn it on and wait a few moments. In a matter of seconds, the device knows where you are. All that remains is to choose a few personal preferences (audio volume, brightness, etc.) and you are ready for anxiety free road trips. Of course, you are going to have to enter a destination in order to watch the 3030 do its thing. The input protocol is simplicity itself. Answer a few obvious questions via the touch screen and that's it. The touch screen itself is flawless in its "fingernail tip" entry. This is a true pressure sensitive screen. You have to actually tap the screen for data entry. It is quick and accurate. Another great feature of this Magellan is its system speed. There is no "progress bar" needed. All directions take place seamlessly and without delay. If you miss your turn, this Magellan is right on it. Gone is the annoying "calculating route" dialog. It's really that easy. So, here you have the ideal "my first GPS". For owners of previous Magellan units, the interface will be a nicely polished old friend. If you are coming from earlier models or other brands, you may well be amazed at how well this little gem works.The price is right and the performance is excellent. The nice lady voice is clear and even comforting. Any down side? That depends on you. If you are looking for all the bells and whistles, the 3030LM may seem a little too simple. Gone are all the useless features like audio output, vehicle speed indicator ( you have a nice big speedometer for that) and so on. It has everything you need and a little more. The screen itself is lovely, with resolution to spare. The audio is clear and (if you like) loud enough to be annoying. The virtual controls are nicely thought out and visually appealing. In short, the visual interface looks like a modern computer operating system. Speaking of operating systems, this little GPS is not compatible with Macintosh. All this means is that you'll have to find a PC in order to update the maps. The year of manufacture is late 2010, so my guess is that you'll have to wait a nice long time before map updating in necessary. The customer service is fast and pleasant, as it the online registration process.

The bottom line- If you're looking for a nifty electronic toy to tinker with, the 3030 will bore you in minutes. On the other hand, if you want to open the box, plug it it and get on with the day, you won't be disappointed. Even the oldest, most ornery driver will find this a welcome addition to auto travel. There is even a one-touch emergency button that summons police, ambulance etc in case of accident. Have I left anything out? Nothing that you really need to know. Happy motoring!

Other than the software bug I found (I believe it is software and not hardware), I am happy with the unit's feature and performance.

I bought this unit when Amazon had it on sale as a Gold Box deal to replace my crippled Navigon 2100 (no audio 99% of the time). I received the unit last night and used it this morning to get to work. I took roads which is different than what the GPS recomend to get around the usual traffic congestions. Within 5-15 minutes after I started my trip, I noticed that I was no longer getting any audio. The rest of the GPS function was still working fine. About 10 minutes later, after I was able to stop (waiting at a train crossing), I power cycle the unit. When the unit came back on, it started playing back all the instructions that I missed when the audio was not working (it played for about 2-3 minutes). After that, for about 2 minutes, it made mistakes on the street names (I was on a local road which the GPS correctly shows on the display, but the audio said I287). After that, the unit function correctly the rest of the way. My guess is that the thread/task for the audio playback died, but the data for it to playback was queued up until the thread got restarted after the power cycle, then it started playing back all the queued data.

I called Megellan tech support, and they confirmed that my unit has the latest firmware (this is a new model for them). So currently there is no software update to fix this problem until their software engineers can fix the problem with a new release. I will probably try it out for a few more trips and if the same problem occurs, I will return it.

Update: The problem happened again so I am returning the unit.

I received a Garmin for Christmas a few years ago, and I badly needed to upgrade to something new. Although my old GPS got the job done, it didn't say street names, it was really bulky, and you had to pay to update maps.

I got this as an Amazon Gold Box deal, and I am very pleased with my purchase. The design is sleek and so much less bulky than my old Garmin. It has so many neat features to it as well. With the Garmin, it was difficult to re-route for detours; with this one, you can choose specific parts of the route that you want to change. You can choose to have it figure out your drive for the shortest distance or the shortest time. It speaks the street names in advance and gives you a warning chime just before you need to make your turn.

Something really neat about this GPS is that it is partnered with AAA. I have AAA car insurance and can type in my member number. It'll help me find AAA-approved car repair shops and places that I can use my AAA card at to get a discount. You don't even need to be a member to access this information. You can also use the AAA information to search for tourist spots and attractions among a ton of other things.

I really am happy with this purchase. The GPS is a very nice unit, and the lifetime maps is an additional bonus- no more worries about things like my silly Garmin going out of date and not being able to find newer locations (happened several times!). I would highly recommend this product- it's a very nice unit that has a lot of neat additions but isn't too overly fancy.

Tired of Pop Up Advertisements due to Lifetime Traffic Alerts?
Declared A No Phone Zone while driving your car?
Want a Lifetime Map Updates?
Then this GPS is FOR YOU!
I was really afraid that I won't be able to find a replacement for my old Magellan.
All the fancy GPS out there have all these Free lifetime traffic alerts.
Why Free? Because pop up ads pay a lot of money to these GPS manufacturers to include them in their new models. I test drove a new Garmin 1490LMT and believe me the pop ups annoyed the heck out me. I don't like them when I'm browsing the internet much less when I'm driving.

It's good to know too that Magellan kept their "chime" feature. When you're suppose to make your turn, you can set your Magellan to chime or bell to make sure you don't miss your turn. I didn't know how useful that is until I test drove the Garmin. Within 30 minutes of my drive to a new location, I missed my turn using the Garmin.
I use my GPS to guide me and I know I've found the right one if I don't even have to look at my screen while driving.

This model is new and has the Tele Atlas Map software. So far, I didn't see any difference between the Navteq Garmin routing to this Magellan Model 3030. I researched the web and most have agreed that since Tele Atlas have dramatically improved their mapping software they are now toe to toe with Navteq.

The lifetime map updates is a bonus. It's hard to find one that only offers lifetime map updates without all the fancy features.

If you're like me, BEST, SIMPLE AND RELIABLE is all you need from a GPS, then this is for you.

It has much better POI compared to TomTOm or Garmin. The best route is not always the best compared to TomTom's IQ routing. Rerouting is excellent and fast. Power up is very fast. Satellite reception is very good and fast even during bad weather.

Information displays on screen is OK compared to TomTom or Garmin. You need to tap the right bottom to get EPA, Speed limit, Speed etc... POI's display on screen such as gas station, restaurants, etc... are very good. 3D features graphic are not as good as TomTom or Garmin.

Overall is is a excellent if going for POI. A decent GPS for routing.

I've had an older GPS for some time now that I haven't replaced because I could not find something that was enough of an improvement to justify replacing my older Garmin unit.

Finally I have discovered such a device.

This is an excellent step forward for a portable GPS. It acquires satellites quickly and is extremely quick to recalculate routes. I never thought I would need the wide-screen version, but now that I've used it, I am quite pleased with the additional view that it offers. Plus the maps are quite current for my area right out of the box. E.g. a gas station that just opened 2 months ago was on the POI for this device.

The screen is large and very clear. You have a large variety of customization options as well; from navigation and map settings/preferences, various auto-settings, and what actually appears on-screen to routing preferences and even keyboard layout.

The speech on this unit is quite clear and easy to understand at low or high volume. Unlike other GPS devices, this does not loose clarity when the volume is increased and I can clearly understand directions without the need to worry about my stereo volume.

Advance warnings of upcoming turns are well placed and as mentioned previously, recalculations are very quick. I missed directions and intentionally turned the opposite direction on the way home tonight and recalculations typically took place before I made it through the intersection.

Overall I'm very please with this upgrade and it was delivered next-day without issue. Packaging is solid and well designed as well.

If I had to rate anything below the five-star mark... it would be the touch-screen sensitivity.

Coming from touch-screen mobile phones and laptops, this screen could be a bit more sensitive. However, when comparing to previous GPS devices, it is NOT lacking. Perhaps my perception has just changed due the other devices. It could also be the initial placement in the vehicle. I'll work with this some more and update after a real road trip.

If you are looking at the map update for life option on this unit, please be sure to read the details of that offer in the bullet point in Amazon's listing or at Magellan's site, so that you know the terms of that agreement. Amazon did a good job of including relevant information in the second bullet point of their listing as well as providing Magellan's URL.

Overall though, this is not enough to drop this item from a 5-star rating. They did a great job on this GPS and you should have no concerns about the quality, ease of use, accuracy or speed with this model.

Right out of the box, we liked this unit. That is, until we had to follow it's directions. The directions were confusing, telling to make more than 1 turn at a time, but the thing that got us was when it directed us to make a sharp left-hand turn off a major interstate, rather than utilize an exit! We were dissappointed & returned this GPS. We bought a newer version (3045LM), only to find it had the same mapping problems. Magellan is a very popular brand...interesting that the maps aren't as updated as much cheaper brands.

I bought this to replace my older Magellan. While I was happy overall with the old one, it was a lesser model, and I was ready for an upgrade. My old model was OK, but was more of a bottom of the line issue and didn't give street names and some options that newer models now offer. I gave the old one to my nephew and am very happy with this new 3030 model.

She is very quick to acquire the signal, especially in comparison to the old one. and the 3030 doesn't even bother with the "Calculating" stuff--she just goes immediately into giving you the new directions, based on where you are. This model seems to be much more "intuitive" to what you want to do. Of course, I've only been on routes I know already, at least so far. But I'm looking forward to exploring new places.

It was very simple to use and set up. I like the QWERTY keyboard (and later found that was an option--you can go back to the alphabetic order if that's your preference) in entering addresses, and like the intersection option in programming. There are more bells and whistles on this model and know that it'll be 2011 before I have explored most of them.

These are great right out of the box, but there are lots of options for the experimenter in you. And it's really big! Good for us older folks!

I recently purchased a Magellan 3030-LM from Amazon which, as the model number implies, included Lifetime Map updates. Unfortunately for me, I could not read the "fine print" on the product box, as no where on the Amazon product pages or product description does it say that I must use MS Windows VISTA or Windows 7 based PC to get Lifetime Map updates. So, if you use any flavor of Linux or Mac you are out of luck getting the updates, unless you want to hike to the nearest friend, relative, library, or other place where you can borrow a MS Windows VISTA or Windows 7 computer to do your map updates.

The product as a whole seems to be good. I was impressed with the screen size, the touch screen function and clarity. The unit seems to function well, hard to really say after only 3 hours, but I was dismayed when I began the recommended immediate update only to find that I could not without jumping through hoops.

I contacted Magellan 800# technical support and while they apologized, they were all but helpful. I did get to speak to a manager, who again apologized, but only lead me to believe that Magellan knows this problem exists with non-Windows users, and could only say that she would report my concern.

12/20/2010
Update: I dragged my Magellan 3030-LM to a Windoze based system, was able to log in and found that while I should run updates, no update was available as my GPS already had the most recent version (actually newest available) already installed. Other than the Windoze requirement, the GPS seems to work well.

I only have a couple issues that concern me. The MAP data lists roads that should not be traveled (4th class or lower) and some roads that do not exist or have not existed for years. I live in rural Vermont and we have many 4th class roads, that are accessible maybe during some summer months and then only with a 4WD vehicle. Other roads have been "thrown up" or discontinued. The MAP still shows them, 30 plus years later. No wonder people stop by my house asking how to get to certain roads. They are following their GPS. I specifically tested my unit where I knew it might tell me to go on a non existent road, and sure enough, it did. My warning to you is, if the road looks like it is getting rougher and narrower, turn around NOW!

Another issue with the MAP is there have been road changes here in Vermont, as elsewhere, where the road bed no longer follows the path shown on the MAP. I traveled a road yesterday, that was changed nearly 15 years ago, and the GPS thinks I was off the road somewhere, dancing around looking for a way to return to a normal path, telling me to make a legal U-turn as soon as I could. While I am sure the MAP folks are doing a fine job, there does not seem to be a way to report to them that their MAP has some bugs.

Lastly, there is one irritating issue I have. I do not like the sound on when I am on known roads, and I am just trying to locate an address. I can see well enough so I mute the sound. Well, for some odd reason, while the speaker shows that it is MUTED, every now and then I will get annoying verbal instructions. This also happened yesterday, as I was traveling home. I ended up turning the GPS off.

12/27/2010

Received a MicroSD (SanDisk) 2GB card as a gift. The Magellan Roadmate 3030 seems to know it is there, as each time I turn the GPS on it warns "Supplementary Content Detected - To access content, a restart is required"...but a restart will not cause it to remember that the SD card was added. Also, there does not seem to be a way to access the card once installed...read and re-read downloaded "User Manual" from Magellan and found no useful SD information or instructions.

08/09/2011

Magellan Content Manager told me that there were updates available for my unit with Lifetime Maps. I connected and Content Manger told me there was a software and a map update from 41 to 43 available. I told Content Manager to update, and it proceeded to download and installed a software update to the unit. I was then instructed by Content Manager to unplug my unit and it would automatically reboot, which it did and it appeared to have installed an update. I then connected my unit back to the PC and reran Content Manager and it told me there was a "Free" no cost) map update from 41 to 43. I told Content Manager to update which it started to download. Somewhere in the process it came up "failed" and I was instructed that I must reinstall old updates, which appeared to happen automatically as my system says that it has map 41. However, when I tried to connect and update the maps, which are available, it now tells me I must "Buy" them, which is ludicrous as I have a Lifetime Map unit. Somewhere in the process Magellan records or their Content Manager are messed up. I have tried to contact Magellan, but they are only available 6AM to 5PM PST/PDT, so now I must wait until tomorrow to try and call them. In the mean time I have sent an email, hoping that someone there might read it before I call and initiate an email response or telephone call. I am becoming less enthusiastic about this unit as time goes by.

9/20/2011

Following my previous update, I was finally able to contact Magellan Support and they did respond and I was able to talk to a technician who walked me through a rest that would allow the full Map update to occur. However, once the update was in place, the main feature of the RM3030 that I use most frequently, the ability to set multi-stop destinations and optimize the trip, was broken. I could no longer add destinations from my address book, the check mark to add the destination had disappeared after the software update. After multiple emails to Magellan they determined that it was hardware related and I was instructed to send my unit back for repair/replacement. After several days, I received word that repair was not an option and that they would replace my unit with a brand new one and they would install the software and map updates prior to shipment to me. That being said, I waited and the replacement came today. I restored my address book to the new unit and immediately tried to create a multiple stop route using addresses in my address book. NO GO! I immediately called support and got a technician right away and after nearly an hour on the phone I had him trying the same steps on a 3030 and he duplicated my problem and it was finally determined that there was indeed probably a software issue with version 4.82 and it would affect any user of the 3030 using multi-stop destination routing from the address book. I am now going to have to wait to see if there will be a quick software resolution or not. Will keep you posted.

11/4/2011

Received word on Content Manager that an update was available (64mb). It appeared to be a software version update 4.91. So I downloaded and installed with no problem. However, checking update against my previous issues showed that there was no fix to the Multi-stop problem and roads and addresses that I had noted in the past year were still missing.

A road down the street from me that was constructed last year appears, but a friend who lives in VA at the same address for over 5 years, their road and whole development does not appear.

I am beginning to question the sanity of buying this unit. I now have another GPS, a Garmin etrex Vista HCx hand held which is truly amazing for its size. While I do not have lifetime map updates on it, I have found that it is more accurate on many of the local roads than my Magellan with recently updated maps. It also, I have found, has a multi-stop feature, that while not as slick as the supposed one in the Magellan, works quite well. Will be looking at a Garmin car PND in the future. I have found a possible store that I may possibly "test drive" some units before purchase.

ON another note, I contacted AAA and there is an update available for the AAA Tour Map that you can get if you are an AAA member. Just log into the AAA site near you, and go to [...] where if you look closely you will find by a couple of mouse clicks a free download that should update the AAA info to 8/2011 data.

March 7, 2012: Update
After much thought, I am looking for another PND. While the Magellan 3030-LM appeared to fill my needs, after the "upgrade" that broke the Multi-stop Destination feature, and the fact after another update, the problem was not fixed, I am looking again.

To sum up the 3030-LM, the multi-stop function was the main drawing card, which no longer works. Add to that the fact that LifeTime maps are not current or accurate makes it less appealing. Having an Micro-SD slot that is there but not intended to work is a real drawing card. And finally, to put the frosting on the cake, I went to back up my address book, and it is no longer an option in the current version of Content Manager! So even if I stayed with Magellan, I could not transfer my addresses to a new unit.

So long Magellan!