Customer Reviews

Remanufactured Magellan RoadMate 300 Vehicle GPS Navigation System

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought both the Delphi NA10000 and this so that I could run them back to back. The Delphi arrived partially defective, but the build quality was GORGEOUS and the PC software was VERY easy to use --especially when compared to the Magellan. Where the Magellan shines, however, is in actually getting you there. Hence 4 stars.

I am currently living in LA. I just moved here for b-school and get lost regularly trying to find chinese restaurants in Balwdin Park or good mexican food in south central. This little doo-hicky does a GREAT job of gettting me there and back. Far better than the Delphi.

Couple negative things worth noting:

1st. Depending on which route setting you choose, Shortest, Freeway, etc... sometimes it sends you on really strange routes. Nothing major, but there are often more turns than absolutly necessary.

2nd. The build quality is severly shoddy. Comparable to an early Compaq iPaq--all plastic in all the wrong places; buttons that feel mushy and unresponsive; the poorest mount I have seen in a while--it vibrates the whole unit over bumps such that you really must rest it on the dash; and a really cheap antanna.

3rd. It is only, really, compatable with SanDisk SD media. Lexar (even high speed) works OK, but slowly and after waiting for over an hour for tech support, the otherwise helpful rep finally confessed that really, it only works with SanDisk media.

4th. The PC software, at least compared with Delphi's, is TERRIBLE. It is slow, cumbersome, bewilderingly complex for such a simple task, and generally functions as if it were designed for Windows 98. We are talking old school Pentium 90 speed here.

So while everything about the product is crap, after you deal with the crap and get on the road, the thing works really well. If the antenna does not fall off, it keeps a solid signal with the satellites above, it has a solid power connection, bright screen with good clear instructions, and is generally quite accurate. As a high-tech gadget the Delphi is superior, as a GPS system, buy the Magellan 300.

Hey Everyone,

I purchased the Magellan 300 this past winter. I was very tempted by the 350 price (back then, now it is cheaper), and I could not justify spending 800 dollars on the higher models (that was back then also, now the 800 could be purchased online for 699 shipped).

Pros:

- Most affordable unit

- Can sign up for a free pre-loaded 256 MB card from Magellan site only with the 300

- Portabality is fast and easy

Cons:

- The menu may say that you can enter a location by Street name and City... but this is false. It does not accept cities. You actually must know the township. For example if I were in East Meadow, NY...You simply cannot just put in East Meadow, you must figure out that the town of East Meadow is really Town of Hempstead. This is the biggest turn off for me, because of this, i have NEVER found a place while driving. (Does this defeat the purpose of a GPS?). The Only way to get around this is by planning out whos houses or places you will go, and save it to the GPS via computer hookup. So now i have about 70 people on my GPS, and it will not find any other location in NY. I have a north east preloaded map btw.

- Their support does not exist, when i purchased something from their online store.. they responded to me within a few hours. But when it came time to troubleshoot about my first "con", they were no where to be found. I even emailed them twice, and after 12 weeks of no response, I am finally drawing the line.

- The other upper level magellan gps such as the 760 does not seem to have these problems. I guess its because that the 760 has a built in hardrive with everything pre-loaded. Thats what GPS is supposed to be. Just drive and find a location, not sit at home and program the thing for half an hour. Which brings me to the next "con"

- The GPS is listed as a 128mb internal memory on Amazon... this is not true, it only has 80mb. And to upload 80mb worth of map, it takes about 1-2 hours. So imagine uploading a 128mb or 256mb map.. your computer would blow up. Magellan says to upload small amounts at a time to speed up the search time, this is their way of beating around the bush and saying... "programming the 300 is a waste of your time".

I know this seems all harsh, but I want you all to be aware of the problems Ive had with it. Maybe those who do not live in NY, NJ, or CT dont have this problem. But if you live in the tri-state... DO NOT GET THE 300 series, pay more for the upper level ones.

If you have any questions feel free to get in touch with me about this product.

Good Luck Future GPS Owners

I purchased this one last week and I am sending it back today. The unit is great and features are reasonable for price. Major issue is with MAPS. They are worng and they don't have many cities listed. I live in Long Island, NY and i couldn't get to many places here.

I called customer support and got them on line with in 3 min ( not bad at all ) and the person who is on the phone was very nice and polite. He has verified and confirmed the locations where I wanted to go are not available in MAPS supplied with unit. As per him this doesn't have updates MAPS and they may not be available for next 3-4 months.

I learned that every model GPS don't have same maps. More expensive models has slightly better maps.

Works good . . . when it works. This unit will work fine for weeks at a time, then inexplicably loose the signal. It can be literally days before it works again. I have contacted "customer service" at Thales, which is a waste of time. On the 2 occasions I contacted them about this problem, I got the same set of trouble-shooting steps, only what the second person told me was in complete reverse order of what the first person told me.

The accuracy of the maps can be abysmal. I input an address in downtown Atlanta recently; the directions tried to put me off at an interstate exit that has not existed for over 12 years.

I guess some of the other raters have received some bad units, but all I can say is that mine works like a champ. Mine acquired a satellite in less than 5 minutes the first time and it has pick up a satellite every other time before I get out of the garage. I have had no problems using the software. One suggestion to all, do not format the memory. The base maps, voice prompts and the unit authorization files will be deleted and you will have to go through customer service to get it fixed. This is the best GPS unit I ever had.

Read the reviews, here, which tended to be good and the opinions on Eopinions which tended to be bad. So far I have no complaints. Was able to load the software, create and download maps without trouble. I gave the unit a present location and it locked onto satellites in minutes. Loaded work and home addresses and took it for a test spin, performed, excellent. Screen and voice is crystal clear. Needs to have volume and screen brightness controls on the box itself instead of menu options is the only shortcomings I've run across.

I love this product. The only thing is that is can only hold a small map in the internal memory. To get around that just buy a 2gig SD card and download the whole US to it then you will never need to download another map again.

The unit is compact, comes with everything you need to get started, has great features, what else can you ask for? You can find resturants, stores, anyplace you want. Also the controls are easy to use, and the maps are easy to read.

Purchased for use for navigating trips on motorcycle. Very pleased so far. Got a few things to work out but it would appear for the price its going to perform up to my expectations.

It is a bit slow to acquire the signals and the software to download the map is not intuit. Other than these two major drawbacks, this is a pretty good unit.

Once the signals are found, the location is pretty acurate. Of course, it sometimes mistaks between highway and service road. I do not blame it because the service road is next to the highway. The voice direction is clear. I do not need it to announce the street name as long as the bell is always chimed at the right moment.

I used it on my recent road trip to Indian Canyon at Palm Spring, CA. Once I paid the entrance fees, there is no road map shown in the GPS. It is complete blank on the GPS screen. However, I can tell the road inside the park was newly paved, so, again, it is not the fault of this GPS system. Surprisingly, on my way out of the park, it remebered my way points and correctly showed the direction to lead me our of the park.

I did not receive 512 SD, which is not specified in the "What's in the Box". I guess Amazon mess up the description between North American version and Europ version. However, Magellan is giving away 256MB SD pre-loaded with map now. I was really happy to find out that my refurb unit is also qualified for this promotion.

Very fast signal detection and very nice voice and screen navigation. Touch screen is very good also. The only thing makes this device less than perfect is the software. You can select maps from the software but selection is rectangular. Therefore it is usually impossibe to select town by town or state by state because none of the states are exactly rectaNGULAR SHAPE. But Magellan sends you free 256MB SD card preloaded with your region. May be Magellan should modify its software to take care of this problem. But anyway I got the SD card from Magellan for free after registration and I never need to deal with the loading maps or connecting to computer again. You just start and go.