Perfect for the techno-challenged!
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| Review Date: June 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Jody, Northwest Ohio |
I HATE my husband's GPS (different brand). It's complicated; the last couple of times I've invited Suzy (that's her name) along for the ride, she was still insisting I make a U-turn as I was pulling into my destination--and she still thinks we live on the opposite side of the street. To be honest, Suzy is rather high maintenance and not very smart but my husband is inexplicably infatuated. So enamored is he in fact that I caved in to pressure and grudgingly agreed that yeah, I probably needed a GPS of my own, though my private resolution was to never turn it on.
Then Lola came into my life and I'm thrilled to bits with her! It took her a few minutes to figure out where she was, but after that she was good to go. The packaging says to allow four minutes, but it was more like eight or nine. Since I have no intention of permanently attaching her to my car, the size is just perfect for purse popping. I was afraid the screen would be too small but it's perfect. The colors and definition are vivid enough to be seen even in sunlight.
THE BEST PARTS: Lola not only knows exactly where I live, she knows everything about the miniscule community in which I live and everything about everywhere else I go that's not so miniscule. In a nanosecond, she recommends restaurants, movies and live entertainment. The really cool thing was when I'd steeled myself to the tedious task of programming in addresses of places I go (and usually get lost enroute) and discovered they were already there. Lola warns of turns with the most melodious chimes and there are some great options on the menu--like fastest or shortest route, most or least freeway and detours. There's also the option of getting directions in the form of a list of the turns required, which is great for those of us who get dizzy looking at the maps. And Lola has never, ever urged a U-turn, which is usually illegal in my state.
The touchscreen navigation is awesome. No kidding. You have to tell Suzy exactly where you're going, but with one touch, Lola KNOWS! Maybe I'm easily impressed, but I think that's pure genius.
For techno-idiots like me, who still can't operate a digital camera, this little Magellan is perfect. I have no idea what the specs are and pray I'll never need tech support because I don't speak tech. All I care about is that Lola will keep me from getting lost and that she does, in spades. User friendly, compact and brainy, Lola is the most pleasant surprise I've had lately, and I think it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship. |
Great Little GPS Unit for Travel
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| Review Date: September 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: PD, Southwest |
Summary first: For such a low price, this is a great deal on a GPS unit. Has many features of the bigger units, and best of all, it has subscription-free Traffic Link live traffic updates.
The Details: I'm writing this review as a techno-geek who just never happened to get a GPS unit. So while I'm new to a dedicated GPS, I'm pretty familiar with the user interfaces of today's gadgetry. If you're new to GPS units and are searching out choices, this review should provide the point of view that a techno-geek would expect out of one of these. I do have GPS on my iPhone (although it doesn't do turn-by-turn), so we'll see how the touchscreen and the UI compare.
The Roadmate 1220 feels well-built. The touchscreen is nicely responsive and the icons are big enough to not miss your "target" (I have pretty big hands). For a smaller 3.5" unit, the screen is laid out well, and it's bright enough (that's a big one for me).
The unit takes about 5 minutes to initially aquire a signal, which is stated in the manual. This may be normal for GPS devices so I won't deduct points there. Once it's connected it springs to life tracking you. You can look at it 2D (bird's eye view) or 3D (slightly angled out to see upcoming roads, as in the product picture).
Feature-wise, I was VERY impressed. I used to think, "why do people use these things in the town they live, don't they know where they're going?". I got my answer once I turned it on. The live traffic updates are worth the price alone (I live near a major city). But I also didn't realize that these units show you other things nearby such as ATMs, gas stations, coffee shops and a variety of other places. I found things in my hometown I didn't know existed! This Roadmate also provides MPH, altitude above sea level, time, etc. Not necessary but interesting.
Interface-wise, this unit is quite easy to use. I was wondering how the navigation would be on such a complex unit with no buttons, just all touchscreen. But like the iPhone, the "where do I go next" was very apparent. There were only a couple of times where at first I wasn't sure where to tap, but my first guess of hitting Menu got me back to where I needed to be on the screen. I like this unit more than I expected.
As far as turn-by-turn functionality, it works very well. I took back roads to try and trick it, but the Roadmate picked right up and recalculated my route. That impressed me big time. Setup is easy too... once you enter your home address and any other you want to store, you're only a couple of screen taps away from starting your trip. You can have it start at your current location WHEREVER you're sitting/driving and tell it to get you home, and it does. There's a soft chime and a woman's voice telling you when the next turn is approaching. Doesn't get much easier than that!
There are many GPS units out there, but I'll be surprised if there many that have this much to offer for this low of a price. |
Great Value GPS
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| Review Date: July 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: E. Byers, The Midwest |
This GPS is a great value/budget GPS. It is nearly the same as the Garmin 350 I purchased a few years ago.
-- Size/Mounting.
It's actually thinner/smaller than most of the GPS units out there. The downside is that you only get a relatively small screen, but for the majority of people out there, it's going to be good enough. It mounts on the windshield or on an adhesive pad you can apply to the dash. They work really well, although it would be nice if Magellan would have an option for a bean bag dash mount or something similiar.
-- Functionality
As far as mapping, routing, etc it works pretty well. A few times it would decide to send us in the wrong direction at the start of the route, after pushing past the initial wrong directions, it corrected itself. This may be a symptom of poor GPS signal and not waiting enough to let it acquire. If you completely don't know where you're going, this could be an issue for you.
The one annoying thing I found is the map on the screen is delayed slightly, like the GPS can't keep up. The notifications (sound/voice) are correct, so not sure what's going on.
-- Software
Magellan has some slick software. When you start putting in a town/city/etc, it will automatically remove the letters that aren't available, and will try to guess it for you, makes entering much easier. The one downside of this unit, is I couldn't easily find a way to see all the restaurants in the area, and filter. For instance I wanted to find an A&W, however i would just have to wait till it came into closeness, instead of being able to filter it and see the nearest one. There may be an obscure way to do this, I just haven't found it yet. Text to Speech, which is normally found only in higher end models, is on this one, and it's great.
-- Upgrades
I only have mac's, and Magellan doesn't support them as of yet. Either way it doesn't appear as there are any updates available for this device currently, so it's not a big deal. You can access the POI's you add, and a few other things, as the GPS mounts when you add it.
Overall for the price this works very well, it essentially gives you the functionality for about half the price it would have cost you two years ago, in a tidier package, worth it. |
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