Portable GPS
03-12-2005, 11:08 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 196
Portable GPS
Has anyone here used a portable GPS like the Magellan Roadmate 700? On a recent business trip, I got the Neverlost in the rental car. My first experience....not knowing what I was doing, it took me for a wild ride, trying to find my hotel. I think I know what I did wrong, and it worked fine the rest of the trip. I believe this Neverlost is based on a similar Magellan GPS. I only had it a week, so I was wondering if anyone here has had something like this, and how it worked out? Is it a hassle to carry around? I would hate to leave it in the car, as it would be an invite to thieves. Are they very accurate, since I believe this model does not need an external antenna....so I wonder if the reception would be as good??
03-12-2005, 11:10 PM
#2
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 971
garmin streetpilot 2600 is popular also. goto www.newegg.com for a good price. i've seen them for as high as $1400.
03-13-2005, 02:37 AM
#3
I bought and used the Magellan Roadmate 700 for a month. I picked it because I didn't want to have to load regions into memory and wanted everything in 1 unit. While in theory it's supposed to be a good unit, I don't think it was. I'll give you the pros and the cons:
Pros:
*I liked the fact that it had all of America in one unit on a hard drive.
*Nicest screen of all the ones out there.
*Voice comes from unit itself and not plug, like Garmin.
Cons:
*The windshield suction cup mount never fell off or anything, but on the road it constantly vibrates. This makes it annoying and headachey to look at the screen.
*The hard drive unit is prone to failure. Hard drives are have mechanical parts and are more sensitive to cold, heat, etc. Mine didn't start up a few times, and I've heard this is common. And I didn't leave it in the car, exposed to cold. It probably would have died if I did.
*It heats up like crazy - after a one hour drive with it on, I could have fried an egg on it.
*It doesn't like cities - In Minneapolis, the tall buildings frequently lost a signal, and easily sent me the wrong way down one way streets.
*It's not up to date - It has maps from late 2003. Also, some roads I took every day in my town (St. Cloud) weren't even on the map. A bridge here since the early 20th century wasn't on the map, and when I drove over it, it showed my car in the middle of the Mississippi River.
I bought this one because from what I read it was the best available. I think I'm going two wait for aftermarket portable DVD navigation or something. What's out there now just isn't that great. Good luck if you decide to go for it though.
Pros:
*I liked the fact that it had all of America in one unit on a hard drive.
*Nicest screen of all the ones out there.
*Voice comes from unit itself and not plug, like Garmin.
Cons:
*The windshield suction cup mount never fell off or anything, but on the road it constantly vibrates. This makes it annoying and headachey to look at the screen.
*The hard drive unit is prone to failure. Hard drives are have mechanical parts and are more sensitive to cold, heat, etc. Mine didn't start up a few times, and I've heard this is common. And I didn't leave it in the car, exposed to cold. It probably would have died if I did.
*It heats up like crazy - after a one hour drive with it on, I could have fried an egg on it.
*It doesn't like cities - In Minneapolis, the tall buildings frequently lost a signal, and easily sent me the wrong way down one way streets.
*It's not up to date - It has maps from late 2003. Also, some roads I took every day in my town (St. Cloud) weren't even on the map. A bridge here since the early 20th century wasn't on the map, and when I drove over it, it showed my car in the middle of the Mississippi River.
I bought this one because from what I read it was the best available. I think I'm going two wait for aftermarket portable DVD navigation or something. What's out there now just isn't that great. Good luck if you decide to go for it though.
03-13-2005, 08:22 AM
#4
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 196
Wasim.....awesome reply. I really appreciate the "real world" feedback. I have tried to do the homework, and most reviews are from folks that have probably been given them for test purposes only, and used for a short time and then write a review. Thanks!
03-13-2005, 11:32 AM
#5
No problem. My suggestion to you is this - though it didn't work quite so well for me and I ended up returning it, maybe you might like it. Buy it from a place that you can return it without any restocking fees and all just in case you have the same problems I do. Good luck!
03-14-2005, 08:01 AM
#6
Bought the Roadmate 700 to replace my aging Streetpilot III and returned it within 24 hours. There is no effective way to mount that thing in the car and the screen quality is nice, but the details and appearance of the actual maps sucks. You can't zoom out real far like you can with the Garmin and see where you are in relation to let's say the entire state of NJ or the east coast or anything. I went ahead and bought the Garmin 2620. It's light years ahead of the Streetpilot III yet still has everything I liked about the older unit. I would recommend the 2620 over anything out there right now.
03-14-2005, 08:19 AM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,720
Originally Posted by TXT-1
Bought the Roadmate 700 to replace my aging Streetpilot III and returned it within 24 hours. There is no effective way to mount that thing in the car and the screen quality is nice, but the details and appearance of the actual maps sucks. You can't zoom out real far like you can with the Garmin and see where you are in relation to let's say the entire state of NJ or the east coast or anything. I went ahead and bought the Garmin 2620. It's light years ahead of the Streetpilot III yet still has everything I liked about the older unit. I would recommend the 2620 over anything out there right now.
Other than the interface (i.e.: entering addresses, and limited memory), it ranks as one of the BEST purchases I've ever made.
While having a 256MB card is not the best, I'm still able to encompass an area that covers Quebec City, Harrisburg Pa., Wash DC and Nassau County NY along with most areas in between.
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