5 comments about Magellan Maestro 3140 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. Magellan Maestro got us where we wanted to go ... and found accomodations along the way. What more could I ask for?



2. OK,
   
   This is an awesome GPS! Definitely buy it if you are on the fence. I haven't used the blue tooth, but I wouldn't buy it for that reason anyway. I echo all the positive statements that have been made about it. I have a few suggestions/tips:
   
   a) consider paying $150 for it refurbished and you are getting a huge bang for the buck!
   
   b) Go to the Magellan site and make sure the map and software is updated/ update it.
   
   c) Update the POI file to 6 million! Many people complain about the small POI file, but you can change it even though Magellan hasn't released one. [...] follow the instructions. It works, I've done it and Its great. I have new categories and subcategories. Not only that but the actual file is SMALLER than the original POI file. There are other tips, tricks, and custom POI databases on this forum.
   
   Good luck!



3. I purchased one of these for my wife and my son liked it so much my mother-in-law bought him one as a graduation gift from college.



4. The item was shipped in a very quick fashion. This item was from Warehouse Deals and had a 30 day trial feature. The item worked like a charm but the battery would not take a charge. I contacted Amazon, they sent me a return label and refunded my money in a very short time.
   
   I am extremely well satisfied with the transaction.
   
   Wayne Hall



5. Its great one from amazon but drawback is little late to get signal great bluetooth no noise nothing good one from amazon for great price

4 comments about Pharos 250 Drive 4.3-Inch Touchscreen Portable GPS Navigator (Black).

1. If Pharos offered a better website with updates available for this unit, I would give it 5 stars. The slightly computerized voice does not know how to pronounce many street names so they sound strange. Screen is beautiful and mapping seems more accurate than my Garmin I-3. (But the Garmin has a much better voice). I have used GPS units of various types for about 15 years and this is the best so far for the price. You can test a route before you set out, in real time, to see how accurate it is... nice feature. Adding addresses to the address book is cumbersome and after many hours of playing with the unit, I still have not figured out how to save addresses easily. That is really the only big negative, but considering all the features and accuracy of routing, it is a keeper. It has Navteq maps and they tend to be quite accurate.



2. It's a nice unit especially with the black piano finish and the bright, clear 4.3" screen. The window mount is very strong but does require a little effort to lock it in place. The pronounciation of some streets was irritating since they were wrong. I got a great deal from Dell, if I get my rebate, but I sold it because of several different reasons. Here is a breakdown of the good and the bad.
   
   Good:
   Nice finish
   Large 4.3" screen that is vibrant
   Maps of the entire 50 US states and Canada
   Long life battery
   Both car and home chargers
   Cloth carrying case
   
   Bad:
   Somewhat difficult to use, at least some of the functions
   Adapter hole on the left side of the unit
   Doesn't show speed, distance, next street/road that you need to turn on, at the same time. It also doesn't show the road that you are on and where you will go on the same screen.
   
   Nice unit but not what I wanted.



3. The POI is too little to find any useful place, I even cannot Walmart just 3 miles away.
   Slow speed.
   ugly interface.
   Bad customer service.
   
   conclusion, you can find every bad aspect of GPS in this product!!!!



4. After considering the Garmin Nuvi and Magellan Maestro, I decided that I didn't need the extra features like Bluetooth, mp3 player, FM transmitters, etc. I have taken the Pharos 250 with me on several trips now, and it does a fine job of getting me to my destination.
   FYI, the Pharos 250 is exactly like the Pharos 150, except that it has a bigger screen
   
   PROS
   
   -very quick satellite detection: even on a cloudy day, it doesn't take more than 2 minutes to get a signal, avg time is less than a minute
   -good rerouting features
   -I can set my unit to automatically switch to night mode at 7pm, which makes for better viewing at nighttime
   -standby mode allows me to power up really quickly
   -good volume, I can hear the instructions quite clearly
   -comes with a pouch for the unit, USB cable, windshield mount, car charger
   
   CONS
   
   -limited points of interest: It doesn't know where to find the nearest Target or McDonalds
   -mechanical voice mispronounces street names
   -poor global map view: whenever I want to zoom out all the way to get an overview of the city, the Pharos 250 doesn't display the major street names. I never had that problem with my friend's Garmin
   -I initially did have trouble dismounting the unit from the windshield mount, but I found that if you remove it from the bottom edge first, and then pull down from the top edge, you would have an easier time removing it.

5 comments about Pharos Drive GPS 140 All-in-one, 4 Color Screen, Bluetooth / Handfree, MP3, Video.

1. It has a nice portable design, working without any issue. 4-inch diagonal touch screen is a big plus.



2. I had one for two weeks.
   1st It kept saying my home address was at the nearest corner.
   2nd It would say you arrived at your destination way to early or way to late. Took you to the neareast street corner.
   3rd Every time I tried to get help it was always closed.
   
   I would not recommend this product to anybody.



3. Wow, I can't believe the negativity. I got one a couple a months ago as an upgrade to a competitor's brand that I had used for many years. I love the blue tooth. I can make a call either from my contact's list or from the device itself. As far as routing capabilities it and I have disagreed a few times, but that is nothing unusual as I use to do that with my other one as well. For the most part I use a GPS for the "last mile", I know my way around my city, got that from using the other one and disagreeing all the time. I use a GPS in other cities that I am unfamiliar with as well.
   
   I have read other reviews elsewhere saying that they had to press some small button to bring up the navigation, not true the big silver one works just fine for me. As for playing MP3's, I might use that at a hotel or something, but I have other device's dedicated for that. It does come with a pair of ear buds, sweet. The photo feature is easy to use and nice to be able show bigger pictures of something than just from your phone.
   
   I like mine a lot, I also like the fact that I save a bunch of money from other companies would have wanted for a similar product.



4. This $320 to $360 product does not perform as advertised. For E.g., it can not find a main street that even a cheap GPS finds! It is hard to work with as well. Hope somebody likes it, but not me.
   --FredB



5. My Drive 140 came without the 2 Gb SD chip in the box. Customer support would not send me one. I had to supply my own SD chip and am now in the process of downloading maps from Pharos website - three per day limit! The GPS is underpowered so the display lags behind real-time - if you are using it to navigate to a location you can easily miss a turn. All in all, I'm very disappointed with the product, but even more with the customer support.

No comments about 3.5" ASUS MyPal A696 -- Ultra Slim GPS PDA Sparkles with High Quality Feel, Touch Screen.

5 comments about TomTom Rider 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Motorcycle Navigator.

1. When TomTom came out with a bluetooth GPS unit for motorcycle, I was excited about going wireless. However, I've found some disappointing features, which include: inadequate volume of the bluetooth headset, lack of software support for my Blackberry 8703e and Motorola V710 phones, poor quality, poor service, poorly design desktop computer software, poor mount for car use.
   
   Because of the lack of support for my cell phones, I cannot use traffic report and other neat features available that require data connection through my cell phones. I cannot sync my address book to the Rider, I cannot use the Buddy feature, the weather report feature, etc. Make sure your cell phone is supported for use with the Rider before buying it.
   
   The Rider was defective soon after purchasing. I also bought a Go 910 that was also had to be sent back for a replacement.
   
   No strap was offered, even though I registered for one that was supposed to be provided free. I get nervous whenever I go over bumpy roads with the Rider on my bike.
   
   The car mount is very cheaply and poorly designed to accommodate the Rider, although the mount is sturdy and sticks well to the windshield of a car. To get the unit in and out of the mount, the power connector has to be unplugged manually from the unit. It's a pain to deal with a tiny plug and disconnecting/connecting it when I have to make many stops and have to take the unit off and store it out of sight of would-be thieves.
   
   There is no built-in speaker. Therefore, in order to hear spoken direction from the Rider when in a car, a bluetooth headset has to be available and connected to the Rider. When used while riding my bike, the volume from the bluetooth headset is audible below 45-50 mph. Beyond that, it's almost inaudible. The higher the speed of the motorcycle, the less can be heard through the bluetooth headset.
   
   The on/off button is very difficult to activate.
   
   The Rider has very poor documentation/manual.
   
   I've dealt with support from TomTom, and, even though the people there seemed genuinely nice and tried to be helpful, they didn't have their act together. For example, my Rider repair and return was delayed despite their promise to send it out promptly. The repaired unit was not sent to my office as requested. So I had to drive 40 minutes each way to Fedex to pick up the repaired unit.
   
   Since this is one of five GPS units that I own or have owned, I think the Rider does a few things well, as GPS units should, but its design and the desktop software that is used to manage the Rider are so poor that I cannot recommend buying this unit, especially at the high price that I paid as an early adopter.



2. Just letting you know that release 2 of tomtom rider is already available in Europe and Australia and features the Cardo scala-rider wireless Bluetooth headset. I assume the US version will follow soon.



3. This GPS arrived in a very timely manner, was easy to install, tech service seems to be excellent since we had to call them because the unit is discharging in only a few hours. This could be a problem with the unit making full electrical contact with the cradle mount or it could be a situation with the motorcycle's charging system. Must say that the unit and the Blue Tooth voice command system is excellent. One recommendation would be to increase the volume level of the unit beyond what is available.



4. I have used the Rider for one riding season now. While it has come in very handy I have to agree with most of what has been written here.
   
   A few comments to save someone some of the aggravation most have experienced. First you will need to upgrade the SD card because the memory in the supplied card is insufficient to operate the unit properly. Without a larger card you will have to deal with freeze ups and reboots. Next go to the TomTom Home page and update the installed software to the latest version. Last of all be sure you have a tether attached to the head unit. When you hit a pothole the unit can detach from the mount.
   
   This unit is a great idea but the design is not without flaws.



5. After a relatively few uses, the cradle doesn't make contact with the GPS and your motorcycle power supply won't charge the unit. I have had this happen on 2 units. Since batteries are nearly irreplaceable and limit you to a 4 hour trip, this is a problem. Some web sites say adding solder to the back of your unit may solve the problem, but others don't see it as permanent. This makes it hardly worth the price. I hope TomTom has a solution.

2 comments about Garmin nüvi 250 Portable GPS Navigator (English/Spanish Version).

1. I ordered the Nuvi 250 two weeks ago. Quick satellite aquisition, signal lost in tunnels, picked up at end of tunnel. Well designed windshield mount. Does all of the basics well. A little slow searching for restaurants by name. Good battery life, if you don't like to use the cigarette lighter. The smaller screen is better for city walking tours because it fits easier in a pocket. Smaller screen also blocks less view on the windshield. Love the unit, great price. Easy to read during the daytime with the top down. Dims automatically at sundown. Who really needs Blue tooth? Kids like viewing SD chip pictures on unit during a vacation. It will not read SDHC chips/ 8Gig. No external antenea. Overall.. Great unit/ Great price! Good decision!



2. So easy to use, my husband can do it and while a great guy is very non-tech savy. Easy to use instructions and controls, and you can move it from one vehicle to another hassell free as it is one suction cups. Good search technology if you are looking for shopping or resturants in an area and you don't have a specific address. I got it for him for Father's Day, and he a few weeks after he thanked me again and said it is very helpul for him.

5 comments about TomTom GO 300 Portable GPS Navigator with Maps of US Pre-loaded on SDd.

1. I used it around my city and even took it to Hawaii and it was a lot of help. People forget that the idea of the GPS is to help you find where you are, where you want to go and how to get there but like everything else, it may not be 100% correct -what really is?
   
   What I didn't like about it was the windshield mount broke so it no longer sticks on the windshield.
   
   The biggest thing is that the maps are out-dated. I live in an area where they are building a lot of new homes. Even developments that are 2 years old aren't on the map!
   
   I don't mind paying for updates - I realize that someone has to get paid to update the maps - but I will not pay several hundred dollars to buy a whole new set of maps!



2. This GPS comes with US map on the SD card and Canada map on the included CD but never the twain shall meet.
   
   By car I'm a few hours from Canada and several days from the eastern US but I can't swap out the faraway eastern US part of the map on the TomTom Go 300 for a nearby Canadian map. It's either all Canada or all contiguous US. This is a major functional flaw if you live near the US/Canada border or live further away and like to take cross-border trips.
   
   Oh, and if you do decide to swap out the US map, be sure to save it on your computer first - TomTom doesn't bother to provide a backup on the CD so if you don't first make your own backup before changing to the Canadian map you can't later get the US map back.



3. Hi,
   I'm a TomTom addict. I've been addicted ever since I first plugged in my TomTom 300 and found a new way to work. Ever since, I've relied on my tomtom to get me from point A to point B.
   The user interface is easy to use, intuitive and clever and allows me to find nearby restaurants, hotels or even train stations nearby.
   My tomtom is so great, I've even let friends borrow it at work when they have a meeting with a client they have never been to before.
   There are some problems: anytime I find my way somewhere using my TomTom, I can't find my way home without the Tomtom. That's why I'm addicted.
   It's reduced my frustration in the car and made me really happy.
   Thanks TOMTOM.
   Your friend,
   NEver Lost Drew



4. I first saw the GO 300 in action in Europe during an extended visit/tour with my son, who was living in Austria. The system guided us to sites in Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy...flawlessly, despite some recalculation of routes (it guided us to some very arcane locations in the Czech Rep., as well as Croatia and Italy). I bought one in June, 2006, and have used it extensively for travel in the USA, and have not been disappointed. I am very impressed with the speed with which a new route is calculated, for whatever reason.
   
   I have found the customer support, both online and via telephone to be excellent in solving any problems. For the price of the GO 300, it is a true bargain, although it was not the first unit I bought, based on spotty reviews - the first was a Garmin C340, but after a short time, I grew very tired of voice commands to change direction, or "turn here" after I had passed the intersection.
   I know the GO300 has been superseded by improved versions, but TomTom gets my vote for reliability and intuitive ease of use. The only complaint I have is the instructions which accompany new software, or downloads from the internet - they don't always work, but phone calls have always solved the problem.



5. First of all, I love having a GPS. My job requires me to travel most of the state of New York as well as other places, and it is unbelievable how much time a GPS saves vs using MapQuest, Streets & Trips, etc. The problem with the Tom Tom GPS units is that their maps are woefully inaccurate! I would say 90% of the time they are right on, but the 10% they are off is costly (and can be dangerous if you wind up in the wrong part of the wrong town!) I called their technical support several times and was assured I had the latest maps. I recently stopped in their Boston headquarters and found out I could "Buy" the "real" updated maps for $49. Since my unit was less than a year old, the tech service rep felt guilty and updated my map and software for free. I now own one up-to-date unit, and two out-of-date units which I refuse to pay $49 each to get maps I should have had in the first place.
   
   3 of my friends bought Garmin C330's and have NEVER had an issue with their maps. I just bought my daughter a GPS, and guess what... I bought her a Garmin. I've seen similar complaints on-line about Garmin charging for updated maps, but so far none of my friends have needed them.
   
   My advice...try the Garmin, and buy it from a reputable dealer where you can exchange it if you're not satisfied.

3 comments about Nextar 3.5-Inch Touch Screen GPS Vehicle Navigator With MP3 Player.

1. Just picked one up today, had to drive an older downtown area, worked great. I had to drive under numerous overpasses, then down a street with very tall builidngs and never lost the aquisition signal. Kind of a key feature. Mine had a manufacture sticker of 12/07 so it was pretty much up to date. The POI is very cool, and very accurate. Sound level was good, I could here it in the background while the radio was at low volume. Very clearly spoken.
   
   I was just amazed by the fast response. I have seen other units that were quite slow, not this one. For the price I paid, couln't beat it.
   Was on sale at a local retail chain.



2. The Nextar x3-03 is probably the best buy out there because it does include an a/c and d/c adapter and a cover along with free map upgrades when available - so they claim. The ac adapter is a benefit for outside sales people (real estate agents) so that you can program all your stops before hand. I recently purchase the tomtom and navignon and found them to be very useless especially the navignon because of the voice directions. It gave me about 5 steps when entering and leaving a ramp from the highway and I felt it would be really confusing if I did not know where I was. In addition to that, the navignon for some reason was trying to reroute me down streets I already knew they were dead ends. I return the tomtom and navignon back to staples and kept my Nextar.
   The beauty of the nextar is in its simplicity. The prompts are at the right time without added conversation! It is very easy to select your your next location within seconds while at a traffic light - or rather I should say parked in a safe location. Entering address information was much easier than the others because of the simple predictive text which looks up streets as you are typing them in like Pac for pacific - the navigon would pull up wolfpack once you starting typing and that to me was no useful.
   If you need a tool, the nextar is it, if you need a toy and graphics and more of what you don't need and less of what you really need, then I would certainly go back and purchase the tomtom and navigon. The sound and graphics are pretty cool.
   The downside, I do not believe there is any quality control and be prepared to send a unit or two back. I originally purchased mine at Kmart which has a very good return policy, problem was, their inventory is light and they have been out of them for 6 weeks. So now I have purchased from Amazon because their exchage policy is just as easy.
   Be aware that the battery does not last overnight as I believe the unit is always in standby mode even when you thought it was off.
   Nextar is very up front about their problems and issues which you can read about in the support section [...]
   I hope this helps anyone trying to make a decision. Best bet is to buy all 4 brands from a place you know they can be returned and try them all out for a day to see which one fits your needs.



3. I opened the package, hooked it up to the wall outlet and started reading the manual.
   As soon as the battery was charged fully, my preference you can turn it right on if you choose, I decided to see if my city had any POI's. I turned it on, input a few personal options and entered in my home address, I then located the POI's and found on in my home town that I had never been to, selected it as my destination, and off I went. It was great, turns were on the spot, the maps were awesome and the speed alert saved me from a possible speeding ticket!!!
   You will not be disappointed!

No comments about 12-Band Radar/Laser Detector with Speed/Red Light Camera GPS Locator and Remote.

No comments about Garmin nuvi 550 3.5" Portable Crossover GPS Navigator for Car, Marine, Cycle and Outdoor (US and Canada Maps).