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User Reviews about Magellan Maestro 4350 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Bluetooth & Integrated Traffic

I've owned this for a year and a half and overall it's a nice unit for my 18k so mile of leisure traveling a year. My first GPS was also a Magellan so I'm quite used to Magellan's GUI interface and prefer it over the Garmin.

Likes:
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* Intuitive GUI - I like the fact that most options are just one touch away with the most essentials like exit POIs, turn list, and trip timing on the main nav screen. The nav screen is well designed, IMO. Also like that it limits the choices of letters on the keyboard as you enter the info.

* Excellent and _fast_ POI search coupled with One-Touch storing. Some of my favorite custom search: nearest rest areas on route, nearest hotels on route. The POI searches, once you get used to, is this unit's best feature.

* Ability to view the map, select a point, it tells me what it think the point is, and allow me to select as a destination. And if you select a POI icon, it will tell you interesting locations near by. Coupling this with the 3D feature, walk-to-destination mode, I had a lot of fun in Washington DC.

* Nice re-routing and avoidance. It'll pop up a detour button when you start to crawl on the freeway and allow you to choose how many miles to avoid and show those choices on the map. This feature saved me a lot of times when there are accidents and constructions.

* Nice lane-assist guidance.

* Eye-pleasing color scheme - I'd prefer its earth-tone colors over the cartoony Garmin colors. Also have interesting topology overlay in certain areas.


Don't like:
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* Freezes - why I gave it 3 stars. Some bad freezes will wipe out all your contacts -> realllly bad when you're on a trip. So have your contact list on a piece of paper (or cell phone handy). If a freeze happens within a city and there's no good place to stop to fix it, there will be no joy.

* Routing off the freeway onto an exit ramp, just to get back on an on-ramp to the same freeway. Major annoyance. Happens on I-495 DC area and Atlanta. Same with preferring local lanes over an express lanes (I-270 in DC).

* Default to avoid certain routes like plaque - By default routing avoid toll and carpool roads. If you're not aware of this and turn them on, you'll be scratching your head wondering why it's routing you through inside roads. Happens to me in DC where it avoids I-66 because it's a carpool road and got me stuck in traffic. I can see avoiding toll, but carpool???

* Enter an address requires entering the city first. I understand the purpose of a tree-like search starting from the root for elimination, but you're kinda screwed if you only know the street name and don't know the area well. One time a friend told me to meet at "at 123 blah st" without telling me the city. Would be nice to search street like a POI (ie. nearest street with that name).

On the extras like BT, FM transmitter, MMC ... I think they're garbage add-ons. The hands-free would be nice if the audio wasn't so terrible on the tiny speaker.

As a GPS, I think it's a solid GPS if it doesn't freeze on you.
-- Nice GPS

Before to hit the road I will check with a web map where I need to go or use one the feature of this GPS, look at the map where the GPS direct you and make the correction.

Yes mine froze too because of overheating. This happen if the GPS work on the 12v. too long or as happened, too long in a plastic bag - to protect again the rain - under a full sun on the handlebars of my bike when running on the battery.

To correct the problem : easy. Put the GPS over a vent and let the cool air running to keep the GPS cold.

If the GPS froze: easy too. Just shut down the GPS by pressing the on/off button 2 sec. Let it cold down for 20 sec and more, and turn it on. Work no problem.

-- Do the job but I trust a GPS at 100%

To get the fm transmitter,mp3 player and other comparable options in a Garmin would have cost me $400 -- The features I want for cheap