GPS Reviews: Magellan’s Best Overlooked Deal!
Unfortunately Magellan’s great products are often overlooking in many GPS reviews. I’m not sure why, except Magellan is number three in the U. S. Market. Garmin is in the top slot with about half the market share, and Tom Tom is next with slightly less than 20% of the market share. Magellan is a close third.
Garmin gets so much press and Tom Tom is so aggressive in their advertising, that I guess Magellan just gets left out in the cold. That’s too bad, because they have a great product line! One of their products, the Maestro 4250 is maybe the best deal under $300 that’s currently on the market. Let’s explore why.
First off, the Magellan Maestro 4250 is currently selling for right at $250. As far as features, it has the bigger 4.3-inch touch screen, Bluetooth for hands-free calling, and a very user friendly interface.
Magellan also has a great deal with AAA, where they have the AAA Tour Book right on the device. In addition, the Maestro is very sleek. It’s less than one inch deep!
Of course, since this is one of my GPS reviews, I really need to compare the Maestro 4250 with it’s competitors, which are Garmin and Tom Tom.
If you’re in the market for a GPS device with Bluetooth for less than $300, you don’t have that many choices. Some of them are the Garmin nuvi 360, 370, and the 660. The nuvi 360 is competitive with the Maestro 4250, but the 360 has the smaller 3.5-inch screen. The same is true for the nuvi 370. What it has over Magellan’s Maestro 4250 is European maps.
At the time of this writing, the Garmin nuvi 660 is just barely under $300. It does have the 4.3-inch screen—but then again, it costs about $50 more!
As far as Tom Tom is concerned, I really like the Tom Tom One XL. It’s got Bluetooth, a 4.3-inch screen, maps of the U. S. and Canada, plus lots of other stuff. Currently selling at less than $200, it’s a great deal!
Of course, GPS reviews can only do so much. There’s no real substitute for actually getting online with a good retailer and checking out their products. You can do that here, at Amazon (my favorite online retailer ).
GPS Reviews : How To Shop For Your First (Or Next!) GPS
You can learn a lot from reading various GPS reviews. At some point, however, you need to quit reading and start shopping. I’m not saying you have to get in the car and drive to the mall. That’s so…20th Century!
What you need is a good online retailer. One you can trust to give you the information you need, and who has a great return policy…if you decide you don’t like your purchase.
I have covered the GPS marketplace for some time. I have written literally hundreds of GPS reviews and articles about GPS systems. I also own a number of websites that are devoted to educating people about these wonderful devices. In addition, I have websites that are designed to actually sell these devices, through online retailers.
My absolute favorite online retailer is Amazon. There’s not even a close second. Amazon carries all the models that my customers want. They have an excellent return policy. They have honest, thoughtful customer reviews and comments about their merchandise. They absolutely back up their merchandise. And their website is very easy to navigate and get information from.
I personally buy hundreds of dollars worth of stuff from Amazon every month! I love them. (Yes, I know. I’ve got a problem! )
But all kidding aside.
You can use Amazon’s website to help you find out virtually everything you need to know about any GPS system on the market. If you want to know about Garmin’s products, for instance, then click here. (Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the screen to see the chart.)
Amazon also has great Tom Tom information. Click here to see it, and make sure you scroll down the page to see their chart and read their information.
The great thing about shopping on Amazon is you can really take close looks at specific models you’re interested in. You can also see what other people think about a specific model.
Remember, GPS reviews are great, but they can only do so much for you. (Even mine! J ) When you’re ready, get on Amazon’s site and shop!
GPS Reviews : Best Units Under $200
Only about a year ago, virtually none of the GPS reviews you ran across talked about anything for sale under $200. If you wanted any features at all, you were going to have to pay at least $250 and probably $300. But prices have dropped considerably over the past year—which is great for us consumers.
Now, there are several very nice GPS devices for sale in this price range. Garmin, which is the industry leader, has several of their newer nuvi line for sale under $200. Tom Tom has even more features on their entry-level devices than Garmin has. Also, you don’t want to forget Magellan.
Although Magellan doesn’t have the market share in the United States that Garmin and Tom Tom have, they make a great product for a great price.
Of course, all the GPS reviews can tell you this. But to go a step further, let’s talk about some of these great companies’ specific products.
Garmin
Garmin’s nuvi 350 is the single most popular GPS receiver on the market. I own a number of websites that sell GPS’s, and the nuvi 350 outsells everything else by a ratio of about 5 to 1. Why is this?
Well, there’s Garmin’s commitment to quality. But also, there’s the fact that the nuvi 350 has a lot of features for an entry-level device. It comes with maps of the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. It also has maps of Canada and Puerto Rico. Another thing I like about the nuvi 350 is its real-time traffic capability. With a fairly cheap subscription, you can get real-time traffic alerts. Definitely handy in rush hour traffic!
Tom Tom
Perhaps my favorite of Tom Tom’s many models is the Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition. Right now it sells for less than $150! It has turn-by-turn spoken directions, a 3.5 inch screen, 2D and 3D views, along with Tom Tom’s proprietary MapShare technology.
MapShare is really cool! It let’s you easily update your maps as you come across bridges that are out, road construction, etc. The device will remember the change and route you around it next time. Even better, you can upload these changes to Tom Tom for the benefit of other users.
Magellan
Magellan has lost a lot of ground over the past few years. They actually pioneered these devices, but Garmin and Tom Tom have overtaken much of their market. Don’t get me wrong! Magellan is still a vibrant company with really great products.
If I were to buy an entry-level device today, it might well be the Magellan Maestro 3100. The Maestro 3100 has great visuals. Best of all, it’s slightly cheaper than the Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition.
The good news is these are three really excellent devices, all of which cost under $200. The bad news…GPS reviews can only go so far! What you need to do now is to decide on your budget and get more specific information. Here’s a good site for you to browse to find out more about GPS systems.
GPS Reviews : How Much Should You Spend On Your First GPS?
I recently wrote an article talking about how GPS reviews used to focus only on the entry-level market. Well, only two or three short years ago, that’s all there was, because the devices sold could only do the basics. Most of them did not even come pre-loaded with maps and points of interest (POI’s). Now, things have changed considerably.
Now, the first time buyer has so many more options. You can spend less than $150 and get excellent, basic GPS capability—extensive maps, a large database of pre-loaded POI’s, even a few other bells and whistles like audio book capability and being able to use your GPS as a digital picture viewer.
But most first time buyers are more than willing to spend quite a bit above $150. According to the comments I get to my many articles, websites, and other GPS reviews, first timers are spending upwards of $400. And…Wow!…how much you can get for $400 is astounding!
For just over $200, you can get a Garmin nuvi 360, which has Bluetooth, among a lot of other great features. It used to be that Bluetooth was a premium upgrade. No longer. Tom Tom has a Bluetooth capable unit, the Tom Tom One XL, that sells for less than $200. It also has the wider 4.3-inch screen.
Multiple point routing (the ability to put more than one destination in at a time) used to be unheard of except in really expensive devices. Now, you can get the Garmin nuvi 750, which is widescreen and has multi-point routing, for less than $350! What a deal! That was unknown two years ago.
The technological advances GPS’s have made recently are completely amazing. And, as with all new electronic technologies prices have fallen to a level that everyone can afford a GPS device. The only issue now is not can you afford a GPS, it’s which GPS do you want to buy? Of course, that’s where good GPS reviews like this one come in.
GPS Reviews : What’s the Best GPS to Give as a Gift?
I thought there should be more GPS reviews that focused on giving these devices as gifts. So, I decided to write one!
In the month leading up to Christmas, the electronics industry as a whole will make almost 50% of their total yearly sales. That is they sell half of everything they sell all year in one single month. The other eleven months take care of the other half.
In other words, there are a lot of GPS’s given as gifts.
The husband of the friend of mine gave her a GPS last Christmas. She liked it so much, she went to the store and bought him one! For someone you want to buy a nice present for, GPS’s make some of the best presents you can select. They’re small, everyone can use one, men and women like them equally, and they’re all the rage.
As in all good GPS reviews, let me tell you about a few specific models you want to really consider.
At the lower end of the price spectrum, i.e. less than $200, there’s the Garmin nuvi 200, the Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition, and the Magellan Maestro 3100. It’s hard to tell which of these is the better deal. If you’re interested in Garmin’s reputation for quality, then the nuvi 200 is the GPS for you. The Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition, however, has more features for the money. (If you want to spend a little more, try the Tom Tom One XL. It’s even got Bluetooth capability for hands-free calling.) The Magellan Maestro 3100 is not a bad unit. But I’m not sure it stacks up to the other two.
If you really want to impress the person you’re giving the gift to, then you might want to opt for something a little fancier. The Garmin nuvi 660 currently sells for just under $300, and does everything except multi-point routing. (That’s where you can put in more than one destination.) Tom Tom’s GO series is great, too. As usual, Tom Tom packs a lot of features in their products for the money. That’s how they’ve taken so much market share so rapidly.
I don’t want to leave Magellan out. Their Maestro 4250, which sells for mid-$200’s, is probably the best deal on the market for that price. I especially love their deal with AAA, where you can get the AAA Tour Book directly on the device!
At the high end of the market, there’s really only Garmin. The nuvi 880 is masterful! Take a look, here, to read more about it.