CNET Editor's rating: 7.7 out of 10
Reviewed by
Bonnie Cha
Review date: 04/05/07
The good: The Magellan Maestro series of in-car GPS devices features an updated and sleeker design and interface with a spacious 4.3-inch touch screen. All models offer useful information on points of interest from the American Automobile Association. In addition, the Maestro 4040 has integrated Bluetooth and text-to-speech functionality, while the Maestro 4050 adds real-time traffic alerts and voice commands.
The bad: During our road tests, the Maestro 4040 was a little slow to recalculate routes. The Bluetooth pairing process was also a bit difficult,and you can't transfer contacts from your phone to the Maestro 4040.
The bottom line: Sporting a sleeker design and interface, the affordable Magellan Maestro series offers drivers an accurate in-car GPS device with useful trip information, thanks to its partnership with AAA.
Compared to the competition, Magellan hasn't always offered the flashiest in-car GPS devices, but it's always offered a good value to the consumer. Now, with the company's new Maestro line of portable navigation systems, you can get both qualities. The three-model series, which includes the Magellan Maestro 4000, Maestro 4040, and the Maestro 4050, features an updated and sleeker design and user interface and all the navigation essentials at an affordable price. In addition, Magellan has partnered with the American Automobile Association (AAA) to provide useful travel information and access to roadside assistance.
For our review, we took a look at the Magellan Maestro 4040 ($499.99), which adds integrated Bluetooth and text-to-speech functionality to the entry-level Maestro 4000 ($399.99). Though we wish route recalculations were slightly faster and that the Maestro had better Bluetooth integration, we enjoyed mostly good performance during our test drives, and we think it's a good buy. Plus, we appreciate the fact that Magellan chose to concentrate on the features that would most help a driver, rather than adding superfluous things like a media player just for the heck of it. The Magellan Maestro 4000 and 4040 are available now, while the Magellan Maestro 4050, which adds voice command functionality and real-time traffic alerts, will be available in May for $699.99.
Design
The Magellan Maestro 4040 is probably the best-looking portable navigation system we've seen from the company to date. Unlike the somewhat bulky and uninspiring Magellan RoadMate 2200T, the Maestro 4040 sports a classic black-and-silver color scheme and a more refined and streamlined design. It's got a sleek profile and compact dimensions--at at 3.7 inches high by 5 inches wide by 0.8 inch deep, and weighing 8.5 ounces--for easy portability between vehicles.
Another attractive aspect of the Magellan Maestro 4040's is its minimalist design. The device isn't bombarded by external controls. There's just an SD/MMC expansion slot, a power button, a mini USB port, and a Reset button on the left spine, and a 3.5mm headphone jack and power connector on the right side. That said, we're fans of having volume controls on the exterior of the device for easy audio adjustment, so if we could add anything to the Maestro 4040, it would be dedicated volume up/down buttons.
Fortunately, the Maestro 4040 boasts a spacious and responsive 4.3-inch diagonal touch screen with a friendly user interface that makes adjusting the volume and general operation an easy affair. Magellan, thankfully, has updated the interface since the archaic-looking menus of the RoadMate 2200T. The Maestro 4040 now features attractive icons, and the menus are really simple to understand. We were able to use the device right out of the box without even having to read the user's guide.
The display itself is satisfactory. The resolution wasn't the sharpest we've seen, but it's nothing that prevented us from using the device. Maps were bright and colorful, and there's a night mode and backlight adjuster. In addition, the screen has an antiglare coating that did a pretty good job of keeping the display readable in various lighting conditions.
Magellan packages the Maestro 4040 with a vehicle mount (windshield and dash), a car charger, an AC adapter, a USB cable, and a protective pouch.
Features
The Magellan Maestro 4040 is equipped with a SiRF Star III GPS chip and comes preloaded with Navteq maps of the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. If you don't need help getting to a specific destination, you can just tap the Show Map icon to get an overview map of your location, otherwise you can select Enter Address to input a specific address or intersection to get directions. If you're planning a trip with multiple stops, use the Trip Planner option, which can handle up to 20 destinations. Like many of Magellan's other GPS devices, the Maestro 4040 has the QuickSpell feature, which helps speed up the process of text entry. As you start to punch the numbers and letters of an address on the virtual keyboard, QuickSpell dims out any characters that don't match the city or streets located in the system's database. It's quite handy and worked well during our test period.
Like many of today's portable navigation systems, the Maestro 4040 can calculate routes based on fastest time, shortest distance, least or most use of freeways, and toll-free roads. There's also a Detour option if you want to avoid a certain part of the prescribed route. The Maestro 4040 doesn't give real-time traffic updates, but there is an upgrade option if you want to add this capability. (At the time of this writing, Magellan had not finalized the pricing of the TravelKit for the Maestro 4040.)
Alternatively, the Magellan Maestro 4050 offers this functionality out of the box. The system provides text- and voice-guided turn-by-turn directions, plus text-to-speech functionality, which Magellan calls SayWhere, so the system will speak actual street names. Other features include 2D (north up or tracking up) or 3D map modes with night or day colors, automatic route recalculation, and a trip computer that shows your average speed, trip time, drive time, and trip distance.
The Magellan Maestro 4040's points of interest (POI) database contains a healthy 4.5 million entries, and includes everything from gas stations to casinos. You're probably thinking, "Yeah, so? A lot of other GPS devices offer the same POI features." Sure, but the differentiating factor is Magellan's partnership with AAA. This gives you access to AAA TourBook listings for AAA Diamond-rated lodging and restaurants, complete with information such as hotel amenities, restaurant description and hours of operation, admission prices for certain attractions, and so forth. Of course, you can instruct the system to route to that POI from your current location. AAA members will get even more out of the Maestro, as it provides listings for establishments that offer discounts to AAA members, AAA-approved auto repair facilities, and details for roadside assistance. More specifically, the unit will display the AAA member toll-free help number and your exact location, so you can give the operator all your information--a really nice safety feature.
Even better, the system has integrated Bluetooth, so you can pair your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone and use the Maestro 4040 (or the 4050) as a hands-free speaker system. With it, you can place and accept calls, view your call history, search the device's address book, and redial. We ran into some problems trying to pair the Maestro 4040 with the Samsung Upstage. Though the two appeared to be connected, the Upstage wasn't showing up as paired on the Maestro. We had to repeat the process several times before the nav system finally recognized the cell phone. Once they were paired, though, we had no problems making or taking calls. Unfortunately, you can't wirelessly transfer contacts from the phone to the Maestro 4040 at this time.
Finally, we want to comment on the Maestro's lack of multimedia capabilities. While some might criticize Magellan for not including a media player or image viewer, we actually applaud this move. We've always been a bit critical of the inclusion of such features on a car GPS system, because we don't think it's all that useful or relevant--not yet anyway. As such, we're glad that Magellan chose to concentrate on the essential and most helpful features to the driver.
Performance
We tested the Magellan Maestro 4040 in San Francisco, and from a cold start, the unit acquired a satellite fix almost immediately under clear skies. Subsequent starts were also instantaneous. The Maestro 4040 did a good job of pinpointing our location as we drove around the city, running everyday errands with no specific destination in mind. We also entered our standard trip from the Marina district to CNET headquarters in downtown San Francisco. The system was a tad sluggish returning with directions compared to other systems we've tested; really, it was only a matter of a few seconds, and it's not a major issue since you'll most likely be planning these trips before you hit the road. However, more concerning was the rate of route recalculation. We purposefully missed several turns along our trip to test the feature, and on several occasions, the Maestro 4040 gave us new directions just before we had to make a turn. In one instance, it got completely confused and had us going in circles, though it eventually got us back on track. The unit's battery is rated for up to 3 hours on a single charge.
Intro:
The Magellan Maestro 4000 is a 20 channel, automotive global positioning device.Compared to other automotive GPS receivers on the market, it is midpriced at around $305.
Noteworthy Features:
Has a 4.3 in screen size, which is more favorable than some similarly priced GPS receivers.By way of comparison, the average cost of a product with this favorable a screen size is $460.Provides verbal navigation instructions.WAAS-ready GPS device accepts radio signals which can help increase accuracy of positioning data to within 3 meters.USB computer interface makes it possible to add new programs and maps as well as store previous trips and data.EGNOS (Euro Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) enabled device supplies location-reliability feedback.Uses a standard SD memory card to store routes and maps.Its removable memory allows for almost unlimited storage of routes and other data.
Weaker Features:
None noted, given available product data.
Suitability:
For road trips, family outings and business travel.Designed for use in land-based vehicles.Has an internal antenna which is desirable for activities where an external antenna would get in the way.This unit is somewhat heavy, weighing in at 8.5 oz.
Value:
Overall, this GPS receiver has great features for the money.
Magellan Maestro 4000 is amazing and absolute value for money, with its precision of the distance, response speed for ...
Folks,
Magellan Maestro 4000 is amazing and absolute value for money, with its precision of the distance, response speed for re-calculating route and boot-up speed. I have used Magellan in Hertz cars extensively and just fell in love with it. THis model Maestro 4000 matches up the expectation to the same level! I have tried Garmins - old ones as well as the newer ones - DONT BUY THEM, the worst part of GARMIN is when it asks you to take a right-turn, while you are already in the left-lane and near the interseciton and sometimes GARMIN just goes confused leaving you wondering in the middle of the road. I have had many bad expeiences with Garmin which is why I bought Magellan Maestro 4000 though there plenty of advertisement, propaganda and the stuff for Garmin. Last but not the least, the wide-screen of 4000 is too good!
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by rits125 (see profile) -
November 10, 2007
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
7 out of 10 - Very good Great fun, took us to the beach out of the box.
I bought my Magellan Maestro 4000 and drove immediately to the beach. The unit worked well straight out of the ...
I bought my Magellan Maestro 4000 and drove immediately to the beach. The unit worked well straight out of the box. Powered from the cigarette lighter it acquired a strong accurate signal through a rainstorm and quickly calculated a route to our destination, a beachside inn which was listed in the included AAA database. The unit?s screen was bright and readable even in direct sunlight (after the rain stopped). The family nicknamed the female voice Maggie as a derivative of Magellan. Along with the voice prompts at 2 miles, 0.5 miles, and about 300 yards before a maneuver, Maggie goes ding-dong to signal the moment a left turn should be made, and dong-ding to signal a right. Nice touch.
Halfway to the beach, while going through a speed-trap town, we threw Maggie a curve ball. We missed one of her ding-dong?s. Maggie quickly recalculated an alternate route which we followed. Maggie then seemed to get a little confused. She verbally told us to turn left when the map showed a right. Eventually we found our way out of the neighborhood and got back on track.
Along the way we listed all possible landmarks. The listing was by no means comprehensive, but we figured that we could always find gas, food, etc. in a pinch. The mapping and turns were accurate through almost 200 miles of two and four lane highways save for the above mentioned misstep. While traveling we attached the suction cup mount to the windshield and it worked fine. We were greeted at our destination with an amusingly expressive, ?You have arrived.?
Here was the biggest problem we had. At dinner, we consulted the AAA listings from our room, and found a place to our liking. We took the unit back to the minivan and Maggie led us to the middle of a residential neighborhood instead of the intended restaurant. Using the AAA database to find the phone number, we called the restaurant to verify the address. I switched to the general non-AAA listing of the same restaurant, and we found our way with no problem. After further review, I found that the AAA listing for the restaurant was on River Dr., and the general non-AAA listing was on River Dr. SW. Same street number on both listings, but the absence or inclusion of the suffix SW defined two entirely different streets.
After dinner it was dark and Maggie?s display automatically changed to night mode. We routed a different way back to our inn using ?most highways? instead of ?shortest route? and liked the new way better.
It wasn?t hard to intuit all of Maggie?s functions. I only had to look at the included brief instructions once or twice to learn things like one needs to quit the route one is using in order to access the AAA database. Overall we think it?s pretty cool, works well, and was worth the $350 we paid for it. We will really enjoy the AAA database. I think we?ll keep Maggie.
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by siestas (see profile) -
June 14, 2007
4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
6 out of 10 - Good Good when it works
Works fairly well except for the ocassional reboot. Today when I tried to use it, it wouldn't turn on. ...
Works fairly well except for the ocassional reboot. Today when I tried to use it, it wouldn't turn on. Guess it's time to send it in for repair after only 3 months of use.
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by bigg1013 (see profile) -
July 30, 2007
3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
4 out of 10 - Mediocre Good for point-to-point, but VERY limited POI List
I grabbed this little guy based on the reviews here (thanks!) and toying around with it at a local store... ...
I grabbed this little guy based on the reviews here (thanks!) and toying around with it at a local store... I was pleasantly surprised at Magellan's new, slick interface and the small bezel of the unit. Once out of the box, I found it very easy to program, creating routes to different places and tracing steps. The "avoid" feature is very good for detouring, etc. The online registration procedure, linked from the bundled CD-ROM, alerted me to a firmware update which installed without a hitch (make sure you have an extra SD card lying around with 16+mb... I used an old one that came bundled with a digital camera). Protective sleeve-type case is included as well, which was a nice bonus.
THE PROBLEM OCCURRED when I tried to find any local Electronics Store (i.e. Best Buy, Circuit City), a local chain convenience store (Target), and a local housewares store (Bed Bath & Beyond). The unit has no knowledge of any of these stores!! Further exploration and a call to tech support revealed that "Shopping Malls" and "Book Stores" are the only categories available for Shopping... a HUGE problem in my opinion for those emergency trips during vacations for, say, an AC adapter for a cell phone or a forgotten bathing suit replacement. All other categories of POIs are very good (TONS of restaurants, Medical, etc.) but this shortcoming was enough for me to return the unit.
Also, the unit does not support Canada maps and, according to Magellan's web site, it never will... bummer for trips to Niagara Falls.
As long as these issues are improved, I'm going to give the next model up, the 4040, a try instead.
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by mgironda (see profile) -
August 31, 2007
2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
1 out of 10 - Abysmal As price come donw, it's still not woth buying it...
Own this device for 2 days and I'm not new to the GPS's. My Brother-in-Law bought bought a ...
Own this device for 2 days and I'm not new to the GPS's. My Brother-in-Law bought bought a Garmin, Nuvie 350. I like the size of it but not the screen, so I decided to go with someone that I trusted for last 4 years: Magellan Maestro 4000. Stupid me.... Folks, don't buy it. It's cheaper than Garmin - but let other company use this device. Hertz, for example. Maybe Magellan makes them smarter for Hertz, but for us, average users they don't. I learnd the my lesson: it cost me 350$. The device is freeze, ant it's takes about 20 minutes to locate the satelites. 20! Minutes. Think about this: YOU will sit at YOUR CURRENT LOCATION FOR 20 MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE - I DID IT! And what Magellan support says? Thay have no clue why... Like I said: If it comes with Hertz - it's working. If you buy it - your on our own buddy.... Think twice before you buy Magellan, company suck!
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by A12345 (see profile) -
September 30, 2007
8 out of 10 - Excellent Magellan Maestro 4000 GPS Navigational System
I am very pleased with the 4000. I would recommend it to anyone. The first trip I took with it ...
I am very pleased with the 4000. I would recommend it to anyone. The first trip I took with it was to Houston, TX. And I was able to find many attractions and destinations with ease and not get lost. I also avoided a lot of tolls by selecting that option before it calculated the route. And it does not take very long to calculate it nor to recalculate it. I would also recommend that you update your maps because they were last updated February 15,2007.
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by PrincessT1120 (see profile) -
July 9, 2007
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Love it - GPS for Summies, easy to use
It's easy right out of the box. it has volume control, day/night auto display, road names, arrival times, ...
It's easy right out of the box. it has volume control, day/night auto display, road names, arrival times, easy to program your destination, large screen is very helpful, i just love it. everyone should have one!
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by dlt1018 (see profile) -
May 9, 2008
8 out of 10 - Excellent Good product, Limited POI's
I was unsure if I really wanted a GPS, so I didn't want to spend a lot of money. ...
I was unsure if I really wanted a GPS, so I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I got this unit for $200 and used it right out of the box. I charge it at home, and entered my home address and destination before leaving. I did not read any manuals before playing with it, and had everything programed in about 15 minutes.
We left Harrisburg, PA and drove to Newark, NJ to hop a train into NYC. We do this a couple times a year, so we did not need directions. I figured this would be a good test for the GPS. It took us the exact route we typically take. The Exit POI's are a nice touch, and it rerouted us quickly (even telling us where legal U-Turns could be made). The "beep beep" right before you are to turn is a nice feature because we were driving down a street with a lot of right hand turns spaced very close together. We knew not to turn until the "beep beep".
I also took it into the city with us in case we wanted to find something, and I did try to use it. I wanted to find the apple store, but it wasn't listed in the pre-programed POI's. Neither was the Nintendo store.
When I got home, I went on Magellan's website and there were no POI upgrade/addition files. This was a little bit frustrating. I have heard that because the unit it sponsored by AAA, that, that is the reason for the limited POI's. This unit has 1.5 million or something, when others have over 4 million. However, there is software that comes with it which is a POI editor, and there are websites that you can download POI's and edit them for the Magellan Maestro 4000. I found an Apple Store file, for Apple stores across the 48 states, converted it and loaded it into my Maestro. I just only wish I knew that earlier.
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by nchecchi (see profile) -
April 30, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Better than the professional GPS on my fire engine
I work for a fire department and we have a propriatory GPS guidence in our dispatch computers that calculate best ...
I work for a fire department and we have a propriatory GPS guidence in our dispatch computers that calculate best route to the call. The Magellane is MUCH better. I whish our dispatch computers had magellan maps and programed to recalculate if you get off the route, go to night mode and chose the best route to the call as the Magellan does. The only weak points that I have found are that the detour function often takes you WAY out of our way and trying to find many restaurants that I know are in the area the Magellan 4000 doesn't list. Otherwise this is a great product and I use it all the time, sometimes to map my route but mostly just for fun.
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by jdoumak (see profile) -
April 29, 2008
7 out of 10 - Very good Decent basic beginner GPS
I got this unit as a Christmas gift. I have been using marine grade GPS systems (Northstar, Furuno, Raytheon) for ...
I got this unit as a Christmas gift. I have been using marine grade GPS systems (Northstar, Furuno, Raytheon) for several years, so I am very familiar with the theory. For the price, you get a decent GPS unit, very user friendly. Setup was cake, just charge, mount and go. The 4.3' screen is easy to read. The directions and re-routing are decent and quick, but it did fail to recognize some roads. I have found that some POI addresses dont show in the correct locations, off within about 100 yards. No big deal. Satellite connection has taken no more than 30 seconds for full signal. Map tracking is a tad slow, but not excessive. The only feature that I am missing is a "breadcrumb" setting. For my needs, this unit is perfect, but for those seeking more options (bluetooth), go with a Garmin.
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by EvilBuddha666 (see profile) -
December 29, 2007
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