Magellan Maestro 4000
Manufacturer: Magellan Corp. Part number: 980919-01A
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- 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.
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CNET editors' review
Magellan Maestro 4000 price range: $589.99
- Reviewed by: Bonnie Cha
- Reviewed on: 04/05/2007
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.
User reviews
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Maestro 4000 - Great product!
by rits125 on November 10, 2007
Pros: Amazing accuracy, Re-calculating route speed, booting speed, "DING" tone at turn - Accurate!
Cons: none - if you insist I would say the "fancy" features - bluetooth, mp3, this that..etc. are available only in 4040
Summary: 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 ...Summary: 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!4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good when it works
by bigg1013 on July 30, 2007
Pros: Accurate guidance
Cons: Reboots and now won't turn on.
Summary: 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 ...
Summary: 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.
4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great fun, took us to the beach out of the box.
by siestas on June 14, 2007
Pros: AAA descriptions, nice display, intuitive controls
Cons: Could use more landmarks, POI's
Summary: 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 ...
Summary: 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.4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good for point-to-point, but VERY limited POI List
by mgironda on August 31, 2007
Pros: Nice, intuitive interface; big, bright screen with good resolution; plenty of info at your fingertips; AAA support; bundled accessories
Cons: POI list has only TWO categories of shopping; only 48-state map support with no plans to expand
Summary: 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 ...
Summary: 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.3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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As price come donw, it's still not woth buying it...
by A12345 on September 30, 2007
Pros: Loud and lear sound, small size unit.
Cons: It's freezes the location. Even "reset" button proveded by Magellan doesn't help!
Summary: 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 ...
Summary: 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!
2 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Magellan Maestro 4000 GPS Navigational System
by PrincessT1120 on July 9, 2007
Pros: Reroute, Points of Interest, AAA roadside assistance locator, options of multiple destinations, led touchscreen display, and traffic detour
Cons: No text to speech, no restaurant ratings, no weather forecast, or traffic update.
Summary: 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 ...
Summary: 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.
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Piece of crap.
by keith628 on July 8, 2009
Pros: Screen size
Cons: The map that came with it was way out of date. When the update finally came out it was still way out of date. The first update in firmware caused the device to be inoperable. I guess it will make a nice door stop since there is no support.
Summary: When it worked it was slow to change back to daytime screen. After firmware update it became inoperable and can not get any support from the company. Their online attempt ...
Summary: When it worked it was slow to change back to daytime screen. After firmware update it became inoperable and can not get any support from the company. Their online attempt at support which is "Ask Maggie" is useless and no way to get around it. Definitely recommend to buy someone else's product.
The company has now ask me to send it to them to see what they can do. Will keep you posted as to their follow-up and follow thru. Only want to be fair.
Updated on Jul 8, 2009 -
Good, but short life
by rezende1 on January 16, 2009
Pros: Small, slick and easy to use
Cons: Does not last long and a waste of money. Emailed requesting information and no reply.
Summary: The life of this product is short and out of warranty is not available. Their solution is to sell you another unit with a discount. what a deal, I paid ...
Summary: The life of this product is short and out of warranty is not available. Their solution is to sell you another unit with a discount. what a deal, I paid for 2 and have one.
I will not buy Magellan products again. I may get longer life sapn on my new one. -
Great first GPS!!
by djbigrodney on November 18, 2008
Pros: This product works great for me. I never owned one before, and on my first day it worked perfectly. I am a dj and getting to different gigs I would use MapQuest, but this system worked better.
Cons: I really do not have any. Some say landmarks are what they are looking for, but if you know what street to look for it is just the same.
Summary: I really have enjoyed having this peace of mind with my product, and sorry I did not purchase it sooner.
Summary: I really have enjoyed having this peace of mind with my product, and sorry I did not purchase it sooner.
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Unit wrks decent, but product support is horrible
by wilcotex on October 20, 2008
Pros: Unit is easy to navigate menus, big clear screen and turn by turn directions.
Cons: Product support is horrible. Unit came with maps way outdated (2 yrs), and took almost another year to come out with map update. Cant download maps, they send you a CD which costs $80.00.
Summary: Cons Coninued: Then you can't install your map updates until you "redeem" your unlock code using your key code on the CD. Think they then display your code for ...
Summary: Cons Coninued: Then you can't install your map updates until you "redeem" your unlock code using your key code on the CD. Think they then display your code for you, or email it to you?? NOPE! They mail it to you seperately. So I sit here still with a non updated unit. It has on occasion also given me some funky directions, but ultimately got me where I wanted to go. All in all I would recommend looking at other manufacturers, based on the prodiuct support of Magellan. They have serious issues.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Magellan Corp.
- Part number: 980919-01A
- Description: How would you like to save time and effort on the road? What if driving could be more pleasurable and less stressful? Magellan Maestro 4000 makes it easy! If you don't like reading directions, you'll love the Magellan Maestro vehicle navigation system! It's simple to use and ready to guide you to virtually any destination in the 48 contiguous United States. The thin, sophisticated design and attractive, intuitive touch-screen graphics make driving a pleasure. Enter an address or select from 1.5 million preprogrammed points of interest with a few touches of the screen. See your position and route on the 2D or 3D map and let Maestro's friendly voice guide you turn-by-turn, while you enjoy the drive. Plus, built-in AAA TourBook Guide travel information gives you instant access to service details and Diamond ratings from the world's leading travel expert. Quickly find AAA approved lodgings and restaurants, AAA Roadside Assistance details1, and discounts available through the AAA Show Your Card & Save program1.
General
- Width 5 in
- Depth 0.9 in
- Height 3.7 in
- Weight 8.5 oz
GPS System
- Recommended Use Automotive
- SBAS WAAS, EGNOS
- Accuracy Position - 3 - 5 m
- Connectivity USB
- Voice Navigation instructions
- Antenna Built-in
- Features 2D / 3D map perspective
- Supported Memory Cards SD Memory Card
- Maps Included 48 United States
Navigation
- Navigation routes 20
- Trip computer Avoid toll roads, Fast/short route, Maximize freeways, Minimize freeways
Built-in Display
- Type LCD
- Diagonal Size 4.3 in
- Features Touch screen
Connections
- Connector Type USB
Battery
- Battery Enclosure Type Internal
- Battery included qty 1
- Battery technology Lithium ion
- Mfr estimated battery life 2 hour(s)
Miscellaneous
- Body material High-impact plastic
- Included GPS accessories USB cable, Carrying pouch, AC power adapter, Automotive windshield mount
Product series
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Manufacturer: Magellan Corp.
Specs: Automotive, Audible signals, 0.5 lbs
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Manufacturer: Magellan Corp.
Specs: Automotive, Navigation instructions, 8.5 oz
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Manufacturer: Magellan Corp.
Specs: 20 channel, Automotive, Navigation instructions, Voice command recognition, 8.5 oz
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Manufacturer: Magellan Corp.
Specs: 20 channel, Automotive, Navigation instructions, 6.5 oz
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Manufacturer: Magellan Corp.
Specs: 20 channel, Automotive, Navigation instructions, 6.3 oz
Manufacturer info
- Magellan Corp.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Magellan Corp. products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.magellangps.com/
- Address:
960 Overland Ct.
San Dimas, CA 91773 - Phone: 909/394-5502
- Email: alinsey-jackson@thalesnavigation.com
- Fax: 408-615-3960
