Magellan Maestro 4040
Manufacturer: Magellan Corp. Part number: 980920-01A
- 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 4040 price range: $344.90
- 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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Don't waste your time or money on this one
by LarryCW on April 10, 2007
Pros: Nice sleek design, current maps, great POI, AAA
Cons: terrible text to speech, unreadable fonts on map, confuses instead of aiding you while routing, bad u turn function, too many impt options buried
Summary: My Garmin C550 was recently stolen and after doing some reading up I decided to buy the Maestro for a change. What a huge mistake.
Where do I start? Out ...Summary: My Garmin C550 was recently stolen and after doing some reading up I decided to buy the Maestro for a change. What a huge mistake.
Where do I start? Out of the box it looks solid and has a nice sleek design. The interface looks pretty good too though it?s not as intuitive as the Garmin. The Maestro requires too many finger taps to frill down to menus and options that should be readily available.
The first thing I noticed was how tiny the fonts were on the map screen. Since it is a huge screen this is inexcusable. I have perfect vision and yet I still struggled to read crucial information such as the next turn, what road I?m on, and what icons to select. What is also missing on the screen is the ETA. I looked high and low for this option but it doesn?t exist. Instead it gives you how many hours and minutes to your destination and you have to calculate the time of arrival in your head. I don?t think any nav system excludes ETA except for this one.
The routing is very confusing as well, mostly because of the text to speech voice that speaks too fast, too garbled and too robotic. A nav system is supposed to eliminate confusion when driving. The Maestro just adds to the confusion. Between a voice you can?t understand and text you cannot read, the Never Lost will get you lost.
I live a mile south of 6 lane major road. I purposely missed the turn I usually take off of that road to see how quickly I?d be rerouted. The next left is only about ¼ mile away and also leads me directly to my home. Instead, the Maestro kept prompting me to make a ?legal u turn when possible.? I missed a host of lefts I could have taken as the Maestro kept asking me to make that u turn. This lasted for 2.7 miles till the maestro finally asked me to take a left ? into a Wal-Mart parking lot!
I took a trip from my home in Mass. to D.C. and it was a horrible experience. The routing and voice instructions were so unclear and confusing that I was better off just using MapQuest. At least I could have read MapQuest?s printed fonts.
The bad is so extensive that I will list them. I?m sure I?m forgetting some
1) Quick Type, a good feature that grays out letter that is not needed is only available when keying in an address to route. Why is it unavailable when keying in a Point of Interest?
2) When switching from map view to menu and vice versa there is often a delay and glitch. The hourglass keeps coming up. The same happens when switching back and forth from map to the step by step maneuvers.
3) Small fonts on a big screen. You can barely see the fonts especially at night.
4) The colors at night are too bright even if you turn the brightness level down. Too green, too red, too blinding.
5) TTS is nearly impossible to understand and the pronunciation is totally off. ?Aiport? becomes ?A-Row-Poit.? New Castle becomes ?En Why Cast Lee.? ?Turn left in ¼ mile? becomes ?Terlefbin ¼ mile.? The woman?s voice is way too fast and way too unclear. It makes for one confusing rote.
6) Your destination is not announced as being on the left or right. You have to guess. This can pose a danger.
7) The Maestro will have you drive for miles asking you to u turn. This is not very helpful when you?re in an unfamiliar town, your bearings are lost and you do not know whether to turn left or right. There is no option to turn this off as there was in my Garmin C550, which wouldn?t keep insisting I make a u turn even if I had it enabled.
8) The road exclude doesn?t work. The highways I want to exclude keep showing up.
9) Terrible foam carrying case.
10) So much more bad, but you get the picture.
The only goods I can think of are
1) It looks cool
2) Sturdy hardware
3) Quick calculations
4) Excellent, current maps. It shows new developments that my Garmin didn?t.
Needless to say, this is going back in a couple of days. I?ll go back to Garmin, which is thousands of times better than this, only I?ll have to decide which model.36 out of 48 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Magellan finally gets it right!
by Muddy Paws on June 19, 2007
Pros: Bluetooth, speaks street names, AAA linked, very light and thin, many pre-loaded maps
Cons: 2 hour battery life, no synch of cell contacts, robotic female voice, updates erase address book so an SD card is key
Summary: I started my quest at Sam's Club. The only GPS that suited my needs was the Garmin Nuvi 660 for $599. A great price, but, alas, they were sold ...
Summary: I started my quest at Sam's Club. The only GPS that suited my needs was the Garmin Nuvi 660 for $599. A great price, but, alas, they were sold out. So off to Best Buy I went. They had three models that I liked: The Nuvi 660 for $799, the Nuvi 350 for $499 and the Magellan Maestro 4040 for $499. I had a feeling I could find one of them for a lot cheaper since Best Buy's selections were last year's models or the newer models all at higher prices. It's almost as if Best Buy boosts the prices and dares you to price shop.
I wasn't completely sold on the Nuvi 360 and the Nuvi 660 was just too much. Due to the TomTom Go910's out of date data base (even though it includes maps of Europe) I felt flustered and went home to do more homework.
The first thing I can suggest is don't get suckered into buying a GPS that enables you to store MP3s or store pictures. This is supposed to be a GPS unit - who needs to see a slide show of their friends and family while driving? MP3s can be heard on MP3-enabled dash units or portable devices such as the Sansa e280 MP3 player.
I liked the Magellan brand, so my choice became which of the Maestro series I'd choose.
The Maestro 4000 is the basic version and does NOT have Bluetooth. The other drawback is that it ONLY has maps of the 48 contiguous states. While this might be fine for some users, I like the Bluetooth feature and I travel to Canada once in a while. It runs about $315 to $400.
The Maestro 4040 was the most logical choice for my dad and myself. It has Bluetooth, maps of the USA and includes Alaska and Hawaii, Canada and Puerto Rico. European maps are an optional add-on. Since we have a place in Hawaii and we go to Canada, it was perfect. The traffic alerts option is available for the 4040 but is more expensive as an add-on than purchasing the 4050 (which comes with it). The 4040 usually runs about $499 to $550 (but see my Costco adventure below). Another great thing (for us anyway) is setting The Staples Center as an address book entry. We go to many hockey games but the place is located deep in the heart of downtown LA. Usually a traffic nightmare. This GPS will give us all sorts of alternative routes if the freeways are jammed or there's congested streets. I'm sure this would help most people discover secret ways to get to places they've been to a million times.
The Maestro 4050 adds voice commands and traffic alerts for the $560 to $700 price range. I thought that voice commands might be tough if I was on a road trip with the music on and the windows open and I already have traffic alerts on my XM radio.
So off to Costco I went. As I walked in, it was like the clouds parted and I could hear a Gregorian chant when I spotted the display for the Magellan Maestro 4040 for... get this...$399!!!!!!! That's $100 cheaper than Best Buy and lower than anywhere on the net too. I would strongly suggest calling your local Costco first to make sure they have them in stock. The SKU# is 204040.
About 15 minutes of set up time and it was all set. I just wish my Bluetooth cell phone would be able to send my address book to this GPS.
Plotting a Course:
All you need to do is enter the city, then the street and the address. Bongo - you're on your way. The screen will display either a 3D, a 2D or turn-by-turn maps. Of course, for those who don't have an exact address, you can enter an intersection of try locating it in POI database. For instance, let's say you're hungry and want to find the nearest Applebee's. You enter the name and the GPS will tell you were the nearest one is to your current position. If you're in an unfamiliar city and want to know where a gas station or post office or grocery store is, simple. Just punch it into the GPS and you're on your way. It really reduces my stress level when driving - especially in new cities.
User interface:
Gone are the bland text-only buttons. Thanks to a system built on Windows CE, the screen comes alive with vibrant color icons. Nine of them, in fact:
Show Map: Shows you your current position on a 2D or 3D map as you move through the city or town.
Enter Address: Allows you to enter a destination or intersection by city or state. It also allows you to add addresses or POIs to your custom database.
Points of Interest (POI): You can search by name, category, enhanced or AAA tourbook. Enhanced section allows for advanced selections and alarms to be set.
Trip Planner: For single or multiple destinations.
Exit POIs: When traveling the highways, the exit POIs will guide you top the nearest restaurant, rest areas, etc.
User Options: Here's the nerve center of the unit.
Once in the User Option area, you're faced with 14 tabs.
Region: Where you set the region you're currently traveling in.
System settings: Volume, brightness, language, etc. By the way, this GPS has English, French and Spanish included.
Trip Computer: for stats on your current trip
POI Selection: You can choose any or all of the icons to appear on your map. For instance, if you're headed to another city and get hungry, there are restaurant icons that will appear and if you tap one, it'll give you info on the establishment and their number so you can call from the car.
The extensive icon list includes, gas stations, restaurants, coffee, shopping, airport, bank/ATMs, camping, casino, city centers, convention center, education, entertainment, golf, grocery store, health services, home improvement, hotels, marina, nightlife, parking, public buildings, car rental, rest area, sports & recreation, tourist attraction, transportation, winery and Other services. Again, you can pick and choose which (if not all) the icons you wish to appear on your route maps.
There are also smaller buttons at the bottom of the menu screen:
A house icon, which instantly routes you back "Home", a tow truck icon which links to AAA Roadside Assistance. This screen shows your current GPS latitude and longitude. (knowing these numbers is great for storing your own POIs). It also has the 800 numbers to call AAA. And lastly, a telephone icon.
The telephone link brings you to a screen with 8 more icons. The phone dial pad, address book, call history, redial, SMS (for text messaging), search for devices, pair with a device and Bluetooth. The last three are used to pair the GPS with your Bluetooth-enabled phone.
Design:
There are two body types of add-on GPS units available today. The thicker type that resembles the old CRT televisions and the thin style GPS that resembles today's LCD TVs. Of course, the thinner models are more expensive, look a lot more sleek and a few more mounting possibilities. The 4040 is less than an inch deep (front to back). Most of the newer GPS units have an integrated antenna. No more need to flip up the bulky GPS antenna any longer.
On the left side of the unit are SD card slot, the power button and the USB interface. On the right side are the headphone jack and power in ports.
AAA Club Members:
If you input your membership number into the GPS, the unit is linked to a built-in data base of AAA discounts. AAA destination descriptions (and be able to call directly from that screen), AAA show your card and save locations, AAA diamond rated hotels and restaurants, and AAA approved auto repair facilities.
Also, Magellan offers a 15% discount on Magellan accessories for AAA members. For those who do not have OnStar, this GPS will help you when you break down with AAA Roadside Assistance. All you do is call AAA via the Bluetooth on the GPS and they can instantly track your position and get you the help you need.
Even if you're not a AAA member, you still get the points of interest data base within your GPS unit.
What Comes In the Box:
The GPS unit, the A/C power cord, a vehicle (cigarette) power cord, a mounting plate for the dash, a well-designed suction cup / windshield mount, manual quick start guide, a protective pouch and a CD rom that also links you to the Magellan website for registration, support and more.
The factory warranty is ONE year and you can purchase an extended service agreement from the place you purchased it (except for places like Costco) or you can purchase a 2-year extended plan directly from Magellan.
What I love:
The coolest feature (unless you have multiple love interests) is the fact that I can couple my Bluetooth-enabled cell phone to my 4040. If someone in my address calls me or anyone displaying caller ID call, I can see who's calling on my screen without having to get my cell and look - thus, taking my eyes off the road for longer periods of time. This would be a bad thing if you're a player and have someone in the seat next to you that should not see who's calling. Also, if I want to call a P.O.I. or call anyone on my route, I simply touch a button and I can call them right from the GPS via speakerphone or my Bluetooth headset.
Unlike other reviews I have read about the Maestro series, there IS a volume control in two places. On any map, there's a faint icon of a speaker, tap it and have access to the volume control. This volume control is also accessible via the User Options icon in the main menu.
I love being able to plot (up to) 20 destinations in one trip and have the GPS optimize a route for me.
I love being able to use this GPS without a cable. The battery takes about three hours to charge.
What I'm on the Fence About:
My 760 has the option to view my route in split screen. I could see the route on one side and the directions on the other. The 4040 doesn't have this selectable view feature but it does display it when a turn is coming up.
The 760 has a selectable male or female voice. Not only does 4040 have only the female voice, her voice is not as pleasant. This time around, she sounds more like a robotic chain smoker. While this might not be an issue with the guys, the ladies might prefer to hear a man's voice once in a while.
What I Don't Like:
The 4040 doesn't allow for wireless sync of a Bluetooth cell phone's address book. So I'm forced to enter all my contacts by hand which is a bit arduous.
The fully charged battery life is rated at just over TWO HOURS of continuous use. That needs to be improved. Of course there are the AC and VDC power supplies for home and vehicle usage, but using it hand-held, it should last longer than just over two hours.
Each and every time I boot up, I'm met with the disclaimer screen about the safe usage of the GPS while operating a vehicle - ANNOYING!
Accessories:
Maps for other countries available on CD rom or SD card
I would strongly suggest getting a 1 gig (or higher) SD card.
If you live in a bad area for GPS signals, buy an optional exterior antenna.
They offer headphones for the unit, but I would not use them while driving as it is illegal in most states to block both your ears from hearing sirens and such.
There's also a long goose neck floor mount available.
Magellan was smart by adding a storage card slot (MMC or SD) in the 4040. Why? Because every time a firmware, map or POI update is available, they warn you that your address book will be erased. Why? Well, saving your address book to the memory card will enable you to restore all your info after an update.15 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
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An excellent GPS unit at a great price, one of Magellan best
by GPS4ME on April 7, 2007
Pros: large 4.3" bright touch sceen display, excellent audio out put, AAA tourbook, TTS, SiRF, BT
Cons: Not as much POI information as some of the more expensive units
Summary: Magellan has done it again, the Maestro 4040 is a great contribution towards the PNAV market, similar to a 4.3" Garmin Nuvi like device that is a no nonsense ...
Summary: Magellan has done it again, the Maestro 4040 is a great contribution towards the PNAV market, similar to a 4.3" Garmin Nuvi like device that is a no nonsense personal navigation device without all the extras.
My experience has been excellent with this new products understanding ALL PND have it's limitations and challenges, the Maestro is a breath of fresh air.
The new Magellan user interface is very easy, practical and very intuitive, this is a huge change in direction for Magellan compare to the older user interface.
What is most pronounce and the biggest differentiator between the Magellan Maestro and Garmin Nuvi is that the Magellan Maestro now includes
1] AAA rating guide which includes restaurant, hotels and many others.
2] AAA Tour book which includes such events as Home and Garden shows date and time, Art and Wine Festivals date and time, Antique shows date and time etc,
3] AAA branch offices for you to buy register your vehicle or make reservation with AAA travel agency.
4] AAA approved Auto repair facilities to take your vehicle to if it breaks down when you are on a road trip, these AAA approved auto repair facilities are reliable and have to answer to AAA if there is a complaint,
5] Camp grounds and RV park locations
6] AAA roadside assistance phone number,
7] AAA membership saver guide etc. Garmin charges extra for saver guide, travel guide, etc., which is included in the Magellan Maestro units
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The soon to be release Magellan Maestro 4050 will also include voice command capability which is a huge feature enhancement, Garmin, TomTom and Mio does not offer this feature and only some of the high end installed GPS system such as Pioneer, Alpine along with some OEM units have some limited features such as voice command capabilities.
The Maestro 4040 also includes Bluetooth hands free capabilities along with traffic information as an options using the Magellan TMC cradle.
The Bluetooth hands free feature is solid and can import phone number from the address book or from POI and dial the number for you if a Bluetooth phone is paired with the Maestro.
The Exit Points of Interest is extremely helpful for users that is on a long road trip and do not wish to back track to find a gas station or restaurant. This feature is unique to Magellan since it only offers POI's that is ahead of your direction of travel and not what you have just past.
We did not find the reroute option to be an issue, as fast or faster than the older Magellan Roadmate 760. Routing from California to New York 100 Main Street only took 25 seconds to calculate and the unit was ready to route.
Bluetooth handsfree features paired up well with BT phones we tested with, huge improvement over the Magellan Roadmate 6000T BT.
With all the great features and ability, what is missing?
What is noticeably missing is Magellan Trip planner route optimization, Magellan retain the trip planner but left out the ability to optimize the route to offer the user the most efficient route from the nearest to the furthest destination in your trip planner folder.
The MP3 player, the photo viewer is noticeably missing but may not be a deciding factor for someone that is looking for a good PND without all the extras.
I have been testing this Magellan Maestro product for a while now as a beta tester and the product is solid and should be a winner for Magellan. Did not experience the lock up and slow processing issues as I have with other units we have tested.
Overall, the competition is getting even hotter, Magellan just raised the stakes by offering a no nonsense PND at an affordable price with everything one would need and nothing that you do not need for navigation purposes. For now, I would recommend the Magellan Maestro if you wish to have a large display unit that is fast and efficient at an affordable price15 out of 17 users found this user opinion helpful.
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The Maestro 4040 looks better on paper than it actually is
by robgps on April 7, 2007
Pros: Lots of features (if they work correctly; which they don't)
Cons: Poor routing, poor software design, long recalcs, viewing route list hangs unit up, slow map redraws
Summary: OK....I couldn't wait and bought the 4040 at Circuit City at 10 AM. I returned it at 7 PM. Can you tell I wasn't impressed?
I will ...Summary: OK....I couldn't wait and bought the 4040 at Circuit City at 10 AM. I returned it at 7 PM. Can you tell I wasn't impressed?
I will give you my opinion and I'll be interested to see what Fletch has to say in his upcoming, in depth review.
I'll start with the good. Let me preface this by saying I'm from NY and recently my job took me to CT, where I currently live. I do a lot of traveling for work, especially on the east coast, and am always in NY to visit friends and family. I know the NY streets like the back of my hand, since I was born there and lived there for just about my entire life.
Pros:
- Good screen; visible in all kind of lighting. The little sun that hit it directly didn't affect its readability.
- Seems to be jam-packed with routing featrure, i.e. detour by road. How well they work is another story and I'll explain this in more detail in the "cons."
- Routing engine seems, well, OK. Just OK. It took some of the same routes as my 2720, but took some really odd ones, especially in NY. I'll explain later. Both units use NavTeq maps, so the choices of routes probably come primarily from the routing engines. However, the NavTeq maps on the Maestro seem more outdated than my Garmin, which is running under Navigator 8. Navigator 8, with its NavTeq maps, is out about a year now, so shame on Magellan if this is the case.
- Good, loud speakers. Very impressive.
- "Exit POI's" While traveling on the highway, this will take you to POI's in the direction you are traveling, and not behind you.
- AAA guide. Very useful if you're a AAA member like me.
Cons:
- Slow map redraws. The Windows hour glass would pop up now and then and this frustrated me, much as one would be frustrated by the hour glass on a slow computer. My Garmin redraws instantaneously, so flawlessly that you cannot even tell.
- When switching to the list view, to examine the route, the hour glass literally hangs the unit for a minute or more. You cannot even scroll past certain roads till the unit catches up to the text. That's how awful and unacceptable it is.
- You cannot set "Home" to your current location. You must input an address. Seems like it's no big deal until you realize that some people live in condos or complexes, and the physical address of their unit either doesn't exist or doesn't take them to their door.
- The unit is bulky. Not as streamlined as the Garmin. This is not something you'd feel comfortable with carrying in your pocket throughout the day, especially in the summertime when your pockets are already filled with your wallet and cell.
- U-turns. Friggin U-Turns. There is NO option to turn this off. If you miss a turn, you will travel endlessly as the unit keeps trying to roue you the opposite way via a u-turn. I was on 372 (in Cromwell CT) and the Silas Deane Hwy in Rocky Hill CT. I intentionally missed my turn and for what seemed like miles, the unit insisted I make a U-Turn. You do NOT make a U-turn on either road, unless you're begging for a ticket from the cops who hide in the strip malls waiting to nail you.
Same thing happened on major roads in NY where only a psychopath would take a U-turn.
- When starting out on a route, the Maestro rarely tells you to take the highlighted route, as the Garmin units do. You have to drive some for the TTS to kick in. Not such a big deal I suppose, but you're sitting there confused for a bit, wondering in which direction to travel.
- TTS. (Text to Speech). Extremely robotic and not as conversational and natural as Garmin's. Garmin units will say, "In 500 feet, make a left turn onto Broadway." The Maestro goes something like this: " In 500 feet make a left turn"....pause......"Broadway." The Maestro TTS certainly isn't pleasing to the ears and the phrasing is unnatural as you can see from my example.
- POI - I didn't test the accuracy of many POIs, but one thing about the Maestro POI was annoying. When the list for a category would appear, it would not tell you the direction of each POI, like the Garmin does. You'd have to select it and route to it to find out where the heck it was. However, there is a useful "exit POI" function that would take you to the POI toward your exit on the highway, and not behind the direction you are traveling.
-Detour function. What should have been a HUGE plus is actually a huge disappointment. The Maestro wanted to take me on a strange route to Brooklyn, NY (more on that later). After waiting for the hourglass to disappear (tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, snore) to examine how the unit wanted to route me, I disvovered some really shady, unexplainable raods it wanted to route me on. So, I selected the first road, chose "exclude" waited for the recalculation and expected to be a happy camper.
I then examined this new route. Back to "list." Back to more hourglass. I noticed that the road was not excluded. ***? I tried it again. More waiting. Still there (the raod I wanted to exclude) but I noticed that the unit changed the way it wanted to take me to this road. It didn't exclude the road, only how to get to that excluded road.
So I pulled over and played with these "detours" and raods I wanted to exclude for a good 20 minutes, each time unsucessfully, trying to trick the unit into taking the road my preferred way. FINALLY I discovered that I shouldn't exclude the road I didn't want to travel. but the EXIT that road takes you to. How effin dumb is that? The Magellan engineers need to go back to grade school.
What makes matters worse is that you can only exclude one road at a time, so it's hit or miss and you have to keep going back to the drawing board to finally extinguish that road. The Garmin 2720 nails this one beautifully. Garmin gets it right!
- Routing engine. Going from CT to NY. Not exactly the sticks, so you'd think that a decent unit, especially one for 500 bucks should get it right.
Instead, not only where the choice of roads questionable, but, no matter my pref - fastest, use of highway, etc,. the Maestro wanted to take me off the highway, WAY before my destination and though the streets in a shady neighborhood with a traffic light on just about every block. My destination was in the Bay Ridge NY area (for those familiar with NY...and CT. I know fletc is) . The Maestro wanted to put me on the Jackie Robinson Hwy and exit to the streets of East NY (bad area) to Kings Highway (which truly isn't a highway - there are lights at every corner or so). Only a tourist, who just got off a plane and is visiting NY for the first time, who can't speak English and has an IQ of 52 would go this way.
- Limited routing prefs. Fastest or shortest time etc. No combination or options like more use of highway, less use of highway, etc. You are stuck with one choice. Lame. Phone GPS's offer more and cost a hell of a lot less.
Conclusion: The Maestro looks AWESOME on paper, but is terribly disappointing in real life usage. I was truly hoping that Magellan would get this one right, but they have a long way to go to compete with Garmin...or even Tom Tom. I'd have to give the Maestro a failing grade.
I wanted a compact unit to go with my bulky Garmin 2720 and 2730, plus GPS technology has become a bit of a passion and hobby. What I wound up doing was returning the Maestro and bought a Garmin nuvi 350 for my wife. The software of the nuvi doesn't compare to the 2720 (less routing options), but playing with and driving around with it for a couple of hours, it seems like a Picasso compared to the Magellan Maestro. The nuvi is quick, map redraws are instant and not noticeable, and the routing is SO much better than the Maestro, at least in CT and simulated routes throughout the northeast.Updated
I may be mistaken about the POI not showing directional pointers prior to selecting them for your route. I read somewhere that they do, although I don't remember seeing them. Maybe you have to drill down a screen.
In any event, given all the other cons, I cannot recommend this unit.14 out of 18 users found this user opinion helpful.
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BEST OT THE BEST
by darla1234 on November 10, 2007
Pros: GREAT DIRECTIONS - UNLIKE GARMIN 350 & TOM TOM XL-S
Cons: Great unit... Have none
Summary: I owned the TomTom one xl-s for a week and had to return it. (NO good in the NYC area) I was told the Garmin 350 was "hands down" the ...
Summary: I owned the TomTom one xl-s for a week and had to return it. (NO good in the NYC area) I was told the Garmin 350 was "hands down" the best in its price range and they were wrong. Was lost big time in the bronx, NY. Not a good place to be lost....I returned the Garmin 350 and bought the Magellan 4040 and could not be more satisfied... GREAT UNIT!!! Excellent directions without the crap... I am in sales and all I want is to use the bluetooth (phone & and great navigation capabilities)... Have not been put on a wild goose chase since I bought the unit. Everything has been on the mark. This unit is so much better then the units I owned prior and can't believe the great ratings they received. In the north east I would consider trying the 4040 or 4050. I have nothing to gain from this recomendation but the quality difference is huge so I had to write about it. Good luck!! I hope this helped.
JS4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent GPS for the money
by kphillips98 on November 9, 2007
Pros: Fast start up , sleek design, screen size, accurate, easy to use, blue tooth connection to cell phone
Cons: Battery life is under 2 hours
Summary: This is a great looking device, very portable, rugged and easy to use. I use this for both business and pleasure. I can slide it into my briefcase with no ...
Summary: This is a great looking device, very portable, rugged and easy to use. I use this for both business and pleasure. I can slide it into my briefcase with no problem for trips. It is very flat and portable. Set up is easy, worked righ out of the box. It connects easily to my Blackberry 8300 via blue tooth and makes a neat speaker phone. Start up is quick. The longest it has taken was about 1/2 a mile. This typically is when it is first turned on, after that it is within 50 feet of moving he car.
I find recalculations fast. It has a neat reroute indicator in traffic jams (when I am on the freeway going 5 mph for example) it suggests getting off and recalcs the route. Speakers are loud and easy to understand.
The screen size is perfect, not to big and not to small. Due to its size it can split the screen, showing the map on the right and the turn on the left side of the screen.
Great Unit for the price. I would definitely look at this company if I was going to buy another unit. I paid $399 from Dell Small business. Garmin could not compete on the value scale.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Magellan disappoints me again
by FredKeller on October 12, 2007
Pros: Gets me to destination
Cons: Outdated map data, no town/city names, slow CPU
Summary: I bought the 4040 with apprehension and because it was available and Garmin was not. In my previous experience with a handheld GPS, I sold my Magellan and bought a ...
Summary: I bought the 4040 with apprehension and because it was available and Garmin was not. In my previous experience with a handheld GPS, I sold my Magellan and bought a Garmin and it turned out to be much better. I will return the Magellan for a refund ASAP and will get a Garmin.
I just finished 3000 miles from Alaska to Oregon. While the unit helped get me there, it showed the following flaws:
1. Routed me over a bridge closed for 3 years.
2. When I am on a route (not a freeway), POI's aren't available. If I ask for "Exit POI's, none available is returned. I have to cancel the route to access POI's. A real bad feature!!!!
3. When zooming in and out, selected point in the circle after panning does not stay anchored and moves.
4. Panning with finger is very jerky and movement is unpredictable.
5. City/Town names are not displayed. That requires me to have a paper map to know what town is ahead.
6. I bought my unit on September 24 2007. After updating firmware to 2.24 I have map data current as of June of 2006. That is totally bad.4 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Opinion of first time GPS owner - excellent!
by petermichaelw on May 29, 2007
Pros: wide screen, quick response map, number of POIs, zip code entry, ample sound, user friendly menus, easy operation
Cons: software not adjustable, occasional innacuracies, slow to search for POI by name, too many clicks to enter new address into address book,
Summary: I purchased this device at best buy for 449.00, after comparing to the cobra, tomtom, and garmin nuvi 200 & 350, etc. What sold me was the bigger screen ...
Summary: I purchased this device at best buy for 449.00, after comparing to the cobra, tomtom, and garmin nuvi 200 & 350, etc. What sold me was the bigger screen which seemed to be the best mix of color and an accurate view. Also the sheer number of POIs.
I considered the Garmin 350 for the battery life, but the screen is smaller, an antennae sticks out, it has no zip entry, no bluetooth, and the magellan has a illustration of your upcoming turn, and the distance to it on the main screen. The Garmin has no turn specific illustration and no mention of the distance to it. The Garmin does have an updated ETA on the main screen, while the Magellan has this information one click away, but I would rather have more information about upcoming turns than ETA constantly displayed. I will note that I have 20-15 vision and some of the text may be too small for some, but I was delighted.
You can look up all the features for any of the devices, so let me just add my observation on the actual operation I saw.
Screen / Mapping
The screen looks great to me, I do like the Garmin style though as well, so this is ceartainly a matter of taste. I read alot of negative talk about the Magellan being u-turn happy, but when I specifically went off course I would only get the u-turn suggestion as appropriate (I am in NJ where most main roads have jug handles, and with one exception in a month of constant use, the Magellan advised me to take the appropriate, safe way to turn, and/or turn back. The device updates in a second or two, and when it actually is quicker it changes from telling you to turn back to telling you to go forward with new route.
Detour-
I will admit I have not used the Detour function but a couple of times, yet I found it very nice. It compares your speed constantly with the speed expected on the road you are travelling. When you are in traffic, it prompts you with a little red detour symbol. One clidk to the detour menu, you enter the ballpark distance of the slowdown, and it immediately routes you around. Very pleased.
POIs-
Many POI's organized by category & subcategory. This is one of the key features, they just need to iron out the kinks. One being the speed of a search by name, can take up to 30 seconds. Another being a category search can leave you missing some POIs. I searched for Lowes under home improvement/ home center/ and none were found. Home Depot, but no lowes? Only after searching home improvement / lumber/ did I find it. This does not apply, of course to a search by name, and really like I say is more of a kink needing to be worked out than a major problem.
Address book-
Easy to enter and maintain with 2 exceptions. You cannot enter your home address by locking your current location, you must actually enter an address, so if the internal map is off a hundred feet or so, (as would be expected with however many billions of addresses, locations, etc) you can't correct the home location. Also to enter a new address into the address book you must hit at least 4 touches on the screen to get into the correct entry menu. And there absolutely should be an escape or quit key that allows you to exit from any place to the main menu in one click, because you are forced to hit back or cancel to get out as far as you got in. This brings me to my last point.
Software-
These are little computers, slower versions of the future computers we will all be carrying around with us. They have nearly INFINITE updateability and adjustability! I would expect that all the GPS manufacturers would be making the ownership of their product a gateway to a special community / family, where input is requested and rewarded, and where updates are given and suggestions are implemented. The GPS is running software after all. I have visited Garmin's website as well as Magellan's and I get not sense of community. They simply want you to register, and only complain if the device fails, or you are too stupid to figure out how to use it. I don't understand this. If Magellan took and active role in getting inputs and implementing them, they could have Garmin by the suction cups, but instead they just seemingly update the software at the same rate as any other "dumb" device.
My main suggestion would be making the interface adjustable. The user can decide how the screen looks, colors, which pieces of information on the main screen, etc. When I upgrade to a new unit, that is the feature I will be looking for. Even if I would have to adjust these conditions in a windows program and then load like an update onto the device, it would be far better.
Conclusion-
A solid device. Like I say, my first GPS. I am a solid gadget guy who waited too long to get a GPS, but this thing really changes how I drive. Now I just drive and worry about the scenery, not staying on the beaten path, or the "google map printout." I would recommend this device for the reasons I mention, but ABSOLUTELY this like most things electronic is opinion based. I shopped around for a couple solid days, touching, researching, asking questions, etc. I just really liked the overal product of the 4040 better than the others out there, and I still do.
Good luck2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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A Very Good GPS Unit for the Money
by GCSM2002 on May 16, 2007
Pros: Screen Size, Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, AAA Points of Intrest
Cons: Phone contacts can't be transferred, no auto connect function for the bluetooth
Summary: After doing much research into buying a GPS unit I settled on the Maestro 4040....And I'm not sorry....If your in the market for a Good Basic GPS ( ...
Summary: After doing much research into buying a GPS unit I settled on the Maestro 4040....And I'm not sorry....If your in the market for a Good Basic GPS ( when I say basic I mean NO picture viewer, media player or all the other things a GPS unit does not need to be a GPS)then this is a good unit for you.I've had this unit for Two week's now and have used it to travel to Ct. from N.H.and all over N.H. and Ma. and It works perfectly
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good Streamlined Portable GPS
by lawadvisors on May 3, 2007
Pros: attractive design, good navigation, AAA Tourbook
Cons: no auto connect for bluetooth phone, no auto volume
Summary: In the past I owned both a TomTom Go 300 and TomTom One. I sold my 300 and purchased the One because I needed a slimmer GPS for my vehicle. ...
Summary: In the past I owned both a TomTom Go 300 and TomTom One. I sold my 300 and purchased the One because I needed a slimmer GPS for my vehicle. However, I quickly returned the One as I was unable read the screen on sunny days. I purchased the 4040 because of the AAA Tourbook, use of Navteg Maps (vs. TeleAtlas on TomTom), and brighter screen. I have not been disappointed. Directions seem to be accurate, however I note that the POI database may be a little outdated. I can acutally read the screen when using during daylight. The 4040 is very easy to use as well. As I am a AAA member I love the included tourbook. Also unlike the TomTom POIs are more detailed, for example TomTOm allows you to search for restaurants whereas the 4040 allows you search by cusisine type such as Italian, Mexican, and so on. The vehicle mount also holds in place much better than either TomTom mount and the 4040 is easier to attach to the mount than either of the TomToms were. My only quibbles are that your bluetooth enabled cell phone will not automatically connect to the 4040, no automatic volume feature like on the TomTom, and that the touchscreen can be a little finicky sometimes. Otherwise, I think this a solid device with good features, the most important being I can acutally read the screen during daytime use in sunlight.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Magellan Corp.
- Part number: 980920-01A
- Description: The Maestro series offers enhanced functions and features - from a newly designed user interface and a 4.3" WQVGA touch screen for better ease of use and visibility, to Bluetooth hands-free calling capabilities to minimize driver distractions and real-time traffic services to help drivers reach their destination faster - so every driver will find a solution that best meets their navigation needs. The Magellan Maestro 4040 features Bluetooth hands-free phone calling functionality with advanced SayWhere text-to-speech voiced routing directions. The Maestro 4040 is also preloaded with full European maps from NAVTEQ, Marco Polo sight seeing points of interest plus an additional 1 million POI. Upgrade options will allow drivers to add real-time traffic services capabilities and CrossoverGPS kit for additional fees when available.
General
- Width 5 in
- Depth 0.8 in
- Height 3.7 in
- Weight 8.5 oz
GPS System
- Recommended Use Automotive
- Connectivity USB, Bluetooth
- Voice Navigation instructions
- Maps Included USA, Canada, Puerto Rico
- Software Included NAVTEQ ON BOARD
Built-in Display
- Type LCD
- Diagonal Size 4.3 in
- Display Illumination Yes
- Color Support Color
- Features Anti-glare, Touch screen
Connections
- Connector Type USB
Battery
- Battery Enclosure Type Internal
- Battery included qty 1
- Mfr estimated battery life 3 hour(s)
Miscellaneous
- Included GPS accessories Carrying pouch, AC power adapter, Car power adapter, Windshield holder
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & support type 1 year warranty
Product series
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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, Voice command recognition, 8.5 oz
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Manufacturer: Magellan Corp.
Specs: 20 channel, Automotive, Navigation instructions, 6.3 oz
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Manufacturer: Magellan Corp.
Specs:
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
