mashimaru's Full Review: Magellan Maestro 3225 Car GPS Receiver
For my first portable GPS, I got the Garmin nuvi 200W as a gift, and it was a revelation. It worked so well, and was so great to have that I got another GPS for my husband, the Magellan Maestro 3225 from my local Costco.
My husband actually has a GPS in his car, but it is very difficult to use, because it doesn't have a touch screen.
Out of the Box
The Magellan Maestro 3225 comes with the standard suction windshield mount, a vehicle charging cable, an AC cable, and a USB cable. It also comes with a POI editor software and a very simple "start-up" manual.
Unlike the Garmin nuvi 200W, which needed to download for a few minutes out of the box, the Magellan Maestro 3225 could be used right away. But first, you have to get it out of that really thick blister-pack which is hard to open ...
Mounting it onto the windshield was easy, and the suction was very secure. It's also easy to remove, if you need to. It even comes with a little alcohol handy-wipe so you can clean your window before you attach it, a thoughtful little touch.
I haven't used the dashboard mount, because I have a compact car, and absolutely no space on my dashboard. I could stick it on the top of the dashboard, but that would also violate the same California vehicle code [Section 26708] that makes it illegal to have it mounted in the center of my windshield. (Tip: If you read the entire code, you'll see that you can put something on your windshield in the lower corners.)
Size, Screen, & Sound
The Magellan Maestro 3225 is very slim, and has a very shiny black, sleek look. It's also smaller than the Garmin nuvi 200W, but it's about the average size of any GPS unit that doesn't have a widescreen (3.5"). I've found that a widescreen is great, but for me, not a necessity. I've had no problems with the smaller screen.
The screen looks nice and bright. However, I'm not sure what the technical differences are, but I think the Garmin screens looks slightly better. Resolution, perhaps. Nothing wrong with this screen, though.
For me, the biggest drawback of the smaller size of the Magellan Maestro 3225 is its sound. It sounds softer at maximum volume than the Garmin nuvi 200W at 70% volume. I can still hear it just fine, but sometimes I have to turn the radio down.
Interface
Likes
There are a lot of things I like about Magellan Maestro 3225's interface compared to the Garmin nuvi 200W.
- The Garmin nuvi 200W lets you program the unit to avoid highways, and also if you want a faster, or closer (in distance) route. But you have to go into the settings. The Magellan Maestro 3225 asks you every time you calculate a route, if you want "most use of freeways" or "least use of freeways," and also if you want a faster, or closer (in distance) route.
I think this is superior, because these options are usually a variable that changes with circumstance, not a permanent preference.
- When searching for an address, you have the option of entering the zip code, instead of the street & state, which can be more efficient. Garmin doesn't have this option. (But oddly, when you find a location, the Magellan doesn't include the zip code in the listing, while the Garmin does.)
- I also like the Magellan Maestro 3225's map. Let's say you're on Cherry Road, and you need to make a right-turn at Lavender Lane. When looking at the Garmin map, it will say "Cherry Road to Lavender Lane" on top. If you forgot that you need to make a right turn next, you can look at the map itself for the navigation trail, or tap the screen to see your next maneuver(s).
The Magellan Maestro 3225 map screen says "Cherry Road" on top, and "Lavender Lane" on the bottom. It will also show a small right-turn arrow on the bottom of the screen, letting you know that's your next move. In addition to that, right before you make a turn, the screen is also halved, and on one side, you will see a large right-turn arrow, showing you that's the turn you're about to make.
Also, right when you're supposed to make a turn, the Garmin will tell you "turn right," while the Magellan Maestro 3225 simply makes a "ding-ding" sound (you can choose from three sounds) to distinguish it from the regular spoken directions.
I like the Garmin map, too, but I think these differences on the Magellan are preferable.
- The Magellan Maestro 3225 has the text-to-speech function, which speaks the street names. I really like this function. I don't think it's a necessity most of the time, but it can be very useful on freeway exchanges. 405 North or 405 South? When you're traveling fast, it's easier to keep your eyes on the road if you listen for it rather than look at the GPS screen.
In addition, when you're typing something, the unit speaks the letters. This is great because it minimizes typos. It's also got a function called "dynamic database gray-out letters" which blacks out the impossible letters based on what you are typing.
- The Magellan Maestro 3225 lists the saved locations in alphabetical order, while the Garmin lists them in order of distance from where you are. The Garmin list is obviously more useful and dynamic. But sometimes this means scrolling a lot because your chosen destination is far away.
- Another neat thing about the Magellan Maestro 3225 is that it has a scroll bar, like a computer screen: when scrolling through a long list, you can simply drag your finger to move up and down the list.
Disikes
There are some things I didn't like about Magellan Maestro 3225's interface compared to the Garmin nuvi 200W.
- When typing in a street such as "N. Maple Street," the Magellan Maestro 3225 requires you to add "N," instead of just "Maple." And based on that, it only gives you a range of possible street numbers (by using "dynamic database gray-out letters"). So basically, you have to know the direction of the street, and sometimes you don't know that.
Garmin, on the other hand, let's you just type "Maple," then it figures out the rest based on the street number you enter.
- Magellan Maestro 3225 is a pain when it comes to saving any location you find without first going into the "Address Book." First, you find a location. Then you have to "route" it (i.e., make the unit calculate the route). You have to do that to make the location end up in your "Previous Destinations." Then you have to go into your Address Book, rather than just "Previous Destinations." Within the Address Book there is a sub-menu called "Previous Destinations" from which you can add it to the Address Book.
I can see at least two possible short cuts here. It works fine, but it's needlessly complicated. The Garmin is the winner here - everytime you find a location, there is a button that says "Save." Much easier.
- Another thing I'm not so crazy about on the Magellan Maestro 3225 is that when you arrive at a destination, the map disappears and the destination address flashes on the screen for a few seconds. Since you've arrived, I guess you don't need to be looking at the map, but it's distracting anyway. Garmin simply marks the destination with a checkered flag icon on the map.
* In conclusion, I think the Magellan Maestro 3225 interface is a *little* superior to the Garmin, because its ability to specify route preference each time you drive is more practical. Magellan Maestro 3225's Address Book programming is definitely not efficient, but this isn't something you have to worry about while driving.
POI (Point of Interest)
I've found that POI's are actually very important. At first, you just expect a GPS to get you from A to B, and that it's your job to know where B is. But I've found a high number of POI's in a GPS very convenient, and pretty much essential.
All Garmin nuvi units come with 6 million POI's. And that was what I was used to. The Magellan Maestro 3225, however, comes with only 1.3 million. It's something I noticed right away, and it's definitely a drawback.
However, I was able to download a 6 million POI file off the internet and was able to load it onto my Magellan.(*) It was surprisingly easy.
Calculation Speed
Re-calculation speed is particularly important. When you make a wrong turn, you want the GPS to give you an alternate route ASAP. I find the Garmin to be satisfyingly fast - whenever I make a wrong turn, the Garmin immediately starts re-calculating, and I don't feel like it's too slow.
The Magellan Maestro 3225, however, is noticeably slower, when I initially "route" a destination, and also when I make a wrong turn. I've read a few reviews from users who've used a Magellan and a Garmin - and all of them seem to say the opposite - that they find Garmin slower than the Magellan. Weird!
I've finally figured out that my Magellan Maestro 3225 might be extra-slow because I've updated the POI's. I should note that the calculation speed isn't unacceptably slow, but it's still noticeably sluggish compared to the Garmin. So I'm going to have to say this is a drawback.
Accuracy & Connection
The routes the Magellan Maestro 3225 gives me are accurate. GPS accuracy is kind of subjective - every unit I've used have sometimes given me directions that I've found inefficient, or impossible - like telling me to drive onto a railroad track. So there's never a substitute for keeping your eye on the road and using your judgment.
However, every once in a while, the Magellan Maestro 3225 gives me a weird route that makes no sense. For example, it will give me some direction telling me stay on one street for two miles. So I'll be be driving straight with, say, one mile still to go, and suddenly, it will give me a crazy direction to turn and go in some weird, new way. Why? Hasn't the GPS figured out the entire route already? It's like the GPS changed its mind suddenly. Or like I'd pushed "detour," except that I haven't. This usually isn't a huge problem, because if I ignore the new, weird directions and just go straight, the GPS corrects itself and shows the original route. But I've never had this problem with the Garmin.
Both GPS units also connect to the satellite very well when my car is outside. I've never had a problem with either the Garmin or the Magellan ever losing satellite signal on the road.
Conclusion:
I think the Magellan Maestro 3225 is a Costco-only exclusive model. I'm not familiar enough with the other Magellan models to tell you exactly what you get or don't get with the other models. However, I can tell you that this is probably one of the cheapest units you can get that has text-to-speech. So if that feature is important to you, and you want to spend the least $$ as possible, the Magellan Maestro 3225 is a great buy. It is, otherwise, a very good unit that does everything quite well.
Its major drawback for me is that it only comes with 1.3 million POI's. I've found POI's to be one of those things that you don't think you need, but really appreciate once you have it. (Kind of like a GPS itself, actually.) And I've also found that 1.3 million isn't enough for me. Upgrading to 6 million is easy enough, but it seems that it may slow down the route calculation speed. But if you don't need more POI's, this is a great unit with an excellent interface.
Personally, I've decided that I'd rather spend a little more and get more, so I returned the unit to buy something else, another Garmin. But if you don't want to spend more than $200, and really want text-to-speech, I'd say get the Magellan Maestro 3225.
So after using a Garmin and a Magellan, I'd have to conclude that I slightly prefer Garmin. But only slightly. I'm impressed enough with this unit that I would consider buying a Magellan in the future.
(*) This is the link where I downloded 6 million POI's for this unit:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=66&threadid=2120938&enterthread=y
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