Good but not perfect
Written: Dec 15 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Mostly accurate, easy to use, and easy to read.
Cons: Few glitches with voice navigation prompts. Additional charge for using larger CF cards for maps.
The Bottom Line: Solid unit for the directionally challenged. Few glitches are occassionally annoying. Fifty dollar fee for additional CF cards is ridiculous.
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| slimtae's Full Review: Magellan RoadMate 500 Car GPS Receiver |
The Magellan Roadmate 500 is identical to the more expensive Roadmate 700 except that the map data on the 500 is stored on a CF card rather than a built in hard drive. The unit I purchased is the 500 "plus" which ships with a 256K CF card and a suction windshield mount. I opted for the 500 plus because CF cards now are vey cheap, and I don't need the entire US on my GPS unit as I travel along the northeast corridor.
The Roadmate 500 plus is very easy to use. Controls are intuitive, the screen is very readable in all lighting conditions, and and the voice prompts are very clear. Map accuracy us pretty good, but not perfect. Around my neighborhood, there streets are overtly misslabelled on the GPS unit. Many of the newer streets are not even on the provided maps. Fortunately, an updated map is to become available in a few months as of this writing. GPS tracking is very accurate. When the unit shows that I am at a particular intersection on the LCD screen, I am usually exactly where it says I should be. It does a very good job of calculating routes. It has even shown me a few short cuts around my neighborhood that I wasn't aware of.
Features that I like about the unit include the automatic route re-calculation. When you miss a turn, it automatically re-calculates the route from your current position. Map scheme and color can be altered to personal prefernces, although the default color scheme seems to be the best. Point of interests (POI's) are also fairly extensive, and come in handy at times. The Trueview option provides a 3D representation of an upcoming turn. Unfortunately, the 3D image is stationary and I personally find it to be of limited use. As stated previously, the unit is easy to use. The buttons are clearly labelled, and navigation among different menus options is easy.
A rare, but annoying bug in the unit become evident during voice navigation. For example, the calculated route on the screen may indicate an upcoming left turn, but the voice prompt erroneously says "right turn in point five miles". Obviously this can be a major problem. The touch sensitive screen is also less than stellar. Sometimes, you need to touch the screen several times to activate something. The windshield mount is adequate, but can be cumbersome. Additionally, it tends to shake and vibrate quite vigorously on any road that is less than perfect;y smooth.
The most annoying feature of the 500 is that Magellan charges $50 to "authorize" additional CF cards to load additional larger maps. The included 256K CF card is good for about a third of the entire coastal eastern US (Florida to Maine). It's ridiculously greedy to charge customers $50 for each additional CF card (that's on top of the cost of the card itself). The only other option is to buy the more expensive 700 unit which comes with the entire US preloaded on a built in hard drive. But this costs a few hundred dollars more.
In summary, the Roadmate 500 plus is solid GPS unit with a few flaws. The $50 dollar fee for using additional CF cards is monumentally greedy, and insulting to their customers.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
slimtae
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Reviews written: 95
Trusted by: 11 members
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