Magellan Maestro 4250 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
by Magellan
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List Price: Our Price: $49.99 You Save: $550.00 (92%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Magellan Maestro 4250 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: A good starter GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
After doing the research I purchased the Magellan 4250. It didn't have all the features I would have liked but has some that other more expensive units did not & despite some of the complaints I read I decided that if AAA recommended it then it couldn't be all bad.
Here's what I discovered:
1. A GPS is not for areas you already are fully familiar with. It will not usually route you the way you would normally go. But it will get you there in a reasonable manner. If I am in an area I don't know, I have full confidence that the Magellan will do a good job getting me where I want to go.
2. I was concerned about the screen freezing I had read about & my screen has frozen once. I had a problem getting it to reset until I realized I had a SD card inserted, once I took the card out and did a reset it came back just fine.
3. Haven't used the bluetooth while driving, but it will pair with my Razr V3. It would be nice if it had a way to connect an external microphone and if you could transfer your cells phonebook to it.
4. My area doesn't have FM Traffic so can't speak on that.
5. Maps are always going to be a problem since things change so much. I figure it is just something you have to deal with it regardless of which GPS one gets.
6. The voice recognition works reasonabbly well in my Corolla and the Text to Speech is understandable. I would have liked to be able to connect it to my radio with the USB or an Aux out but it doesn't have that ability.
A high end Garmin GPS would have had nearly all the features I would have liked to have but at more than twice the price I wasn't willing to "experiment" with GPS at that level.
Finally, IMO, I think that the Magellan 4250 is a great beginners GPS unit. It gives you a lot of features and flexibility at a reasonable price. I bought mine here at Amazon for $260 and am very happy with it.
Customer Review: Another good Magellan with some extra options
Summary: 5 Stars
I drive hundreds of miless every day for living , and I use satelite navigation all the time
I give the Maestro 4250 five stars for the following reasons
It is one of the three good GPS brands ( Magellan, TomTom,and Garmin)
wide screen.
Metalic frame.
accepts ZIP CODES and/or city names
excellent reception in all weathers.
smart and more logic than other brands in calculating routes.
some draw backs:
the same period of time of pause/freeze for recalculating route comparing to lower price models (e.g. Magellan Raod Mate 1200), if you're upgrading from another Magellan , don't expect any improvment.
unless you find this model on sale with a good price tag, DON'T PAY EXTRA FOR THE VOICE COMMAND AND THE BLUE TOOTH.
the VOICE COMAND is uselss, it covers only few opions and always you need a step to touch the screen, it does not work properly in compact cars with high road noise unless you stop and roll up the windows, then it will hear you well .... daaa!! I thought the voice comand is made to keep your hands on wheel and eyes on road WHILE DRIVING!!!, The only advantage for the voice comand is to SHOW OFF while having a passenger riding with you for the first time.
The blue tooth is not that good, why would you need to dial numbers from the GPS screen!! IT IS EASIER TO dial from your phone directly, some time with out looking at your phone.
The Bluetooth sound quality is bad due to a single small speaker facing the wind sheild (the same GPS speaker) .. again the same problem for compact cars. any way I use my blue tooth sony car audio system to make hands free calls that's six speakers.
To help you to choose .... go for it. it is a Magellan any way, despite the the two extra options I mentioned that you might not need.
Customer Review: High-end for a low-price
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been researching a GPS Navigation unit for awhile and been reading reviews here at Amazon and elsewhere. For the price I was willing to spend for features, Magellan Maestro 4250 came very close. I have read many bad reviews regarding the unit's power button and the device getting stuck at the warning. First, the power issue - You have to hold down the button for 5 - 7 seconds for the device to power on. The device crashed on me once before the firmware 4.6 upgrade, got stuck on the warning menu, it hasn't happened since the upgrade.
The speaker is weak, you can barely hear anything with the windows down or with the radio. The voice command works fine but is limited to certain features, you can read about it more at GPS magazine review. Device gets reception inside my apartment, only on one instance the device took about five minutes to get reception after getting out of a parking garage. Bluetooth functionality works well with paring and dialing, can't comment on the call quality.
The night mode is automatic according to the settings used for the time zone. The night mode is quite bright and strain for eyes during long drives. The screen splits and shows the next maneuver before turns and ramp entrances. The device announces the lane and turn in advance and also "dings" about 50 feet before the the turn. Route calculation takes around 15 - 30 seconds. I haven't used the customer service, and have read many bad reviews on that, so lets hope there is no need to use the customer service. This device has features found on high end Garmin or Tom Tom models.
The Amazon price seem to fluctuate quite a bit, but the Amazon partner price seems to be pretty stable, but beware of their return policy. Check out resellerratings.com
Customer Review: With Free map Upgrade, the deal is even sweeter...
Summary: 5 Stars
As of now, FYI if your Magellan is less than 30 days you automatically qualify for a free map upgrade (magellan 2008/2009), which costs about $80.00. I called Magellan customer service as soon as I read a review posted on Monday Sep 15, regarding someone getting a free update. When I called, I just mentioned the free upgrade for units purchased within 30 days and they automatically pulled up my info (Therefore you gotta make sure you register your unit online with Magellan) and they told me I qualify. After that they made write down some information and told me to either e-mail or fax them a receipt or receipt of purchase. I did so and within an hour I got a called from another Magellan representatve who verified my information and only charged me a $10.00 shipping charge for FEDEX shipping. I checked a couple hours later and Magellan had already e-mail me a valid FedEd tracking number.
Rgarding the Magellan 4250, the unit is great, it has some flaws but after I made the software upgrade, which is available from the Magellan website, the unit became flawless. I has it's normal detours to routes you would't take on a daily basis to conmute, but I tried a Garmin 760 and a Tom Tom 930 and they all took the same route.
The navteq maps (2008/2009) are the same as the maps displayed in google maps. So if you want to check and address to see if it's loaded in your magellan, just check in google maps it's just the same database.
The voice commands are very simple, nothing too fancy, but in reality, how often you need to use the voice commands?, I only use them to reroute, to cancel a route or to find a POI.
The interface is easy to use and foolproof.
Best decision, I've ever made...
Customer Review: Magellan 4250 ... How Cool Is This Thing ??? 10 STARS
Summary: 5 Stars
I did a TON of research and reading reviews before buying the Magellan Maestro 4250.
I read good reviews and bad reviews and here is my review...
I LOVE IT... This thing is so cool it can find your long lost brother.
I love being able to talk to it and have it talk back to help me along my way. It has a nice female voice and when it says "Say a Command" it gives you a certain feeling of power over it.
That sounds a little weird doesn't it?...Oh well lets move on...
I tried it out going to places I already knew how to get to just to see how accurate it really was and ...WOW...It was always within about 10 feet of perfect.
The voice is plenty loud (adjustible) and the screen is very clear.
At night it automatically switches to night mode which is really nice and also extremely clear.
It came with all the stuff you need such as software, USB cable, AC power supply (charger) car adapter, nice soft protective pouch to carry it around in and a window mount that I can't understand how it works so well "But It Does"
My cell phone has Bluetooth and they both synced up nicely so I can talk hands free.
I received it really fast from Amazon and have been having a lot of fun with it every since.
I hope it never breaks down but if it does I will just want another one.
All I really want to say is from my experience if you want a really cool GPS then get the Magellan 4250.
I think my wife is jealous because I talk more to Magellan than I talk to her. At least Magellan gives me the right directions and never yells at me :)