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We have not yet given "her" a name, but we will. We are enjoying the new device, and we look forward to some travel this fall where we can really put it to the test. California has lots of Spanish place names which are sometimes butchered by the voice, but the printed version is always on the screen when we can't understand her.
Could not ask for better. A+ GPS. It is like someone sitting by your side giving directions or even better than because it is so detailed.
Very good product for the money. I use it everyday , It is clearly better then the other brand I was using, far more user friendly and slightly more accurate. Only thing I wish i could do is change the keyboard to type writer configuration.
All-in-all, Magellan, for me, offers the features I need and want and a vastly improved UI.Now for the negative: the voice recognition command sucks; in a somewhat noisy environment, it doesn't hear nor recognize speech commands but occasionally misinterprets a non-command to BE one. I find the nuisance issues to be livable on a day-to-day basis, and the improved UI to be a delight in use. Garmin said "C, A, 79" whereas Magellan has enough sense to say "California Highway 79." --Magellan offers the right balance of voice cues. I turn it off and restart, and get the voice back---but this seems to happen a bit more frequently than with the Garmin unit, and the Lowrance NEVER did this. I've owned two pocket Garmin GPS units, one DeLorme GPS unit, one Lowrance 500C console GPS unit, a Garmin 650 road unit, and this Magellan 4050, based upon a good experience with same by a friend.
There is a delay in reconfiguring your route when you've missed her command---this seems longer than either Garmin or Lowrance. --Magellan offers "lane suggestions"---e.g. So, all-in-all, I'd seriously recommend this unit. Perfect it isn't, but better than what I had, it definitely is. You can turn this feature off. This is in part due to a separate module supplied to provide traffic conditions via wireless calls.
The advantages of the Magellan 4050 compared to Garmin and Lowrance units (the latter was a top-rated "brick like" GPS from a few years back) are--the user interface is vastly improved, over both units; Magellan stores old searches, even if you haven't saved them in "favorites." Magellan has a search mechanism with asks you to enter the town name first, followed by a street name (blocking out all unavailable letters as you go), followed by allowed street addresses. "exit the interstate to the right in 2 miles onto Highway 83." I'm sure other modern units do the same, but neither of the other units did. (I don't need nor want this, but in order to use the mount, you have to include it).It provides blue-tooth---I don't use.The biggest problem appears to be a firmware glitch which occasionally causes the unit to re-set itself, and occasionally "she" looses her voice. The process is hands down easier than Garmin's search, and blows Lowrance away.--Magellan has a very effective text-to-speech, announcing the roads clearly, and legibly. Luckily, I didn't buy this unit for this feature, nor even want it.The mount is very bulky, featuring a long arm (leverage pulls the unit down on the gimble, and it's tough finding enough room for it. Garmin wasn't.
Both the previous units offered too many warnings, at too great a distance, and too often said non-sensical "straight ahead on XXXX." In other words, the other units became "nagging." --Magellan offers a chime-tone indicating the exact moment when you need to institute the turn onto the next leg of your journey; neither of the other units feature this very valuable feature (turns out way more valuable than I would have thought). Magellan seems to be unfailingly accurate in thisAll the other features you've learned to expect in a modern GPS unit are offered and work well: light sensing display, bright display; in addition, Magellan offers a scale of miles, and a convenient "where am I" display showing speed, direction, altitude, last highway exit, next highway exit, plus the zipcode of the town you are traveling through (this is incredibly valuable for us RV'ers needing to set up our satellite dishes).The volume control is readily accessible, and the volume output is adequate even for noisy conditions.
Well, left meant driving up somebody's driveway and unlike the German guy who drove right into a lake because his GPS told him so, I kept going straight. Overall, I'm pleased with this product. All ended well, but the map software - even the latest edition - might not always be right. Magellan immediately recalculated the route and took me on a nice drive along Lake Merritt. One problem is that the directions given when updating the system software and the map software are less than clear and actually incorrect at some points.The other day I had an interesting problem: Magellan (a nice female voice) told me to make a left turn into Grand Ave. in Oakland, CA.
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