Magellan 3200 GPS- any thoughts?
 

I have been toying with the idea of getting a GPS for Christmas. This will not be for business but just a aid for pleasure driving and trips. I see in the local Best Buy ad they have a Magellan 3200 for $169.00 which seems like a great price for a entry level unit. I believe Magellan is a decent brand? I know the 3200 does not have lots of bells and whistles but that's not what I'm looking for so what is the feedback on this unit or Magellan in general? I like the idea of the "thin design" and I'm guessing 1.3 million points of interest is enough for me. Fire away guys:D

Go try it out.

I need to pick up a couple for me and the wife and was hoping to get away with $400 max for both.

Went to BB and played with them.

TomTom's seemed slow.

Garmins had the fastest interface

Magellans were in between

I liked the Magellan interface better than the Garmins

Ended up getting a Magellan 4040 from Costco online, $350 instead of $500

Costco online also has a special on the Garmin Nuvi 650, $300 instead of the normal $500

Spending more than I wanted to but the 4040 also has integrated Bluetooth so can be used as a hands free kit fo rthe phone.

I have Two 5 year old Magellin 700 units in my work trucks. I also have a Garmen Nuvi in my personal car and it sucks.

I will not buy anything but Magellin from now on.

So I chose wisely?

Thanks.

Jim,
I just got a mid range Nuvi for the girlfriend as she is going to be driving all over the next few months and so far she has loved it. What is wrong with yours, what don't you like? I probably should have done some more research but it was a quick decision and they were on sale for one more day. Just wondering if I should be concerned about her relying on it 600 miles away from home.

My wife got me a Garmin Streetpilot for Christmas 2 years ago and I use it all the time. I have had it all over, in many rental cars, etc. and it is a faithful navigator. I stick the unit just to the left of the mirror near the top of the windshield and it's like a heads-up display, just in the corner of my eye. No complaints, except Miss Moneypenny(the english computer voice) can get a little overbearing if I miss a turn.. So, its been knocking around in my cars in the heat and cold for 2 years and it still works fine, a dependable unit too.

I have a Garmin Nuvi 350, which I purchased a few months ago. I'd rate it as just OK. When it works, it's great. But often it can't locate an address I type in, forces me to choose an alternate address that it thinks is close by, and then sends me off on some wild goose chase. Mapquest is more accurate, and so I make sure to double check with it, whenever possible. I think I only spent about $370 from Amazon, though.

Costco.com has the Nuvi 650 right now for 299. Get em while they're hot!

BTW, I've had great luck with Garmins, terrible experiences with Magellans.

It gives bad directions, I have been through this thing front to back looking for a special setting it must be called "get lost" setting and I cannot find it.

Search Nuvi and I have some posts about it, I almost punched it through my windshield a month ago. Its useless, I met a guy at the Porsche on the dragon meet with one and he said the same thing it gets lost. It will also take you around your ass to get to your elbow and if you do not know any better you'll thing its fine. But if you kind of know where you are and where you should go you will know its taking you WAY out of your way, in one case mine wanted to take me 90 miles out of my way telling me this was the fastest route.

It also screws with you, it will give you your arrival time. You think to yourself I can trim that down a little I'll drive 10 over the speed limit and take some time off the drive, then it adds more time as your speeding along. Its projected arrival times are bunk and they make me insane!!

I have never wanted to destroy a piece of electronics like I do that POS.

Cue pictures from office space destroying the fax machine.


Anyone want to buy it?

I have it right here on my counter. I paid $300 for it and I'll sell for $200 so I can put the money towards a Megellin.

Dammit my blood pressure is through the ceiling right now.

One of the MANY problems I have had with mine. Or how about a 15 minute search only to tell you t cannot find an address. 15 minutes!!! do you know how long 15 minutes is when your driving your car!!

I think I might walk over to it right now and just punch it just because.

I've had two Garmins, have a Nuvi 350 now. My experience is the opposite of Jim's.

Well, after reading several threads here and doing more research I ended up taking Jim Cesiro's advice. About 4 days ago I bought a Magellan 4040 at COSTCO for $300. Been playing with it ever since and I'm REAL pleased; a snap to learn how to use. Can't find a single fault with it so far.

Got a Garmin C-580 a month ago and after using it all over the US and now in Europe, its the best one I have ever seen.

Magellin may be nice and so on but their support and warranty sucks, so be careful with it. Garmin backs their product to the hilt and are easy to work with, so will continue to get my business.

So I should contact Garmin and ask them when to replace my defective unit?

Is my unit defective? Because I met another guy last weekend and his complaints mirrored mine, as a matter of fact, his was a gift from his wifes and we joked that maybe she was trying to loose him, much like the joke about parents leaving a kind in a store and it keeps finding them.


Another example, Garmin wants you to preset your trip instructions, i.e. shortest time, shortest distance, least use of highways, most use of highways. This is kind of important to me, since this one setting is one I will change most often, sometimes I want to take the scenic route (least use of highways) other times I will want the shortest time. The Magellin gives you this choice every time you put in for a route, Garmin does not.

Magellin uses some sort of technology to anticipate what your typing in, its a huge help when on the fly, Garmin makes you type in an entire entry, if you type in a partial entry and ask it to give you choices, it sits and crunches for a long time trying to figure it out.

I have not had to deal with Magellin and their support because in all honesty I have never felt a need to, I have 2 units in both of my company field trucks and we use them heavily every day and they work flawlessly and have for a long long time.


Your experience may vary.

A follow up question. As new roads get built and existing roads get reworked/rerouted and exit numbers change etc. can the software be upgraded in the future? Or do the GPS satelites automatically pick up changes?

The satellites simply track where you are, they know nothing about maps.

Maps get updated by the manufacturers.

I forgot, my Garmin moved my house in NC, its set in my favorites and when I went to tell it to go there a few weeks ago it moved the house 20 miles to another town.

I had to set a waypoint in my driveway in order to have an accurate, location for it. This scared me because the main reason I have the unit is for my wife to find the house up there is she goes out and gets spun around.

I picked up one of the 3200's last week and after driving around the area and one 100 mile trip, I'm totally impressed. I never even mounted the unit to the windshield. I just laid it in the seat next to me and it kept up with every movement and was very accurate. Now I know this is a small sample, but for $180 I'd buy another in a heart beat. Really like the simplicity of the inputs and the way it pre-thinks your input.

My neighbor and I compared his $900 garmin to it side by side and I sure did not see $700 difference.