This GPS does exactly what I need it to do, get me... from point A to point B throughout the day. Does it have it's quirks, sure. For instance, sometimes when a street changes names, it states it as a turn. Not a huge deal though, if you look up, you can see the routing and realize it's just a road name change. Haven't had it for that long, so I'm not sure if it has this feature, but it would be nice if you could look things up by zipcode as opposed to city or town. I live in the suburbs of Baltimore, so sometimes areas are considered Baltimore, other times a specific town, but being able to look up a street in the Baltimore area under just Baltimore or zipcode, instead of the specific town would be nice. Example, if you live in Pikesville, your return address could be either Pikesville, MD 21208 or Baltimore, MD 21208 and both would be correct, but not so in the GPS, you have to choose Pikesville. This GPS is a little on the bulky side, but I like it, and enjoy having all the buttons right up front. That way I'm not stuck using the touchscreen, although it has not given me any reason not to like the touchscreen. I have no problem seeing the screen, no matter what time of day. Buttons light up at night, which make it easy. And when I make a wrong turn, or make a detour, it automatically recalculates a new route so I can still find my intended destination. Overall, I'm very happy with this GPS. It doesn't have many of the extras other GPSs have now days, but if I want to watch a movie or listen to music, I have better devices for those activities. Devices which are intended to do those things. And this GPS does a pretty good job at what it was intended to do, get me where I need to be.
I love that it has voice prompts. T...he only problem is sometimes it's not accurate...on the way across the country, it wanted me to turn left when I was to turn right. Had my human co-pilot not noticed it, I imagine we would have had to back-track. I love that the screen is easy to see. Sometimes the touch screen is hard to use while driving...and isn't as sensitive as I'd like it to be. I love that you can choose to zoom it out so you can see your trip ahead, and I love that you can zoom in to about 750 feet in front of you...which is helpful when looking for a rest area! I had investigated many different types of GPS' and found that this is by far the easiest one to use, you can use it right out of the box! The cradle to the windshield mount is hard to remove so when you need to bring it in the house to download trips and such...you really have to put some effort into getting it off the cradle. Overall, I am very satisfied with this product, and feel confident in it's abilities. I've had some issues, but overall it is a great product.
The Magellan RoadMate 700 was a breakthrough ...when it came out, well worth the roughly $1000 I paid for my first one. It's all the more impressive now that you can have one for well under $100. Pluses: The unit has built-in maps of the entire USA (and Canada, I think). That means it's plug-and-go. Attach a suction cup, plug into the cigarette lighter, and you're ready to navigate. You don't have to take it to your PC and download maps of your region into it, as you have to with many of the low-end newer units. This also means you can take your RoadMate when you fly across the country. In a few seconds, you can stick it into your rental car and drive off navigating. I've done this and been very glad I did. Having good directions in an unfamiliar city is even more valuable than at home (duh). The routing algorithm is as good as any unit out there. The user interface is simple and intuitive, so you won't need to read the manual. The voice is pleasant, easy to understand, and not gravelly like a small Garmin that I tried. The receiver is excellent, usually gets a fix quickly, and is usually able to maintain a fix under reasonably dense tree cover and in all but the deepest of "urban canyons." Newer units with the SirfStar chip set are probably even better, but Magellan had among the best pre-SirfStar receivers, and it's definitely good enough to keep you navigating in most places. The maps will be a little out of date now that this unit hasn't been made for a while -- but all GPS units' maps seem to be out of date and it doesn't seem to me that these are noticeably any more behind than other units. Minuses: Here are what I see as the major disadvantages to the RoadMate 700: 1. Mounting it is a pain. The gooseneck suction cup it comes with really isn't adequate for the size and weight of this unit (it's bulkier & heavier than newer units). I had a hard time finding a mounting method I was really happy with. 2. The touch screen isn't very responsive, especially compared to newer units. Expect to have to press several times, sometimes get a delayed response, and sometimes you'll get the next letter, like you type "M" and the unit thinks it was "N". 3. The software is buggy in small, strange ways. For example, I put a place in my address book and then changed its name and it stayed at the bottom of the list instead of moving to where it should now be in alphabetical order. And sometimes I press a button and the speaker will give me 3 or 4 seconds of static, as if it was trying to play a pre-recorded voice message but nobody remembered to record that one. 4. There are a lot of bad units out there! I have now had five of these units at different times, and had to return three of them. One of them had a bad touch-screen. One had a touch-screen that stopped working when it got hot. One came to me with no map installed. I think this model had manufacturing or reliability problems even when it was new, leaving a trail of bad units in the field. Some of these bad units show up on eBay, sometimes with good disclosure and sometimes not so much. For this latter reason, I think you'll be happy with the RoadMate 700 if you get a good one, but the odds might be against getting a good one. I highly highly recommend this unit -- if you buy it from your mom! If you're buying from a stranger, choose something else. Really.
I bought this item used simple ...because it was so damn cheap. It has been working great! Has all the basic features I have seen in every other gps, and the side part with the buttons may seem odd but it's very handy!! Things I like. -The rubber stand is nice and simple and works great. -You can change voice to male, female, and UK male, UK female. (I live in the USA but I set mine to UK cause it sounds cooler) -You can update the points of interests and maps online for a few bucks -Has a built in tutorial on the gps There are also a few minor things that do bother me. -The screen is a little hard to see during the day, even after toying with brightness and contrast. -The gps does not say the name of the road outloud, so you have to take a quick glance at the gps to see the next road ( but it is printed rather large at the bottum and easy to see and find) Example - "In 1.5 miles turn right" instead of "In 1.5 miles turn right on Jefferson Street" -How you find points of interest (POI) is not done too well. And you can't search for POI while the gps is directing you somewhere. (you have to cancel route, search, then start route again) -and lastly the gps reminds you of your turn at, if i remember correctly, 5 mile, 1.5, .5, and then right at the turn. which sometimes is VERY useful in a busy area where you are hopping roads, but on a straight forward route it can be annoying (you can easily fix this with the volume control on top of the gps)
I am a gadget nut and love te...chnology that works. I have used a variety of GPS systems to include newer models that have come out since the 760. This includes TOM Tom units and other models in the Roadmate series. I continue to return to the 760 as my favorite. The 760 simply and accurately gets you from point a to point b. It calculates fast enough that you can follow the instructions and quickly re-routes if you make the wrong turn. If I was going to improve on it, I would make the satellite acquisition time faster when it is first powered on. I have traveled with it, plugged it into my rental and have to sit for upwards of 10 minutes while I wait for a lock. Once locked it simply gets the job done. I use an optional exterior antenna that magnetically mounts to the roof of the car. The internal antenna works, but, I have found the external antenna more reliable.