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We have bought and sold several of these units and use one on a regular basis in our personal and business travels. Its great for long trips. Around town its ok, but I seem to know the local shortcuts a bit better than the GPS. On long trips this unit is a godsend. You just punch in the destination city or zip code, the address or cross streets, route it and it tells you exactly how to get there. When you get to a new town, even if you wind up going the round about way you no longer have to hunt and peck for your destination. Better yet, when you get into town at night and the physical landmarks are harder to see, the GPS unit bring you right to where you want to go. Now all you have to do is know the address of your final destination, no need to rely on anyone (or MapBlast) for directions thay may be otherwise unreliable. The one drawback, which is minor, is that we have found the unit to be a bit "stubborn." That is to say when you choose to go a different way then it suggests it will continually prompt you to make a "legal u-turn" until you go far enough out of the way and then it finally re-routes based on the direction you are heading. Not a big deal but a bit frustrating when you know where you are going. One last thought. This unit loves taking the highways and main roads. If you are traveling around town and and want to avoid jumping on and off the nearby highways for one or two exits or if you just prefer to use the local streets, choose the "least use of highways" & "avoid toll roads" options. All in all this is an excellent aid to those who drive often, long distances, and to unknown addresses. Its fun and easy to use and our children find it educational. I would have to say this device has saved us time and money because we have arrived at our destinations quicker and thus used a little less gas. PROS: Ease of use, Quick set-up, Low purchase cost, No charge for GPS Info, 1000% better than mapblast, never gets lost. CONS: Sometimes takes the longway, a bit slow to properly reroute, a bit slow to initially pick-up a satellite signal, no signal when in tunnels. HEADS-UP: When you buy this item new, remember to turn on the switch on the left side of the unit, otherwise it will not power-upRead full review
The Magellan RoadMate™ 800 Car GPS Receiver is a very nice unit as has been all the Roadmates. I own all. The 800 is an excellent performer but a bit heavy and has a fragile antenna and power plug. It does have a 3 hour rechargable battery. It also features an mp3 player and picture viewer that cannot be used while navigating. It's great for trip routing (delivery etc), but if it is to be taken in and out a lot I would reccomend the enhanced cradle which saves wear and tear on plugs. Try a roadmate 2000 for a tough economical basic gps without the mp3 or picture viewer, or it's replacement the roadmate 1200 which is newer/cheaper. BEST OVERALL is the roadmate 2200t, which has all the features plus tough, waterproof, longer (8 hour) battery and text to speech. (announces passing streets and exits). It also has been replaced with new cheaper version. Any roadmate is a better choice that the auto factory installed version.Read full review
After having had the 800 for about 9 months, I'm still glad I got it. The features are, for the most part, user friendly and readily accessible from the menu screen. The price was reasonable, and the system performance has been nearly perfect. On the downside, I've been a little frustrated on a couple of occasions when the unit locked up with the map fixed on one position. After a few minutes, the only thing that I could do was turn it off and start over. No fix for this posted on Magellan's website. On the "Night" screen (which sometimes works automatically, sometimes not, possibly a light sensor issue), the illumination intensity of the buttons does not decrease with the screen illumination, so you still have a lot of light projected at you. The maps overall are pretty good, but I did run in to few situations in Kansas where the street numbers were a block off (was in the 400 block, and unit stated I was in the 300 block, etc.). The unit I purchased was a refurb unit, but had the latest maps and OS when I checked it on Magellan's website. Even with this, the maps were at least 2 years old, as I live in a new subdivision that is 3 (not in system) and many of the roads around the Austin area have been completed within the last couple of years. This wreaks havoc with the routing function, but if you press on, it will automatically re-route once you get back on an older road. Map updates are not free, so this would be a huge impediment to me purchasing another Magellan product, when I was otherwise satisfied with this unit.Read full review
I bought this on the recommendation of a friend who was highly pleased with the model. I am happy with mine, except I believe the road maps are a year or two old (2005-2006); however, the 2008 price is far below the cost of two or three years ago. The Roadmate 800 is easy to use, the instructions are clear and the voice instructions are loud and understandable. The maps can be easily seen along with the touch commands on the screen. Also, it conveniently mounts to the car's window. The time to acquire its position from the satellites is quite rapid. I have noticed that the battery does not remain charged very long, perhaps because the new unit I purchased had been on the shelf for many months. Because the battery loses all power within two weeks of the unit not being turned on, I will have to replace it. I purchased a touch screen protector on e-Bay for a few dollars, hoping to keep the Roadmate's value reasonable for the time I decide to upgrade. In general, I am quite happy and will soon give it the real test near New York City.Read full review
I had been shopping GPS units for quite a while. I did not want to spend more than $250 and I wanted a touch screen, hard drive with all maps pre-loaded, with talking directions. I had used a Roadmate in a Hertz rental car and loved it. The Magellan Roadmate 800 I bought a month ago is a good value. My likes are: reputable maker, ability to purchase an extended warranty, nice large bright screen, and great directions. The only down side I have found is that the unit takes up to 3 minutes to acquire satellites every time you boot it up. Still, this unit does 99% of what a $500 TomTom will do-- for half the price I call my Roadmate Lola.......I love Lola, especially for trips. I would recommend her to anyone.
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