May 16, 2007

Magellan Maestro 4000 review

Magellan_maestro_4000UPDATE: There is a new line of thinner and lighter Magellan Maestros being introduced.

The Magellan Maestro 4000 is part of Magellan's newest GPS lineup -- the Maestro series. Like the other members of the Maestro series, the 4000 has a 4.3" wide-screen display, voice-prompted directions, AAA travel information and a SiRFstarIII chipset. The 4000 also comes with pre-loaded maps of the 48 contiguous United States. Unfortunately, it has a sure to disappoint 1.5 million points of interest (POI) in its database. My experience with such units has been that many searches fail to turn up the store, restaurant, etc. that I am looking for, meaning that I need to enter the address for navigation.

The Maestro 4040 adds preloaded maps of Alaska and Hawaii, Bluetooth for hands free cell phone use and it increases the POI database to 4.5 million. Additionally, it will call out the street names on upcoming turns. The top of the line Maestro 4050 adds voice prompted commands and live traffic.

Compare prices on the Magellan Maestro 4000

The Magellan 3000 series sports various options on units with a 3.5" screen. To see how the 4000 stacks up against other units, check out my Magellan auto GPS comparison chart.

Before we hear from others, here's a snippet of Amazon's Magellan Maestro 4000 review:

"With built-in AAA TourBook® travel information and member roadside assistance details, the Magellan Maestro 4000 Portable Auto GPS System is the ultimate travel companion. Re-engineered for easy use, its fresh graphics and intelligent touch-screen buttons offer a superior, precise navigational experience. And with its error free QuickSpell™ software you only need to enter a few letters to find your destination. The Magellan Maestro 4000 makes driving more pleasurable and less stressful."

More Magellan Maestro 4000 reviews

I'll be posting more hands on GPS reviews as they appear, but in the meantime, here are some...

Additional Magellan Maestro 4000 resources

Compare prices on the Magellan Maestro 4000 at these merchants

How would you like to save time and effort on the road? What if driving could be more pleasurable and less stressful? Magellan Maestro 4000 makes it easy!

If you don't like reading directions, you'll love the Magellan Maestro vehicle navigation system! It's simple to use and ready to guide you to virtually any destination in the 48 contiguous United States. The thin, sophisticated design and attractive, intuitive touch-screen graphics make driving a pleasure. Enter an address or select from 1.5 million preprogrammed points of interest with a few touches of the screen. See your position and route on the 2D or 3D map and let Maestro's friendly voice guide you turn-by-turn, while you enjoy the drive.

Plus, built-in AAA TourBook® Guide travel information gives you instant access to service details and Diamond ratings from the world's leading travel expert. Quickly find AAA approved lodgings and restaurants, AAA Roadside Assistance details1, and discounts available through the AAA Show Your Card & Save® program1.

Touch the tow truck icon to quickly access details to direct AAA member Roadside Assistance to your location1.

Years of experience providing the best in GPS navigation and feedback from among the over 400,000 users of the Magellan RoadMate and Hertz NeverLost systems enables Maestro to deliver the most satisfying navigation experience. From Magellan; the first name in navigation™.

1Requires AAA Membership.

Magellan Maestro 4000 feature list

  • Sophisticated and simple - Bold, streamlined touch-screen buttons minimize steps to locate a destination for stress-free navigation
  • Sleek Design - Integrated GPS antenna can't break off and provides excellent satellite reception in a slim and compact design
  • Turn-by-turn voice and visual guidance - Enter virtually any address or point of interest and BE THERE™ quickly and safely
  • Precision navigation - SiRFstar III chipset and integrated multidirectional antennae offer superior GPS accuracy using the Wide Area Augmentation System
  • Graphical interactive maps - Maps and destinations for the entire continental U.S. are built-in so you can travel the country and always know where you are and where you're going
  • AAA TourBook® guide travel information - Integrated travel information from AAA TourBook guides makes it easy to locate AAA approved and rated lodgings and restaurants, recommended attractions, and places to save money
  • AAA Roadside Assistance details - Touch the tow truck icon on the main menu at any time to get your location details and contact number for AAA to quickly direct reliable AAA help to your location.2
  • Birds eye 3D view - Clearly see your surroundings in 2D or 3D
  • Rechargeable battery - Navigate when you don't have access to power
  • Multi-destination routing - Select up to 20 destinations and choose the order that best fits your needs
  • SmartDetour - Automatically prompts you to route around sudden slow freeway traffic (no fee or subscription required)
  • Auto Re-route - Never miss a turn and quickly get back on track whenever you take a detour
  • Auto night view - Adjusts color and contrast for easy night viewing
  • QuickSpell™ - Easily enter addresses with unique auto-complete feature that even corrects spelling
  • Complete mobility - Transfer to any vehicle with no installation
  • 1.5 million points of interest (POI) - Optimized database to easily find gas stations, restaurants, ATMs, and more with smart location search by name, category and region. We even added a Coffee category so you can quickly find caffeine whenever you need it.
  • Interactive Point of Interest (POI) icons - Touch an onscreen icon for a nearby destination; see name and address and get an instant route
  • Customizable route method - Fastest time, shortest distance, least use or most use of freeways, avoid toll roads
  • Route exclusion - Select streets and freeways to avoid so you can BE THERE™ your way
  • 4 easy views - Map View, 3D map, TrueView™ 3D split screen and Maneuver List
  • Address Book - Create and store personal points of interest for easy reoccurring trips
  • Instant locate - One touch shows your location; quickly advise roadside assistance or emergency services

    2 Requires AAA Membership. Click here to join today.

Related posts:

May 16, 2007 5:07:42 PM | GPS Reviews, Hardware, Magellan

The comments to this entry are closed.

NEXT POST
Satellite photos to be censored by U.S.? Vice Adm. Robert Murrett, the Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) says that the U.S. government may need to restrict future access to certain aerial imagery. In the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the agency acquired all rights to images of Afghanistan, making relief efforts difficult. The NGA has said in the past that it doesn't plan to take such steps again, but Murrett is new, having been in the position only since last summer, and his comments seem to indicate a change in direction. This is all complicated by a somewhat incestuous relationship between NGA and two commercial satellite imagery firms, Digital Globe and Geoeye, which will launch new satellites with higher resolution capabilities this year -- with the help of $1 billion in funding from NGA. Government regulations will require that the firms degrade the imagery to 0.5 meters per pixel. Degradation, such as the pixelated photo of the U.S. Capitol building, above, may indeed be necessary. But degradation also impacts the capabilities of private industry and relief agencies. And in the long run, international companies will make imagery available that NGA will not be able to control. What does this have to do with GPS? Well, aerial...
PREVIOUS POST
Waypoints - May 17, 2007 Welcome to the Mother of all Waypoints edition of Waypoints, for there is a ton of news to report. That will teach me to go 12 days without doing this! GPS craziness across the pond Care to inject your kids with a GPS tracking chip? You may have already seen this -- girl drives onto train track, stops, gets hit by train. Blames her GPS of course. TomTom The TomTom GO 910 has won the Engadget GPS device of the year award, sweeping both the editors and readers choice awards. Did TomTom tell a fib about WAAS? TomTom HOME gets a Vista update. TomTom will release a simplified GPS -- the DumDum (satire). Buy a TomTom at Best Buy and get a free Navtones voice download. Garmin Garmin launches GPS Academy. Wanna preview the newest Garmin TV ad with Yao Ming? Garmin reminds us that you can "try before you buy," but you have to rent a car to do it! Garmin intends to acquire its German distributor. GPS Magazine reviews the Garmin Travel Guide. Garmin will offer 100 scholarships annually, worth $5,000 each, for students studying electrical or computer engineering. Garmin has posted firmware updates for the nuvi 310,...

Rich Owings

The Typepad Team

Search

Recent Comments