Magelan 4040 nice unit

[longwinters]

Since we are doing more traveling these days with kids spread from Ky to Wy to Mi we decided to get a gps for the van.  Looked at Tom Toms, Garmins and Magelans.  Actually liked the Garmins the best but for the price range we were looking in the Magelan 4040 seemed to fit the bill.

Learned a few things using it.  #1-they are not always right.  Right off of the bat we noticed that it told us to turn right (verbally) when we had to turn left.  #2- If a new stretch of road etc... is not mapped it just shows you in a black screen, kind of like outer space/twilight zone.  #3-it does now always show you the shortest way even if programed to do so.  So... these things are very helpful but not omniscient.  Maybe a Garmin would have been better I don't know.  Over all we liked it and it was quite helpful going on the DanRyan expressway thru Chicago.  Also going thru Louisville Ky and Indianapolis In. 

If you are looking for a mobile unit there are a myriad of options and price ranges.  Of course the more you are willing to spend the more options you get.  They are helpful and fun, but not perfect.

Long

[Siskiyou]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DHVo_pigX5E

Check it out.

P.S.  Did you take that cold MI weather South with you.

[longwinters]

That's an interesting report Siskiyou.  We paid 317.00 out the door in Louisville at Radio Shack.

Actually we left in fog and drove in it for about 200 miles.  But we are in the Upper Penninsula just above Wisconsin.  So heading to Louisville Ky we drive almost straight south thru Wisconsin, Illinois and then Indiana. We heard the weather was a comin but never saw any of it.  Had mild weather down and back. So it looks like most of that weather just plain missed us and that was hard to believe.


Hope you had a great Christmas and New Years.

Long

[Siskiyou]

Longwinters:  I noticed your new unit is setup for Bluetooth do you plan taking advantage of the currently or sometime in the future?

We had a very good Christmas and New Years.  Today has been great, we got hit with a heavy-duty storm that came down out of Aleutian Islands and hammered us.  I just emptied the rain gauge and we received 3-inches of rain in the last 24-hours.  I think a lot of the rain missed the gauge because it was blowing side ways.  We had some heavy duty 40-69 mile an hour winds today.  Wind speeds reached 150 MPH on top of the Sierras. 

Big rigs were blowing off the freeways going over the passes like tumble weeds.  I wonder if any of them have the big gps units that receive MX weather.  A neat feature for those who can afford it, and travel enough to justify the cost.

·   Magellan Maestro 4040
Elegant and simple! Touch the screen and hear turn-by-turn directions with street names as you enjoy your driving experience virtually to any destination in the U.S. and Canada. Customize your navigation method or route to BE THERE™ quickly and stress-free.
 
 
Featured Highlights
o   Hear street names with SayWhere text-to-speech
o   Built-in AAA Travel Information
o   Bluetooth hands-free calling

What caliber gun did you use to get that price?   Thats about $130 below list.

You will find a few mapping errors in all the brand name units, you just have to keep it in mind.  Two sources provide most of the base maps

My Michigan cousins claim they got some snow and wind out of the storm that hit that part of the country.

[longwinters]

Siskiyou,

Your cousins must be north of us or in the Lower (below the Mackinaw bridge).  The unit (along with some others) were on sale.  I was surprised at the price and asked if it was a demo or if the model was being discontinued and they said no.  But I did see on that the report you sent me there are 2 models of the 4040 and one was 500.00 so we probably got a good deal on the other one.  My (adult) kids are into blue tooth etc... I am not much of a techie type, although might be further ahead if I was .  I move ahead with technology as is absolutely necessary, except for my addiction to these forums .

Wish we could get some of that rain.  We have been in drought conditions for 2 years.

Long

[Siskiyou]

Long:

Keep the information coming on your Magellan.  I bet there are a number of people viewing who are interested, including myself.

The weather created some misery for folks, many have been without power since last week.  The high winds brought down a lot of trees.  Some folks are without water and others have a houseful. 

One branch of the family settle down in the lower part in 1832.  A couple of property in the U.P.  location unknown.  I was told a couple of their kids have gps units and go out geocaching.

[Siskiyou]

Long:

Yesterday one of the big box stores had two Magellan automotive gps units on display.  One of them was a 4050, which shares the same screen as your unit.  Unfortunately it was not a “user” display where I could play with the example.  The screen was nice and sharp, and the right size for my old eyes when driving.

Later in the day we stopped at a Wal Mart.  It had Bushnell, Magellan, and Garmin handhelds on display.  They had the Garmin Legend on sale, and Magellan 400 eXplorist on sale.  In side the display case they had the new Triton 1500.  I understood it was a special order item.  The clerk was very helpful when I told him I was not buying but I would like to open it up.  It sure appeared to be an okay gps with one exception, I prefer a unit with the buttons above the screen so I can operate it with on hand.  The Wal Mart clerk was the most helpful of any I encountered yesterday.

We stopped at a big electronics store to pickup a current anti-virus software package and I had to checkout the gps units.  They had a couple of static displays but they were not powered-up.  They suffered from the lack of attention from the sales staff.  A little cleaning might help sales.  The store had a few brands I heard of, and a couple that I had not heard of.  They are starting to look the same.

One clerk was selling a couple of women a windshield gps mount.  I think I killed that sale and pxxxxx the clerk off when I spoke up and told the women that the California Vehicle Code prohibited the mounting of a gps on the windshield. 

[Sweetwater]

That's a good tip on the California Vehicle Code prohibiting windshield mounted GPS units. I haven't been back to Southern California since I got mine here in North Idaho, so I'll have to remember to 'unmount' my Magellan Meridian Gold when we go visit the folks. It's not a vehicle specific model, just a good handheld unit that I can mount on the windshield or put in my pocket. I also have the lighter socket powercord for it. That sure is a battery saver. I basically bought it a few years ago for my work after we moved into the Sandpoint area. I found it a real blessing in my work as a Surveyor, finding my way around, learning the "new workplace" and ensuring that I was on the right property. I can get lats and longs off of maps in Maptech software (which has better topo maps than the Mapsend software that comes with the Magellan) and, if I am careful, I most always am under 50ft from where I find the particular section corner in question. If I can get within 100ft of anything I'm looking for, I can usually find it, so 50ft is terrific. I also use it to track myself into backroads and making sure I'm taking the right intersections, again ensuring that I'm actually in the right place. In the past 22 years of this career, I've found a bunch of this country isn't where we have been led to believe it is.
The Magellan Meridian Gold doesn't talk to me, but I have used it travelling to help me find places I've never been. Just plug in the address and away we go. List price was around $275 and it's long been discontinued. I rented a car in Denver that had a Magellan "onboard" and my wife really liked it because she didn't have to keep looking at the screen. It just talked to her. It let us know we missed our turns and 'recalculated' the route as we drove on. It did not handle new roads or roads that were newly cut-off by new highways, but, overall, we both thought it would be good to have when we 'get a new vehicle'.

Regards,
Sweetwater

[longwinters]

Siskiyou,

Sounds like you are on a mission    We just used the 4040 on a short trip to a wedding this weekend.  There are multiple ways to get to Rhinelander Wi.  So we set it for the shortest route.  It would have got us there but would have added 1/2 hour to the drive and about 30 miles.  We went the way we were used to going and it rerouted us to another way, still longer than we knew we could go (on good paved roads).  We just kept going the way we knew was shortest and got there.  It was interesting that when we got close and there were no more alternate routes it was right on  .  I know it is only as good as the info put into it, but ........  To me it seems as though Map Quest is more accurate in the "short" or "fast" routes.

Tonite we will see if there are any updates from Magelan.

Long

[Siskiyou]

I spent a month in Rhinelander, WI.  over twenty years ago.  It was cold for a California kid, something like –41 degrees.  Beer does not spoil in that town that which has not been brought in the thaw freezes if caution not used. (Off the subject)  It would have been nice to have a gps for my running around in that country.  I am not use to ground that flat and the sun just shined part-time.

Without a doubt the gps auto navigation is not totally accurate.  I do not know how the menu and options work on your unit, nor do I speak Magellan, but I have one or two thoughts.  Most the units do not default to “local knowledge” you keep under your hat.  When using City Navigator in my 76Cx  I went to the Main Menu Page, Routing ICON, and the Routing Setup page came up.  It provided me with three options, two of which were Faster Time, and the other was Shorter Distance.  I am thinking that many systems classify roads by maintenance standards giving Interstate priority; follow by State Highways, primary county/township roads, and other roads.

In such as classification system even a road that fits into the other roads category maybe paved, and the most direct route. 

At times one must get into the menus and do a little fine-tuning.  Of course the other problem is errors in the software.  Showing a road where there is no road, or putting a business on the wrong side of a street or in the middle of the street requiring you to make a couple of passes before you can get into the business.  An issue I have with City Navigator is that it clusters businesses.  In my mind a proper auto-routing program should take you to the front door of a business where you can look and see the address number.  But City Navigator takes you to the big sign out on the street that list the numerous businesses inside the complex.  At this point my biggest frustration has been with business complexes.  It has made it easy to find a motel, providing the address and phone number.

I have had good luck using Map Quest http://www.mapquest.com/
 and Yahoo Maps http://maps.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTExNmIycG51BF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEc2VjA2ZwLWJ1dHRvbgRzbGsDbGluaw--


Let us know how the upgrades go.

[longwinters]

Well, Magellan shows no upgrades, so we are on the list for them to send us upgrades as they occur.  The last upgrades, according to their site, was in 2006.

Siskiyou, your understanding of how GPS auto navigation works would seem to be right on and makes sense with what our limited experience has been.  Your help will definitely aid us in understanding how this thing thinks.  It makes a lot more sense now.

Long