While I get the opportunity to test many technology products, few actually impress me. Fewer still actually "Change my life" for the better. One of these "Change my life" products is the Magellan Roadmate 800.
First some history. For the last 20 years of my life I have traveled much of the world. Usually landing in a city late at night, getting a rental car and in the olden days using the free rental company map. Next came sites like Mapquest which were better than the rental car map because they gave turn by turn directions. But if I got off track, it was very difficult to find my way to my hotel. For years I watched the technology development behind Portable GPS systems, but early on they required me to download the maps of each location I planned to visit. Too painful a process for me.
But while in Hawaii on holiday about 2 years ago, I was at Sharper Image, and I saw the first Magellan Roadmate 700. With a hard drive and all the maps for 48 states (not Hawaii at the time) and Canada. I bought one immediately, and also fell in love with my 700. When I talked on the phone she would often give me verbal directions in the background, so many people asked me who I had in the car, therefore I gave her a name; Veronica. Well, Veronica was stolen from my checked luggage (yeah let me tell you about airline insecurity), and I immediately replaced her with a better unit, the Magellan Roadmate 760. I gave her the name Victoria. Well Victoria was even better than Veronica and she did have Hawaii maps. But my affair with Victoria was short lived, as again at Sharper Image, a new and dramatically improved version that I named Violet just came out.
Violet's improvements on the basic 700 platform are amazing. I have now sold my Victoria 760 to a friend, and she will continue to be loved by others. But Violet is simply amazing. Trust me, if you travel in unknown cities in USA, Canada and even Europe (with a map upgrade) get your own Magellan Roadmate 800, your own Violet.
Tell us about your GPS experiences in the comments section below.
Which GPS unit do you prefer, and why?
How has GPS changed your life?
Does your GPS have a name?
1. Posted by: Benjamin Higginbotham on December 7, 2005 10:07 AM:
I use two different GPS systems: The Lexus v.3 GPS built into my 2004 RX 330 and a TomTom Navigator 5 with my Treo 650. I love them both.
I use the TomTom Navigator 5 while traveling. I have all of the US loaded onto a 1GB SD card, and you can get all of the US and Canada on a 2GB card. Since the software runs directly on my Treo 650, all I need to bring with me is a small GPS "mouse" that fits in my pcoket, so airport security can't steal it... well, not as easily. TomTom Navigator 5 also uses my Treo 650's data connection to get updated traffic and weather information, automatically routing me around congestion and construction. VERY cool feature. I have named her Lori after the voice that I decided upon (you can download and install different voices).
The Lexus GPS is amazing. Incredibly easy to use and best interface I have seen in a built-in car GPS system. MUCH better than the BMW iDrive system. The system is fast, has the entire US and Canada loaded, and is accurate. My only complaint is that the model I have does not have bluetooth so I can't link to my phone, and I can't add it after the fact... And no traffic/weather/construction updates either. We have named her Sam.