Magellan RoadMate 1200 - Use (Page 4 of 4 )
Use
I wasn’t sure if this unit was best for me. I heard some reviews that said it would take 10 minutes to recalculate directions and that it was way off on directions. I also read that this is a great unit, so I had to put it to the test and see what the deal was with this GPS.
The screen is bright and easy to navigate. I had no problems learning how to operate the GPS. It probably took roughly 5-10 minutes to figure out. The unit speaks out what turns to take and tells you it is recalculating the route once you pass up the turns you were supposed to take. It contains many Points of Interest, such as ATMs/banks, food places, gas stations and other places you may need to find. It is missing quite a few Wal-Marts on it from the northern Ohio region. All the POIs come up on the screen as icons that you can touch; the display shows the business name, address and phone number.
My first adventure was driving home for Thanksgiving (Toledo to Cleveland). The majority of the trip included highway and turnpike driving. This was rather boring and didn’t really pose a problem for the GPS. It could accurately pick up the bridges and roads along with the rest stops along the way. One feature I would have loved to see was the ability to look at the next rest stop from any distance and see what's there. I had to rely on the signs to see what was at the next stop. It only came onto the GPS screen as I passed it up. It did manage to get me home by following the directions on the screen.
My next test for the GPS was to drive from my house to my girlfriend’s house in another city. Of course I know the way there and all the back roads. The GPS didn’t take me through all the back roads and I can’t really blame it for this. If Mapquest can’t find the back roads, I don’t think any GPS or mapping service could; perhaps in a few years, but not yet.
As for how quickly the routes were rerouted, I would say it's really quick. It effortlessly found new routes, updated the screen, and told me what direction to take. A few times it told me to “take the next legal U-turn,” which I don’t think is the best reroute, but I guess it works.
Here is the first issue I came across with the route computing so far: I was on my way home, just around my neighborhood, and wondered if the way I was going home was the quickest. I knew for myself that it was, but wondered what the GPS thought. Well it turned out that it would be best for me to go ¾ of the way around the block instead of going straight 300 ft to my driveway. When I came close to my house and my girlfriend's place, it didn’t seem to really look at the maps and say, "duh, he’s right down the street." It wanted to pull into the driveway from the same direction it was thinking about when I began the trip.
Conclusion
Today we got to take a look at the Magellan RoadMate 1200. It is one of the newest GPSes to hit the market and comes in towards the bottom in terms of price range. Just because it has a tiny price tag, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have worthwhile features.
I would give this GPS mad props for its bang for the buck. It offers all the features I would expect. The only feature not included is Voice to Text. That is no big deal, though. All the roads I passed were on the map and it had most of the businesses listed. I was surprised by the lack of Wal-Marts listed. The GPS was fast to update and reroute you, but it had some rather questionable reroutes when you got close to your destination.
I would recommend this to anyone looking to pick up a cheap GPS that still has a lot of features. However, it’s minor flaws keep it from receiving the DevHardware recommended award.
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