Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT 7-Inch Flagship In-Dash Navigation A/V Receiver with DVD Playback and BluetoothThe AVIC-Z110BT is Pioneer's flagship in-dash navigation system, and comes with the works. Simultaneously access mapping and route guidance information; enjoy various forms of audio and video entertainment; control an Apple iPod/iPhone and a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone with natural voice commands; and receive updated traffic.
Magellan Maestro 3250 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic and Voice Command
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at
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User Reviews
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- 3.5-inch QVGA full-color, anti-glare, touch-screen display
- 6 Million Searcheable Points of Interest:
- AAA TourBook guide travel information
- SmartDetour prompts drivers to route around heavy or stopped freeway traffic
- Newly designed, intuitive user interface makes the Maestro series the easiest to use
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 Great features and Amazon price! |
| Review Date: December 28, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Shawn A. Freeman, Troy Michigan |
I purchased this unit last night to replace my Garmin i3. The Garmin is a great little unit, but I was ready for a few more features.
To read up about the Garmin i3 (and i2/i5) check this site: http://reviews.cnet.com/car-gps-navigation/garmin-streetpilot-i3/4505-3430_7-31468216.html
Short version:
Magellan 3250 is a great GPS unit and the price from Amazon was far the best one that I could find. Also, I ordered it last night and Amazon/UPS had the unit on my doorstep 24 hours later (and I didn't pay for overnight)!
Long version:
Within 30 minutes of having the unit out of the box, I was able to take it on a 90 minute road trip and compare back-to-back with the Garmin. Below are a few of my findings:
Screen size: The 3.5" Magellan screen was a nice bonus when compared to the Garmin's 1.5" screen. I was happy with the Garmin display, so I am that much more happy with the Magellan.
Screen Zoom: While the Magellan was fine, the default zoom level on the Garmin provided just a bit more information (zoomed out a little more) and I find that the added view was helpful when navigating unfamiliar areas.
Brightness: I never had a problem with the Garmin, but the Magellan was definitely brighter.
Re-calculation: The Garmin was quicker to detect that I had left the route and start the recalculation. Once the Magellan detected that I was off route (usually at about 75% re-calc on the Garmin) it would initiate and finish the re-calc very quickly (usually at the same time as the Garmin, despite the Garmin's 75% head start). The quickness with which the Garmin detects that you have the left route is NOT always a blessing. One of my few complaints about the Garmin was that it was/is U-turn crazy. That is to say that it detects that you have the left route and tries to force you (repeatedly) into a U-turn to get back on route. I had no such trouble with the Magellan.
Bluetooth: The Garmin i3 is a budget model and does not have this feature. With the Magellan, my SMT5600 Smartphone is not on the supported list. However, it still works as a bluetooth headset, which is sufficient for me. The quality (both on my end and on the end of the person that I made the test call to) was better than my Motorola bluetooth earbud.
Traffic: This is another advanced feature of the Magellan, which the Garmin does not have. I was not able to test this feature because I have not yet started the free trial.
Maps: The maps are from NAVTEQ*** (6/2007) and were very accurate. The Garmin also uses NAVTEQ maps (~2004 edition) and are also very good.
Routing: Both the Garmin and the Magellan calculated the same base route when going from A to B (and it was a route that I know well and can attest that the selected route was good).
Re-routing: Here, the Magellan is the hands-down winner. Not only did the Magellan NOT display the "possessed U-turn demon" of the Garmin, but it seemed to make smarter assumptions (i.e. not forcing me back to the highway when local was just as fast) when re-routing.
Mounting: Because the Garmin is very small (fits in the palm of your hand), the mount is a ball-and-socket which makes it very easy to adjust to any angle. I was pleasantly surprised that the beefy Magellan mount provided a similar range of flexibility.
Navigation: While both systems navigate quite well****, I have to give the nod to the Magellan. Whenever there are complicated branches, the screen splits into two (map and branch) clearly showing which branch is the correct one to take. The Garmin describes the branch (stay left/right, then stay right/left), but a picture is worth a 1000 words! In some cases the Garmin did have a few extra niceties like the top screen banner indicating what the next major action would be (e.g. "on I696 to exit 165 John C. Lodge south"). Also, the Garmin uses names for highways (e.g. "John C. Lodge") while the Magellan uses the highway numbers (e.g. "M-10"). If you are local, the names might make more sense, but I know from experience that out-of-towners would prefer the highway numbers over the names (here the Magellan wins again). The Magellan has text-to-speech and the Garmin does not; I can see that this would be useful for out-of-town adventures.
Finally, one point to the Garmin for verbosity. The Garmin was/is always talking before the Magellan and sometimes even when the Magellan sat quiet (e.g. "stay straight for next 9.9 miles" would come from the Garmin after merging onto the highway). The Magellan said nothing to assure me that I merged to the right path; maybe a minor point I don't know.
Controls: This is the #1 reason why I am replacing the Garmin. The Magellan has a touch screen (as do most GPS devices now). The Garmin i-series uses a thumb-wheel. While the thumb-wheel is very fast to use while sitting still (possibly faster than the touch screen) it can become nearly possible to use while driving on less than perfect roads (a bounce can send the selection up/down causing you miss the selection or select the wrong item). I know that you are not supposed to play with the GPS while driving, but honestly - who doesn't!?? Since I do, the touch screen is a definite winner.
Boot-up: The Garmin always boots fast and doesn't antagonize with the nag screen for too long. The Magellan seemed to boot a little slower, but what really bothered me was the nag screen that sticks around for several seconds after it has been dismissed.
POI: Do NOT underestimate the importance of the POI database. In this case, both the Magellan 3250 and Garmin i-series have 6 million built-in points of interest. A lot (most) of the budget systems have "millions", which usually translates into just a few more than 1 million. If you do not believe that 6 million is a big advantage over 1+, buy two systems and compare for yourself. You will be shocked at the difference that it makes in finding exactly what you are looking for. BTW - Both the Garmin amd Magellan POI database includes accurate phone numbers as well. This is especially great on the Magellan because you can call directly from the GPS unit via bluetooth to your cell phone!
NOTES (a.k.a. Why all the asterisks?):
My first attempts at replacing the Garmin were all a bust. The systems could not hold a candle to the Garmin for accuracy or sheer number of POI.
*** Something that I noticed on the other units is that they were all using TeleAtlas maps instead of NAVTEQ maps. In some cases the TeleAtlas maps had N-S streets swapped with E-W street names. I actually ran into a situation where the map claimed that there was a street where there was none, and obviously hadn't been one anytime in the past 20 years. Some people blame the navigation for these errors (i.e. the GPS vendor and not the map maker), but clearly inaccurate maps are not the results of a GPS navigation issue. They are simply bad maps. My advice is to avoid units that use TeleAtlas maps.
**** An issue, which probably is navigation related but could stem from the bad maps, is that one of the systems consistently took me to the back side of destinations. On a trip to Radio Shack, this is not a big deal. On a trip to the airport, this is a huge deal because it can lead you miles out of your way! |
Great GPS
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| Review Date: December 4, 2007 |
| Reviewer: J. Childress, Virginia |
I have been using the 3250 for about two weeks. This is the best gps I have ever used. The ones that I'm comparing it with are TomTom One 3rd, Mio 220 and 230, Garmin Nuvi 350, and Garmin streetpilot 330. The Magellan is not quite as easy to use as the Garmin units, but lets the user have more control over navigation.
Pros:
-Best poi database I have seen with AAA tour book
-Voice commands, really cool
-TrueView map. Shows you the intersection turns on the left of the screen
-Up to date maps, 8/2007
-Text to speech
-Traffic conditions
-Interactive POI icons. On map screen icons, touch and see what it is.
-Navteq maps. Better than TelAtlas thats on TomTom and Mio
-Tells you what side of the road your destination is on. Garmins do this too.
-Quick spell. Makes entering in you address much easier.
-Multi destination routing.
Cons:
-Customer support. Website and phone not that good
-No user guide
-Rerouting after missing a turn a little slower than the others
-Some buttons are too small
Overall I really like this Gps. If you want alot for your money this is the one. Check prices, because on some sites the price changes daily. I paid $299.00. |
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