Product Description- 4.3" QVGA full-color, anti-glare, touch screen display
- Text-to-speech feature calls out turns by street name
- NAVTEQ ON BOARD® includes pre-loaded maps of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico
- 6 million points of interest
- Centrality Atlas™ III processor, provides superior GPS performance and navigation
- QuickSpell™ intelligently searches and checks spelling when entering addresses
- SmartDetour™ prompts users to route around heavy or stopped freeway traffic
- Interactive POI icons: touch an onscreen icon for a nearby destination to see name, address, phone number (when available), and get an instant route
- Rechargeable battery: navigate for up to 3 hours when power is unavailable
- 4 7/16" W x 3 3/16" H x 11/16" D
- Includes receiver craddle, windshield mount, CLA/FM adapter, dash adhesive disk, quick start guide and manual on CD-ROM
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Customer ReviewsReviewed on 2008-07-25  
Ok GPS....but often send you the 'long way'
GPS is OK....but often sends you the 'long way'. It added a couple of hours to several legs of my 3000 miles trip. I tried the "Fastest Route" and "Expressway Only " routes with the same results. You need to know the route and have a rough idea before going....then, it's OK.....
Just don't use it blindly..... For $150.00 though....it's not bad...
I think most GPS's have this type of routing issue |  | Reviewed on 2008-07-25
Good unit, some pros, some cons, ultimately went back to Garmin
I read all the reviews on this unit, and decided that there were lots of reasons to try it:
Smart Spelling (with limitations I mention below)
Multiple point routing (i.e. Creating a trip with multiple stops)
Split screen when approaching a turn
Text to speech that is really easy to hear and does a good job with pronounciation
Large screen
Good price
Ability to see time remaining to destination, estimated arrival time at destination and miles to destination (I don't think the Garmins give you all that)
When I received the unit, it was very easy to set up, create "Home", and start adding address entries. I liked the sound of the smart-spell feature that blanks out street names/Cities when you are typing, only giving you those that apply. However, in reality, it doesn't give you enough flexibility.
There are many things to like, but I want to point out those things that I found not to be so easy:
I was driving between Phoenix and Las Vegas, and wanted to go through Laughlin, NV/Bullhead City, AZ, to avoid going over Hoover Dam, which can be really backed up. I was trying to put in the intersection of Arizona State Route 68 and Bullhead Parkway (becomes Nevada Highway 163), so that the unit would route me that way. However, with the limitation of the "smart spell", I couldn't find the intersection, no matter how many ways I tried to spell Arizona SR 68, and there didn't seem to be a way to get around it. Another irritating factor is that, unlike the Garmin Street Pilots I have used, I couldn't tell it to go from Phoenix to Las Vegas VIA Laughlin. The Garmins will ask you "Proceed to destination VIA xxx?", but the Magellan didn't do that (I found out later that I should have created a "Trip", with the routing points built in, then use the "Optimize" feature to have it route me). The minute I deviated from the route it had chosen (US-93 over Hoover Dam), it told me 10 times (!) over the next 10 miles to make a U-Turn. It never did figure out that it could route me to Las Vegas via Bullhead City, which was only 10 miles up the road, rather than hounding me to turn around. The detour feature was just confusing and wrong (detour wanted to put me onto I-40 west to Needles, CA, then north, adding well over an hour! - I'm glad I've driven the correct way many times), nor did the "exclude" feature (lets you exclude certain streets from a route) work for that route, so I eventually gave up, cancelled the route and started over again, once I got to Bullhead City. It's recalculation feature just seemed not to work too well. I really like the idea of being able to build an entire trip with multiple stops on it (the Garmin Nuvi 2xx's don't do that), but it just seems to be too inflexible, unless you are willing to completely give in to the device, without much say on where you're going. While you are en route to the next destination, it just doesn't want you to deviate, which the Garmin has no problem with (like I mentioned, the Garmin asks "Continue to destination VIA xxx?").
Another thing that was causing problems was screen latency (i.e. delays). I would touch the screen to call up a new menu, make a choice or other action, and the unit would not respond for 5-7 seconds. This wasn't constant, but happened frequently enough that it got to be frustrating. I would touch an icon, it wouldn't respond, so I would touch it again, then it would catch up and I ended up going one or two choices past where I intended!
I bought this for my wife to use to get around unfamiliar places, and for us to take on trips. She took it to Los Angeles, and it helped her get through rush hour traffic by using the "Avoid Freeways" routing choice, which she found very helpful. However, the same inability to route "VIA xxx" was a deterrent.
So - The end of this review is that I sent it back and bought a Garmin Nuvi 260w (for $100 more, by the way), which she is much more satisfied with. We used an older Garmin Street Pilot in Europe, and it was a life saver. I think if we hadn't gotten used to the Garmin interface over 1,500 miles, we might have felt differently about the Magellan. However, the Garmin interface suits our style better.
The Magellan is NOT a bad unit, it just has some quirks that we could not get around. | | Reviewed on 2008-07-24
Very Happy With This Purchase: Magellan RoadMate 1412
This is my second GPS, replacing an Omnitech unit that we gave to our daughter. I originally purchased a MIO C320 to replace the Omnitech, but found it extremely confusing to use and lacking in features, such as text to speech and keeping an address book.
First, the Pro's...
This is a GPS unit that does what you want it to do!
It has a wide screen that is uncluttered and easy to follow and provides more than enough information to get you to where you want to go.
The text to speech voice quality is clear and understandable. The volume level is quite good.
Route calculations and recalculations are made in reasonable time and with excellent accuracy.
It doesn't have an MP3 Player
It doesn't have a digital photo viewer.
You can't play Sudoku on it.
You cannot play movies on it.
It is, after all, a GPS unit! Why would I want to pay $100 - $200 more for features I could care less about?
The maps are 3rd quarter 2007. I assume updates are available annually. When I got the unit home, I checked the firmware version and updated the unit to the latest version with no observable problems, and no discernible negative effect on operations.
The unit comes with 6 million POI's and you can add to that. I added a list of Virginia wineries. The address book is easy to use and access and can store 100 places.
Now for the con's...
Some features are a little further down the menu tree than I would like. Getting to the address book, for instance, requires about 4 clicks, so instead of spending 2 seconds getting there, plan on spending 4 seconds! Like anything new, there's a learning curve so you should expect to some time to get familiar with this.
I'm having to struggle here to think of more con's...
There is no AC adapter, but these are the same adapters used for many other electronic devices such as cell phones, PDA's, cameras, etc. There is also no USB cable. Again, these are common accessories that most of us have lying around.
The mapping software that is available for download onto your PC doesn't seem to be very user-friendly. I'm not sure what I would use it for anyway, other than, perhaps, to print out a route. But then, what's the point of having a GPS?
For the price and the features, I really can't complain about this unit. So far, I'm VERY pleased with the purchase and very satisfied. I "almost" bought one of the competing brands for $150 more and, the only thing I would have gotten for the increased cost are "enhancements" that I don't want anyway.
I strongly recommend this unit to anyone interested in a GPS unit who's strength is to get you from point A to point B!
I also highly commend Magellan for concentrating on the core competencies of this GPS unit and for making it available at an affordable price. The "other guys" seem intent on adding extraneous "enhancements" in an effort to justify pushing up the price point.
This is a GOOD, SOLID, GPS for the money and we're extremely satisifed to have it!
| | Reviewed on 2008-07-23
Good Navigator for the money w/many features
Navigation is good with selections availabe features such as fastest shortest, most highways, least highways. Maps outdated probably 2006. No utilities to work with your computer or maps to create tracks and way points. No additional maps available. Do not upgrade to the new software, navigation will be mush worse than with the original software that came with the unit.
Trip planner works but stops at first destination and ask for next destination to be entered. Screen is not as good as Garmin, under dright sun it fades away.
Conclusion: definately worth the money. Needs software improvement in routing area and better screen. Also need an AC charger that no store has.
I fyou planning to use it inside the house tha only option to charge the unit is the usb port of the computer. | | Reviewed on 2008-07-19
This is #2
I purchased a Roadmate 1412 just before fathers day at Costco. It was on of there weekly summer specials. My wife and I went on vacation in the White Mountains of Arizona and the Gila Mountains of New Mexico> As a 1st time used of a GPS Ms. Magellan as my wife and I call "her" was spectacular. She now only told where to turn on the highways and paved roads she also knew the forest roads and even the location my 4-Runner was relative to a FR location. I fell in love. Called my son and he went a purchase on before the sale was over. Now I am purchasing one for my wifes Subaru Outback. I rate this a 5 and it is a very inexpensive unit. | |
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