Magellan Maestro 3250 3 5 Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Magellan Maestro 3250 3 5 Inch Portable GPS Navigator
The Magellan Maestro 3250 GPS system offers one of the most intuitive and feature rich travel experiences out there, and with a price that makes the competitors tremble. With an integrated AAA TourBook Guide, SayWhere text to speech delivery and Live traffic reporting capability, and BlueTooth connectivity and Hands free calling features, the Maestro 3250 is popping up in new vehicles and pockets daily.With Voice Command and Control say something to your Magellan 3250 to access your most popularly used functions and navigation systems. Use your voice to find the nearest coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, gas stations, bank machines and more. Talk to your Maestro 3250 and ask for you exact geographical location, how much longer and the distance to your desired locations and so much more with this powerful voice recognition system.Browse the exclusive AAA TourBook and collaborate with users to get ratings and reviews on hotels, restaurants and more. Find great discounts and coupons as well to these points of interest along your journeys.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars It does the job
I have been using the Maestro 3250 for almost 5 months and think it is an excellent unit. It is not without it shortcomings but mostly works as it should.
The routing algorithm isn’t perfect but most of the time does the job. My main issue is that when calculating the fastest route (as opposed to shortest route). I have noticed sometimes it thinks certain city streets are fastest than normal city street even if the distance change is pretty major. The re-route ability if I miss a turn works fine and the location tracking isn’t always exact but close enough.
The Speech Recognition works great, when it works. I love the fact that while I am driving I can say “Magellan” then search for nearby restaurants or gas stations handfree. The only problem I have is occasionally the voice recongnition doesn’t work, no matter how loud, soft, or clearly enunciated my speech.
Bluetooth works. I have a Motorola RAZR and it works, however I always get the error when pairing due to a failure to sync up SMS functionality. People I call via my cell phone/GPS pair say they can hear my clearly without any problems.
My unit has free trial period of the Traffic service. After using it for few weeks I can say it KINDA works. I don’t think this is all the GPS fault though. Part of it is dependent on how accurate the reported traffic issue to the unit. I can say the if the GPS thinks your route is going through some traffic, it will re-route your trip to avoid it. One of my experiences is that it added over almost 1 hour to my trip (I was doing an over 230 mile road trip) because it thought 1 freeway was very slow. So it rerouted me to another freeway, I learned later from a friend who I met at the destination that there was no traffic on my original course.
I did try to use the included software on my computer to create my own POI’s but never was able to do it. The software requires entering exact latitude and longitude coordinates instead of street address and I am too lazy to figure it out.
The AAA tourbook POI is nice, however I am disappointed it is not linked to the voice-recognition search for nearby restaurants.
All in all, the GPS does get me where I want to go and although I have my annoyances listed above , I will not give it up.
5 Stars A Must-Have for Your Car
This little device has saved us time and gas, taking us to highways and shorter routes that we would never have thought to use. It’s very user-friendly. I haven’t had a problem with the on/off switch, as some people have mentioned, except when I first took it out of the box and it wasn’t fully charged. I highly recommend the Magellan Maestro.
3 Stars Voice and Bluetooth Disappointment
This was my first Magellan unit but I have been using GPS for over nine years. I find Magellan’s menus and basic features very easy to use and prefer them over that of the Tom Toms. However, I returned the 3250 and opted for the 4210. Why? The voice recognition system of the 3250 was troublesome to use. Also, call quality while using the unit’s bluetooth for hands-free calling was not very good. Lastly, I think the 4.3″ widescreen is beneficial.
5 Stars Accurate Routes, Good Value, Very Easy to use
I spent a lot of time going round and round in circles reading the various reviews from the various products, I chose this because it had the most useful navigation features for the money.
Pro’s
* Text to Speach - speaks turns in street names and works very well. Gives you good warning and the screen actually splits whilst speaking the directions for more compex junctions and turns for example if you need to make a left and then an immediate right. Also gives you a chime just on the turning, this has always been accurate.
* Accurate Maps and Routes - The routes are spot on, the re-routing feature works extremely well and you can switch it off if you like or to configure it to act based upon a specific time period deviated from the route or distance. This is very useful, sometimes you don’t want the re-route to happen straight away sometimes you do, this can do either.
* Points of Interest - You can choose which points of interest appear on the map, it has voice recognition which allows you to say some basic commands like Take me Home, Distance to Destination, Nearest Gas. This feature works very well and you can switch it off if you don’t want it. It had no trouble recognising my voice and I have a strong Welsh accent. As with any voice recogition somtimes you have to repeat or raise your voice but works very well. The points of interest is also a great safety feature in my opinion, gives you local hospitals, gas stations. Also provides you with phone numbers for those points of interest.
* Screen - Bright and clear on summer days and not too much glare at night. The screen changes its use of colours at night time automatically, this is useful as it reduces disractions at night time driving.
* Other useful features - Say where am I and it gives you exact information, even speed and elevation.
* Bluetooth - you can make calls through the device with a blootooth cell phone.
Some reviews mention a problem with the power button, I’ve had no trouble at all but I did notice that if you had your power adapter connected to the device but not plugged into the car socket it would not power up, but if you connect it in the car socket or disconnect it from the device, it will power up. The behaviour seems to be intentional in that if you have your power cord plugged in then plug it into that car socket or unplug it. I haven’t had any problems that would indicate a dodgy power button.
Con’s
* No headphone jack.
* No mention of any European Maps becoming available for this device
* Battery life not as long as some other devices - 3-4hours.
* Does not come with AC adapter so you must charge though the cigarette lighter or USB cable.
3 Stars Just a little late
I used the unit for a few weeks in LA and noted that at the four level I would have been in the wrong location if I did not already know the freeway as the directions did not match the signs, although it was the correct freeway name, sort of. However it did give me some unique alternatives to the tried and true routes that I have always used.
However I depended on it to take me out of the hills one night. On narrow dark unfamiliar streets I was at it’s mercy. The problem is that the streets were poorly marked and more than one would come in at about the same point. I kept missing the one it wanted me to take. Each time I only knew there was a problem when it told me it was rerouting. I eventually did make it out but it would have been much faster to take the longer way I already knew.
Then I took it to Las Vegas. Once again, the most annoying thing is if you are depending on it to tell you where to turn. The street names often did not match — it would say to turn onto a highway number but the street sign only had the street name. Then the bell that tells you it is time to turn consistently goes off AFTER the entrance to the left turn lane or the start of the gore point and after you have driven well past the address. Not a problem if there is only one obvious choice but in an unfamiliar location with streets or freeway interchanges close together or unmarked address and numerous driveways it was quite annoying to keep making U-turns or taking the next street, but thankfully the re-route was fairly good.
Coming back on I-15 it did show me there was a traffic alert. The 5mph I was driving was another good indication. When I hit the icon it took me to a screen that asked what length detour I wanted. But that was my question. Where was the hold-up. 5 miles, 10 miles, 25 miles? It gave me no indication how long the delay would be or where the accident was located.
If I selected a length it would give me options even in that remote situation but I opted to stick it out as no one else seemed to be taking any alternatives and it said the option was longer (but than what — the normal time on I-15 or the time as it was on this day?) Perhaps if I had used the traffic option more before this trip I would have known but it seemed rather useless and I don’t plan on paying to extend the service. One word of caution, the three months free seems to start on the day you purchase the unit. I did not sign up until over two months after purchase and only had a few days left.
The other annoying feature that others have touched upon is the voice recognition. It would pop on at odd times telling me to say a command. Then when I would say Magellan I had a hard time getting it to wake up. The one thing I really wanted it for was to find gas or restaurants without getting off the freeway or touching the unit. This it does not do. Or at least I could not find any option that would get me there.
The blue tooth worked but the speaker quality was so poor the other person has to repeat about half of everything they say.
Re-boots, yes a few so far. Trouble turning it on with the button, yes
All in all, it sure beats paper maps but . . .
Filed under: Electronics