Magellan RoadMate 1412 4 3 Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
The Magellan RoadMate 1412 is pocket-sized, ultra-thin and stylish, and features a wide-format, full color interactive touch screen…Use the intuitive menu options to pick your destination and choose how you navigate to virtually anywhere. If you want to stay on the freeway, avoid freeways, travel the shortest distance or arrive in the quickest time, your Magellan RoadMate enables you to navigate the way you want. You can even exclude specific roads or freeways from your route and also avoid toll roads.SayWhere text-to-speech tells you street names with every turn-by-turn direction.The advanced QuickSpell feature intelligently searches addresses and Points of Interest, offering you a simple list of available locations. It even checks spelling so you can enter a destination with just a few touches of the screen.SmartDetour prompts you to route around sudden slow or stopped freeway traffic and automatically re-calculates the fastest detour.The integrated rechargeable battery offers navigation for up to three hours. Search destinations, plan trips and enter addresses and personal Points of Interest from a meeting place, restaurant or anywhere power is unavailable.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Excellent text to speech GPS. Easy to use
I bought this because my entry level Jensen NVX 200 GPS just wasn’t cutting it for me. My primary purpose is to use it in rental cars when on a business trips. $13 a day rental is absurd.
The Jensen documentation was useless and not intuitive whatsoever. So, I found the Magellan Roadmate 1412 on sale as a refurb unit for only one hundred dollars. Documenation was good, but the device is pretty intuitive.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX
1. GPS
2. CAR CHARGE CORD
3. Mini USB cable
4. Windshield suction cup mount (little short)
5. Plastic piece with two sided tape for those who want to stick it on their dash.
6. CD with the manual and software for connecting the unit to internet for firmware updates and map purchases (pricey)
Note: No 110 volt charger
THE SCREEN
Well lit with easy to read graphics. At 4.3 inches it’s plenty big enough for my aging Baby Boomer eyes. You can adjust the power level to extend battery life.
TOP LEVEL MENU
There are six top level menu options. 3 per screen display —
1. Show map
2. Exit (from Freeway) Points of Interest
3. Cancel Route
4. Re-route
5. Active Trip
6. User Options (setup, etc.)
BATTERY AND CHARGING
Battery is a Lithium Ion cell which charges in a couple of hours. Don’t get sucked into buying a 110 volt charger. You don’t need it if you have a USB port on your computer. While the manual says you need to charge with car charger or a separate 110 volt charger ($30 to $40) that is not the case. The USB connection will charge if you turn the GPS off when it’s connected to your PC with a USB mini cable. (I also found this to be the case with the Jensen GPS)
Entering a route is easy. You go through a series of screens to enter the destination address. When completed you are given four choices to select the route method:
1. Fastest time
2. Shortest distance
3. Least use of freeways
4. Most use of freeways.
You choose your preference and in a few moments the route is calculated. Each route can be viewed in a maneuver list that displays direction, distance, and street name. Maneuvers can be deleted from a route.
WHAT I HAVE FOUND USING IT
Using it in a familiar area where I know the roads I have found only two places where the loaded map was not spot on. One was an intersection that what was not programmed into the map. The other was simply a function of the map not being updated in the last 8 months. You can update for free if you buy the unit new in the box. If you buy a refurb you get the ability to update firmware but map updates are not free.
THE DREADED U-TURN WHEN YOU GO OFF ROUTE
I only experienced the prompt one time and it was at the intersection of the map error I talked about above. If you do go off route the recalculating is done in a timely fashion.
TEXT to SPEECH
You simply have to listen to the feminine synthesized voice that utters intelligible speech at a volume I can hear when driving in my van. It’s not loud enough if you drive with the windows down at 70 mph and the radio blaring. The pronounciation is sometimes pretty funny. For example, left on North Haggerty road comes out of the speaker with the following pronounciation; “Nort Hahherty road.”
The text to speech of the route means you really don’t have to look at the screen. Legs of a maneuver are stated, then .5 mile from a turn is spoken to prepare you to turn left or right. And just before the turn or maneuver you are prompted again just in time to make the maneuver.
WINDOW MOUNT
I found the suction cup was very difficult to stick to the windshield. Warming it helped. The length of the ball and socket arm is too short for me in my van. I bought an aftermarket vent mount on ebay that works great.
Don’t forget about charging the GPS via the USB. It’s much more convenient if you travel with a laptop. Just plug the GPS in, and turn it off. The charging will be complete in a couple of hours. Of course, leave your laptop on.
5 Stars Easy to Use
I have given the unit itself 5 stars because of the value, ease of use and quickness in updating and making corrections. The voice on the Roadmate is female and very pleasant and not invasive, unlike some other GPS devices. The directions are clear and pronunciations are better in general than other devices I have known. Navteq, which provides the maps, should get their act together, however, and make it easier for consumers to help them correct errors in their map data.
1 Star I never learned my lesson
After getting a roadmate 760 that broke approximately 3 months after use, I promised myself not to get a Magellan ever again. They are the worst GPS company in terms of reliability and customer service, if there is any.
While shopping at BJ’s, I was enticed by the Roadmate 1412′s low price of $139. Guess what? After just a few weeks of use, quality issues arose again. The damn thing won’t turn on. I have returned this since. There goes another piece of a would be refurbish @%# that Magellan will sell again. No more magellans for me, until they sell one at a huge discount. Maybe a buck. Magellan’s are disposables.
5 Stars You can’t go wrong with this one
I got this for Christmas and it turns out to be one of the best gifts ever. If you travel even a little you will love this one. The screen is very easy to read and it is extremely accurate and pretty easy to use as well. The voice feature is nice also because you don’t always have to look at the screen to see where to turn.
5 Stars Wow what a difference from MapQuest
I purchased this for my spouse. He loves it, but has left it in my truck for the last couple of weeks. I know he wants me to have one as well possibly why he has left it in there for me. Anyhow I always pull directions from MapQuest and usually don’t have a problem with exception of two times. This GPS helped by giving me the actual direction I needed to go. The MapQuest just gave me the exit to get off on, but failed to provide whether I go right or left at the Y. The GPS was kind enough to provide that information as such I did not get lost and made it to my appointment. Not only that, but as I entered the military base I asked for directions from the MP at the gate, but as I came upon the stop sign where he had told me to take a left, the GPS also actually told me where to turn to get to the parking garage of the hospital. I thought that was just wonderful.
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