- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 62 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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15 out of 17 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"An excellent GPS unit at a great price, one of Magellan best"
Pros: large 4.3" bright touch sceen display, excellent audio out put, AAA tourbook, TTS, SiRF, BT
Cons: Not as much POI information as some of the more expensive units
Summary: Magellan has done it again, the Maestro 4040 is a great contribution towards the PNAV market, similar to a 4.3" Garmin Nuvi like device that is a no nonsense personal navigation device without all the extras.
My experience has been excellent with this new products understanding ALL PND have it's limitations and challenges, the Maestro is a breath of fresh air.
The new Magellan user interface is very easy, practical and very intuitive, this is a huge change in direction for Magellan compare to the older user interface.
What is most pronounce and the biggest differentiator between the Magellan Maestro and Garmin Nuvi is that the Magellan Maestro now includes
1] AAA rating guide which includes restaurant, hotels and many others.
2] AAA Tour book which includes such events as Home and Garden shows date and time, Art and Wine Festivals date and time, Antique shows date and time etc,
3] AAA branch offices for you to buy register your vehicle or make reservation with AAA travel agency.
4] AAA approved Auto repair facilities to take your vehicle to if it breaks down when you are on a road trip, these AAA approved auto repair facilities are reliable and have to answer to AAA if there is a complaint,
5] Camp grounds and RV park locations
6] AAA roadside assistance phone number,
7] AAA membership saver guide etc. Garmin charges extra for saver guide, travel guide, etc., which is included in the Magellan Maestro units
.
The soon to be release Magellan Maestro 4050 will also include voice command capability which is a huge feature enhancement, Garmin, TomTom and Mio does not offer this feature and only some of the high end installed GPS system such as Pioneer, Alpine along with some OEM units have some limited features such as voice command capabilities.
The Maestro 4040 also includes Bluetooth hands free capabilities along with traffic information as an options using the Magellan TMC cradle.
The Bluetooth hands free feature is solid and can import phone number from the address book or from POI and dial the number for you if a Bluetooth phone is paired with the Maestro.
The Exit Points of Interest is extremely helpful for users that is on a long road trip and do not wish to back track to find a gas station or restaurant. This feature is unique to Magellan since it only offers POI's that is ahead of your direction of travel and not what you have just past.
We did not find the reroute option to be an issue, as fast or faster than the older Magellan Roadmate 760. Routing from California to New York 100 Main Street only took 25 seconds to calculate and the unit was ready to route.
Bluetooth handsfree features paired up well with BT phones we tested with, huge improvement over the Magellan Roadmate 6000T BT.
With all the great features and ability, what is missing?
What is noticeably missing is Magellan Trip planner route optimization, Magellan retain the trip planner but left out the ability to optimize the route to offer the user the most efficient route from the nearest to the furthest destination in your trip planner folder.
The MP3 player, the photo viewer is noticeably missing but may not be a deciding factor for someone that is looking for a good PND without all the extras.
I have been testing this Magellan Maestro product for a while now as a beta tester and the product is solid and should be a winner for Magellan. Did not experience the lock up and slow processing issues as I have with other units we have tested.
Overall, the competition is getting even hotter, Magellan just raised the stakes by offering a no nonsense PND at an affordable price with everything one would need and nothing that you do not need for navigation purposes. For now, I would recommend the Magellan Maestro if you wish to have a large display unit that is fast and efficient at an affordable price
Magellan Maestro 4040:
