Magellan RoadMate 3050T

After testing out the Fujitsu 10 in-dash models, TOM TOM and Garmin, I found the $499.99 Magellan 3050T to be the BEST BUY at Costco. It comes with a 3-month trial of TrafficKit Management, and after the trial the cost is apx. $60.00 per year. This model has SD flash card slot for photos and iTunes. I do not want these options, but they are there. I do not need Blue Tooth, since I use my cell phone hands free. And MP3 music playback through a auto GPS is plain silly.

I like the split which displays the next intersection in large text and pleasant female voice to communicate in perfect clarity all route info, streets ahead of turns, exits, interections, and give new routing info far ahead of Traffic Jams, bad weather and accidents. On the other side of the split screen there is your map and car at the intersection.

The glare free screen and mount hardware are perfect. There are buttons to press to zoom in and out in top. There are buttons off to the edge, when marked and lit for other functions. I dislike soft-touch screens. The extra FM antenna for the Traffickit is easy to install. The unit runs 4-5 hours without a recharge, and has a sleep function. Taking the display off the mount is easy for hiding.

The 3050T comes preloaded with up-to-date map data. Upgrades are either by USB cable on-line or via CDs.

For what I need, this 3050T is perfect...fast too! Customer service took 10 seconds to pickup and Technical Support took 20 seconds!

This model has more sensitivity over the 6000T model!

Good luck in your quest for an easy to use, accurate quick and safe auto GPS!

After attempting to use this unit out of the box, I quickly realized the interface is not intuitive enough to operate on it’s own. You will need to spend at least a little time reading the manual to know how the buttons operate and when to use them. On the plus side, the unit is easy to use (once you read the manual), the screen display is excellent, and the antenna sensitivity is great. The unit is light and compact enough to throw in a small briefcase or purse. I like the voice guidance and comfortable sounding attention bells.

I prefer to not use vehicle mounts unless on long journeys, but rather rely on guidance by voice prompts, and occasional glances to the center console or passenger seat. This unit could have been great for using as a non-mount as the internal antenna is extremely sensitive.

Now the bad: This unit has some serious button sensitivity problems. On the top of the unit are two large buttons to zoom in and out. The buttons are so sensitive they almost click themselves, and if the unit isn’t mounted they will click constantly if even slightly touched (which means if it is lying flat on a car seat, they will click as they are the full depth of the unit). Since the volume control is also on the top of the unit, attempting to adjust the volume even while the unit is mounted will probably result in at least a few unintentional zoom clicks as well. Touching these buttons intentionally often results in multiple clicks.

While trying to input addresses for my address book while at home, the unit would not quit attempting to acquire a satellite even after prompting to cancel for indoor use. It didn’t really matter though, as it was impossible to hold the unit without accidentally bumping the zoom buttons and making the screen click all over the place. My only other complaint was that while diving into the depths of menu options, the cancel button allowed you to jump to the previous menu, but there was no option to cancel back to the start of the menu (even with the escape key). This is hardly much more than a minor inconvenience, and I am sure there is probably a fix around that I just haven’t discovered yet. I also would have preferred a unit with text-to-speech conversion (turn off on Exit 40, vice, turn right in ¼ miles), but that wasn’t an advertised feature for this product.

Overall, I wouldn’t have returned this product if the zoom buttons hadn’t been such a nuisance. I let a friend who wanted to buy a GPS borrow the unit for a day to see if he liked it, and he returned it back to me in about two hours complaining about the zoom buttons.

I'm going to be forgiving for my rating since this unit might be a great selection for someone who would never need to physicially manipulate the unit off it's mount.