Magellan RoadMate 800

Picking up where the RoadMate 760 left off, the Magellan RoadMate 800 is stocked with many of the same great navigation features of its predecessor and includes a few entertainment extras to boot. You get an integrated MP3 player and a picture viewer; plus, the rechargeable battery means you can use this device in the car or on foot. Yet, while we appreciate the multimedia features and versatility, we're disappointed by the omission of text-to-speech functionality, which was included on the 760. Still, if your main concern is moving from point A to point B without getting lost, the RoadMate 800 can do the job. At $699.99, the RoadMate 800 may be a bit too pricey for some, but when you consider the RoadMate 700 cost nearly $1,300 only two years ago, it's a step in the right direction for consumers.

The Magellan RoadMate 800 doesn't break any new ground in the design department. It sports the same basic shape and familiar gray and silver color scheme that Magellan uses for most of its RoadMate products, although the antenna is a square flip-up type rather than the lipstick-shape mechanism found on earlier models. The 3.5-inch color touch screen uses a built-in sensor to adjust to variable lighting environments, and happily, we had no problem viewing the screen in direct sunlight.

To the right of the display are nine function buttons for accessing the menu system, entering commands, zooming in and out of map screens, and locating your present position on the map. One of the switches is an eight-way rocker that you can use to pan map screens and scroll through menus and item selections, while another mutes the speaker. Along the top bezel are an SD/MMC card slot, a volume control, and a reset switch. A USB 2.0 port and a headphone jack are located on the left side, and there's a compartment on the right that holds a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which means you can take advantage of the Magellan RoadMate 800's navigation and entertainment features anywhere, whether you're traveling by car or on foot.

One of our complaints about the Magellan RoadMate 760 was its unstable mounting cradle; this time around, it is noticeably larger and sturdier. In addition to the windshield mount, Magellan packages the system with AC and DC power adapters, a USB cable, and two CD-ROMs containing the user manual and a few utilities for managing points of interest (POI), MP3s, and digital photo files. You also get a set of earbud headphones and a carrying case.

The Magellan RoadMate 800 is packed with the usual assortment of navigation features that you'd expect to find in a quality GPS device, including voice- and text-guided driving directions, multidestination routing, automatic rerouting, and a strong 12-channel GPS receiver and antenna combo. Detailed Navteq maps of North America are stored on the unit's 20GB hard drive, so there's no need to upload maps. However, if you want to unlock the 27 European maps stored on the drive, it'll cost an extra $199.

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