Magellan Maestro 4250 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

my friend Ferdy (2009-01-06) Rating: 5/5
Everyone has to find a GPS navigation system that works for them. I personally love Magellans -- I love that they tell me that I will be turning right in two miles, then in half a mile and then double click just before I am to turn right. I love that they set out the route with the mileage and minutes at the beginning. I don't find the voice irritating as I find several other brands; I haven't begun to explore the bells and whistles on this, but I will during the course of the next few months. Thank God for Magellan; it has saved me more gas than a hybrid.
Much better than I expected (2009-01-02) Rating: 5/5
I felt compelled to write the review after reading all the negative reviews on the unit. I am immensely pleased. The voice command capabilities make the unit a unique player in its class. The price has come down substantially from its original price. The automatic night mode is very nice. The chip set gets the signals rather swiftly even though I have not installed it on the windshield (installed on the dash). I do recommend the software upgrade to 4.x (this is totally FREE). Anyone who buys a GPS should check for updates on the firmware. I think too many people with the 4250 are using the old 2.x firmware. Upgeade to the 4.x version (takes 5 minutes) and the unit performs very very nicely. When compared to the Garmins it has a lot more features for the same price. The battery life is very nice and the unit is rather sleek. The AAA features and the traffic alerts are pretty amazing. I wonder why all GPS units don't have something similar. I am very pleased!
Frozen GPS (2009-01-01) Rating: 2/5
I have owned TWO of the Magellan 4250 units. TWO of them because the first one I ordered worked for about 4 hours, I turned it off, went in to my office and when I came back out to drive home, I turned the unit on and it froze.

So I called Amazon.com and returned it and they refunded my purchase(Thank You Amazon) then and sent me another NEW unit.

This unit worked Fine, it got me out of a few jams while on business in Oahu and worked fine back home in California.

Then the second unit, I had for only 19 days froze also, it froze while trying to update the maps via the update disc they sent me(the 30 day "supposedly free" map guarantee)which was an extra $10.00 and a total hassle to get because of all the Proof of Purchase and Registration info I had to provide.

After that I called Magellan customer service, I went to the steps of trying to revive the unit per their instructions, no luck at all with that, the unit was frozen.

Magellan customer service told me that I had to send the unit in and instead of repairing the unit they would send another unit to replace it.

Here's the kicker though and they won't tell you that(I read it in the fine print) they will send you a Refurbished unit first before they will send you a new one, they will only send you a new unit if there is not a refurbished one in stock.

For me this was unacceptable, I purchased the Magellan Maestro 4250 new out of the box and new is what I expected back in return for a unit that was only 19 days old and Magellan said that they could not guarantee me that I would recieve a new unit for a replacement, so my only alternative was to return it and search for another brand.

The Pros, I comes with AAA roadside assistance(if you have AAA) which I do. The spoken street names are more than loud enough

The Cons, The bugs I found were, the 4250 had a hard time recognizing my voice while using voice command.

The other was the Bluetooth phone feature, no matter how high I turned up the volume, I had a hard time hearing the person I was talking to through the unit.


Excellent Choice (2008-12-29) Rating: 5/5
The 4250 was not only a good deal but it is an excellent GPS device that can answer my cell phone. I give it 5 stars because it does everything I need and very effectively. I can zoom in and out while traveling it can keep track of over progress on an entire trip even if it is turned off at night while in a hotel, and at the end of the trip it will tell you average miles per hour for all hours driving or not. If your phone rings you just tap the screen to answer, oh and it plays MP3's as well. plus its thin less than an inch, and has a 7 hour battery life. Finally last but best it has all the roads and 6 million POI compaired to the crappy 1.5 to 2 that the tom tom has. I was looking for a post office and the tom tom didnt find it when this one did. Something to think about!
Great Product (2008-12-28) Rating: 4/5
This is a great product. It has excellent functionality and is easy to use. The display on the Maestro doesn't look like a cartoon as much as Garmin.