Magellan Maestro 4000 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

It has very limited POI and the map seems to be outdated also. I tried to find Best Buy and Staples but none could be found within 50 miles. There is a Best Buy within 10 miles and a Staples not too far away. The directions seem to be quite accurate but I don't like the fact that it doesn't tell you to make the turn. It just beeps or dings depending on your setting. The display is limited in information too. It's going to go back to the store.

I purchased this pricey unit from amazon in March 2008. After just over a year of careful use (I even bought the carrying case) it now flickers when plugged in. It seems that the single pin plug in for this unit is not very sturdy, most other units use a mini USB plug.

I e-mailed customer service, who told me I was 2 months out of warranty and out of luck. I just assumed that a unit of this price would last more than 14 months because it is now useless!

Stick to companies that stand behind their products (NOT MAGELLAN)!!

I just purchased the Magellan Maestro 4000 GPS, which I found refurbished, with everything included that a new one would have, for one third of the price. I found it very easy to operate, and very helpful on a recent trip from Portland to Eureka and back. I also use it for my work assignments, as I am sent to various different locations every week. I am now using less paper and ink for printing google maps. I also found a good deal on amazon for the GPS Nav-Pack -WEIGHTED Dash Mount Carrying Case- which is great. I hesitated to permantently mount the unit to my dash, and this "Nav-Pack" sits solidly on the dash, and can be stashed out of site in the padded case in seconds. I am very happy with both of these purchases, and highly recommend them.

I purchased two of these units on a special purchase during the 2008 holiday season. One was for my wife. While the map is easy to read and the large screen is more than appreciated, I'm very disappointed in the available updates. Magellan offers only an annual update that costs nearly as much to download as the GPS, itself, cost me. The Magellan branded POI files are very skimpy and I have yet to find any POI (point of interest) files compatible with the Maestro product line. If you want basic navigation and plan on using this on established roadways, entering custom addresses wherever you go, then you will be satisfied. If you want the most current maps and POI directories, you might want to shop around.

"Maggie" Magellan is a wonderful companion when wandering around the U.S. No GPS seems to be perfect with regard to selecting the shortest or fastest route to a destination; but if you're not familiar with the area into which you've driven, Maggie will help you find your destination and get you to where you want to go. The widescreen is nice & bright. I like being able to use the device as a handheld portable away from a power source.

So far love this product. Actually my fiance is the one I bought it for and so far he loves it. In fact, his dad and two brother-in-laws received GPS' for Christmas, but a different brand and size, and they all want his! So no complaints here!

First off, this is a good product but Magellan should either update the maps or provide a free upgrade, Garmin did for my dads Nuvi 650. Okay I used this to go to South Bend, IN from Lafayette, IN I ran into a closed road on the way and it took me there once it rerouted, however it did try to take me down a one way road. On the way home I tried to take I-65 as it directed but it was closed in two places then it rerouted me and got me lost in Gary the murder capital wtf. I was able to reroute for the shortest distance and it took me out into bfe to get to a major highway. Then I encountered another road closing luckly the opposite way I was going to turn took me back on to I-65 where I wanted to go. I only discovered this because I needed gas otherwise I would have been who knows where. Anyway I would like to try the updated maps, I think this would solve some of the reroute problems (obviously the road closings will not show up). Although it did take me all over the place it did get me out of Gary, without I would have been SOL.

I bought this GPS mainly because of the larger screen this model provides compared to the other ones. Using the gadget and maneuvering between the menus are quite simple - nothing too complicated. I like how they have a trip planner (to save destinations and use them later) and there are countless destinations as POIs also. However, the biggest bother for me was when I noticed that upon start up, it took a while to realize where I was exactly and re-calculate position and route to take.

Pros:
-easy to use menus
-lots of POI's (although they may need to be updated)
-trip planner to save multiple destinations
-price for the model

Cons:
-took a while to locate position upon start up (up to 30 secs at times)
-does not have text-to-speech capability
-sometimes takes less popular roads, even though I'd prefer them

All in all, I get what I paid for. It comes in very handy when I need it and the cons takes some getting used to, but great product in the end.

I found the unit to be very good... limited Points of interest, but the really good part is that Toy's R Us has it for $120 (Clearance).

GPS works well; easy to see and use interface. Upgraded maps will be a plus in late 2008. Great value for the price.

I was skeptical about getting this product from resale/ refurbished site. The GPS was in perfect order, it's had all the bells and whistles. The only problem was that it didn't come with a car adapter like it said it would.

I have had the Magellan Maestro 4000 for 2 weeks & have found that the mapping is not accurate & very outdated. I hope that Magellan will offer an updated mapping for this unite. Dick

I've had mine for about a mounth now and it is a fantastic little device.
the reason I purchased the GPS is because I was going to be doing a lot of traveling in different states. That little talking screen was a life saver, I mean she lead me right to the door of my Hotel, she found places to eat. And when I say "she" I mean the disembodied Female voice the GPS has. The GPS has a few little Quarks but if one keeps driving on the same road and not making a lot of wild turns she well straghten her self out. Other then that the screen is bright and automatically changes for night driving, the windshield mount is really strong and stable.

So the bottom line is if you need to get somewere and don't like to read maps pick up the Magellan Maestro 4000.

I'm a veteran business traveller who relies heavily upon the Hertz Neverlost units, also from Magellan. But I recently did a personal road tour of the east coast (I live in Oregon). I rented a car from Hertz but opted against paying for Neverlost in favor of my nerw Magellan Maestro 4000. Hertz gave me the Neverlost anyway at no charge so I was able to compare the two. One would have thought they'd be the same, both being Magellan products. They are not the same and the hand held Magellan 4000 is the winner. The interface is easier to use and the graphic display has a larger vista. But most importantly (and inexplicably)the Magellan 4000 got me to more places than the Neverlost. Try this test in Westport MA for example. And in general, the directional instructions were more acurate. Only complaint: sometimes the ding-ding sounds just a little too late to know for sure the maneuver required. 20-30 feet sooner would be helpful. Excellent product in my opinion.

I purchased Magellan Maestro 4000 4.3" GPS through Amazon.com on 6/8/08.
It was shipped from Pavilion Electronics and I received it, in perfect
condition and as advertised, on 6/14/08. I could not be more pleased, either with the merchandise or the service I received.

The screen is big (4.3 in.) the graphics are beautiful, the voice commands are very clear, it works very well, this units packs plenty of volume, so it is very easy to drive to your destination without having to look at it. The sensitivity is excellent, as it tunes to satellites within a few seconds.

My only gripe was with accuracy, as it always showed my vehicle's position about 1/2 block BEHIND at all times, it was also very slow re-calculating routes and that was a bit of an annoyance, but it resolved all this issues by installing the new firmware available as a free download at the Magellan site. NOTE: Updates are PC only, no Mac support that I'm aware of. For some reason the battery only lasts about 30-40 minutes, so the power supply cable has to be connected all the time or the battery quits suddenly.

The POI's are VERY limited in this model, so don't even count on them.

I've became accustomed to hearing the street & freeway exits by name with my Garmin and my older Magellan 760 (an earlier unit that was stolen from my car) but the Maestro 4000 does not speak street names, although the unit became very accurate and much faster after the updates. For those of you who like to hear the street names, this unit does not have this feature and it is not upgradable via the firmware.

In general this a very decent unit at a very decent price, nice display & voice, but it is a bare bones basic unit compared to the other Magellan models costing just a few dollars more.

Great GPS device. We took a trip to Austin, TX just after receiving it and was totally impressed. Today's technology is awesome!!

I never owned a gps. My cousin came and we used her's to get around the city. I was sold!! I bought the very same one she has for hubby for Father's day. I'm impressed and can't wait to use it when we travel way up north from Florida.

This was a gift for my college graduation. It has already traveled with me through a few states and has been excellent. Great volume, clear pictures, helpful POIs.

I have purchased three Magellan Maestro 4000's for family members and everybody is very happy with them. Not a single malfunction.

This is my first GPS. I wanted something simple and easy to use. The 4000 fit my needs perfectly. I received it just in time for my trip to NY and CT. I was not familiar with the highways I would be travelling and needed a navigator. I didn't take any paper maps on this trip. The screen is just the right size and it has excellent clarity. One feature I love is the voice that gives me advance notice of an upcoming turn and the chime that signals I have reached my turn. If I miss my turn it gives me an automatic re-route. When you press the home icon, the GPS will show you the way so you will always be able to make it back to the nest. It works great. I wish I had bought one sooner.

We purchased this GPA for my inlaws, and wanted to learn to use to before we gave it to them. It is a great product! We are also very happy with the seller - we got a good deal, good shipping, and the product was just as we expected! Thanks so much!

The Magellan performs as advertised and I am very satisfied with it. The commands are very accurate and it calculates the routes in just 5 or 6 seconds.

I'll keep it brief. Customer service is beyond non-existent!
Bought hand held unit, worked fine in US.
Bought Direct Route EU, software. Would not load on unit.
After 7 months yes 7 MONTHS of emails/letters/ phone calls.
Magellan finally agreed to exchange, but they sent wrong software.
THEY DO NOT CARE, and just give me a run a round AGAIN.
So I have a useless GPS.

We bought this GPS for driving in New England. Anyone who has been there knows that road names and signs are often non-existent and/or can change without so much as a by-your-leave, so for our sanity we got the Magellan Maestro GPS.

The Good:

The features are very good, the on-screen buttons are a great size so that you don't "miss" trying to push them when driving (As a passenger, I should say. Don't get in a wreck pushing buttons while driving!). Entering addresses is easy as well as storing them. You can touch the screen when you're at a location and ask the unit to store the spot you're at. This is great if you don't know the actual address of where you are! The various map modes are nice (3D, top view) and the roads are up-to-date; the "night" mode blacks out the map color to reduce glare from the unit when driving after dark. The voice commands are great from the built in speaker, nice and clear! The menus work very well too, simple to navigate through to get where you want in the device. The AAA extras in there are nice if you have AAA membership, but you don't need to deal with it if you don't want to.

Another great feature is that if your unit loses GPS signal (say you go into a tunnel) it automatically throws up a screen showing graphical representations and distances of all turns coming up so you don't get lost or miss a ramp in the tunnel. This is a great feature.

The Bad:

POIs. I think this is a common complaint about all GPS units though. The ability to create your own is a real pain. When are the GPS manufacturers going to get a clue and include software that will let you create an "address book" on your computer with your own entries or pulled from something like Google Maps and then make it upload to the device? This is one of the worst features of the device and is essentially useless. You're better off entering the addresses you want stored in your device by hand at home and then saving them. You can select them on the road.

The Magellan also doesn't have Bluetooth, a MP3 player, or the traffic watch features of the Nuvi, but after using the Nuvi I found that these features aren't worth the price (plus you have to pay extra to unlock some of them!)

Why this device is our favorite compared to the Garmin Nuvi 6XX series:

Simple menus. The Nuvi has too many small buttons that are not easy to use when driving (as a passenger pushing the buttons), and there are too many menus to go through to get what you want. The Magellan only needs a few buttons to get anywhere in the device.

Clear Voice Instructions. The built in speaker is loud and the simulated voice is nice and clear. There have been several occasions where we've wondered what our Nuvi was trying to tell us (listen to how the Nuvi says "square" if you have the opportunity, it sounds like "sqayyelurrr"). The simulated voice isn't as good as the Magellan, and the built in speaker is nowhere near as good.

No unnecessary extras to clutter up the menu. There are all sorts of features to navigate through such as shopping and restaurants in the Nuvi. The Nuvi has better POIs than the Garmin, but how often on a road trip do you really need to look for shopping? All you need is gas stations and restaurants. If you're at home, enter the addresses of where you want to go before you get in the car. All done!

The Nuvi has bluteooth, an MP3 Player and traffic watch to name a few extras. Bluetooth is nice if you actually use it, but most phones that have bluetooth already have voice activated dialing already. The advantage of the Nuvi is that it can transmit the voice via FM to your car radio, but I can tell you from experience that the Nuvi's FM transmitter is so underpowered as to render it almost useless. Too faint and it allows outside interference in too easily. You could use a tape deck or headphone plug in adapter to your car stereo, but only if you have those features available in your car.

The MP3 Player only holds up to 1000 songs (something they don't tell you). The other problem is that unless you make playlists at home before you go, you're constantly playing DJ picking what you want to hear. Also, the MP3 screen has to be up when doing this so you can't see the map! It also takes 1-2 minutes to load the songs, and the GPS is frozen during this time. Not good if you want to know which way to turn out of a parking lot right away after powering the device up.

Traffic watch. Costs extra, and if you live where you're using this you already know when and where the traffic will be bad!

Worst feature compared to the Magellan: Loss of signal causes the device to "coast". It expects you to be at whatever turn is coming up next based on your speed at the time of signal loss. It doesn't tell you the next sequence of turns or distances like the Maestro, so if you get stuck in a traffic jam in a tunnel, too bad! We found this out the hard way.

I'd recommend the Magellan. Better, simpler features, great voice directions and costs less. A GPS for drivers.

We used our Magellan on our last road trip to three Young Writer's Conferences in three different cities and it was incredible! The very pleasant female voice instructed us so well that we arrived at each destination with no problems at all. As someone who can get lost in my own neighborhood, I was definitely impressed with the precision of the Magellan. The instructions were pleasantly delivered and were accurate in every detail. Highly Recommended!

Easy to use, accurate and great display. The Points of Interest feature in this model need updating. The local Walmart Supercenter's are not listed.
If you know where you want to go this is a great unit. Our Fire Dept. purchased this model for our Fire Trucks.
Recommend

A friend owns this model and I had the opportunity to see it in operation. I was impressed. I researched other models with the 4.3 inch screen, and thought them reasonably similar. When I saw the great price, I couldnt resist. My only criticisms are that there appears to be no ability to swap US maps for Europe maps, and more importantly that the US maps are out of date. They claim to be from 2006, but that probably means much data was updated prior to 2005. As a result, for instance, a recent trip found us getting off the express lanes on I271 near Cleveland as directed, only to follow the express lanes in the "local" lanes for the next 20 or so miles! A map update is promied for "early 2008", but it hasn't appeared as of May.

Very pleased with the product. The touch screen did freeze in the first couple days of use, but holding the power button for 10 seconds to reset the settings fixed it.

Magellan Maestro 4000 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
The box comes with nearly all you will need - except a well written manual. However, much of the operation is intuitive and once I figured out how to save addresses to the address list (you have to ask for a route to that address) everything went very smooth. I am quite pleased with my purchase.

I'd recommend this to any of my friends unless they were going to use it strictly as a "portable" for hiking - it's a little large for that.

This is my first GPS navigator so I don't have anything else to compare it to. This is a very nice product, easy setup, easy interface, nice bright screen in daylight. Really like the auto-night feature where it switches the screen colors to black/green. Only disappointment is the short battery life if used unplugged. It seems like 1.5 to 2 hours is all it will do without a recharge or running off the cigarette lighter. The windshield mount suction cup bracket works well although it is a little bulky. Something smaller/slimmer would be nice. Overall very pleased with this GPS.

Great price for a simple to use portable navi system. Bought mine from Amazon for $159.99, seen elsewhere for $249.99 and above. Can 't beat the price for what you get. Touch screen interface, turn by turn directions and the AAA points of intrests are great. The only feature I wished it is to add multiple stops in your trip. Aside from that, it is great. You can't go wrong with this for the price and ease of use. The 4.3 inch screen is also a plus.

Why did I buy a Magellan 4000? I have a 4040 sitting on the dash of my car (I needed the Canadian maps) And it has always come through for me. So when my wife's old GPS passed on, I knew just which one to buy.

It's easy to use. You enter your location and it tells you where to go wonderfully. The maps are easy to see. It even offers the name of the road you're supposed to turn onto. They have modified the program a bit from the 4040. On the 4040 the computer tells you how long the trip will take. The new 4000 tells you what time you're going to arrive. Much better for long rides or business trips. I might add that it was correct from Tampa Fla to NY. and Cleveland Ohio to NY. When you stop for fuel or a meal, the arrival time changes.

It lacks the Bluetooth of the 4040, but between road and car noise, the cd etc, the background noise makes it almost useless on the highway. You can hear fine, the background noise makes you hard to understand.

Once in a while, like most GPS's it offers a somewhat roundabout way of getting from point A to B but that is often because you have chosen "Most use of freeways".

It does exactly what it's supposed to do, and does it well. And for the price here on Amazon, you can't beat the value.

Amazing product that is simple to use with very little instruction. Very intuitive. Pretty accurate too

I'm not a manuals kind of guy, and I have not yet needed it with this unit. The controls are intuitive, and the screen is big enough that even with my big hands I can add an address while driving. It would of course be better if it said street names instead of "left, in .5 miles" but the map is big enough that it's not a big deal. I bought in APril for 159 from amazon. Great deal. Recommended.

We purchased this product. It took 7 days just to get an email back. We put it on our credit card. One day it would say pending, then another day it would be gone. I called multiple times on the issue and they said it was the distributions department that is holding it up. Let me call them and get back to you. Then I would hear nothing for about a week. After 3 weeks we called and canceled the product. We were told we would not be charged. Then we see the charge on our credit card. They sent it out anyway. So we called and they said to deny the package and then it would take 7-10 days to refund our money. We denied the package and then it took another 2 weeks because they never updated the shipping info so they had no clue where the package was. Not sure how the product works but I would never purchase from Ritz Camera again.

I just got this Maestro 4000 yesterday. I tried it out on some places I normally go, and like the feature that I can plan a trip with multiple destinations. I got to one location and didn't have to give it much thought how to get to the next location. I do wish it had the feature to hear the Exit numbers or street name that you are preparing to turn on. I found on some city streets, the streets are too close and you have to look at the device to see the street name you are to turn on. I also took a "locals" shortcut that is faster than the route it suggested, and wish it saved the information like a "crumb trail" for returning on that route. Though, it was speedy (about 10 sec) in recalculating the route after I had made the turn. I found that in most cases, it dings appropriately when you are to make a turn but a couple times, I had already arrived at my destination before it recognized I had (maybe 1/10 mile off). Overall, I like it for the money and can't wait to use it for a long trip. It's very easy to use. The voice prompts are very clear and understandable (except the lack of street names!)

Good product. However, 4040 or 4050 would be better considering only a slight price difference.

I've used a Tom-Tom with a 3.5" screen before but the larger screen is worth the extra money. Split screens diagrans upcoming turns, chime signals you when you are at the turn, name of current street appears at top of screen, upcoming street at bottom.

I recently purchased a Magellan Maestro 4000 GPS Unit and find it easy to use, very accurate and a great buy.
I didn't need a lot of fancy features, just a GPS unit to get me to my destination. This unit features a nice large 4.3 inch screen, and is extremely easy to program and understand.

I am very satisfied with this product.

I've had the Magellan 4000 for about six weeks now. Although not needed on a daily basis, it has performed admirably when it was called into duty. I had no trouble getting it set up. The menu structure is intuitive and easy to navigate. It has been used around town and on a 400-mile journey and I have yet to experience a hiccup, either in terms of the stability of the unit's operation or in the directions I received. I especially liked the ability look in advance at services at exits along the way. In addition, I find the unit to be useful at night when traveling in areas that I am not real familiar with. During the day, navigation in less familiar areas is easy without a GPS. At night, however, it is very helpful to be able to track your progress and know distances to turns. Although I have no basis of comparison against other GPS models, I am very happy with the Magellan 4000 so far. It's a great product.

The Magellan Maestro 4000 has proven to be easy to use and is well worth the price. I received the unit just a couple of days before my wife was to take a trip and had no problem configuring the unit to take her to and from her destination. Even if you make a wrong turn it recalculates and will get you to where you want to go.

Got my 4000 a few months ago. Works great so far but you should check the route it has chosen before you head out. On one occassion it took me the long way, which could have been the fastest based upon speed limits. When I tried to update I got a "file error, cold boot and retry". Followed all directions, tried on two different computers and still the same. Called tech support and no luck. I suggested they have a center where you could send the unit for updates and that they could charge for the service. Still trying to update, no luck. My thought is to send the unit back for warrenty repair as it will not update. Let them figure out the problem.

This is a great product. It is accurate and very intuitive to use. Considering the price, I should have saved the big bucks.The touch screen is very nice and the unit's voice is clear and concise. All in all, this is very good GPS!I would recommend this product to anyone.

Iam very happy With my Gps system i purchase the price is very reasonable and i should have bought one along time ago. I can go any wear in my car and i wont be worry if i get lost. very very happy to own one

sincerly no longer lost.

This is a good product with some nice features. The good; It comes with almost every thing you need. It does not come with an SD card to save address or perform updates. The Maps are hit and miss. I could not find an address that has been there since 1972. I can understand 2007, but 1972. Traffic Alert does not work. Also it will take you up to ½ mile out of your way to get to some destinations. Over all good product for Amazon's price.

I buy this magellan a month ago and it works fine. At first is really hard to learn how it works, you have to download the manual online because the one it comes with is not helpfull at all. It will take you some time to learn how to manage it so be prepared.
The only bad think I see from it is that when I click on Points of interest anywhere Ive been it tells me there are not points of interest on that area!! No restaurants, no shopping malls..nothing... the battery life is not also very good but it will work fine if u have it unplogged in ur car. The big screen is really good and the image also so I will go for it, unless you have move $ to invest on a bluetooth one.

I am very pleased with this GPS device. The screen is easy to see for us old guys,and it is very easy to use.
The voice instructions are clear and easy to understand

I'M RETIRED AND HAVE A WONDERFUL PART TIME JOB AS A DRIVER FOR A LOCAL AUTOMOBILE DEALER. THIS INVOLVES DOING "DEALER TRANSFERS" OF NEW CARS,SUV'S & TRUCKS THRU-OUT THE SOUTH. FOR CHRISTMAS I PURCHASED THIS MAGELLAN MAESTRO 4000 TO USE BOTH IN MY VEHICLE AND ALSO ON THE ROAD WHILE TRANSFERING DEALER VEHICLES. I PRICE SHOPPED AND RESEARCHED FOR A NUMBER OF DAYS AND COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT I SAW ON THE AMAZON WEBSITE..I SAVED OVER $200 ORDERING THRU AMAZON, AND THIS UNIT IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC IN CLARITY, SPEED AND INFORMATION. BUY IT NOW!!!!!!

I have not had a problem with this product. It has met all my expectations. The only downside that I could see is that they could update their maps. I know of at least two places in my state where the road has changed at least 3 years ago and they are not reflected on the unit. Seeing as I just purchased this, the maps would be up to date.