Magellan Maestro 4040 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

I purchased the model 4040 in january, 2008 the maps were last updated in july 2006. I contacted Magellan and was told there would be map update in the next quarter which kept shifting to the next quarter until november I contacted them three times by E-mail asking if I was supposed to pay for this up-date and received no response. The unit also has soft-ware issues such as directing you in circles, telling you to take private roads that lead to no-where and the voice in most cases you can not under-stand ie: turnpike has become tcup. I would have returned the unit if they had not kept re-assuring me that up-date was coming.

I received the Magellan Maestro 4040 for my birthday in Feb. last year. After about 5 months, the voice completely stopped working. I called the technical help line, but they insisted that I need the proof of purchase, which I don't have because it was a gift. They also told me I could update it if I bought some SD memory. I wasn't sure why I needed to buy memory, though. I understand that this is their policy, But my mother-in-law paid over $300 for this, and it broke in less than a year. I will never buy a product from them again!

This product that I purshesed from Amazon.com.The magellan 4040 GPS was in very good condition. You can never tell that it was refubrished.
Thank you Amazon .com & thank,s to the company,s that you deal with them.
G.O

I find the Magellan to be an excellent GPS product. Directions are always accurate. Pronunciation of some words is incorrect. I live near a town named Hauppauge, pronounced hah-pawg. The Magellan will say Hatch-Patch. I guess Magellan has trouble with the letter G. Also, the Magellan screen text told me to proceed to Western LI, as in Western Long Island. The voice told me to proceed to Western LEE. It took me a while to figure it out. Fortunately the visual street path shown on screen kept me on the right track. Overall, it works fine. Don't expect words to be pronounced perfectly.

Whats not to like. $99.00 price, large easily seen screen all the cables and to ice the cake 1.5 million points of interest that have shown me where all the good stuff is in my new neighborhood. The voice directions are clear easily heard over the radio and very customizable. If you are looking for a good portable GPS to take from car to car travel like I do up and down the Eastern seaboard then look no further. If upgrades are your thing for a few dollars more you can add voice activation to this unit and the traffic radio to route you around traffic jams. The touch screen is sensitive enough without being touchy the menus make sense and entering your destination is a simple process. Buy it and you will like it.

I was very pleased with the product purchased and the service provided by the seller.

This product was exactly what I ordered and was delivered within three days of ordering it. I am extremely pleased with it.

Very useful item, drove around Reno, Sparks NV. like I was born and raised there! Very much a time saver when in unfamilar territory.

I got this unit to replace my Mio c230. The unit came preloaded with maps; and ready to use right out of the box. The first main screen has three icons: "Show Map" (will show you the current location), "Enter Address", and "Points Of Interest". At the bottom of the screen there are three small icons: "Home" (to store your home address, by tapping on it the Maestro will take you home), "AAA Roadside Assistance" icon, and "Phone" icon (to make phone calls thru the unit's Blue Tooth). Entering address is real easy; you have a choice of entering zip code, city name, or current city. Then enter the street name, just few letters and the Maestro will find few matching street names to choose from; then enter the number, choose the navigation preference (Fastest Time, Least / Most use of highway or Shortest distance); that simple. The destination may also be an intersection, or picked from the address book, where you can store a large number of addresses.
The second main screen has three icons: Trip Planer, where you can enter multiple addresses (up to 20), then chose the sequence or let the Maestro "optimize" the rout for you. This "Trip Planer" is very useful for anyone especially succor Moms, sales people and the likes (Garmin does not have this feature). The second icon "Exit POI" will display a list of POI on the next Freeway Exit, be it Gas, Food, ... etc. tap on anyone, and the Maestro will take you there. The last Icon is "User Options", where you can setup your preference: the map region, volume, brightness, trip computer, 2D / 3D map, Language, Time Zone.. .etc.
The map screen ("Normal" and "Routing" mode)is displayed while navigating, this is what I like the most: On the top it shows the name of street you're on, the direction of travel (N, E, S, W) and the satellite status. The bottom of the screen shows the time of the day, Main Menu Icon, and current speed. On the sides there are icons to zoom in or out, change volume or mute. If you tap on the direction indicator, it will show your current location (Street name & nearest crossing street) which can be saved to the "Address Book", and useful if you need roadside assistance . An arrow indicate your position on the map. In "Routing" mode, the screen shows the next maneuver icon in the lower left corner, tap on it to display a list of maneuvers. As you approach POI, it will be displayed on the screen, tap on POI, and the Maestro will take you there. As a maneuver is approached, the Maestro will automatically split the screen to show the shape / direction of the next maneuver. The bottom display is replaced by distance to next maneuver and remaining time / distance to final destination.
This unit also has an SD card expansion slot, and a standard earphone plug (which is helpful if you are in a convertible or on a motorcycle, I replaced my Mio C230 only because it lacked this feature). It comes pre loaded with maps for the US, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. A voice command option is available as well as traffic alert. Included in the box with the Maestro 4040: A/C home charger, Car Cigarette Lighter Charger, Windshield mount, Adhesive disk, Protective Pouch, Quick reference Guide, User Manual on CD and USB Data Cable.
This unit is very good overall and very easy to use. One thing worth noting: It will not remember a destination unless you save it in the address book; i.e. it will not keep a history log. I've also done some search, and it seems that there is no road map for Europe compatible with this unit. If someone knows of an available one, please let me know.

A very fine GPS, however my nearly new unit requires a 2008/09 map update.Ok,I bought it a few months before the update, but I discovered it has a 2006 map onboard. I should not have to pay $75 for the update on an 8 month old unit. Shouldn't this be included for the first year?

I started experiencing problems with mine after updating the firmware. The unit has shown that I am driving off the map when in fact I am on a road that has existed for 50 years this has happend numerous times. The arrival time changes wildly while driving your route. Customer service HA! You'll get more satisfaction talking to a potted plant. Trying to get a problem resolved via the Magellan website is ridiculous.

Let me start out immediately by saying I really like the Magellan 4040 GPS but it isn't perfect. But then what GPS is? In general, a GPS is a great tool to have; however, I have yet to find any GPS that can replace local driving experience and good common sense. For example, I know that I can travel north on a particular route with no problem but I also know to avoid the same route when traveling south because of highway construction that closes down all lanes but one bringing traffic to a crawl. I had high hopes for this particular GPS because of the acclaimed Magellan Traffic Service that is available as an option. I purchased the traffic kit separately but the service is only available in certain cities and while Atlanta, GA (where I live) is supposed to be one of those cities, it seems there is no one manning the command post as I have yet to see any traffic alerts. The traffic kit consist of replacing the original cradle that comes with the unit and on the plus side it is made better and includes an external antenna connection which you don't get otherwise. I use an external antenna because I mount mine just below the radio beneath the dash and no GPS will pick up signals very well unless it has a clear view of the sky so I mount an external antenna on my rear shelf with a clear view via the back glass. I just don't like anything mounted on my windshield, besides they tend to get washed out by the sun light there. So while the Magellan Traffic Service is useless for me, the optional traffic kit mount proved to be very complimentary.

I recently used the unit on a 1300 mile round trip that consisted of combined scenic and freeway driving. I started out in Atlanta, GA and traveled to and from Mansfield, OH. I first planned my trip using a combination of atlas and mapquest.com. I wanted a mixture of scenic roads and freeways on the way up and absolute fastest time on the return trip. In addition, I needed to make a slight detour to Wytheville, VA on the way up. This is where the trip planner functionality of the GPS came in very handy. I was able to sit down on my sofa and enter all of my destinations and even run a simulation of the trip as if I was on the road. The simulator is excellent for just sitting down and learning all of the numerous features that this GPS is capable of. Of course there were times when the GPS wanted to go a different route than what I wanted and this goes back to my beginning statement alluding to the fact that the GPS can't take the place of the human mind. A GPS is nothing more than a small computer running a piece of software. Being a software developer myself I am well aware that an application can only be as good as the programmer(s) that programmed it. They also rely on having current map data to make correct determinations and this is where I think all current GPS units fall short. I would love to see Magellan or Garmin provide constant map data updates via the Internet. I would gladly pay a premium for a subscription service that would allow me to get updates on a daily, weekly or even a monthly basis. As it stands now the map data is at least 2 years stale right out of the box. There's gotta be a better way!

So, why did I give it 4 stars instead of 5? Partly because of the fact that you must purchase the optional traffic kit to be able to use an external antenna and but mainly because the firmware can be a bit buggy at times selecting routes. This occurred on my return trip to Atlanta. I live just north of Atlanta and when I was ready to leave Mansfield, OH, I punched in my home destination using the fastest available route and the itinerary initially had me going south of Atlanta before finally heading back north which would have been an extra 2 hours of driving. I say "initially" because as I got closer to GA, the itinerary miraculously healed itself and began showing the correct routes to take. Hopefully a future firmware revision will cure this but for now I will be very careful to double check all routes ahead of time. This might be a killer for many, but for me, the numerous positive features offset the negatives making this a great deal. Anything else I could say would be purely subjective to preference so I leave it at that.

Magellan Maestro 4050 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

We originally ordered the Magellan Maestro 4040, but the seller ran out and sent the 4050 instead. We have a 4040 and love it and wanted to give it as a gift to our son. He is directionally challenged.

We did research prior to accepting the 4050. The reviews and descriptions did not state that it had sayware text to speech. Well after several hours of looking we finally found that the 4050 did have what we wanted. The 4050 is a newer version and has the traffic kit. Sign up with 3 months free and then you will be charged a fee. We do not use this feature.

The screen is large and clear. Programming is a cinch. This is a great tool for business travelers that have to hop off a flight and into a rental car to find an address that they've never been to before. We are very impressed with the 4050 and the 4040.

It is a wonderful GPS tool for the money....oh yeah, and the directionally challenged!

Very user friendly and accurate. Takes you all the way to the specific address not like some that just get you to the general area.
The 4040 also has maps of Canada for our trip to Niagara Falls this summer. Large display screen is easier to see when driving.

First a Caveat: This product does not come standard with Voice Recognition. That is an add-on that you purchase through the Magellan Website, receiving a code that unlocks that feature. (AAA members can save $15 off the (GULP) $99 Voice Recognition upgrade (ripoff) by clicking on the 3A icon during checkout)

My wife has used this for about 8 months. She travels extensively in the Western US and it has made ONE mistake in that time. She doesn't even question it anymore because it is right so often. The Points of Interest (POI's) feature hooks her up with the nearest Starbucks or Gas Station as needed. She doesn't particularly like techie things, but the interface has never given her any problems. If you get one (or any GPS), spring for the beanbag dash mount for $12.
Bracketron UFM-100BL Nav-Mat GPS Friction Dash Pad

Now the Cons: The reason you need the Bracktron for this is the battery runs down quick (a bit over 30 minutes if you are using the menus) and the powercord, strung up to your windshield mount is a pain in the butt. The Bracketron lets you get a good position.

Firmware Updates/Map updates/any updates: The website gives clear directions that have no relation to reality. No Mac support, so I used my PC. No Firefox support for the update, but it didn't tell me that, I had to discover it on my own when it wouldn't update. Once I went through IE and got the update going, I never got the dialogue boxes my carefully printed instructions stated I would. I pushed the reset button on the device when everything froze, but I hadn't been prompted to do so. It worked. The online help is called "Maggie". She is a most unhelpful sort with no clue. She would probably be successful working with the Motorola Razr voice recognition crew. Birds of a feather...

VOICE RECOGNITION: Yes, I'm shouting. It absolutely sucks in capability and execution. The functionality is very limited. If you can't speak or program an address by voice, what is the point? and this system lets you do neither. If I only need to get home, it will let me select home, or POI's that it preselects, but no search via voice. As if that weren't enough, it wakes when it hears "Magellan", or "felon", or "chillin", or "gel inserts", you get the idea. The radio will wake it. The kids from the backseat trip it accidentally and it pops into voice mode, asking you to pick a command. Whoever executed this voice execution should be executed.

So, would I buy it again? Absolutely. Would I pay for voice recognition? Puhleeze... Oh, and as a final way of saying thank you, the Magellan website states that activating the Voice Recognition irreversibly alters the device and you can't go back. I now know why Voice Recognition orders are non-refundable. On second thought, maybe I'd shop a bit before I bought it again.

This product so far as been reasonably acceptable. One small piece broke off of the docking station within the first week of use, but other than that it is working well.

I bought this GPS for the bluetooth and street names. If I had it to do over I would buy another brand. It would be nice to be able to change the voice but that's petty. I have bigger reasons for being unhappy with it:

- a major local highway extension built almost 2 years ago not on the map.
- the unit started having issues with the power adapter, the connection is loose and if the contact isn't perfect I get the message that it is switching to battery power. This blue screen pops up constantly and has gotten so annoying I can no longer use it.
- Customer Service is horrible. I contacted them about my problem and got a vague scripted reply telling me to reset the unit. I replied that it didn't help and didn't hear back. A subsequent email still got no response. At this point I'm inclined to toss it in the trash but it would be an expensive loss.

I will never buy another Magellan. Buy a Garmin or Tom Tom.

We chose this because it's a lot like the one we purchased via Costco but they no longer sell it. The difference with this one is that when we updated the card, it takes us on crazy routes. Round about ways that takes more time rather then "fastest time". Maybe we just need to do another update but I don't have that problem with my other from Costco. But if you don't know where you're going, it'll get you there. Just can't say it will be the most efficient route.

Have used the GPS for one trip of around 1,000 miles. In most cases iT was OK. Did get lost in Flagstaff due to road construction and also on one road or street in Las Vegas near the strip.

One problem, I have, I probably have an update but it would appear that updates are only available on Windows machines and I have all Apple computers.

This is my second Magellan Maestro. I can't say anything bad about this product.
It works extremely well. You will not be disappointed with this.

The Magellan Maestro 4040 is the third Magellan GPS unit I've purchased. The unit is compact and easy to use. However the database it uses is terrible. Routes given by the 4040 are often 10% longer in time and distance than popular Internet mapping programs. Accuracy is poor also; usually a block difference between the 4040 and the real address. My suggestion is to look at other brands or use Internet mapping.

I ordered the model 4040 but received the model 4050 which is the same navigation unit with the addition of the Traffic Kit and a carrying case. I took the unit on a 2700 mile road trip from Atlanta through New England and found it to be very reliable, accurate and quick to reroute if I either missed a turn or decided to take a different route than was programmed. The quick rerouting response was very helpful in New York traffic. I relied on it to get me to destinations through many unfamiliar areas and I was very pleased with the outcome. I did have one instance where it sent me out of my way for some reason. The only other difficulty I had was that I could not program it to avoid a particular route. In this case I wanted to avoid the George Washington Bridge so I used the Fastest Route option but used a paper map to find a road that would avoid the bridge and as soon as I went off the programmed route it rerouted me the way I wanted to go. I would recommend this unit. It was well worth the low price I paid for it.

My sistter first bought this Magellan and me and my friend borrowed it for a road trip. Now my friend just bought one and I just bought one and our friend just bought one and another friend just bought one. Converting people to Magellan one person at a time??? he, he, needless to say we are very satisfied with this GPS and it is very user friendly and will get you to wherever you want to go as long as you listen to "Maggie" ( Magellan). My advice to first time users is to use it as much as possible to trips that you are familiar with, grocery, bank, etc.. so U will get familiar with the directions.
Few problems that my friends had was supposedly it gives them the wrong direction only to find out that they have checked shortest route instead of fastest route or accidentally checked avoid freeways. Even if U think its giving U d wrong directions, it will get U to your destination.
Also, dont rely on the GPS, it is still better to have a map and know where U are going. New streets and subdivision are not updated ont the GPS right away, which is what happened on a recent trip to Florida, I'm glad I printed out directions on Mapquest since the subdivision where we were staying is in a new subdivision.

I was going to buy a GPS navigator, I was looking around for a good one. This was on sale and seemed like a bargain, so I bought it. I hate using it.

I used to use TOMTOM for palm on my treo and I thought that basic package was better. I Gave my dad a TOMOTM 910 as a gift and borrowed it on a visit to England. It was much better, not perfect but i didn't hate it like the Magellan.

I don't know how many times it must have sent me in on stupid routes in places I don't know. But a couple of times setting off from home it has sent me on ridiculous routes I knew were wrong. Once instead of getting on the interstate and heading south, it routed to got north 20 miles get of and back on the same exit then head south????? A route I take on many occasions and it usually points me south.

The map view zooms to silly levels for no reason. Some times your position and destination would be on top off each other with miles to go. Making it very hard to see the route needed to follow. The 3d view is just useless.

i might be doing it wrong but if you are on route and need to find POI, such as a gas station, you can't unless you are on an interstate and use the POI option. I have to cancel the planned route and set another.

Unless you have no other choice stay away from Magellan. I have only had this a few months, just waiting to buy the replacement.

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.

This megellan maestro 4040 navagator is every time I wanted. Large, easy to read, self teaching, sturdy. Everything about the product I anticipated and more. Nice value too.

THIS IS MY FIRST GPS NAVIGATOR AND JUST LEARNING TO USE IT. I AM PLEASED W/ IT SO FAR....IT GETS A STRONG SINGAL AND IS FAIRLY UNCOMPLICATED TO USE...THE ONLY PROBLEM I HAVE W/ IT, IS THAT IS DOESNT RECOGNIZE MY STREET FOR MY HOME ....MAYBE I NEED AN UPDATE????? IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME W/ THIS PROBLEM, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT....

As a professional driver, I can tell you that this unit has everything that you need to find your destination, fuel stops, points of interest, etc. Excellent visibility, easy to operate, much better than any Nuvi. Period.
If I would change anything, I would make the voice guidance 'sexier'. Like a Marilyn Monroe type voice. :) But that's just me...
If anyone is looking for a good GPS, this is the one to buy.

I ordered this GPS and received it in 3 working days, this was standard delivery. Best price on the internet. The unit worked right out of the box. It is very easy to enter data. Really great if you miss a turn, it will recalculate the route quickly.

Steve

The Magellan works well, and has great features, but it gets confused and has you go in circles to get to some places. I have used it on several trips and it has worked well. But at times it wanted to take me around the block to get back to where I was at the time. Not certain why but it has happened more than 4 times on one trip to San Diego. Does not always get you to the location you want, some times off by more than a mile in rural areas. In all inspire of short falls it is an amazing piece of technology.

Very acurate directions with text-to-speech and I had it at excellent price of $207.00. Wish it had MP3 built-in.

So I had to take a trip into a town 30 miles from home, and my GPS arrived that day in the mail. I was so excited... I got the address of the store I needed, typed it in...and...it didn't recognize the street or the store. (the store is in a newer shopping center..about a year and a half old). I called customer service for the gps, and they told me that there are no updates available at this time and it's a third party vendor..there's nothing they can do, and no time frame on when they'd be available.

I mapquested the store, drove there the "old fashioned way", had my gps in the car...IT actually got me home in a jiffy, faster then the mapquest...just wish it was able to get me there in the first place. There is an option, once i was there, to be able to save the coordinates and save the location (even though it didn't recognize the street)...but i didn't chose to do that since I won't need to go back there.

Besides having "older" maps, I love it. If you live in an area where they're building and lots of new construction, it may be problematic. Otherwise, I love the mounting system..easy on, easy off...secure and well designed...the touch screen and prompts are easy to use. I feel that (besides the maps) I got a really good deal for the money!

...just waiting for the map updates...

:)

Overview: I bought this GPS when my Navigon was stollen. I thought I'd save some money, but the problems cost more than buying the more expensive GPS. I returned this item.

I can't use this GPS since it cannot do the main thing well. It can't find the fastest route from place to place. This flaw shows up when I have want the fastest route, which should include some streets other than Highways. In general this flaw adds about 2 extra hours or 150 miles to each 8 hrs of driving. I figured with the cost of gas and my gas milage, that the routing flaw costs enought to buy a better GPS in just 3 day trips. So this one is being returned.

Con: Due to some flaw in the programming, the fastest route uses fastest roads, instead of fastest time. It happened on every segment of my trip from Atlanta, to Tenn, to Ohio, to DC to Orlando. For example, when I was going from from Cocoa Beach to Athens, GA the fastest route was over 10 hours, the shortest route, was under 9 hours, but when I mapped it with Mapquest, I found the best route, which was under 8 hours.

Con: Around town, it has the annoying habbit of wanting to go around the block to the left before making a turn to the right. True, 3 lefts do make a right in this GPS world.

Con: Some great features only work sproadically. The AAA feature helped when I got a flat tire. The GPS shows the number to call, my location between exits, my city, etc. This is exactly what the tow truck driver needs to know. However, the AAA representative did not tell the driver the information that I told her, so the driver had to call me back to get the info again. However, by that time, the GPS no longer showed the info. All these were now zero'd out. So he had to drive up and down the interstate to find me anyway.

Con: Another missing feature is the lack of ability to increase the detail on the map. The small streets are invisible when looking at a map that shows more that 3 miles. But when I show the local streets, the main trip road is just a strait line, boring, wasting the big screen, insufficient info. The Tom Tom has a nice slider feature to quickly zoom in and out. What would be great would be an option on how much detail of the map to include. Some like a lot, some less. Let the driver decide.

Con: Phone integration works with the bluetooth, but alerts pop up with the call, so the driver has to take eyes off the road to pick the right buttons to answer the call.

Pro: The voice is loud and clear and other than sometimes having odd ways of saying the street names, the voice is great. Easy to understand, speaking at good times to prepare for upcoming turns, pleasant.

Pro: Once the phone is connected, the speaker microphone both work great.

Pro: price is great. Maybe because of the problems.

It does what it says. I hate that they always send you down toll roads for everything. Online maps do the same thing so, it isn't that new to me. Crisp clear voice and the big screen is beautiful. Hope it stays that way over the years. Fastest time isn't always the fastest. I would like more personal options like changing the voice or more tones to choose from.

Product is easy to use,accurate,and a very good price. My only complaint is the suction cup mounting,it does not work without the supplied disc,which has to be permately mounted. I need to change vehicles,regulary. I would rate the unit overall a 4 1/2.

I had to use the Magellan Maestro 4040 GPS recently out of state. It was amazing!!! Never got lost!! Just put in an address and you're set to go. It saved me from an otherwise stressful experience!!!

This is a nice unit with some nice features not found in other inexpensive GPS units, such as a chime when your at the turn and auto-off when you shut off the car. Also, nice mount and home charger.
I have 3 complaints however:
1 - The POI file is very limited and at least 5 years old and therefore USELESS
2 - The way you enter addresses does not use the state so you enter a city name, which you must type completely, and then you must select from a long list of cities with that name in the US
3 - Route selection is often poor, especially off major highways, sending you in circles or zig-zaging. Particularly when you select 'shortest route'.
But for the money (I paid ~$180), I think it's one of the best.

The GPS accuracy is extremely good. The "directions" that it selects are quite logical depending on the choices you have made. The voice prompts are loud and easy to understand. The screen is large and works well in both day and night format. It re-calculates routes very fast if you do not follow it's original recommendation. I had read several good and bad reviews here, and now I am really glad that I chose Magellan 4040. For me it worked right out of the box, so I did not have reasons to go for customer service, hence can not comment on that.

RD

This is a good product especially after the update is installed. The speaker is loud and the bluetooth works fairly well.

I like the fact that it tells you what your next turn will be, what street you are on, and what your next street will be.

It also has a split screen that gives you a heads up of what the turn will look like (possible multiple turn options).

Garmin is pretty expensive and didn't really have the features that I liked as mentioned above.

NEGATIVE - Customer service sucks! The guy I talked to pretty much yelled at me when he couldn't answer my question...and they don't work with MACS.

Overall I think it worked just fine and at the price I got it at $300 it was well worth the money compared to a Garmin with the same feautres

This a great product, would give it five stars. I am still learning how to use some of the features, the blue tooth feature works great with my cell phone. I have entered several of what I thought might be obscure addresses but the unit has not failed yet. I have driven on some newer roads opened in the last few months and I am wondering how and when to obtain new downloads to update this unit.

I'm not totally familiarized with this little gadget yet, too many other things to do first. I plan to have it well under control by the time we start traveling this summer. So far, it took me across Fort Worth, TX to my son's new apartment after he had programmed it in. When I got off course intentionally, it kept right with me, getting me back in the right place pretty quickly. Pretty amusing, actually. I felt like I should apologize for straying off course.

BLUF: This product had the ease and features I needed while operating in the United States. And will recommend it highly for such.
International travelers buy at own risk. I have had this product for over a week now and has worked as advertised. some of the POI's are outdated but that is expected (look at your current yellow pages). I have not had a problem with the devise or navigation so have not contacted customer service. Alot of companies have a challenge with this, so I tend to avoid unless there is a serious issue.
I got nearly immediate sat fix on my location when I turned it on (outside). Originally it had me somewhere in Ca when first booted up in my basement, that was very quickly corrected when I was close to being out doors.
At the price I got this (<$200) I can not complain. I read ALOT of customer complaints for customer service failure... but decided to roll the dice. So far, I am glad I did! I had no problem linking my phones blue_tooth with it, getting my self to a small street on the other side of town via a route I would not have used... but may use next time (aka better route than mine).
Comparative to what I used before: USASOC (Army) issued me a hand held Garmin vista (not the OS) (no voice, but great graphic route display). the Garmin Handheld literately saved my life in a couple theaters of operations. On an March 2004 (night) and again late Jun night in Baghdad via world wide addons/maps on my vista. This devise had all the world maps I needed to program courses to safehouses, some others got me out of and into explosive situation. However, back here in the US I needed something with voice capability on a limited budget. I am very loyal to Garmin, however my life is not riding on my current mission set. Maestro 4040 gave me the features I wanted (road names on turn and acquisitions time for the satellites at the price I wanted. Boils down to products built able for different operational mission set with awesome accuracy.
My big complaint with most, if not all good GPS is the desire to see systems for EU, CENTCOM AND AFCOM areas and US areas separately devise and software. And Magellan has NO ability to cover outside the US that will cover all areas (according to their tech support). Reps [reject a policy )they WILL NOT come up with a devise for the routine world traveler (sailors exclude). I would have shelled out the extra $250-$450 for the garmin versions that have units out the box to do this or sell maps for other area... I could not find on the Magellan website how to be able to us my 4040 in the US and EU. I was advise to not hold my breath. Makes NO SENSE when Garmin and others can do it, and without horrendous pricing. I am waiting on Mio for there version for overseas travel as they claim to have new mapping software in the pipeline. I may just regift my Magellan system or return it once Mio get there programs up and running! From what I read they will be kick bu# for world traveler's in the future!

Bottom line, I knew what I was walking into... very few Americans leave the US for any reason, for them, this is a near perfect devise for those who seek good POI bases, AAA rated/discounted products services and don't intend to travel abroad. May consider either waiting to going to Garmin if you are in current need. With everhing I know now, and if my situation keeps me OCONUS (inside the US) I would buy another with out hesitation!
Final Note: I will report back and problem with the Magellan Maestro 4040 when and if they come! So far, non to speak of.

Joe Bob says "check it out"!

We originally purchased the Magellan Maestro 4000, but it did not state the name of upcoming street/exit which made our trip to NYC not as easy as we would like (we were moving our son back home, and without the GPS system we probably would have gotten divorced :>) but realized that another model would better suit our needs. So, we purchased the 4040....it has everything we would want, is easy to use and the perfect GPS system for our family. In fact, we let my sister use it on a trip to Washington DC with her children. At first she didn't want to use it...she always uses an AAA TripTik. When I told her this had 1000's of AAA links she agreed. She liked it so much that she bought one as soon as she returned. Love it, love it, love it.

Magellan's Maestro series, and the 4040 in particular, promises all sorts of goods. Bluetooth compatibility, 4.5 million points of interest, color screen, battery back-up, an SD/MMC for expansion, additional maps for regions "around the world" and so on and so forth. In truth, it's a budget GPS in an expensive box with functionality bordering on laughable. They don't tell you that if you do pair it with a phone by bluetooth the unit freezes and can no longer produce directions. They don't tell you that the 4.5 million points of interest are solely for Magellan sponsors and offer limited options to the user, the expansion port is for Magellan's rarely produced but often required firmware updates only, that the battery back-up has a 15 minute life unless you switch off all sound and reduce screen brightness and resolution to a minimum, and they certainly don't tell you that they have withdrawn all the additional regions of maps they allegedly produced for this unit. The latter point is a major annoyance as Magellan instructed sales agents to use expandability as a major talking up point for this unit. In essence, they lied to shift this piece of rubbish. It's a sham, it's overpriced and anyone looking for any sort of true user friendly functionality should avoid this dreadful product like the plague.

My wife and sons used this product and gave me a 'excellent' review. They traveled from FL to IL and got a great help to find roads.

I purchased this just before we left on a trip on Feb 1,2008. Found the device easy to use, although I did observe some of the issues that have been documented in other reviews. The most annoying to me was its notifying you that you are at your exit AS YOU ARE PASSING IT.

The real issue for me, however, was learned the hard way. When I attempted to call for assistance, I found that the bluetooth did not work correctly with my Motorola V3m. All of the POI phone numbers are entered in the format NNN-NNN-NNNN. While this is acceptable for reading, the 4040 also transmitted the '-' to my phone, and the phone had no idea what to do with this informaiton. While investigating, I entered a contact into the device, omitting the dashes, and that number worked fine.

Tech support indicated that they were aware of the issue and that a fix would be comming. It was after the 4th weekly call that I was also informed that this fixes were generally available on 12-18 month cycles, and that they could not tell me when the next fix would be available. I believe that 2.36 (the version on this unit) was available Oct-Nov 2007. Their "workaround" was to dial the number myself.

There are some very good reviews on what this unit does well, all correct. When something does not work correctly, however, they need to respond promptly...they are not giving these away.

I was hoping that I would never have to experience their "documented" poor tech support...I was wrong. I hope they realize the downside of this to their business.

I returned the unit.

I would not recommend this product to anyone. I didn't think that roads change as much as they do. I used it in Orlando and almost shot it when it told me to go straight a bunch of miles when the entrance ramp was right there! The maps are so out of date - with no sign of being able to update. Also - to test -I had Magellan try to take me to known place - it had me turning away from the address right before reaching it! Save your money - I wish that I had - you'll do better with a printout from google maps!

I just moved to a new state and area. I couldn't survive without Megan as I have named my Navigation System. She takes me everywhere I go without fail. She is easy to program, and saves the routes I choose. It was a great Christmas present!

I have only had the 4040 for about a month now, and I have been using it every time I drive just to get used to it. I've also taken it along for one business trip of about 500 miles each way in that time.

So far, I'm very happy with it. It always bought me right to my destination it recalculates routes very quickly, and is easy to use. I really like the POI feature for navigating around in places that I am not familiar with.

Still, I have a few complaints:

Twice it has made routing errors that were just plain...well...stupid.
On the first one, it had me continue on a major highway past what turned out to be my exit, only to have me take another exit 20 miles further down the road, direct me back onto the same highway to backtrack another 20 miles to the proper exit and to my hotel...which was right off the exit.

A few days later on the way home, it directed me to leave the interstate and take a long joyride towards Memphis (I was heading home east from Chicago) and then double back to the interstate right where I left it!?! I ignored these instructions this time and continued straight past the exit it wanted me to take. It took me straight home after that.

So, It's always delivered my to my destination, however these two times, it certainly would have taken me far out of my way to get there.

I have submitted this to Magellan tech support and I am awaiting a response. I'll update this when/if the problem is fixed.

So...It gets you there, but take a paper map, too.
(I have since spoken with owners of GPS's from other manufacturers, and they have reported that this has happened to them at one time or another, too.)

What would I change?
The night display (as others have mentioned)should apply to more than just the map. That's a big one.

I would like to know the total distance I have to travel on one stretch of highway. It would be nice to have to option of knowing that I am staying on a particular road for say, 400 miles rather than being shown only the miles between major exits.

It would also be nice if the power cord could plug into the cradle the unit could connect when it is snapped into place instead of having to plug it in and unplug it separately.

If you are going to buy this unit for the bluetooth capabilities, go to the website to find if your phone is supported before you buy. Mine is not, however it still works with the exception of the phone contact list.

So, do I like it? Yes.
Am I going to keep it? Yes.
Has it ever taken me to the wrong destination? So far, no.

As far as the two routing problems...we'll see.

I recently bought 2 Magellan Maestro 4040 GPS units for myself and my parents - and so far, there hasn't been any serious issues. There are the normal problems that come with the fact that you are relying on a computer to direct you, but that is not a Magellan problem as much as it is a conceptual problem. Mapping is too new of a technology to have all the bugs removed, only time will help this. Otherwise, there have been a couple of issues regarding the performance of the actual device..mainly issues with the sound going haywire for a couple of seconds, but nothing that really hurts the unit. Bluetooth is pretty good for hands-free calling - the only problem with that is making sure you are close enough to the unit to actually have the person on the other end hear you properly. Again, that is not a problem with the GPS unit as much as it is a problem with the technology and its inherent problems.

Overall - great unit..has the AAA tourbook built-in which helps a LOT!