0ur opinion:

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Say a command and enjoy hands-free control of your Maestro! The Magellan Maestro 4250 GPS Navigation System features a large 4.3' wide-format color touch screen and amazingly easy-to-use interface to add pleasure to your driving experience. lt includes built-in maps of the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada, 6 million pre-programmed Points of lnterest, integrated AAA TourBook guide information, SayWhere text-to-speech, LlVE traffic report capability and more. Plus, make hands-free phone calls with your Bluetooth -enabled phone. Say a command to access the most used navigation functions with Voice Command and Control. lts QuickSpell feature intelligently searches and checks spelling while entering addresses and P0ls, making it easy to find what you're looking for with just few touches of the screen while the lnteractive onscreen icons show nearby services. Touch an icon to see the address and phone number (when available) and get an instant route. lt even lets you store locations in the Address Book for easy navigation on recurring trips. Set the Home button to your house or any location to easily find the most direct way back from wherever you are. You can even backup your personal data using your own SD cards. The integrated traffic receiver offers onscreen traffic incident reports in real-time.Your Maestro 4250 automatically recalculates your estimated time of arrival based on traffic conditions and prompts you to reroute when a quicker way is available. The SiRFstarlll GPS receiver and built-in high-sensitivity antenna provide the fastest position acquisition in the industry for reliable navigation. SmartDetour prompts you to route around sudden slow freeway traffic. The integrated rechargeable battery provides navigation for up to four hours when power is unavailable. Ultra-thin, elegant and completely mobile; take your Magellan Maestro anywhere for easy, accurate navigation!

-- November 13, 2007:
We've been big fans of Magellan's Maestro line since it came out in early 2006. The Maestro interface is incredibly easy to use, even for those who are not completely comfortable with electronics. At the same time, Magellan was ahead of the industry with useful innovations like multi-destination routing and pre-loaded reviews for points of interest like hotels and restaurants (from AAA). With it's 3200 and 4200 series, Magellan has improved the Maestro line giving them a SirfStar lll chipset that provides super-fast. satellite lock and making them thinner. ln fact, at .7 inches, these are -- at the time of this writing (November 2007), the thinnest portable GPS navigators available. Distingushing between models is also fairly easy.

3200 and 4200 Family of Navigators
Distingushing between models is also fairly easy. The 3200-series navigators feature a 3.5-inch screen, while the 4200s have a 4.3-inch widescreen display. The 3200 and 4200 offer great, basic navigation with turn-by-turn spoken directions, pre-loade maps of the 48 contiguous United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and 1.3 million P0ls. The 3210 and 4210, add maps for Canada and Alaska, AAA travel information (see details below) and bump you up to 6 million P0ls. The 3220 and 4220 add maps of Mexico. The top-of-the-line 3250 and 4250 add a host of other features, including text-to-speech directions that give real street names, bluetooth for hands-free phone calls, integrated traffic (with a free 3-month subscription), and voice command.

What Makes the Maestro 4250 Exceptional?

Easy to use navigation features SmartDetour and auto re-route. View larger.

Access built-in AAA information from your GPS touch screen. View larger.

Easy To Use lnterface
The intuitive user interface makes the Maestro series incredibly easy to use. Use the big icons on the 4.3-inch widescreen touch screen to search for your destination by address, intersection, or any of 6 million points of interest (P0ls), including restaurants, hotels, airports, gas stations, and more. You can even touch an onscreen icon for a nearby destination, see name and address, and get an instant route. Turn by turn visual and spoken directions guide you every step of the way.

Auto re-route gets you quickly back on track whenever you make a detour or miss a turn. QuickSpell feature intelligently searches and checks spelling when you enter addresses. The 4250 offer multiple view options, including 2D, 3D, and TrueView that shows your upcoming turn using a 3D split screen. Maneuver List displays the full turn-by-turn details of your route. Auto night view adjusts color and contrast for easy night viewing.

Click to see a video on the Magellan Maestro 4250's Voice Command system.

Voice Command and Control
Voice Command further enables hands-free operation so you can keep your eyes on the road. Say a command to access the most used navigation functions. Find the nearest coffee, restaurant, gas and ATM or get an instant route home. Plus, you can ask for your location, the distance to your destination and quickly get details for the nearest roadside assistance and more, all with the sound of your voice.

AAA-enabled
With built-in AAA travel information, the Maestro 4250 gives you instant access to the most trusted source for trip planning, searchable AAA TourBook listings, Show Your Card & Save locations for member discounts, approved auto repair facilities, attractions, events, and more. The Maestro 4250 also provides AAA members roadside assistance details, with exact location and a toll-free number. Plus, the Maestro 4250 is Bluetooth-enabled so you can connect your Bluetooth cell phone directly to AAA for immediate help when you need it most.

Note: AAA member roadside assistance requires AAA membership.




Bluetooth for Hands-Free Calling
The Maestro 4250's Bluetooth wireless technology lets you make hands-free phone calls with your Bluetooth-enabled phone. You can store or sync numbers and contact information through the easy-to-use touch screen, and even place calls directly through the Maestro 4250's integrated microphone and speakers.




lntegrated Real-Time Traffic
The integrated traffic receiver offers onscreen RDS-TMC traffic incident reports in real-time. A free 3-month traffic service subscription makes it easy to avoid accidents, slow downs, road closures, severe weather and more. Your Maestro 4250 automatically recalculates your estimated time of arrival based on traffic conditions and prompts you to reroute when a quicker way is available.

0ne of the thinnest portable GPS navigators on the market

Take lt Anywhere
The 4250 is super-thin, lightweight and fits easily into any pocket. The integrated rechargeable battery enables you to operate the Maestro 4250 away from your vehicle for up to three hours. The battery recharges while driving via the included vehicle power adapter.

Tons of Data
The 4250 comes pre-loaded with Navteq maps of the United States and Canada, and 6 million points of interest (P0ls). P0l data includes telephone numbers and addresses.

lt also has an Address Book in which you can create and store P0ls and addresses that you use frequently.

Flexible Routing
The 4250 provides a particularly large number of routing features relevant to its price point. Multi-destination routing lets you select up to 20 destinations and find the best route to get to all of them. SmartDetour prompts you to route around heavy or stopped freeway traffic.Customizable route methods let you choose between several different routing methods, including 'Fastest Time', 'Shortest Distance', 'Least or Most Use of Freeways', and 'Avoid Toll Roads'. Route exclusion lets you pick streets and freeways you want to avoid.

What's in the Box
Magellan Maestro 4250 GPS receiver, Adhesive disk for dash mounting, Basic cradle, Vehicle power adapter (12-24 watts), Quick reference guide and CD, Windshield mount

0ptional Accessories
AC Wall power supply/charger, USB data cable

About Magellan
Magellan is a leader in the consumer, survey, GlS, and 0EM GPS navigation and positioning markets. Recognized as an industry innovator, the Company is the creator of the award-winning Magellan RoadMate series and the Magellan Maestro portable car navigation systems, the Magellan eXplorist and the Magellan Triton outdoor handheld navigation devices, and the Hertz NeverLost car navigation system, the best-selling single frequency GPS survey product line on the market. The Magellan Maestro series includes such unique features as built-in AAA travel information and voice command and control driving which no other portable GPS manufacturer in the U.S. or Canada offers. The company is recognized worldwide through its Magellan brand and has experienced dramatic revenue growth as GPS technology has proliferated across a range of consumer and commercial applications. The Company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California with European headquarters in Carquefou, France.









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Testimonials

Average Buyer Rating:

Buyer's feedback: - * not worth the money ...
I was very excited to purchase this GPS because it got great reviews on Cnet. I quickly found out that despite all of its bells and whistles this product does not stand up. The Bluetooth is not loud enough and I was never even able to figure out the traffic updates. I emailed Magellan directly from the website and it came back as undeliverable. I had heard of Magellan's poor customer service but I mean, come on. Undeliverable?
Worse than that is the issue that the unit routinely froze on me. I sent it back only to have my replacement do the same thing.
On the bright side I will say that its menus are very user friendly and the points of interest are very well organized and easy to find. Still, none of that is any good if your unit is frozen.

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Buyer's feedback: - Good if it Worked-it DOESN'T
This GPS would be great if it worked. Unfortunately, it does not. It is a stylish unit, light, and a nice screen. Right out of the box, though, it needed updating. Firmware, maps, AAA tourbook. You have to register the warranty to update, making it unreturnable. I updated the firmware, that went great, but the AAA update trashed the unit. Halfway through the download, it said "GPS not Found", and would not continue downloading or upgrading. Since then the unit is frozen, locked, useless. None of the buttons will work, it won't go past the opening warning screen, and I have had it. Emails to Magellan came back "undeliverable". I don't know about you, but my life is stressful enough without this sort of problem. Also the updating is tedious, first you download the update, then you must install it on your hard drive, then transfer to the unit. Get a GARMIN!

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Buyer's feedback: - * takes some getting used to but overall we like it! ...
I will start off by saying that we are past Garmin owners and have enjoyed Garmin GPSs immensely. We decided to give this Magellen a try since it had a lot of the features we wanted now without the higher price the Garmin offered. This GPS is set up differently then the Garmin, so my husband had to spend a couple of weeks getting used to it (he almost had me send it back!). Once he was acclimated to it, he now enjoys it, especially the traffic alerts, detours, and programming a favorite just from hitting the "current location".

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Buyer's feedback: - Magellan GPS
I like this unit better than any other GPS I have encountered. It's thin, with a large screen and looks very nice. I have yet to explore all of the options, but it has come in very handy and routed me appropriately. It reroutes pretty quickly and has also worked well for finding restaurants and driving in rural areas. The free year of traffic is nice too.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Sent it back ... ...
I was severely disappointed in the performance of this unit. On a typical 300 mile trip it chose a 1180 mile route for "Fastest Time" and then on "Shortest Route" it would choose off ramps only to route you back on the next on ramp. In San Antonio,Tx it didn't know some hwys also had a street name, sometimes it would forget where you were. Voice is very sketchy, sometimes it would kick in by itself, most of the time would only respond to "Magellan" and thats all. Finally the "death sentence" was the screen developed a black worm-like anomaly. I'm going back to TomTom which is also Mac compatible, the magellan is not.