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: - * Road Trip Companion ...
Bought this to accompany me on a cross country road trip that went through Chicago, Black Hills, Colorado, Utah, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. All of this took me through a variety of locations including city, isolated, and national parks. Entered approximately ten destinations into my trip planner and took off. Found the device extremely accurate including in Wisconsin where street names were like XY, and in getting me into and out of Chicago and Las Vegas. It was great in computing my distances between current position and destinations. It was amazing to be in the middle of no where and hear the bip indicating a turn within feet of the correct location. The voice directions were helpful in that they gave you a good feel for your next action with sufficient time to get in the correct lane.

I bought this because of its relationship to the AutoClub including incorporation of its tour guides. The Points of Interest features and AutoClub information were excellent. The Exit POI features to find next gas or restaurant off turnpikes were also helpful.

As with anything, we did encounter some situations where we needed to improvise. However, I would say that most likely any other GPS device would have had similar problems. In Chicago, we found ourselves in an extended tunnel where we lost reception. In the mornings, we realized that it took some time for the unit to "wake up" while it was finding the satellites. Once that happened, it worked as intended. And every now and then, we found a closed restaurant or gas station. But overall, I would rate those experiences as a matter of getting used to working with a GPS device rather than a deficiency in this product.

There were four of us in the car, and all of us were very pleased with the unit, to the point that they started referring to the female voice as "Maggie." The price is excellent and I feel that I got excellent value for what I paid. The Amazon price was excellent compared with retail outlets.

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Buyer's feedback: - Great GPS
This is a great GPS and loaded with features. Only had one problem when
the unit failed to respond to bluetooth devices. Simple reset took care
of the issue. Very accurate...called turns right on time.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Magellan Maestro 4250 great little GPS ...
See reviews then buy it - it is a great unit. works as it should, has some minor kniks but all GPS units do.
Purchase went smoothly, set up was easy. While this unit retails by some at $499, I only paid $247 through amazon.com and its partner.

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Buyer's feedback: - Great GPS
This being my first gps I had researched several products before I decided on the 4250. The 4250 had the features I wanted, with the best price through Amazon at Beach Camera. After I had read the negative reviews the first thing I did when I received the unit was to register it and upgrade the firmware. Being a AAA member I received a warranty extension and I upgraded the tour book information as well. After using the trip planner on my vacation and having the destinations preprogrammed was a big time saver. I have no complaints with the routing accuracy. When I had to change my route due to traffic or construction, the routing recalculation was fast and accurate. The satellite signal was readily available and had no problems there either. I used the POI's daily and found them to be very accurate and extremely helpful. This feature really did save me a lot of extra miles, and aggravation. The text to speech feature requires a certain tone of voice to activate it, and could use some improvement. If I were to offer one negative it would be that the USB cable was too short for easy use.
I would definitely recommend this unit to anyone wanting a GPS with these features.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Magellan 4250 ...
For the most part I am happy with the Magellan, the only exceptions is when it is connecting to my cell phone, it does not always work, IT is about 50/50 and since I primarly bought this to work as a hands free device from my car, it was a little disapointing. I acutally have to turn the Magellan off to disconect from my phone to be able to use the other features. the other is that the voice recognition really does not work all that well. Other than that it is a good device as a gps.