Product Description

The Magellan RoadMate 300 calculates your route and automatically updates your directions when you decide to take a detour. You can route anywhere on the detailed maps and/ or on the basemap without having to download anything from your PC. The Magellan RoadMate 300 comes with a built-in map of major European roads and motorways. And it also includes a 512 secure digital (SD) card pre-configured with detailed maps of your country and some neighbouring countries

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52294 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Magellan
• Model: 980668-02
• Native resolution: 320 x 240

Features

• Remanufactured to like new condition
• Simple, powerful and portable--the first vehicle navigation device for everyone
• Same user-friendly interface as Magellan RoadMate 700 and Hertz NeverLost system
• Major North American roads map preloaded into 128 MB internal storage, more map storage available via SD Card slot
• Turn-by-turn voice prompted guidance with automatic route recalculation

Amazon.com Product Description
Building on the success of the RoadMate 500 and 700, Magellan's RoadMate 300 is a powerful GPS navigational tool that can easily guide you on your next automotive adventure. The system makes navigation easy and fun, with friendly voice prompting, preloaded maps of major North American roads, turn-by-turn guidance, and the latest touchscreen technology--all at a great price.

Features
The RoadMate 300 is billed as the first vehicle navigation device made for everyone, but that doesn't mean Magellan has scrimped on features. Designed from top to bottom for simplicity and ease of use, its user interface is the same as that found in the Hertz NeverLost system and the RoadMate 700.

Quickly locate amenities and points of interest along your route.

It uses powerful, 14-channel GPS positioning that's accurate to within three meters thanks to Magellan's TrueFix technology. Turn-by-turn voice prompts guide you on your way and automatically recalculate your route when you get off track, while intelligent routing lets you plan a trip based on shortest travel time, most or least use of freeways, or avoidance of tolls.

Meanwhile, the locate feature displays your current location and allows you to save it to the address book. Finally, you can select destinations by entering an address or intersection, selecting an address from the address book, touching a point on the map, or by choosing from more than 1.7 million points of interest like airports, gas stations, and restaurants. All of these features make the RoadMate 300 a snap to use right out of the box.

Design
Weighing in at just under nine ounces and with an integrated GPS antenna, the RoadMate 300 is compact and portable. The tough, rubberized exterior is built for abuse, while the 3.5-inch TFT color touchscreen makes address entry easy--no need for an awkward stylus. The intuitive keypad is backlit and highly visible, night or day. A headphone jack lets you catch the next turn command in a car full of noisy kids.

Connectivity and Expansion

You can also choose a map view, or the maneuver list.

While maps of major North American roads--including those in Hawaii and Puerto Rico--are stored in the unit's 128 MB of internal memory, you can add more detailed maps of specific areas to your available internal memory or through the SecureDigital card expansion slot (SD card not included). Using your Windows PC and a USB connection, the RoadMate 300 can be loaded with predefined routes from included trip-planning software, or you can load addresses from your Outlook contact list for easy mapping of the locations of clients, coworkers, and friends. You can also play back and view data from trips you've already taken, or have the unit speak in one of six languages in addition to American English: French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, or British English.

What's in the Box
The Magellan RoadMate 300 unit with integrated GPS antenna, PC software, a quick-start guide, a basic reference guide, a complete manual on CD, a USB cable, a cigarette-lighter adapter, and a windshield mount.

Customer Reviews

Great Nav software, severly shoddy everything else.
I bought both the Delphi NA10000 and this so that I could run them back to back. The Delphi arrived partially defective, but the build quality was GORGEOUS and the PC software was VERY easy to use --especially when compared to the Magellan. Where the Magellan shines, however, is in actually getting you there. Hence 4 stars.

I am currently living in LA. I just moved here for b-school and get lost regularly trying to find chinese restaurants in Balwdin Park or good mexican food in south central. This little doo-hicky does a GREAT job of gettting me there and back. Far better than the Delphi.

Couple negative things worth noting:

1st. Depending on which route setting you choose, Shortest, Freeway, etc... sometimes it sends you on really strange routes. Nothing major, but there are often more turns than absolutly necessary.

2nd. The build quality is severly shoddy. Comparable to an early Compaq iPaq--all plastic in all the wrong places; buttons that feel mushy and unresponsive; the poorest mount I have seen in a while--it vibrates the whole unit over bumps such that you really must rest it on the dash; and a really cheap antanna.

3rd. It is only, really, compatable with SanDisk SD media. Lexar (even high speed) works OK, but slowly and after waiting for over an hour for tech support, the otherwise helpful rep finally confessed that really, it only works with SanDisk media.

4th. The PC software, at least compared with Delphi's, is TERRIBLE. It is slow, cumbersome, bewilderingly complex for such a simple task, and generally functions as if it were designed for Windows 98. We are talking old school Pentium 90 speed here.

So while everything about the product is crap, after you deal with the crap and get on the road, the thing works really well. If the antenna does not fall off, it keeps a solid signal with the satellites above, it has a solid power connection, bright screen with good clear instructions, and is generally quite accurate. As a high-tech gadget the Delphi is superior, as a GPS system, buy the Magellan 300.

Dont buy the 300 if you live in NY, NJ, CT
Hey Everyone,

I purchased the Magellan 300 this past winter. I was very tempted by the 350 price (back then, now it is cheaper), and I could not justify spending 800 dollars on the higher models (that was back then also, now the 800 could be purchased online for 699 shipped).

Pros:

- Most affordable unit
- Can sign up for a free pre-loaded 256 MB card from Magellan site only with the 300
- Portabality is fast and easy

Cons:
- The menu may say that you can enter a location by Street name and City... but this is false. It does not accept cities. You actually must know the township. For example if I were in East Meadow, NY...You simply cannot just put in East Meadow, you must figure out that the town of East Meadow is really Town of Hempstead. This is the biggest turn off for me, because of this, i have NEVER found a place while driving. (Does this defeat the purpose of a GPS?). The Only way to get around this is by planning out whos houses or places you will go, and save it to the GPS via computer hookup. So now i have about 70 people on my GPS, and it will not find any other location in NY. I have a north east preloaded map btw.

- Their support does not exist, when i purchased something from their online store.. they responded to me within a few hours. But when it came time to troubleshoot about my first "con", they were no where to be found. I even emailed them twice, and after 12 weeks of no response, I am finally drawing the line.

- The other upper level magellan gps such as the 760 does not seem to have these problems. I guess its because that the 760 has a built in hardrive with everything pre-loaded. Thats what GPS is supposed to be. Just drive and find a location, not sit at home and program the thing for half an hour. Which brings me to the next "con"

- The GPS is listed as a 128mb internal memory on Amazon... this is not true, it only has 80mb. And to upload 80mb worth of map, it takes about 1-2 hours. So imagine uploading a 128mb or 256mb map.. your computer would blow up. Magellan says to upload small amounts at a time to speed up the search time, this is their way of beating around the bush and saying... "programming the 300 is a waste of your time".

I know this seems all harsh, but I want you all to be aware of the problems Ive had with it. Maybe those who do not live in NY, NJ, or CT dont have this problem. But if you live in the tri-state... DO NOT GET THE 300 series, pay more for the upper level ones.

If you have any questions feel free to get in touch with me about this product.

Good Luck Future GPS Owners

I will never recommand this to any one.
I purchased this one last week and I am sending it back today. The unit is great and features are reasonable for price. Major issue is with MAPS. They are worng and they don't have many cities listed. I live in Long Island, NY and i couldn't get to many places here.

I called customer support and got them on line with in 3 min ( not bad at all ) and the person who is on the phone was very nice and polite. He has verified and confirmed the locations where I wanted to go are not available in MAPS supplied with unit. As per him this doesn't have updates MAPS and they may not be available for next 3-4 months.

I learned that every model GPS don't have same maps. More expensive models has slightly better maps.