Magellan Maestro 4350 GPS

90

Superior

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Pros
Delivers excellent routes
Crisp, clear touch screen
Cons
No voice recognition
Traffic service requires subscription

$168.97 - $501.01
From 5 Merchants

Magellan Maestro 4350 GPS Review

by Liane Cassavoy, PC World

Magellan's good-looking GPS delivers excellent routes and just about every feature you could ask for.

The Magellan Maestro 4350 with OneTouch boasts one of the best-looking and most usable touch screens of any GPS device we tested. But that's not its standout feature: The Maestro 4350--currently number one on our Top 5 chart of GPS devices--delivered some of the best routes of the GPS units I tested; its excellent navigation features were on a par with the TomTom GO 930, which came in second overall.

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The Maestro's 4.3-inch screen features 800-by-480 resolution, resulting in crisp, clear images and text that's easy to read. Launching the navigation features from the well-laid-out home screen is simple. You can see an overview of your calculated route as well as possible alternate routes; clicking a button shows you the estimated travel time and distance for three different possibilities (fastest time, shortest distance, or economical). This is a really nice touch, as most GPS devices make you select one type of route calculation in the settings menu before you begin navigating.

Like the TomTom GO 930, the Maestro 4350 includes lane guidance and realistic views of road signs and intersections. These views on the 4350's crisp screen look great--and really help you find your way.

The Maestro 4350 features Magellan's handy OneTouch feature, which allows you to create shortcuts on a dedicated screen. You can access the OneTouch screen by clicking a small icon that's always present in the upper right-hand corner of the display. You can also set shortcuts either to specific addresses, certain points (like restaurants, gas, or hotels), or even features on the Maestro 4350. You could, for example, create a shortcut to a search for Starbucks in the points-of-interest (POI) database; then, wherever you are, you click on this shortcut to search for all of the Starbucks in the area. You could also set a shortcut to the Maestro 4350's music player to instantly launch it.

The Maestro 4350 comes with a traffic receiver and three months of traffic service. After that, you'll have to pay $60 per year for a subscription. Traffic incidents are automatically factored into planned routes.

Other features include hands-free calling with Bluetooth-compatible cell phones, FM transmission so you can hear turns and directions over your car stereo, an audio/video/photo viewer, and even the ability to send and receive text messages. In short, there's not a lot the Maestro 4350 can't do.

--Liane Cassavoy

User Reviews for Magellan Maestro 4350 GPS

Reviewed by: bprnyc

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: It works as expected and even better! I like the hands free bluetooth with caller ID and the SD card slot to view photos and play music through the radio tuner.

Weaknesses: In rural areas it can loose the road for a few seconds. Sometimes in traffic you can misinterpret the turn and turn early or too late.

Overall Evaluation: I have looked at these for years and hesitated. Now with this model being highly praised and loaded with features I finally broke down and got one. I 1st used it to navigate to places to I have used map notes to get to, then later to completely unfamiliar addresses. Make a mistake and you will be recalculated to a new route. I have learned to trust it and for the price I fell it is well worth it. It pairs with your bluetooth phone easier than most headsets. It also will play mp3 music files by tuning to the radio at several frequencies. Display is big but not distracting.
Reviewed by: powerdiamond

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: For one trip it was great. Operated smoothly. Did everything asked of it except...

Weaknesses: function the next time it was used. It would come to the opening screen and then STOP. That was the last time it worked. The previous Magellan lasted 3 trips and then folded up shop.

Overall Evaluation: I was so looking forward to the Maestro. When first set up it seemed to be perfect. In comparison to the Garmin it was so much easier to set up your trip and getting all the pertinent info to go along with it. Sadly it was over in one trip.

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