Magellan RoadMate 1430 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
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The Magellan RoadMate 1430 offers a wide-screen interface in an elegant, ultra-thin design, plus integrated live traffic updates, an intuitive, new user interface, and SayWhere technology, which tells drivers the street name of their next turn. All at an entry-level price point that budget-conscious consumers will appreciate.
Features
- Magellan RoadMate 1430 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
- Pre-loaded with maps of U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada
- SmartDetour automatically prompts you to route around sudden slow freeway traffic.
- Rechargeable battery lets you Navigate for up to 3 hours when power is unavailable.
- 6 million pre-programmed POIs make it easy to find gas stations, restaurants, ATMs, coffee and more.
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 10 x 2 x 5 inches
- Weight: 0 pounds
had it for a week, no regrets so far
This is my first GPS but some of my friends are up to their 4th. I’m directionally challenged and always wanted one but the complaints of friends with GPS and the huge price tag made me wait it out. With all the upgraded features and prices dropping so much, I could not resist buying one. I’ve only been testing it in my neighbor and to work but it’s been accurate; 1 error in a street name but the SD map was from 2008. I called company, asked for the “free” latest map within their 30 day of purchase window. Unfortunately, it’s still 2009 since the 2010 won’t be release until much later in the year; cost $10 for S/H to mail the SD map. Delivery was fast but now I need full charge before I can install the new software to use the new map. Since I only have the car charger and my drive to work is ~15 minutes, the battery still not max yet. I’ll update after the upgrade and new map but the GPS is intuitive to use/program. I have no trouble figuring out the features, enter addresses and started using it out of the box. Low volume is a major complaint of most GPS but with the radio on I still can hear this one clearly on max setting. Love the street names, turns announcements; no need to even look at the screen. It also have a bell alert immediately before each turn. The bright blue screen was easy to see in bright daylight too. One person complained it was too bright for night; the reviewer may not know about the brightness setting. Tried it myself, not a problem. I did not tried the free 3 month traffic subscription yet. My Miami commute is nothing compare to other major cities I’ve been in.
I was hesitant about this model with all the low reviews I saw here but since most were from 2008 and early 2009 and for the price ~$90 plus some very positive reviews, I was willing to risk it. I think the company may have resolved the issues with upgrades, 30 days free map upgrade and better customer service. Like I said, I’ll post my experience after the upgrade and new map to see if the company actually did fix the issues reported by some. The customer service I got was excellent.
I happy with the price and features of this unit so far. I’m purcahsing a wall charger for this unit for $5. I already have a USB data link for the upgrade. If you live in a city where there were no major changes to the freeway, highways or roads the last few years then you can save money and not upgrade the map or simply wait for a later model with more current maps. GPS seem to be getting cheaper by the month.
nice product
Very nice product but a little hard to get someone who is not technical to learn how to use it.
As good as any, and less money
All these things screw up once in a while, but this is as good as any out there,and for 120 bucks and a year of free traffic update service (or was it 6 months ?) you cannot get a better GPS. It is popular with thieves, also; I have had to buy 4 of them due to Atlanta democrats stealing 3 from my vehicles.
Need help with return
Hello out there,
We received a different GPS that we prefer to keep and want to return this one. I have gotten 2 e-mails from Comp USA, but still haven’t sent the return authorization or mailing label> What do I need to do to get them to respond?
Traffic Stinks, Harder than TomTom
SO I have been on the hunt for the best traffic. and this isn’t it. I had the DASH express which was internet connected, and it was so good that it is hard to compare. (I didnt like how big it was and had bad graphics, but the traffic was spot on!)
Anyhow, this can tell you when there is traffic… when you are in it!
Great. I want to go from A to B and it gives me the route assuming no traffic, and as you turn on the ramp and are in bumper to bumper it says ” you are in traffic”. Geez Thanks buddy. Oh, do I want to reroute, where? To more traffic? How does that route compare to this route??? unknown.
SO basically real traffic is just a feature bullet point, but isnt real yet.
Gonna be returning this and keeping my tom tom 140.
Also I dont get widescreen. Sounds good in the ads, I guess that is why people buy it. But it takes up more room and obstructs your view and is completely unnecessary.
Also the # of button presses to get anything done, is about 2x vs TomTom. And the mapping was much worse. With the TT I know about 200 yards away from a traffic circle, this one about 75.
Nice Navigator for the price
First the Pro’s of this GPS unit : The wide screen is great compared to a few other GPS units I have owned in the past and easy to see the roads and points of interest. It was very easy to install on the windsheild with the suction adaptor included plus its easy to remove the unit by just a lift of the lock. It came with a 90 day free trial of road hazard warning and traffic back up to give you an option of detour to avoid the area before you came to it. Nice slim unit about the thickness of a deck of cards so if you wanted you can disconnect it and put it into your pocket if you were in an area known for high theft . The lovely womans voice is pleasant to hear which you can adjust the volume to suit your needs. Screen changes as night comes to give you a night view of the area which I found interesting.
Cons : Being a brand new GPS I was very dissapointed that the maps had not been updated for many years it seems . We type in Costco which has been here for over 15 years and it never showed up nor the road it is on . After calling tech support and explaining the problem we had to pay another ten dollars ( for shipping ) to recieve the new spring 2009 map disk update . Everything works okay now and roads and business’s now show up . The so called free 90 day traffic hazard never has worked and we have gone past ( and been in ) several road construction projects that’s been going on for a few years on state highways and county roads, PLUS we have been in traffic back ups from accidents and rush hour traffic and the GPS never gave any warning whatsoever, so that feature does not work at all and would be a waste of money for this unit. The touch screen being new of course is hard to hit with your finger but using the eraser end of a pencil works okay for the time being .
If you plan on buying this unit be prepared to fork out another ten dollars to get the updated maps from magellan, plus don’t bother paying for a subscription for their traffic alert program. Just use the 90 day free trial and see if it ever gives you road warning or not.
BAD DO NOT BUY, BAD BAD BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS A REALLY BAD GPS. I HAD TO RETURN IT TO THE COMPANY. AND THEY GAVE ME A REFURBISHED SYSTEM. THE REFURBISHED UNIT WAS BETTER THAN THE NEW UNIT. YOU SHOULDN’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON A NEW UNIT. JUST BUY A REFURBISHED UNIT.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great for my first GPS!
I’ve never owned a GPS before, so I don’t have a lot to compare my review to, but I am really happy with this system. It seems to be accurate and gets me to where I need to go. I would recommend this unit to anyone who is in the market for one.
Great
This was for a gift for my friend and every time i see them they tell me how much they love to use it.
Excellent so far!
I have had my unit for about two weeks now and have been testing it out on all my local trips to make sure it works and does not send me in the wrong direction locally, so I know I can depend on it when I have no idea where I am going. It has been great and has guided me to every point without incident. The voice prompts are very clear. The night mode is excellent and the unit is very easy to see. The interface is extremely user friendly, my 9 year old insists on typing in all our addresses and she has already mastered it. The POI’s are also very cool. It has found every restaurant or drug store I have searched for. The one complaint I have is the outdated map and that is not really the units fault. If you call magellan within 30 days of receipt and jump through a few hoops (provide proof of purchase and pay $10 shipping) you get an updated map. Overall excellent unit so far..
Magellan Roadmate 1430
I am “technologically challenged”, but found the Magellan Roadmate 1430, to be easy to use, and a great help on my recent 2800 mile road trip!
Excellent Upgrade That cost less.
I “upgraded” from an older Roadmate 3000T. This RoadMate 1430 takes all the things that are good about the old one and improves on them. Very easy to navigate touchscreen. Just play with the screen pushing different icons and you will love how easy it is. You don’t have to always go to different screens to change things. I love the multidestination feature and the spoken street names. The only thing that will make these GPS units better is if they team up with google or mapquest, etc, so you can custom make a map and import it into the gps. Now that would be the ultimate. I have never had any need for the traffic re-routing.
Best choice for value.
I was referred to Magellan’s products through use of a friend whom already owns one and I stand by my choice to return my tom tom neither may not be as fast as some, but the Magellan roadmate 1430 with free traffic subscription is the choice to go with and the deal here you can’t beat from where I’ve seen if you can find it anywhere else anymore.
Pros:
UI (user interface): easy to navigate menus. widescreen certainly comes in handy for scrolling and typing.
Automatically traffic detouring.
Auto reroute
Trip planner / Multiple destinations automatically sorts multiple destinations per trip.
Voiced street names announced for every turn including freeways exit/on ramps
and oh yeah my favorite the doorbell or chime to alert when exactly your turn is coming up and its balls on accurate every time!
Cons:
Touch screen response has its moments, but seems to be only when it hasn’t warmed up.
There is only one (1) way point you can set at a time, but I never seem to mind that since it saves previous addresses for later if you find yourself needing to use them again.
no pedestrian mode.
Overall I love this model it only has what I need it for and that’s GPS!
Definitely recommend this product to a friend.
Good Value
30 January 2009
This was a great value, and I am impressed with vendor who shipped promptly and everything was as advertised. One point is Instructions are poorly written on how to add addresses;it took awhile to figure out.
Car mounts are poor and when you spend a reasonable amount of money for a GPS [as in this case] and good mount should be included. But this has nothing to do with this Vendor-who I will purchase from again and again.
Larry
Excellent choice
I would definitely recommend the Magellan RoadMate 1430 unit. This is our first GPS, and after much research, I decided to go with this one based on the good reviews it has received from users, the features you get for the price, and a great deal that was being offered. I’m very happy with the unit. It does what it says it can do, and without any problems.
I still haven’t opened the manual yet, because it’s so easy to get going. The unit walks you right through it, and you’re up and running in no time. Good choice.
Con: Maps/Addresses don’t match! (Pro: It talks to you)
The software on the Magellan 1430 is a bit curious, to say the least: Our subdivision, which has been in existence for over 3 years, shows up on their map data, but NOT in the address database. We can’t even enter our ‘home’ address as a starting point, because it doesn’t recognize our street as being in existence, even though it shows it clearly on the map portion of the device! What the heck?!?!?
It would be much easier to use if I could actually enter my home address as a starting location; other than that, on the “pro” side, it talks to you, so you don’t have to try and read a screen while driving (yikes!!)
I REALLY hope Magellan gets their software act together soon! If/when they do, this unit would be great, until then its kind of a waste of cash. I would recommend going with Garmon until Magellan can properly synchronize the different types of data information so this unit is actualy usable. What good is having great, up-to-the-minute maps if you can’t enter the addresses that correspond with the points on those maps?!?!?
on the road again
Just received the gps at christmas time and have not had a chance to give it a real test. However, the times I have used it,it has performed as expected. Very colorful at night and easy to read.I have a bad tendency to try and read while driving and that scares me a bit. Alot of times driving in heavy traffic so there are certain dangers I must try to avoid. Very happy with the unit so far.
Bad Software
From the fastest routing mode, the software installed in this GPS was taking us on local roads with congested traffic instead of keeping us freeways. Fortunately about a month after I bought it, Magellan posted firmware that corrected the problem.
Don’t buy
Magellan Customer service is the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. They offer a free 30 day map update since all of their products ship with out of date maps. This would be a good thing except it is in the fine print of their products and their customer support email address that their website list is the wrong address. I had to get through to their customer service by posting a bad review on their website. By the time they responded my unit was beyond the 30 day limit and they refused to give me the update. This is a bad business practice. Garmin has a 60 day guarantee which is posted directly on their website in plain view.
Don’t buy
Magellan Customer service is the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. They offer a free 30 day map update since all of their products ship with out of date maps. This would be a good thing except it is in the fine print of their products and their customer support email address that their website list is the wrong address. I had to get through to their customer service by posting a bad review on their website. By the time they responded my unit was beyond the 30 day limit and they refused to give me the update. This is a bad business practice. Garmin has a 60 day guarantee which is posted directly on their website in plain view.