Magellan RoadMate 1475T 4.7-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic Receiver
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Magellan Roadmate 1475T
Features
- Personalize OneTouch search icons with your favorite places
- Announces street names and directions at each turn
- Features ultra-wide 4.7-inch touch screen display
- Traffic Link delivers free, real-time traffic alerts for life
- Highway lane assist helps you navigate the interstate
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 1 x 2 x 3 inches
- Weight: 3 pounds
Updated Software Didn’t Fix Problems
I recommend the Garmin Nuvi 1490 Garmin nüvi 1450 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator over the Magellan 1476T. I bought Son 1 the Garmin several months ago. Son 2 had the opportunity to learn the Garmin while driving with Son 1. We decided to give Magellan a try for Son 2 based on Amazon reviews.
1. The Magellan 1476T was delivered in “demo” mode. Neither supplied instructions nor Magellan’s web site provided an easily referenced method to turn off the demo mode. It may be there somewhere, but we couldn’t find it.
2. Accessing Magellan tech support in the Philippines was quicker than I’ve come to expect from electronics companies (about 20 minutes). The agent spoke good English and was helpful.
3. The agent helped me switch off demo mode in a few minutes. Then, the agent checked our software. It was out of date. I understand how a brand new device can have out of date software. Shelf time in the store explains that. What I don’t get is why any company (Magellan in this case) would make it so difficult to get updates.
4. I spent the next 45 minutes on the phone with Magellan’s agent leading me through an electronic maze including registration and what seemed like endless menus to finally get the download and then transfer it into the Magellan from our computer. Hey, this should be simple. Does Magellan actually believe consumers want to spend nearly an hour putting their device into service? I want the same experience we had with Garmin: stick it on the charger, stick it on the windshield, and navigate to your destination.
5. On the road the Magellan proved disappointing compared to Garmin. The device actually tried to turn my son down a nonexistent road into a field! On a couple of occasions, the Magellan provided poorly optimized routes (read that, extra time and distance). It consistently provided poor terminal destination instructions compared to Garmin. I realize this is a problem with GPS road navigation systems in general, but Garmin seems to have the upper hand.
6. The physical mount could be better. The Magellan mount fell off the window several times. So far, we’ve never had this problem with the Garmin.
7. Although it doesn’t have anything to do with Magellan, I’ve had poor experience with New York based companies over the years compared with the rest of the country. This product came out of Maspeth, NY. There is no 24 hour customer service (automated or operator assisted) to get a Return Authorization (RA) number. The company, J&R Music and Computer World, says they will “refuse any package that does not have a valid RA#. There are no exceptions.” I’m always frustrated when companies do this. They publish a no questions asked 30 day return policy, but charge you for return shipping and make you wait while they provide the RA# at their convenience.
Excellent ProductMagellan Roadmate 1475T
From all the reviews I have read, they did not rate this product as well, granted it does lag a little on typing a destination, but the intuitiveness that it has is Excellent. When you start typing the town it gives you options on which town it would be. Turn by Turn directions are great. The traffic feature is great as well; since it is free it does help a lot when you’re in a jam. This is very light since it has a 4hr battery inside. I bought it because it has the AAA book inside, the clear crisp 4.7 inch screen and above all the low price from Amazon. And my wife loves it she thinks it’s very easy to use, the turn by turn directions are simple and exact.
A Better GPS
Many reviews were done here with the GPS. I had MIO 720, Garmin 275T, and now Magellan 1475T. The faetures I like:
1). Easy address entering
2). Easy save the address, and edit the contact
3). Clear turning instruction.
Room for improvement:
1). No speed limit, and current speed display
2). No current time display
Overall the MIO 720 is the best but it got stolen in Germany (you can add European maps to it). It also had Microsoft contact so you can sync all you address to it.
It was not easy for either Garmin or Mio to save the addresses
Magellan GPS
This unit has a wider than average screen. It is easy to turn on and off, enter places into the memory book and indicate where I want to go just by touching the screen. It tends to run a little late in tellng me where I am. When coming out of a parking lot, it does not tell me which way to turn. I need to get going and cover a half block or so and then it will tell me to keep going or to turn around and go the othr way.
Review of Magellan RoadMate 1475T 4.7-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic Receiver
The GPS system is a heaven’s send. I have no complaints what so ever. I’ve used it several times in new cities and places and it has been perfect in guiding me to where I have to be. When I first started looking for GPS systems I wanted something like what is used in the Hertz rental cars. I found this GPS system and it has served its purpose perfectly. A four year old can understand how to use it. It is a real good deal for the money too. Don’t worry about how to mount it, since you don’t want to risk getting it stolen and to avoid having the battery discharge prematurely in cold weather never leave it in the car when you’re gone. You can glue the mount that comes with it to a larger mount you can purchase on Amazon to put on your dash as a portable mount. When you park your car just take it off the mount or you can leave it on the mount and bring it with you or put it in your trunk. The voice of the lady that guides you is very easy to understand and so are the maps, plus you can buy an AC adaptor to plug it in your house outlet so you can program in addresses while watching TV. I’ve had this GPS system about 7 months and the battery has never run down, off course when you have it in your car you can run it off the cigarette liter or similar jack with the adapter that comes with it. I bought a nifty case on Amazon for it too.
Very Happy With My Magellan!
I had been using a Garmin Nuvi 350 for several months and was very happy with its performance. It was pretty slow to acquire signals, but once it did it worked very well. When my Garmin was stolen recently, I went online and read several reviews on different GPS models in my price range. After reading the reviews, I decided to give the Magellan RoadMate 1475T a shot.
After one trip from my home in south Florida to Tennessee and back, I am very happy with the performance of the Magellan. While it does not have some of the bells and whistles my Garmin had, it had exactly what I needed for the trip. The features that were most handy for me were the one-touch restaurant and gasoline finder on the interstate and the free life-time traffic alerts. Fortunately, we only hit stalled traffic once on the trip, but when we did the Magellan did its job. It alerted me that the traffic was stalled on my route and gave me a choice of three alternate routes. I ignored the warning until I actually hit the stalled area and saw for myself that the traffic was barely moving at all. Luckily I hit the slowed traffic just before an exit and I was able to choose one of the alternate routes provided by my Magellan. We then moved past the stalled traffic without a hitch. This feature alone makes me glad I made this purchase.
The only real negative was that I got off course once and the Magellan set me on a new course that ended up in someone’s drive way. Not a good thing, but it only happened once and it did get me back on the right course within minutes. My Garmin also used to send me on some round-about routes, but it didn’t send me to any dead ends.
Overall, I am very happy with this purchase and would do it again. Also, I would rate the Magellan a 5 if not for the mishap mentioned above.
Good device…but…
I truly prefer Magellan devices over those of other manufacturers. Their ease of use, their graphics and the screen sizes are good. This device has been used over the past two weeks, and unfortunately, I’m returning it due to some smaller annoying issues.
First, the reason why there are “free” traffic updates is due to the advertising that pop up on the screen just under the road identifiers. Someone wrote a comment that asked why some Magellan devices have a charge ($60 per year, and others are “free”), well, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.
If you get distracted by images that flash on screens…then the advertising pop ups aren’t for you.
Yesterday, I took a drive through the Santa Cruz Mountains and down towards Monterey, California. Even though the device was checked for an updated map, many roads driven were not on the maps included and up to date within the system.
I’ve got another Magellan product and will probably return this one.
That’s unfortunate because the seller had a great price ($100 less than the price at Costco). The device is a good size, and the graphics are easily viewed…but that gets cut down with the ads show up.
If this was my first Magellan device, I would be quite happy with it and would probably keep it, however, I’ve seen what their other products do and are happy with them.
This would be a good device for a first time GPS user.
Easy to use but slow to find initial location
Have used this device for a couple of months now and my only, but major, complaint is that when you power on the device, it always takes at least a minute to get a lock on it’s current location, otherwise it will start giving directions for your next destination from the prior location where you last powered it on. This can be a little bit annoying when you are leaving home and punch in a destination, only to see that the first instructions make no sense until you cancel out, and wait for the gps lock, then re-initiate the trip.
Besides that, the user interface is easy to use, didn’t think i would use the directory of locations too much but surprisingly it came in handy on a recent trip where I needed to find some local spots, and the voice and upcoming turn warnings are clear.
Great Low cost GPS
I had the opportunity to evaluate the Magellan 1475T. I found it easy to use and intuitive.
I found the user interface easier to use than others I have tried (especially Garmin).
Magellan did a great job of minimizing the keystrokes necessary to use it.
The display is bright and easy to read. The slim profile allows you to carry it in a shirt pocket.
I did find the advertisements on the screen to be slightly annoying.
Unfortunately, product descriptions do not tell you what features it doesn’t have, so don’t take anything for granted.
1. It does not have an audio output jack. (This was a disqualifier for me.)
2. It does not have a text screen that lists things like distance, speed, eta, time remaining, …
(These numbers can be viewed one at a time by repeated button pushes.)
3. It does not allow you to load routes from a computer.
4. It does not display photos or play music as some models do.
I don’t mean to dwell on the negatives. It is a great value.
I got this product for $130 from Costco and would recommend it for any cost conscious driver.
Magellan Roadmate 1475TT
This GPS is very user friendly. I was able to use it immediately. The directions are very accurate with enough warning on turn directions.
Very easy to use, not quite up to date
Based on reviews I returned the Garmin 1490 unopened in the box to Costco and picked up the Magellan 1475T for half the price. $130.
Here are my pro’s:
1. Great screen, very readable. We discovered that our Motorola cell phone charger worked to charge this when in the house and you are playing with it to learn it. Very cool.
2. Intuitive~which is good because the owners manual is very little information. Very easy to use because it is so intuitive.
3. The ease with which you can put in a city or town because of the spell completion feature which works amazingly well.
4. The acuracy is uncanny. I had read some other reports where it had them on the wrong side of the street etc. My unit announces that I have arrived at my home when my tires hit the driveway. So far I have been very impressed with the accuracy and although no GPS is always going to be 100% this thing gets you so close it just makes the drive easy. A friend has a Garmin that is always doing the “recalculating” voice but I haven’t had that with this. Eventually it will just tell you to make a legal U-turn after it keeps trying different routes that you ignore.
5. The voice is excellent. Apparently mine already had the latest software for voice and it could not be more clear.
6. The chime when you turn is excellent. It seems to give you a couple of warnings like “left turn in 1.6 miles”, “left turn in one half mile”, “Approaching left turn” and then ding the chime sounds and it would be pretty hard not to understand where you turn. Also a quick glance at the upper left corner always has the next turn shown with a mileage. Very cool.
7. The points of interest work quite well whether you are looking for a campground, hospital, post office or whatever. Very cool. When it brings up a point of interest it will typically have their phone number along with the address. Makes it very easy for you to give that company or RV park for example a quick call. I thought it was like having a phone book inside the GPS.
8. The traffic works. I wasn’t thinking this would be a feature that meant much to me but then we had a snowstorm and that was a very good feature.
9. This is blazing fast. You turn it on and in literally seconds it has the satellites. My old Magellan hand held for hiking would take 5 minutes to do the same thing. This has the predictive software for where the satellites should be based on where they were when you turned it off. Apparently that works great because it is very fast.
CONS:
1. The owner’s manual if you can actually refer to it like that is very skimpy. It is more like an advertising brochure.
2. The latest software comes with this and sadly it is out of date by maybe a year or more. The same would apparently be true with Garmin as I believe they both get their maps from Navteq. So when they tell you that you get one month of free map update from the date of activation that is just wonderful except that the maps don’t get updated except maybe every two years from what I can figure. Several E-mails back and forth with the company over this. If you are lucky enough that they release a new map then you get it in the first month you own this but after that you are out of luck. This is a new model and the company told me that typically they don’t put new maps on a new model for at least 18 months. Why does this matter? Well in my neighborhood for example there is a fairly new mall area and the unit has no idea that it exists. So if I put in to take me to a Red Robin for example it will take me to the one it knows which is 20 minutes away instead of the one that is new and 5 minutes away. That mall has a Penney’s, Target, AMC multiplex, Staples, etc but this unit would have no way to know that because the software, while the latest one issued, is out of date.
3. Magellan does not seem to be a friendly corporation to work with. Perhaps that is true of Garmin also I have no way to know. Maybe the competition has them producing these things at the lowest possible cost and there is no money left over for customer service but you get the direct feeling that they are not friendly toward the customer.
Bottom line for us: We like it a lot. It solves the navigation problem which has been the source for more than one argument and for that alone it is absolutely worth it. Plus it is fun to use. I would have been all over this with a total five star rating except for the maps being out of date.
magellan1475T
We found out that the unit we purchased online in Feb 2010 turned out to have been at the store since June 2009. That meant it automatically was behind in software versions upon arrival. We had several problems, including the units inability to allow us to enter a complete address when trying to assign a go to location unless we first entered it in the address book. Our attempts caused the gps to freeze up. This seems to have been fixed in the newest software version. Our fix, after several shutdowns and wrong turns was to contact Magellan and have them send us a new unit directly, complete with updates! Great service from the manufacturer. Disappointed in the one we got initially. Unit still has problems catching up when leaving parking lots, but all in all a decent gps.
Best value for money
I bought this device couple of weeks ago. The best portable GPS yet. Magellan made lots of improvements over previous models. Notable ones are: multiple destination routing, having a short-cut for exit-POI on the map itself and allowing to see multiple routing options on the map high-lighted with different colors. This device is very thin and light-weight, 4.7 inch screen is crisp and clear, the user interface is the best in its class I would think. One-touch favorites is an awesome and intuitive feature. I wonder how I lived without it. If I want to check a Starbucks nearby it is one-touch away. Also, Magellan displays company logos for certain POIs, for instance, Startbucks, Arco gas stations and Wells Fargo ATMs etc. Very useful, indeed.
This device locks satellites within seconds after switching it on. If I missed a turn, it recalculates the route very fast, no more ‘recalculating’ messages. The ‘ding-dong’ reminder on each turn is perfectly timed now (just 15 or 20 ft before the turn. The previous models used to sound exactly on the turn itself). I never noticed that the sound is distinctive for left/right turn or stay-on road etc. until I read a review from a user here. Free life-time traffic is nice. (It was little strange that the device was not showing any traffic incidents in the first few days. I simply disabled and re-enabled the option. It did the trick.) The advertisements are little annoying, but I can live with that if I don’t need to pay a subscription.
There are couple of things missing which were available in the previous models:
* In turn-list it used to show the total miles to drive, time remaining and ETA etc on the same screen. I don’t know if it was removed accidentally or intentionally. It was very useful to see all information at one place for the trip. Now, I need to tap the bottom-left button one the map screen and cycle thru each one to see the one I wanted. It is a little annoyance.
* Custom POIs. This was such a wonderful feature which allowed me load red-light camera locations to remind me when I approach them. Don’t know why Magellan removed this wonderful feature. Hopefully, they will bring it back using a software update.
Apart from these two things, I love this device and highly recommend this.
Great product–Lousy documentation
It’s hard for me to write an intelligent review, because the manual and website that support it are so poor, I really don’t know what it can do. For instance, if there is a way to add POI’s from say a travel website, I don’t know how one would do it. If you carry it in your pocket, say in the woods, and you want to record your current position, you can do that easy enough. How do you read that location out later to give to someone else? Beats me. No information. And customer service? Fahgedaboutit. Tell them the model and serial number, where you bought it etc. to create a ticket, and they respond with “What’s the model, serial no, and where you bought it and we might have an answer to your question.” I have never seen worse documentation for a product, of any kind. Flashlight batteries have better documentation.
Then there is the picture on the box. No problem reading that. But the actual display, it’s just enough smaller that if you are over 40 you can’t quite read the highway signs safely. A glance won’t do it, so next thing you’re trying to read it instead of watching traffic. I never got an answer from customer support on whether or not it could be increased to match the picture on the box.
So to get you over the highways and byways from point A to point B, it’s great. Not sure about anything else. So far the maps seem to be more accurate than most.
Failed simple test
This model would not program intermediate destinations (way points, multiple destinations); downloaded user manual also gave no instructions on such destinations and Magellan web site had no information on the matter. Sent the unit back.
We returned it today
Last month we picked up the 1475T at COSTCO for $170 and used it on a 3000 mile trip. It was returned today. I see the unit is now selling for $130.
I agree with other reviewers that the unit has some really nice features like the beautiful screen, turn signaling tone, AAA tour book, and Lane Guidance. I also did not have any of the problems reported in the original units (I always got a turn tone before the turn, always found the destination on the side indicated). When using the 1475T for simple point-to-point trips, the only real issue was the sound quality.
What made me return it was the poor TTS quality and the lack of an intuitive interface when doing anything complex. Someone wrote that there are 3 distinct voices used. I noticed this immediately. The standard canned responses (like TURN RIGHT) are very clear but the street names are mumbled. I do not have this problem with my Magellan 1412 unit. I would guess that the TTS software was rewritten and not tested properly.
When trying to find POIs along a route there are several issues. Sometimes AAA tourbook write-ups are available and sometimes not. One technique shows POIs along your route and another shows POIs in all directions. What is problematic is how hard it is to get exactly what you are looking for.
My conclusion is that this unit does some things very well for $130. If all you need is point-to-point directions, the price is right.
First Time GPS Owner and am Lovin’ it!!!
I got my GPS at Costco for a great price. So great I had to Buy it. I didn’t know what I was looking for, all I wanted was something to get me from Point A to Point B, as my Sense Of Direction is horrible and I have wasted tons of gas trying to find my way to places.
As soon as I bought this I took it out of the box, put in my Address and went on the road. It Loaded up in less than a Minute and Boom… It took me home. I was impressed. I really put it to the test when I went to a Resurant 30 minutes away from home, and a Hospital about 40 minutes from my house. Both times, it has gotten me there quick and with no problems. It even rings a bell at the EXACT moment you’re supposed to turn, which is pretty cool. I’ve used my cell phone GPS and it wasn’t very clear as to where I was to turn, but this one tells you when you’re 2 miles, 1 mile and again in .5 miles.. and again.. the bell rings at the exact spot you’re supposed to turn.
Lane assist is awesome as well. It tells you to stay on your current lane. This is a handy feature when you’re on an expressway where if you’re on the wrong lane, you’ll end up on a totally different expressway.
The size of the screen excellent. You can clearly see everything, even the streets that are next to the current road.
When you make a wrong turn, it quickly recalculates your route without a problem. Which is awesome as well. I tried to sike it out a few times, and it quickly recalculated the route rather quickly.
The Point of Interest feature is also great. I recently was looking for a specific restaurant and it located the closest one to me and got me there rather quickly. It also showed pretty much every restaurant within the area. Even found restaurants near the destination I was headed so if you like to plan, and want a restaurant close to Point B when you’re at Point A.. It will find it for you. One thing I do recommended is that you call first. I was searching for restaurants in my area, and saw one that was closed down a few years back.
Address Book feature was also great. You can add addresses of friends and family and just find them and click on their name, and you’re off on your way.
Map Update was pretty easy. I wanted to make sure I got the Latest map update so went onto the Manufacture website, registered my product and got the latest version. I don’t know if I already had it, and see no difference, but at least I know I have the latest version.
The Traffic Adviser feature is pretty cool. However, I haven’t used it yet (Or don’t know if my route was redirected because of Traffic) so I don’t know how it works. But I haven’t been caught in any major traffic jams, so maybe it’s working?
Toll/Freeway Avoid Feature is awesome too. Sometimes You don’t have enough change in your pocket for the toll.. this thing will help you avoid them. And if you aren’t comfortable driving on the freeways.. you can avoid those too. Of course, your travel time will most likely be a bit longer.. but it’s a convenience for those who dislike driving on freeways.
The Touch Screen is easy to use. You have to often use your finger nail to get from one page to another, but it isn’t too much of an inconvenience.
I also love the fact that it tells me the time, Estimated Arrival Time, And my speed. Of course you have to pick which one you want on display, but I think that’s a pretty neat feature.
Like I said, This is my First GPS system, and for a Newbie, This is pretty easy, straight forward and a great tool for those like me who are tired of getting lost. New drivers especially will love this. I’ve used my cell phones (Verizon) Navigation, And I will say that for the most part having a GPS is much better if you have to travel to a lot of different locations and get lost a lot.
The only things I dislike is that this doesn’t come with a carrying case. That kind of sucks. And also, every so often (maybe once an hour) you’ll get this little small advertisement on the top of the GPS from Red Lobster, Olive Garden or from some Hotel chain. But it comes up fast, and it disappears fast so that’s not too much of an inconvenience. Other then that.. This is an amazing Product! I Love it and am Glad I got this. I will never be lost again!!!!!
A Great GPS
The 1475T is my third GPS. I rely a lot on user reviews but of course also look at what the magazines have to say. So my comment is to hopefully add some clarity to user reviews here. My last GPS was a Nuvi 300 series which was an accurate navigator but had two very annoying qualities – extremely long satellite hook up times, and generally slow processing times such that I missed a lot of turns. The 1475t does not suffer from either of these issues – it gets a fix quickly and does not suffer from navigation lag. I wanted to offer some comment on observations from other reviewers – my 1475t came with the latest flash update so it was ready out of the box. I do not know if Magellan improved the power cord/mount complaint, but I don’t see any issues with mine. Voice comments – Many Nuvi users choose either an English or Australian voice for their GPS because the US voice is terrible. My 1475t did crackle a little, but it is much better than my 2 yr old Nuvi. The traffic feature worked as it should as did the lane assist (its great). Searching for POI is also fast with the 1475t, in comparison to my Nuvi which would exhibit the dreaded hourglass until I would finally cancel the search. All GPS units have strengths and weaknesses so I am not bashing Garmin just offering perspective. So as one GPS magazine review put it, “this GPS Rocks” – based on my experience I agree. I love my new 1475t. If you get one, I think you will too.
Great GPS for the money. Magellan is the bomb!
Even though I have only used this unit for 2 days, and I have not experienced any issues that some other users are experiencing here. It has been great so far.
I have to admit, before purchasing the 1475t, I was mainly a Garmin user. Actually I just purchased the Garmin 765t, and was hugely disappointed by it. What is important to me on a GPS is POIs. Without them it’s like driving in the middle of nowhere and I hate it. My older Garmin 660 had the capability of showing POIs on the map but 765t does not. The 1475t by default does not show POIs, but in 2 seconds i was able to find the option and in 2 seconds i was able to see the POIs on the map, way to go Magellan!
I love the way it plays a tone when I am about to turn. I love the way how menus are setup, it’s actually a lot easier going from settings to settings on this unit than the 765t. Touch screen sensitivity is very accurate and I never experienced any of the stuff I experienced with 765t. (read my 765t review for more details)
I absolutely love the way that you can include all, or some POIs to show on the map. It is so much better to drive with this unit and seeing all of the POIs passing me by. Very nice feature.
I have not had a chance to play with the traffic yet, but I did manage to see some Traffic Alerts, which is a nice little feature because I have never seen that kind of alert on the 765t and both units are using the same Traffic System! I did see ads from time to time but they don’t bother me all that much.
Overall, I am extremely satisfied with my purchase and I will update more as time goes by!
if you have AAA you can upgrade it but missing maps
Unable to update it, because I do not have AAA, it won’t let me upgrade…I did one update before but a lot of streets etc. are missing, so I tried to update it again…