Review: Magellan Roadmate 760
VERDICT: B+

1. Introduction
2. Installation
3. Basic Operation
4. Usability
5. New Features
6. Screen Resolution & Quality
7. Map Accuracy
8. Speaker Quality
9. Road Test
10. Pros & Cons
11. Suggestions to Magellan for Improvement
12. Conclusions
13. Overall Grade
14. Technical Specs

1. INTRODUCTION

Until the recent release of the Roadmate 800, the Roadmate 760 was the latest offering in the venerable Roadmate series from Magellan. Magellan has a long history of making excellent automobile GPS products. If you’ve ever rented a Hertz car with the NeverLost navigation system, then you’re already familiar with Magellan’s usability.

The Roadmate 760 builds on its predecessor, the Roadmate 700, adding new features like SayWhere turn-by-turn voice prompting, multi-destination routing, automatic night view dimming, and automatic volume leveling, the 760 adds some of the most frequently requested features to the Roadmate series. 

2. INSTALLATION

The Magellan Roadmate 760: At first glance the Roadmate 760 looks identical to its predecessor, the Roadmate 700.
Here we see the rear of the unit. The mounting bracket connects to the windshield mount (below). The unit itself has a quick-release mechanism, so you can detach the unit without dismantling the mount and windshield mount.
The idea here is you connect the GPS to the end of the arm, bend the flex material into the right angle, and stick it to your windshield. In our testing, the windshield mount was unsturdy and difficult to use (more on that later). Magellan needs to come up with a better mount.

An included cigarette lighter adapter connects the unit to your vehicle’s 12V receptacle.  Installation is straight forward enough, although we found the cigarette lighter cable to be a tad short, and the suction design of the windshield mount was poor. The mount didn’t make a solid connection with the glass, causing the unit to dangle, and jiggle around during normal driving.

My second biggest complaint with the 760 is the windscreen mount. The included windscreen mount is flimsy and does not make good contact with the glass, causing the unit to jiggle around as you drive. At first I thought maybe this was some intentional shock absorbing technique, but after calling Magellan’s customer care they admitted to issues with the mount and promised an updated mount soon. Additionally, the included cigarette lighter adapter was barely long enough to reach between the unit and the cigarette lighter in my car (which is a standard sized sedan, not an SUV).

I find this issue somewhat inexplicable, as mounting hardware has been a Magellan problem for years and they don’t seem to be improving in this area at all. I remember complaining back in 1999 that the Magellan 750NAV included little more than a glorified pipe cleaner that you used to hook the display head onto your AC/Heat vent. In fact, the Roadmate 700 shipped with a similar pipe-cleaner mounting wire. I suppose I should be glad that the 760 at least included a windshield mount, although the quality is very poor. While we’re on the subject, it’s always been a pet peeve of mine that I rush out to buy the latest Megellan GPS unit, only to discover that the unit needs additional mounting hardware not included in the box. So I then spend another $30-$50, only to find that Magellan starts shipping units with the new mounting hardware included for free, leaving me holding the bag. So, Magellan: please, just include the right mounting hardware from the get-go, and please engineer a mounting bracket that is befitting of such a fine product as the Roadmate series. ‘Nuff said.

3. BASIC OPERATION

Once powered on, you are greeted with a legal disclaimer, and then a choice of three stored user profiles. Each profile can be named (e.g. Mom, Dad, etc.) and can each can store separate address books and preferences.

Here you see the main menu page on the Roadmate. The menu system is uncluttered, easy to understand, and can be navigated with either the touch screen or the joystick.

The Magellan interface uses a technology they call “QuickSpell” to enter destination addresses. As you enter letters of your destination, the Roadmate shows only those letters that can be used to spell a valid destination. This system works well, eliminates misspellings, and is a speedy method for entering names.

Here you see the main navigation display shows during normal navigation. Here Magellan has done an excellent job showing a lot of information without cluttering the screen. The main navigation screen shows direction of travel, distance until the next turn, time to destination, distance to destination. The planned route is also highlighted on the map.

Pressing the “View” button cycles between the maneuvering list (above) and something Magellan calls TrueView 3D (below). The maneuvering list shows the turns you’ll be making on the trip. This is especially helpful if you should lose GPS reception, as you can refer to the maneuvering list and still stay on course. The TrueView is the least useful view.

Magellan has introduced a new view called “Split View”. This view shows both the map as well as the TrueView. When enabled, this view is briefly displayed before an upcoming turn maneuver.

4. USABILITY

This is where Magellan really shines, and makes the Roadmate our Editor’s Choice for the best auto GPS product available. Without reading any manuals, you can easily use the Magellan Roadmate to navigate to any destination. This is a GPS you could give to your mother and not worry about it. Magellan has had years refining the user interface, and you really appreciate the elegant and simple design when you’re forced to use a clunky interface like the one on the Garmin GPS units. I had my list of greviences with the Roadmate 760 to be sure, but by sheer force of great usability, the 760 wins our current Editor’s Choice award.

However, my number one complaint with the Roadmate 760 is its sluggish responsiveness when navigating menus. For example, if you want to cancel a current destination, and you press the cancel button, a prompt appears, asking you if you’re sure you want to cancel. You keep trying to select “Yes”, but nothing happens for a good 2-3 seconds, often causing you to select “No” by mistake. This behavior was exhibited virtually 100% of the time.

Also, spelling out city or street names can be slightly sluggish, although not nearly as slow or annoying as when trying to cancel a route.