6. Navigating with the Magellan RoadMate 1470

Figure 46: Main Menu

This is the RoadMate 1470's Main Menu, and the screen you'll see whenever you turn on the device.

The Main Menu is simple and intuitive. There are five icons to choose from:

1. Go To - Navigate to a destination
2. View Map - View the map
3. Local Options - Displays local information, such as events, attractions, restaurants, gas, and details about your current location

Figure 47: RoadMate's Map Screen

Whether navigating to a destination or just driving around, you'll spend most of your time looking at the RoadMate's map screen.

A well designed map screen is absolutely essential for any GPS. A good map should be easy to understand, display text in a font and size that's readable from the driver's seat, and conveys all the vital information you want -- without cluttering up the screen. A well designed map should give let the driver get all the information he needs within a 1-2 second glance.

Getting the map right is a deal breaker for a GPS, and Magellan's RoadMate 1470 does a nice job displaying the information you'll likely care about, and keeps things easy to understand. Let's take a closer look at the information displayed on the map:

1. Turn instructions for next maneuver - Tap to display the maneuver list (available only when routing)
2. Distance and road name for the next maneuver - Tap to repeat last voice instruction
3. One Touch Menu - Touching this icon displays the OneTouch menu, a customizable list of shortcuts and commonly used addresses or POIs
4. Current position and heading
5. Volume controls
6. Information Display - Displays various pieces of information. Tapping this box cycles between speed, time of day, elevation, compass direction. While navigating to a destination, tapping this box cycles between displaying distance to destination, estimated time of arrival (ETA), and time remaining.
7. Zoom in and zoom out

The wider, 4.7-inch display, combined with a more refined map layout and larger text, makes the RoadMate 1470's map screen an improvement over Magellan's older GPS units.

Figure 48: Highway Lane Assist

When approaching a highway interchange, the RoadMate 1470 displays the Lane Assist view, shown above. High Lane Assist displays highway signs as you approach a highway interchange, giving you a clear visual indication of which lane you want to be in.

Lane Assist information isn't available for all highway interchanges, but I found coverage was quite good in the Northeast. Magellan says Lane Assist information will continue to be added for more areas with future map updates.

Figure 49: Address Confirmation Screen

Tapping Options on the Address Confirmation screen lets you change the Route Method (shown below), or view the turn-by-turn list of maneuvers for the route.

Figure 50: Route Options

This is where Magellan really shines. There are four different "Route Options" to choose from. The estimated drive time is listed next to each of the four options, and the turn-by-turn directions for each option can be viewed by tapping the right-arrow icon on the right side.

Magellan provides four different Route Options:

• Fastest Time - The fastest possible route provided the vehicle is able to travel at or near the speed limit.
• Shortest Distance - The shortest possible route.
• Mostly Freeways - Use freeways whenever possible.
• Least Use of Freeways - A route that avoids the highway as much as possible.

Tapping the Map Icon in the lower-right corner displays a visual representation of each Route Method on the map, shown below

Figure 51: Route Options Displayed on the Map Screen

The map view lets you visualize each available Route Option on the map before deciding which option to choose.

By default the RoadMate chooses the Fastest Time option, unless you specify otherwise.

Figure 52: Maneuver List

The Maneuver List displays a list of all upcoming turns. Each line in the Maneuver List shows a description of the turn in the order they are to be made, with the next (closest) maneuver at the top of the list.

To access the Maneuver list from the Map screen, tap the upcoming turn indicator.

Figure 53: Route Exclusion

One of the RoadMate's most powerful features is its ability to exclude, or avoid, a particular road/highway from the planned route. Magellan is one of the few GPS brands that allows you to browse a list of all upcoming turns, and choose specific road(s) you want to avoid.

To exclude a road or highway from the planned route, tap the Avoid icon for the maneuver you want to avoid, as shown above in figure 53.

Figure 54: Avoid Maneuver?

Tap Yes, and the RoadMate will calculate a new route to the destination, this time avoiding that particular road.

This a great feature that really comes in handy when you want to avoid a road you know will be problematic, or if you find yourself stuck in traffic and want to find an alternate route. Very few GPS devices have this capability, and no other unit makes it this easy.

Figure 55: Detour

In addition to excluding an entire road or highway, there may be times when you just want to find an alternate route for the next few miles. For example, if you find yourself stuck in traffic, or on a road that's been closed for flooding, you might want to route around the problem area for a few miles, then get back on the original path. Magellan's Detour feature allows you to do just that.

While navigating to a destination, the Trip Options screen, shown above, (Tap Menu > Trip Options) includes the Detour button.

Figure 56: Alternate Route (Detour) - Avoid

When you press the Detour button, the Alternate Route (Detour) screen appears. The RoadMate 1470 calculates three alternate routes, avoiding at the current road you are driving on for 3, 5, and 9 miles, respectively.

Each detour option also displays the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), and you can view the turn-by-turn list for each option by tapping the Avoid icon on the right.