Will the coming 2200T or 2500T have better map capability (closer to the Garmin 550c) besides speaking the street names? Once your Gamin 660 evaluation comes out, this question may be moot... if you happen to like the 660.
You really have a wonderful site, and do a real service for us all...... THANKS!!

it looks like Magellan has changed its address entry significantly. Do you no longer default to the state you are in? Do you now have to enter the city or zip code first before entering the street name? (there used to be the option of street first or city first.) If so, I think this is a negative, I liked the old way better, even if having the option of zip code is nice, I like entering street name first best. Thanks for the comprehensive review.

The only thing keping me from buying this is 1.5 million POI vs 6 million POI. Can the full 6 million be purchased and added? Are normal businesses on here (like a mfg plant, etc)?

FYI, it looks like the 2200 is now available. $469 at Amazon (no traffic kit - I saw it somewhere for ~$125).

This morning I took a look at this unit in the store. I didn't think the POI database would be as, well, deficient as it was. It didn't seem to have any shops: I couldn't find Border's Books, Circuit City, Best Buy, etc. Under "shopping" it seemed to only list shopping centers rather than stores. Oddly, it did misc. small businesses and government buildings, but not retail stores. Perhaps I wasn't looking in the right place...

FWIW, I was also pretty underwhelmed with the interface. It, oddly, uses a windows metaphor for dialogs. To go back to the previous dialog the user must click the small box in the window's top right corner. I found this to be *way* more difficult than Garmin's large Back button. Ditto for the scroll bars - I found them way more difficult than the large "next" and "previous" buttons.

To be fair, I was mostly contrasting the 2000 to the Nuvi 660, and I don't have much experience with other GPS units. So it may be competitive with other ~$350 units.

Oh, also - last night I Googled around and found a Dell coupon code that got this unit down to $299. It's really not the unit for me, but it's probably a smoking deal for someone that doesn't mind the UI or missing POIs.

I have been using a Magellan 315 for 7 years. Its good at getting me back to any location, ie, B & Bs, all over the world. Now I want a car unit, like the Magellan 2000, that can be programed to use any where in the world ? What is the best priced unit that meets these specs.

I have been watching the 2 series RoadMates for awhile. I wonder how they would work on a motorcycle? Water resistance is good but I wonder about a hard drive and bike vibrations. Look forward to a review of the 2200T

I just got the 2200T in and am in the process of reviewing it. I don't know for sure yet, but I think you'll want to wait for the Garmin Zumo for a great motorcycle unit.
--Fletch

Fletch,

I am new to the GPS world, but have been doing my research.

If you had a choice between the Garmin 330 and the Magellan 2000 which would you buy?

Both of these units are priced similar at Circuit City. Garmin $379; Magellan at $349.

Thanks for the help...

Rich - Between those two I'd definately get the Magellan. The Garmin c330 doesn't have the SiRF chipset, so GPS performance will be MUCH better on the Magellan. BTW - Amazon has the Magellan for $319 as of today.
--Fletch

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. I actually went with the 2200T, I was able to pick it up at buy.com for $417 not tax, free shipping. At tha price I could not resist. Again thanks for the help, you have a great website.

Rich

Fletch,

When will you be posting your review for the Magellan 2200T?
I am especially interested in your comparison with other models as far as direction efficiency.

Thanks,

John Mitchell

Fletch,

When will you be posting your review for the Magellan 2200T?
I am especially interested in your comparison with other models as far as direction efficiency.

Thanks,

John Mitchell

Given that the software is stored on a hard drive, is it possible to add more POI? Would this be a Magellan function or a NAVTEQ fuction? It is something that should be offered as an option.

I bought the 2000 and had to exchange it because it would spontaneously re-boot itself every hour or so. The replacement unit took over 20 minutes to get a fix (the first unit got a fix in about 1 minute) and then my location would jump around.

Calls to support were worthless as all they would do is repeat what I said and apologize. They then tried to convince me that a 15 minute start-up was normal (despite the fact that my first unit took a minute). Needless to say the second unit went back and I am looking for something else.

When Magellan first posted specs on the 2000 and 2200T they made a mistake and said the maps were stored on a hard drive. That is incorrect. Both units use flash memory. I called and spoke to two different individuals in their product test lab and both confirmed they do not use hard drives in the 2000 and 2200T.

I picked this up today as it was on sale at Bestbuy for $279 + $5 for shipping. I did not need the advanced features such as traffic, bluetooth, etc. I hope the reduced POI doesn't become an issue. In any event, thank you for the review.

CompUSA had an unadvertised special on their website for Black Friday. It was $100 off the list of $399. I was concerned about getting it until I read this review late last night. Looks like I scored a deal! ;)

I just purchased the 2000 at Costco for $350 less a $50 coupon and a $30 rebate for a final cost of about $300 after taxes. I opened it plugged it in and all worked Great. A very good buy. Yes it lacks documentation and the website did not help much, but your write-up saved the day. Thanks for the information.

I am looking for a navigation system that will let me enter several destinations and then calculate the best route. Will this unit do such? Also, would the Garmin c550 and Nuvi models do the same? Thanks.

Sorry, forgot to ask another question. Would Waypoints do the same as the above question, and how do they work? Make a trip from A to B, then add other places you'd like to see and it routes you around to them, etc? Any further information on this type of feature would be greatly appreciated.

I bought a 2200T, which is essentially the same as a 2000, but with full NA maps, text-to-speach and the MP3 player/JPG viewer.

The "Trip Planner" function allows you to specify multiple destinations for a single trip, BUT, it will not provide a route to your next destination until you have reached the previous one. That is, you can not plan an entire route out in advance using waypoints.

However, this is better than nothing, which is essentially what you get with the Garmin 530/550. With those models, you can add one and only one "stop" to your route, but there is no way to plan an itinerary. I think the same goes for the Nuvi. Correct me if I'm wrong.

If only the Tomtom ONE had Navteq maps...

Further to my last comment:

The "Trip Planner" function is great if you're out for a day of sight seeing and want to pre-program multiple destinationis. IE if you want to visit Pariament, the Museum of Nature and Museum of Civilization, you can program all those into the trip planner. However, YOU must order them as you think correct. There is no "auto order" logic. You can also route directly to any of the items in the plan at any time.

This does not work so well if you're on a long-haul trip and want to plan out out your entire route in advance. Say your're going from Ottawa to Florida and don't like the default route which will send you through Philly/Baltimore/Washington. Instead, you want take I-81 to Hagerstown, MD, then on to Charlotte, NC on I 77. So, you program in a trip with I 81 in Hagerstown and I 77 in Charlotte and your final destination in FL. You activate the route with the "Guide Me" button and chose your first destination. It calculates the route to Hagerstown. When you get there, it prompts you to continue routing to next destination, then calculates the next leg of the trip. What you miss out on by doing it this way is that you don't get time and distance to your final desination until you're on the final leg. You also don't have the ability to preview the other legs in advance.

However, like I said before, at least the Magellan has the feature. I know the Tomtom ONE also has itinerary planning of some nature, but don't know the details.

Now, a question of my own. The Navteq maps shipped on my 2200T are quite current, as are the POI. I'd say about 12-16 months old, which really ain't bad.

Does anyone have any experiance with Magellan map updates for the Roadmate series? Do they make them? If so, how often? How are they shipped? SD cards, CD/DVD, downloadable?

Luis Alfero,

There is a user manual at www.magellangps.com its in the support section. Its a downloadable PDF.

I hope this helps.

And some other comments (2200T):

Local routing seems good. It picks the route I would normally pick, esp when using the "Most use of freeways" option.

Long distance (ie trans continental) routing is a bit wonky. Route exclusions don't seem to work well with a long maneuver list. However the routes it choses are pretty much the same as Mapquest. LD routes work better when broken up into segments in the trip planner (see previous posts).

Curiosly, no city/neighbourhood names are displayed on maps at any magnification. It shows the names of lakes, rivers, parks, and golf courses, but no towns or cities. I have a feeling this is a bug or oversight. I've put in a support request for it. Would recommend others do the same. Maybe they'll fix it in a firmware update.

Menu responses are zippy, routing is fast, although it takes a while to compile the full maneuver list for a LD route. I find panning around maps with lots of detail to be a bit sluggish.

Accuracy and acquisition time are top notch. Works fine indoors too.

My verdict is "keeper", and not just because I'd get nailed with a restocking fee if I returned it. It get's the job done, was at a good price point, very portable (8 hour battery 2200T only), fairly recent Navteq maps/POI, sturdy mount, clean design.

The Roadmate 2000 is a great unit. The big drawer back--the maps are from 2003. This means many new streets and roadways are not listed. On a new product this is poor. Updates are about a year away.Thomas register has current listings. Why can't Roadmate be more current? Could they at least provide hometown updates?

I found a 2000 for 299.00 and a 2200 for 420.00. Can anyone tell me if the 2200 is worth the extra cost? I need to know ASAP. Is the 2200 as reliable as the 2000. I cant find many reviews on it.

Does anybody know how accurate the altimeter is on the 2000? The magellan site says within a couple hundred feet, but im sure it is more accurate than that.

Please update atleast something for the Magellan 2200T , i am intrested in that i seen the cnet review but not like your review.

waiting... waiting
Thnaks in Advance.

Staples has the 2000 for $299.00 until the end of the month.

Just got a RoadMate 2000 and now it is stuck in DEMO mode. Any ideas to get it unstuck?

After searching the internet for reviews on GPS systems I found your site. Your reviews were very helpful in helping me make an informed decision. When I first began to look at GPS my heart was set on finding the right "Magellan" for me because someone I know gave me a recommendation. I instead read all of your reviews so that I could make an Informed decision. Your reviews helped me be optimistic and understand the general Pros and Cons of the different GPS manufacturers (Garmin, Magellan,Tomtom, etc.) My Wife bought me the Magellan 3000 a few weeks ago before she read any online reviews. After reading all your reviews and your "Units to Avoid" section I took the unit back. After reading that you and many other users were having problems with Magellan units sometimes being sluggish and freezing I decided to start researching the different Garmin units. It seems that Garmin does have many very reliable units. I saw that you made the Garmin Nuvi 660 your "Editors Choice". Among other things, I really like this unit's sleek design. Since I can not afford this unit, I figure the Garmin Nuvi 350 is my next best choice since the "Blue Tooth" and "Traffic" features are not important to me. I narrowed down my search between the Garmin Nuvi 350 and the Magellan 2200. I like both units because they are affordable and have many of the newest technology upgrades and features used in GPS. I know you did not review the Garmin Nuvi 350 but looking at similar Garmin reviews and this Magellan 2200 review I am planning to purchase the Nuvi 350 from Walmart for 440.00 and cross the Magellan 2200 off my list since the only thing I can find it has better is that it is water resistant. I was hoping you and the other readers could tell me if I am making the right decision. Thanks again Fletch your reviews are second to none!

I have a question I`am new to gps . I`am undecided between magellan 2000 and and garmin c330. Which one do you recommend.

I purchased the Magellan 2000 on 12/21/06 and it came with a CD containing the manual, which can be printed and the manual can be downloaded from the Magellan website. It appears to be well worth the price. I like the sturdier mount and large suction, compared to other mounts I have in my vehicle.

MY MAGELLAN ROADMATE 2000 IS ALSO STUCK IN DEMO MODE SOMEONE HELP!!!!

thanks for the information you sent me on my magellan 2000 how ever i have no cards inserted in the unit to eliminate demo mode. any other suggestions thanks alan clark

Best review I've read so far. Does a great job on summarizing the pros and cons of this unit. I just picked up one at Target for $299 to replace a JVC Eavinu which turned out to be horrible :) I'm very pleased with the MRM2000 and sometimes it's worth paying the extra bucks for a brand name product :)

Marius

IMPOSSIBLE to exit demo mode!!!!! Returning unit tomorrow.

Does anyone know how to add more map(s), such as Canada map, to the Magellan Roadmate 2000?

Thanks

does anyone know were to find a manual book for magellan RoadMate 2000 ?

does anyone know were to find a manual book for magellan RoadMate 2000 ?

does anyone know were to find a manual book for magellan RoadMate 2000 ?

Can you add your own poi's from a file on your computer to the Roadmate 2000?

Fletch:
Your reviews were very helpful. I just bought the Magellan Roadmate 2000 and would like to know if it is possible to add more POI's such as names of retail stores (such as Costco or WalMart) and also campgrounds.

I recieved a Roadmate 2000 for my birthday, last month from my husband, I am a travelling nurse and find GPS very helpful. I was using Microsoft Streets & trips on a laptop on my passengers seat, prior to getting the MAgellan. My husband had a Tomtom and it seemed a lot less cumbersome than my laptop, so he bought me a Magellan, which was supposed to be "better." Well, one week into using it, it began rebooting itself multiple times a day, loosing my route, forcing me to re-enter the addresses, then one day, it just never turned on. We took it back to radioshack, they replaced it with another unit, because we could not find the reciept and the box had been thrown away. Now, unit # 2 has done the same thing! Technical support won't help me, they say to update it from their website, but how do you update something that won't even turn on?! I advise everyone to buy a Tomtom, DO NOT BUY A MAGELLAN!!!!

I picked up one of these Roadmate 2200 units yesterday at the USCG Exchange -- on sale for the Memorial Day Weekend at $179 (no sale tax either!). I simply couldn't pass it up for that price. I've been previously using a Garmin GPS10 with the Que software on an HP PDA... It will be interesting to compare performance.

Sorry -- edit to above...it was the Roadmate 2000 that I got for $179

My Magellan 2000 was updated on the Magellan site with version 1.56. Now the unit freezes. Customer support says to set GPS position, but that hasn't improved after 8 attempts. Anyone else?

Apears the 3100 will replace this model with less poi and no recalculation for wrong turns,seems like a trend among all mfg's to dumb down the lowerer end models.eg the new mios and 3100,i will buy the 2000 today at frys 180.00 shipped....thanks for this Great site!!!

Appears the 3100 will replace this model with less poi and no recalculation for wrong turns,seems like a trend among all mfg's to dumb down the lowerer end models and keep the sub 200.00 pricepoint.eg the new mios and 3100,i will buy the 2000 today at frys 180.00 shipped....thanks for this Great site!!!

Appears the 3100 will replace this model with less poi and no recalculation for wrong turns,seems like a trend among all mfg's to dumb down the lowerer end models and keep the sub 200.00 pricepoint.eg the new mios and 3100,i will buy the 2000 today at frys 180.00 shipped....thanks for this Great site!!!

I have the 2000 and love it. I just updated to the latest firmware and hope that it fixes some of the freeze problems I have had.
Question, Did anybody answer if its possible to add pio's.

Also has anyone tried to install the 2200T firmware on the 2000?

I jsut bought mine and it is great so far. I would really like to be able to edit the route better, but thats not a big deal.

Check out tigerdirect.com for refurbished units at $164.99. I am not affiliated with them, just liked the price so I got one. Hope it all works right.

My local Wal-Mart have them for $154 so I just could not pass it up. It was in the sporting goods section and they have 2 left in corinth, tx

Firstly, I commend you on such a great review. I found it very helpful and "Scientific" in it's approach.
I just bought the MRM2000 from Radio-Shack for $180 (Isn't it amazing how quickly the prices are falling on this unit !)
I noticed that the "New" Maestro 3100 was the same price for a newer model with less features (Fewer POI's , No multi-destination routing... ) What's up with that ???
Just read on here that it doesn't offer a re-routing function if you miss a turn - Surely that's a mistake, I actually think it does....
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm VERY happy with this unit - I'm aware that there are others out there with better features, ie The MRM2200T which I was considering, but as I don't really need the mp3/jpeg functions and the Traffic Information ability is a subscription service I wouldn't want to pay for, I settled on the 2000
So far, (in the 1 week I've owned it) I have only found 2 "Errors" in it's database, and they are actually on the opposite sides of the same highway (199 in Lake Worth, TX) which was "Replanned" around a year ago, So I can forgive it for that - (When heading eastbound on 199 approaching I-820, it says the on-ramp is on the left - it isn't, It's on the Right ! Actually the voice prompt says it's on the left, though the on-screen route shows it to the right ! )I hope that it's "Fixed" in an update soon though - Think I read a review in here that said the MRM2000's Navteq db info is from 2003 - which is pretty poor I think ! Magellan really needs to provide updates more often than that - or is the blame to be placed at Navteq's feet ?
Another gripe - I wish the POI's included Movie Theaters ! Might be somewhere you'd like to go when stopping over for an evening when on a roadtrip!

Overall though, as I say, I'm very pleased with this unit. It performs well, does everything that I need it to do, Is easy to use and understand and the menu screens are very intuitive (There actually WAS a CD-Rom included in the box with my unit, though I just turned it on and configured it easily)

I really appreciate those moments when something you buy actually lives up to expectations. A rare thing these days !

Thanks again for the great review, and for all the helpful comments on the site from other people.

Can't wait to get out there and hit the road with my new-found Co-Pilot !!

I purchased the Magellan 2200 at Costco for $219. I know 3 others who have just purchased it there also and we all love it. No problems and also Costco stands behind their products. You can download the manual by going to Magellan website with the cd they give you. For first time user, I am very happy with the unit. Has a couple of minor kinks, like destination is on right when it is on left side of street, but that is ok because I am there. Also this gps has the text to speech feature whereby you are told the name of the street to turn on, not just turn .5 miles ahead.

I've had the MRM2000 for about a month now and have wished I bought the Garmin NUVI 350, instead. I know there's a difference of about $180 between the two units (Sale prices), with the Garmin the higher priced one, but the MRM2000 has got my ire too many times while driving.

Perhaps I just live in a Bermuda Triangle zone here in West Central Florida, but the MRM2000 is about 70% correct, and incorrect, 30% of the time.

My neighbor talked me into getting the MRM2000, as he liked his, but his stories are similar to mine.

While coming from the airport, to "home", the unit, kept telling us to turn around and go the opposite direction, and it did this for a good 1/2 hour, until I rebooted the unit, then it worked properly. The unit doesn't always announce roads to turn on, and if you don't always look for the "different color" of the intended road, the MRM2000 will let you go straight, instead of turning, then just go into the "recalculating", "recalculating" mode, without even telling you to turn around.

I have little confidence around town, which is now giving me extremely little confidence in taking it on a trip and I would submit that no one would be able to find my house using the MRM2000, putting them into a treed vacant lot, instead of my house.

I previously had a Garmin E-map GPS unit (ancient by today's standards) and it was always very accurate, even though there was no speech involved in the unit. The great thing about that Garmin E-map was that it would always show the direction of your destination, so you always had a sense whether you were heading in the correct direction.

I personally give the MRM2000 a 3 or 4, out of 10, on performance.

Perhaps they will update the software to alleviate the Bermuda Triangle operation of the unit.

Magellan technical support informed me today that the RoadMate 2000 only comes with maps for the 48 continental states OR canada. If you need to navigate in Canada and the USA you should not purchase this unit.

Thank you for an excellent review. However, using the unit is one thing. but my unit failed, and getting through Magellan's customer service is quite another. In my entire life I have never had such a totally negative experience as I had with Magellan. Their customer service is a joke. I'll be brief. In a two and one half month period they told me the following when I sent it in for repair: They never received it. They fixed it. They didn't fix it. They were still testing it. They shipped it. They didn't ship it. It actually wasn't yet shipped. They shipped it, but their computer just went down so they couldn't give me a tracking number. Repeat the above sentence four more times. Wait, they had actually lost it all along. They were going to ship me a new replacement. Five promises to ship. Impossible to contact anyone in the USA. (their customer service is located in India) Etc. Etc. Etc. I finally complained to the BBB. I Googled "Magellan Customer Service" Seems that my experience was like many, many others. In one of the rants someone left an e-mail address of someone at Magellan they had got through to. I e-mailed him and 24 hours later I got a tracking number. Even bettwer, they sent me their new Crossover unit to replace my much less expensive Roadmate 2000. However, after going through what I did, if this unit ever fails, I'll just chuck it and buy something else.

This unit is a basic model without the many features that you see with the higher end models. Apparently, it is a no thrill type of unit.

Rating Assessment: http://www.bestnewreview.com/polls.aspx?poll=218&partner=0&Desc=Magellan-RoadMate-2000-Review

i bought the magellan road mate 2000 in july of 2007 at radio shak, on sale for 200 bucks, 100 dollar discounted. i am 'mostly' pleased but this thing will take ya in circles if you miss a turn. my question is this: i hear i can update from 1.08 to 1.56 but the update site says no updates. how do i update?