any idea why the new Magellans don't offer the option to search street name first (before city)? Now they offer the choice of city or zip code first, but no street first. Seems strange that they removed a useful option.

Windows Mobile? No thanks, I'll pass.

Very helpful review. Thanks.

Basic question from a newbie. Is it common to be able to "drag" the map where you want it instead of having to zoom out? I played with a garmin-i believe it was a garmin- & i found that much easier than having to continously press the minus sign. Hope that makes sense.

According to the manual online, you can drag the map while navigating.

I enjoyed the review. You gave me enough information to make an informed decision. Too bad that the performance on a missed turn is so poor. It sounds like a good, inexpensive unit, aside from that.

thw unit i boght was defective. it continually reset while trying to use it. i'd spend the extra money and get a TomTom.

So far so good. Excellent product!

I purchased two 3100 units and both seem to work quite well, except one's screen seems washed out (poor contrast), and changing its brightness settings does not improve this. I plan to exchange it. I too wish there were more POIs, and it would be nice to be able to load more POIs using the SD card.

Do you know if you can load up world maps on this unit? I have also noticed that the website and customer service is very poor.

Has anyone encountered a problem with the 4040 hanging up and rebooting while trying to recalculate a route when a turn was missed? This seems to be related to vehicle speeds above 35-40mph in my case. I have driven extensively at speeds below 35mph, purposly missing turns and forcing the unit to recalculate the route; the united performed perfectly. However, once the speed exceeds the 35-40mph limit, the unit is most likely to hang and reboot, maybe several times before getting the right answer.

Has anyone encountered a problem with the 4040 hanging up and rebooting while trying to recalculate a route when a turn was missed? This seems to be related to vehicle speeds above 35-40mph in my case. I have driven extensively at speeds below 35mph, purposly missing turns and forcing the unit to recalculate the route; the united performed perfectly. However, once the speed exceeds the 35-40mph limit, the unit is most likely to hang and reboot, maybe several times before getting the right answer.

Andy - have you downloaded firmware version 1.22? Supposedly this addresses a number of stability issues.

--FLETCH

Doe anyone know if you can download additional POI's into the 3100?

The POIs were very poor because i was not able to find the general places such as post offices. The routing took very long compared to the roadmate 2000 or garmin 350, it took around 20 seconds. However, everything else was great!

Just got the 3100 this weekend and so far I like it. It has some quirks...but I like it overall. $200 at Radio Shack (until 6/23 I think)...so at the price, I actually got more than I expected.

I thought I would be trying it out over the weekend and not liking it and returning it..think I'll keep it though.

I can see where some of the features of more expensive systems could come in handy...like more POIs and BlueTooth.

I just bought a TomTom One at staples last week. When I got it home and unpacked, one of the first things I did was try to enter my home address. I was rather surprised that the unit decided my house # was not vaild for my street. This is a condo in a major CA city that was built 25 years ago. I almost returned it right there, but figured I'd try it out for 2 weeks.

Next dumb thing it did (twice) was instruct me to use carpool-only freeway ramps. I was in my home area, so of course didn't follow such stupid instructions, but if I was in an unafamiliar area, that could result in a very expensive ticket.

It works ok other than those major flaws, but has some quirks, such as calling freeway entrance ramps exits, and calling freeways motorways.

As far as I can tell, the Maestro has the same feature set, and Fry's has it for $189 as of now. I'll probably go pick one up at Frys tomorrow and return the tomtom to staples. (I picked staples cause of the no-restock fee.)

I purchased the Maestro 3100. It came with a car adapter, but no wall charger. This was a disadvantage. I could not charge the Gps, since my model/year car does not have a lighter that can be alternatively used for recharging an item.

None of the local stores carried a wall-charger for it. I had to go to the Magellen's website and order it from there. Had to pay $20.00 for the charger+ $25.00 for one-day delivery.

I understand that the 4000 series contains a wall charger. Why can't Magellen add one also to the 3100? It would make things alot easier for their customers.

You can see the 'Time to destination' by tapping the 'Distance to destination'.

I found that by chance.

The manual is very weak. Favorites aren't in it either...

HipGnosis - Time to destination, yes. Arrival time, no.

I am a GPS newbie and this site has been very helpful. Great site.

Comments on unit:
So far I really like this unit. It is responsive and accurate. The sounds and voice are loud and clear.

Questions:
1)When is the firmware for the updated/enhanced screen info from the 3400 going to be released for the 3100?

2)If I am taking a freeway/parkway for 10 miles, sometimes the unit will break up the 10 mile trip into a few "maneuvers". For example, "remain on the current road for 1.1 miles, followed by a remain on the current road." Why doesn't it just give me the sum distance of 10 miles as one maneuver instead of breaking it up into smaller intervals?

Thanks again,
Mike

The 3100 I have does not have the AAA screen. When you touch the tow truck icon you get the current location screen that you get when you touch the direction icon on the map screen. Mine has 1.22 firmware. Otherwise an excellent review of an good unit.

Just got my 3100 yesterday. Being my first unit I am impressed. Was looking for text-to-speech feature but didn't want to spend the extra $100. After using, I don't think it's that important.

Few POI is disappointing, but there have to be reasons for the low price.
Hopefully in the future upgrades will be available. As of now there are none.

There are also none for the older Roadmate 2000, so I'm not holding my breath. If you think about it, they want you to buy a new unit, not upgrade yours for cheaper.

I purchased the 3100 today. Worked great in every way, and I trusted Magellan over Mio or Invideo or some of these other companies. I also wanted NAVTEQ maps. Anyway, worked great, except that changes to some settings did not save--specifically volume, brightness, and time zone. No idea why; all other settings save fine. A long conversation with tech support (they had me reset the thing about a dozen times) resulted in Magellan sending me a replacement unit (7 business days). That seems like good support to me. Can't wait to get the new unit, because I could actually live with this one, despite the flaws.

I bought the Maestro 3100 last week. So far so good. Voice is loud and clear. I've only had two issues with the unit:

1. As mentioned before, on major freeways it tends to break up the trip into smaller sections. This can be annoying if on a long trip and there are people sleeping in the car. (I don't need to hear... "Stay in right lane for 0.5 miles followed by stay in right lane." )

2. I've heard this mentioned in other forums: For some reason it often tells me to turn left when the turn is obviously on the right. This has happened several times. It can be a bit disconcerting if you in major traffic and unsure which way to go.

I think it was a great buy for $199 and I'm keeping mine for sure.

Wow! Ready out of the box!! but be forewarned THIS UNIT ONLY COMES WITH THE AUTO CHARGER so for convenience I bought a 20 dollar wall to auto converter. It helps. The Maestro 3100 is a the best priced unit for the quality of touch screen and smart entry. Amazing signal strength... even in downtown L.A. and L.B. CA. and can you believe it the poi had my favorite coffee houses.

The 3100 is my second Magellan GPS. My previous was a Roadmate 300 that I used for nearly 2 years before the power connector started flaking out recently.

My biggest gripe in the first hour of use was the mount. Thankfully, it looks like I will be able to use my old aftermarket gooseneck on the 3100, but with only one clip instead of two.

Data entry, 300 vs 3100: MUCH peppier. While on the 300 you could type ahead by several characters, it would put them on the screen at a snail's pace. The 3100 is much more responsive.

Reception: The primary vehicle that this is used in is a 2005 Hino 145... Metal metal everywhere, and the 300 needed an external antenna to get a stable signal on a cloudy day. You can imagine my initial horror when I couldn't find the antenna port on the 3100 ... My fears were allayed, however, when I found I could get 5-6 satellites while sitting in my BASEMENT. I don't think reception will be a problem.

Price: $249 at Best Buy. If you want an extended warranty, buy Best Buy's and not Magellans, unless you don't mind shelling out $80 for an extra 2 years...

Documentation: While the docs are on cd in PDF format, I found it lacking in any details regarding the USB cable. Specifically, being that both the 3100 and USB use a 5v line, can the GPS be charged through the USB port?

For those not familiar with the old 300, you had to load the maps manually via USB cable, so it was surprising to not find a SINGLE mention in the 3100 documentation.

When I first bought the 300, it was because it was cheap and it worked. This time around, I played with Tomtom, Garmin, Cobra and other models, and found myself frustrated with each and every one with either the interface (I found many of them "clunky" in a Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead sort of way) or didn't care for the touch screen accuracy for data entry. Whether this is due to actual problems or just my familiarity with Magellan's particular quirks, I'm not sure.. Maybe a bit of both.

The best part: Unlike the 300, I doubt I'll have to put commas after half the city names on the 3100 just to map most routes :) Damn you to hell, ", Town Of" prefix! :P

This is my second unit
I had one Magellan hand held over 10 year ago(no graphics)
I don't need mp3, or other stuff, so far I love it, thanks for your review it help me decide which one to buy.
I bought the 3100 for $ 199

I just bought my first GPS, the Magellan 3100, $267 w/ tax in FL from Radio Shack.

Main question is, "how can I transfer my MS Outlook Contacts into the POI list or Address Book?"

I read one of the manuals on their website, and it indicated I needed global positions and name to get it done. Can regular US Postal addresses, names, and phone number get inputted.

Next step is to attach the USB from laptop to 3100, and hope the PC sees an external HD to load up.

Looking for answers. Salesman in Tampa.

Works great. No problems experienced. The sound and screen, day or night are perfect. For $200 it was an absolute bargain. Highly recommended.

I have a HTC 8125 phone that I've been using as a GPS with a Bluetooth receiver and Google maps/live search. Problem is it's too small to see or work with. I upped my experience to a Mio 220 and actually found it to be fine. Um, 'til I put my elbow through the screen... Went to Fry's and got a Sanyo 4030, brought it back the next day - I have a bluetooth headset so I don't need it on the GPS, I have a nice car stereo so I don't need my GPS to play music or show pictures. the Sanyo was very slow to calc, the interface was clunky and crowded, and the maps were old, so I brought it back. After a good two hours fiddling with everything within my $200 to $400 price range, I chose the 3100 and am very pleased. Grabs a sat. super quick, the Female voice are easier to hear in the car, the infterface is simple and practical, with a great view of the road (not sure why the 4.3" screens are so hot - I want to see more of the road ahead than road to the side...) I also like the non-glare screen! Another High recommendation!

Just to let everyone know this unit will show you ETA. Touch the distance indicator and it will switch to ETA.

Bought the Magellan 3100 for $188.88 last week at Bi-Mart in Portland, OR. Used it on my trip home to White Rock, BC, Canada. It worked great. I was impressed. Did everything I expected it to, but since this was my first
GPS unit, did not really "test it out". Am disappointed I can't download maps for Canada and Alaska. Anyone know if I can do this?

Does anyone know has maps for outside of Americas? example Singapore and Thailand.

Picked up the higher end 3140 for 288 at BuyDig.com. Very thankful to Fletch's article otherwise I would not be confident since there are only intructions on line via DVD. Nice article, helped us more than Magellen's So far its picking up 8 satellites and is awesome. I like the Rt 84 is in bold red lines so you can't miss it.

Can i buy New Zealand road maps for my Magellan Maestro 3100?

Can I buy Mexico road & cities maps for my Magellan Maestro 3100?

I just bought the 3100 for $139; Thanksgiving Black Friday Sale. It will be in the box until Christmas, but based on what I've read I shouldn't be dissapointed.

Can I use this for hiking or just walking? Any hiking maps? I love the 3100 so far and at $139 it is a GREAT deal.

Randy

I am looking at getting a second GPS navigator (I currently have a Roadmate 3050T).

Does anyone know if the newer models can scroll the map? (The 3050T has a tiny thumb point that will scroll the map left/right/up/down, and tell how far you are from a point on the map.)

Thanks

Got more info from this gps review than magellans manual.The 3100 is a great buy. $149 at cruthfield.com

There is now a Maestro 3100 Firmware Update 2.18, on the Magellan website.

Tried the postal code find on the Magellan 3225 and it then wants a street name and city. Why - I just gave it the postal code? That should be enough to find where I want to go in Canada. The Garmin c330 has the smarts to do it. Guess the Magellan will go back to Costco. The postal code find is what I've been using the most and find it a real convenience on the Garmin. Also didn't like the cicuitous route the 3225 takes if you stray off course. Think I'll try a 250w now...

I was surprized to read the review of the 3100. I just got one for XMAS. Wife bought it at Navy Exchange for $199.00. The model I have changes the back lighting scheme when it gets dark and when you fire it back up in the morning will change the lighting/color scheme. Also when running a route if you make a turn that wasn't on the previously calculated one, the unit recalculates on the fly.

I suppose that the unit has gotten firmware upgrades which I think my unit has. It stills has no MP3 provisions and I don't know why I'd need that anyways and the text to speech functions, don't need. I've also found that some of the "cons" as far as features aren't really needed. I'm impressed with the performance and accuracy of this GPS.

Kent in San Diego, CA

I just updated my Magellan 3100's firmware to 2.18. I highly recommend it because it increases the number of POIs to 1.3 million. New POIs appeared in my area when using the 3100. However, there were groceries that no longer existed but were still present in the 3100 POIs.

The warning screen that appears when you start the 3100 uses a different font now.

One disadvantage is that you need to fully charge your unit since the update takes about 25 minutes to complete.

Below is the official description of the Magellan 3100 firmware update 2.18 found in http://www.magellangps.com/support/notes.asp?supportID=537

Magellan Maestro 3100 Firmware Update 2.18 - Release Notes

This update applies to Magellan Maestro 3100. It includes the following features, fixes and improvements:
New Features

Maps

* Added Hawaii and Puerto Rico maps.

Arrival / Distance / Time Remaining

* Easily toggle between arrival time, distance to destination, and time to destination on map screen when routing

Improved Map Screen

* New images and icons
* Smoother updating of the map while driving.
* Split TrueView is disabled when AutoTrueView is unchecked in Map Options
* Exits without any POIs do not appear
* Improved Auto Night view, with smooth day/night switching, adjusted brightness, more colors and ON by default
* Improved vehicle position icon in 3D view

Delete Previous button

* Additional functionality enables user to delete previous destinations and previous cities

Trip Planner

* Added user selectable optimization of trips.

Improved Address Handling

* Previous City list increased to 10
* Addresses outside city boundaries are more easily located
* Address resolution, especially in streets where gaps exist in numbering, is improved
* General fixes, including the display of long addresses
* The country (region) name is displayed in the address entry and POI entry
* Street list display includes the City name at the bottom of the screen
* City list found by the Zip Code, now includes the state name
* Home Button can now be set to the current location or an address
* Delete an entry from entries on Favorites list

Points of Interest (POI)

* Removed duplicate entries for Restaurants
* Added new Restaurants
* Coffee moved to top of POI list
* Search radius changed to 50 miles. If no POIs are found the radius can be expanded to 100 miles.
* Added POIs for Hawaii and Puerto Rico

Fixes

Navigation

* Route list does not reset after it is viewed
* Improved Maneuver List
* Removed line between position and destination
* Changed “You Have Arrived" timer from 30 seconds to 10 seconds
* Improved route calculations
* Eliminated unnecessary reroutes
* Reduced number of U-Turns calculated
* Removed “Ding" sound while rerouting
* Spelling/ grammar corrections

General Improvements

* Trip Computer UI given a new look
* Text balanced, centered and constrained throughout
* Dimmed checkboxes used on Navigation Instruction Option screen

I love this Magellan 3100. The first GPS I used is a Roadmate 300, but it belonged to my parents.

Now that I am graduating, I need my own GPS. I bought the 3100 over the TomTom One because of GPSMagazine's review.

I also updated the firmware to 2.18, which makes the device even better. I recommend all owners to do the same.

My own issue with this device is the mount.
The mount keeps falling off whenever I try to attach it to the windshield!! It takes about 2 to 3 tries and lots of force before the mount will stay. That being said, once the mount is successfully attached, it will not fall. Luckily, I was able to catch the mount and GPS whenever they fall.

Removing the 3100 from the windshield mount is also very difficult. I wrestled with the mount before I can remove it from the back of the 3100.

I prefer the mount the came with the Roadmate 300. The Roadmate 300 mount's suction is larger and easier to mount.

I just got this Magellan 3100.I would like to know why some cities/Towns are not presentet in your database: eg. Trevose, PA 19053 . So , how can I add this address in my address book ?Another issue :The mount keeps falling off whenever I try to attach it to the dashboard!! It takes about 3 to 4 attemps and lots of force before the mount will stay. .

Thanks so much for your in- dept review of the 3100. It was the correct level of detail to assist me with my GPS decision. I ordered it from Amazon today.
Thanks....

Just purchased the 3100 from Car Toys for $149.95.
Very happy with unit so far, have only experienced one obvious navigating glitch when it told me to prepare to exit freeway about 10 miles too soon, then corrected itself. Overall very satisfied with the features and capapbilities. Makes driving a lot more enjoyable!

I just recieved my 3100 yesterday and I am in hog heaven. I am a courier and was using Mapsco (physical map book) to calculate my routes, and decided to research GPS systems to save my eyes. This GPS is THE BOMB!

I input some of my more difficult-to-navigate addresses and obscure street names, and this unit took them in stride! The first thing I did was to use the simulator to see if the GPS could handle these difficult addresses, and it didn't miss a single one! Amazing for such an inexpensive unit. ( I paid $129. on Amazon.com )

This will save me so much money because I am an independent contractor courier and have to consider my gas and mileage costs...

This unit will pay for itself within 1 month according to my calculations.

If you purchase the unit, be sure to update to 2.18 (follow the instructions to the letter). A lot of the "cons" in this very excellent review seem to be addressed in this update.

Happy travelling! NEVER GET LOST AGAIN! WHOO-HOO!

Recently bought my 3100 and want to upgrade to the 2.18 Firmware. I have printed the instructions from the Support web site. I have down loaded the zipped file to my computer using microsoft XP. I don't know how to move it to my magellan 3100. I'M obviously not very computer swift. Can anyone help?
Bill

We just used the 3100 to go from Syracuse, NY to Williamsburg, Va and then onto Hilton Head. The routing was all over the place and luckily we had a map to verify some of our manual turns. Onto Hilton Head really got bizarre when we should have gotten off I95 onto 298; the route was about 50 miles out of our way. When we got close to our destination it was very good; kept us from searching.

Just bought the unit at Target for $115.00 (clearance priced). I haven't used it yet but I found the review and comments very helpful. I'll be sure to update the firmware. This is my first GPS unit; I was planning on buying a basic model sometime in the future but couldn't pass up this bargain at Target. I'll post some more when I start to use the unit.

Jeff in Chicago: you may want to bring your receipt back to Target; the same unit is now ringing up for $75. I just picked one up tonight...great review. Was disappointed in the numerical score (2/5), but the text review was much more positive.

Hello,
It's me again with further elaboration on my review from before.

It seems that the included mount will stay only if the weather is warm (like right now in May). During winter, the inside of the windshield is wet due to condensation. Now in May, the mount will attach on the first try. I would still recommended getting the other longer mount.

A weird thing keeps happening when I use the Magellan 3100. It has a nasty habit to stick to whether route it first even if you complety miss it and there's a shorter route available. For example, I intentionally missed a turn unto a street. Fortunately, the next turn will also take me to the same street as the first. However, when the 3100 reroutes, it wants me to do a U-turn to go to the route I missed. Still this was rare, but it was a rather odd behavior.

Another annoying thing about the unit is the lack of map updates from Magellan. Of course, this is a basic GPS unit, so that can be expected.

I bought the Magellan on Tiger Direct for $99 (refurbished). Worked fine. The GPS sensitivity was very high. It took me less than 20 seconds to get a clear signal from inside my house. I was impressed with the accuracy and how up to date the map was. I'm in a house built in 2006 and it had my road on it.

I tried to upload the firmware update and that killed it, though. Customer service on this unit was lacking.

I called Magellan and they finally gave me a return authorization, but they wanted me to pay for shipping and wait up to 4 weeks.

I bought the thing 2 days before for a move cross country within a few weeks. I wasn't about to send it in when I didn't even have an address for where I was going to be when the thing worked again. Called up Tiger and they sent me a replacement one before they even got the broken one back. I'm happy with it, but know that the new ones have the firmware update and most refurbs don't have it yet.

I'm waiting to upload the firmware update now until I've moved in case the same thing happens again. Overall, well worth the low price.

I figure purchasing even a few state maps puts you close to what this thing costs. Overall rating from me is that it is a fair product at a great price.

How can I set 'night mode' so that even during the daytime hours it will operate in 'high contrast mode'? The normal settings are difficult to see in bright sunlight situations. I love the unit for the value. Thanks

How can you rate this thing any less than a 10 out of 5??? It's dirt cheap, and does one heck of a job for an entry-level unit. Beyond that, it's so easy to mod the thing... WinCE OS is running under the hood. Excellent unit, for the money!

my 3100 will not work charging does not do anthing either home charger or in car why is it broke