I've been wanting a GPS for road trips for a long time, but up to now I've just resorted to renting the Hertz Neverlost with their rental cars.
However, I was at Fry's Electronics today and saw that they had the Magellan Roadmate 700, refurbished with a 90 day warranty, for $399 (which ends 3/14/06 - so hurry if you want one). That's a very good deal for a "like-new" unit. I also added the Fry's Electronics 3 year warranty for $29 for added peace of mind. I have 14 days to try it out and see how I like it, before the return period ends.
I was also at CostCo today, and saw that the price on the Magellan Roadmate 360 had dropped from $499 to $449. I had been waiting to buy this for $449 (with a $50 coupon in the CostCo booklet for the week of March 27), but with the price drop the coupon is no longer needed. I picked up this unit to compare and contrast with the 700.
The Magellan 700 unit has a Q1 2004 map, but it had more points of interest than the 360. The 700 uses a 5 GB hard drive, and seems to use a faster processor. The 360 uses a SD card (not sure what the capacity is, as the SD compartment is sealed with a sticker that states warranty is void if the sticker is broken). The 360 is noticebly slower than the 700, although it has more up to date map, from Q3 2005.
I tried both units out, and it seems the 360 is a bit more accurate, with a 3 meter deviance guarantee. The 700 was pretty accurate, but maybe because of older maps it was off by a hundred feet or more in some small areas.
I am trying out both, but may end up keeping both units (one for the wife and one for me) if they both end up working very well.
So run to your Fry's and CostCo if you want a nice automobile navigation unit.
PS - those of you in California can't use the window mount as it's against the law, so you'll have to find some other ways to mount the units.
However, I was at Fry's Electronics today and saw that they had the Magellan Roadmate 700, refurbished with a 90 day warranty, for $399 (which ends 3/14/06 - so hurry if you want one). That's a very good deal for a "like-new" unit. I also added the Fry's Electronics 3 year warranty for $29 for added peace of mind. I have 14 days to try it out and see how I like it, before the return period ends.
I was also at CostCo today, and saw that the price on the Magellan Roadmate 360 had dropped from $499 to $449. I had been waiting to buy this for $449 (with a $50 coupon in the CostCo booklet for the week of March 27), but with the price drop the coupon is no longer needed. I picked up this unit to compare and contrast with the 700.
The Magellan 700 unit has a Q1 2004 map, but it had more points of interest than the 360. The 700 uses a 5 GB hard drive, and seems to use a faster processor. The 360 uses a SD card (not sure what the capacity is, as the SD compartment is sealed with a sticker that states warranty is void if the sticker is broken). The 360 is noticebly slower than the 700, although it has more up to date map, from Q3 2005.
I tried both units out, and it seems the 360 is a bit more accurate, with a 3 meter deviance guarantee. The 700 was pretty accurate, but maybe because of older maps it was off by a hundred feet or more in some small areas.
I am trying out both, but may end up keeping both units (one for the wife and one for me) if they both end up working very well.
So run to your Fry's and CostCo if you want a nice automobile navigation unit.
PS - those of you in California can't use the window mount as it's against the law, so you'll have to find some other ways to mount the units.
