Lo Bueno: Text to speech, over 1 million points of interest, simple menu

Lo Malo: Slow rerouting, can't update software

Resumen: The Magellan Maestro 3225 is a no-frills GPS navigation system. It is small and compact, and surprisingly affordable compared to the other GPS models. It has a touch screen menu on a 3.5" screen. The kit I purchased came with the charger (it uses a rechargeable battery), CD, and mounting bracket. Features include: *Text to speech - This is the main reason that I purchased this GPS. It helps tremendously to know the actual name of the street, instead of just "turn left" or "turn right". I live in the west coast and many of the street names are in Spanish, the English voice that says it does an adequate job with the pronunciation. You can also switch languages and select if you want either a male or female voice. *Over 1 million POIs across North America - Other systems have way more, but it's not a big deal to me. I have been using this GPS for about 6 months and hardly run into a place that I can't find. The POIs are grouped accordingly, e.g., Parks and Recreations, Restaurants, etc. *Touch screen - The touch screen on this has a fast response time, and you get an audible "click" as you type. The "keypads" are big enough that even someone with big hands can type accurately. *Simple menu - The menu is simple enough that even my non-techie parents (both seniors) can figure it out. The icons are colorful and intuitive. *Automatic rerouting - I must admit the rerouting on this GPS is rather slow. Many times if I missed the turn, it takes a 10-15 seconds to reroute. This means I'd either have to continue driving in the wrong direction or pull over the side of the road. I like this GPS a lot. It comes in handy when I'm out and about and need to know the fastest way from A to B, which in turns mean savings on gas money. It's super easy to use, no frills, gets the job done. I wish it came with a cover or bag to put it in. I use a sock to place it in the glove or in my purse because I don't want the screen to get scratched up. Another bummer would be that you can't update the software on it, so you're stuck with the maps and POIs that it came with when you purchase it.

Lo Bueno: 3.5" Screen, Text-to-Speech, Fast signal acquired, Easy rerouting, Auto trip resume, good physical looking

Lo Malo: Battery life ..................

Resumen: I live in NJ. I bought and used it on a trip to my friend's house. It worked fine out of the box. It did have problems wt the NJ's notorious jug handle turns. Anyway till date I have not seen any GPS handle the jug without issues. I had a Garmin which went crazy when i entered the jug handle turn. It showed me inside the parking lot rather than the road. This one at the same location, at least did not kept screaming at me to get out of the parking lot. One other thing i like is the split screen as you approach a turn. its definitely useful in NJ with its short exits with forks. I have yet to try it in NYC with its tall buildings. But i do believe it will work fine. Its a great GPS for the price of 149.99+tax+shipping. Great work Costco. I would definitely recommend this to a friend.

Lo Bueno: Street names spoken, bright display, ease of use.

Lo Malo: Low POI (points of interest), sometimes hard to hear spoken words, entering title in address book seems hard to do (I have to enter the address, save and then go back and "edit" the address)

Resumen: I love this GPS, but I am not looking forward to calling Magellan Customer Support, if I ever have to use them. I have read that people have had really bad experiences with Magallen's customer service. I love the clear display, the ease of use, and the spoken street names (which is the only reason I purchased this model). At Costco, it comes with a wall charger, but any retailer, it will only come with the car charger. In order to do any updating to the software, the unit will have to be fully charged, so if you don't have a wall charger, then you have to use the car charger. Also, this model has a battery life of about 3 hours (Not bad, but not great either). If you want a longer battery life, you will probably have to pay more money for a different model.

Lo Bueno: Great tool for go places, ultra-slim, say where you go. Contact SD card. Tell you turn to turn.

Lo Malo: unnessary turns! Unable to pin point right house number or business location on the target. Unable to local traffic!

Resumen: Maestro 3225 GPS is my first GPS. It is tiny, ultra-slim in size. Says where you go! Unlike some other GPS at market that you only hear voice and didn't know what street you are at. Also with great resource on restaurants and gast stations where when I go to unknow city! A great helping tool. It is got the whole map of United States, canada and puerto Rico. Not that I might go to those countries. But it is good to have! Plus I love the GPS with SD card! Which I could download or update more on all the maps! Thanks Magellan!

Lo Bueno: Quick to lock on Sats, Quick Auto re-route, Easy to use interface.Allows you to set up an optimized sequence of addresses for a trip.Attention Bell chimes just before for each turn. NIce!

Lo Malo: Computer Voice mis-pronounces some streets.It occasionally gets confused

Resumen: Within a week of getting this unit, tested against a $350 Garmin. The Magellan locked on more quickly, was more accurate, attention bell at turns was nice addition. My friend returned the Garmin and pocketed the difference. The Manual left out some features like Seeing your speed Time left to destination Distance to destination Nice product

Lo Bueno: 3225 does the all basics that GPS need in navigation: to get you from point A to B. It has speak street name function, which I find invaluable in GPS unit.

Lo Malo: Display brightness varies from unit to unit. On low brightness/contrast unit, hard to see in bright sunlight. Also, it is time consuming to work with custom POI on Magellan 3225.

Resumen: I used the Magellan 3225 side-by-side vs my other GPS (Garmin 650). This review on 3225, with 650 as reference. Note 3225 cost $149+tax, while 650 cost $299+tax. Navigation: For left and right turns in city driving, both units performed identically. For highway driving, 3225 does the basics while 650 is better. I don't even need to look at the road sign with Garmin 650, whereas I do need to use the road sign and make decisions with Magellan 3225. Where highways split, Garmin will say: stay left (or right) on I-x. Magellan just says continue on current route I-x. Another example is at interchange of 2 interstates, where multiple exits are close to each other 650 will tell me exactly which exit to take, while 3225 just says exit I-y West in 0.3 miles. Map Display: Shows all the information needed on map: turn-in distance, arrival time, direction, current street/highway that I'm on, and next turn's street name. Split screen feature (TrueView) is overkill for 3.5" screen: 1/2 of the screen is taken up the turn arrow and not much room is left for map itself; 3225 is more usable with split screen turned off. Map Display (not during routing): While not in routing mode, 3225 displays the current street name that I'm on; whereas 650 displays the upcoming cross street name. It would be better if both info can be displayed. Map Details: Text labels appear and disappear every second during the redraw. This problem exist at certain zooms but not others. Probably due to slow processor that cannot continuously render the text. Map Color: Color usage on Garmin is better than Magellan. 650 uses white for map; pink for route; roads are red/orange/black; status bar is green/red/blue. 3225 uses green for map; bright green for route; roads are red/orange/white; status bar is gray/white. Magellan's has less difference between foreground and background colors. Sound: One great thing about 3225 is speaks street name feature. I find this very useful, and a great value for $149 GPS. Turn Prompt: Both units prompts very early on about the next turn. However, as I come up to the turn, 3225 just beeps, while 650 will speak the turn and street name again. Volume: Some have complained on the web that volume is too low on 3225. I didn't find that at all. 3225 is almost as loud as 650; just a tad lower. However, the speaker on 3225 is not good. When volume is max, the sound is broken with static. Entering Addresses: Magellan got this part perfectly. It speaks what I typed. So I can concentrate on the keyboard as I type, rather than looking up at the address bar after every key press. Magellan dims out the letters that are not available in map database. Magellan's order on entering address is City, Street, Number, while Garmin's order is State, City, Number, and Street. Magellan's order makes more sense. I often want to go to a store that I know the street, but not the number. After entering the Street name, Magellan tells me which Numbers ranges are available. User Settings: I hate it when settings are hidden in layer and layer of menu and selections. Here are how many key presses are needed from the map screen. Volume Settings: 3225=1,650=2. Brightness Settings: 3225=5; 650=2; big negative for 3225. Trip Computer: 3225=4, 650=1; another negative for 3225. (Route Method): After picking a destination, 3225 asks if I want to use Fastest Time, Shortest Distance, Least Use of Freeway, or Most Use of Freeway. I can easily avoid highway for short trips during rush hour. (Night Mode): 3225 will automatically switch between day vs night mode (background color switches to black) based on the time. But 3225 does not remember the brightness settings for day and night mode. Windshield Mount: 3225 mount is 6" long with 2 pivot points. It is very bulky and large for such a small GPS unit. The positive is that this brings the GPS unit closer, making the 3.5" screen easier to read. Accessories: 3225 comes with bonus AC outlet charger. 650 does not. Custom POI: Big negative for Magellan here. It is much more time consuming to add custom POI on the 3225 than 650. For each POI list (in CSV format), it takes 2-5 minutes to convert it to Magellan MGLN format using the included POI Editor. I have to do this for each POI list. 3225 treat each POI file separately. In order to really use various POI list, I have to spend extra time to combine them on PC (can be separate them by categories). For Garmin, I just drop all the CSV files into a directory and it will install as is. Software (Magellan POI Editor v4.1.1.0): Software does bare minimum of what is needed. There should be some enhancements to make modifying POI lists easier. Plus, I found several nuisances or bugs with the software. Magellan POI Editor or updates cannot be downloaded from Magellan website. I just don't get why? Maybe Magellan never update this software.

Lo Bueno: Very good POI data base

Lo Malo: Weak volume; cannot insert via point

Resumen: My very first GPS was a Magellan. I like it very much mainly because the POI. All the POIs can show on the map. The fast spelling is also very nice. The interface is easy to user. Even my 6-year old son can use it with no problem. But the volume is very low. When driving on highway, I can barely hear it. Also you cannot insert any via point. So if you want to go to point a, then later on want to go to point b first before point a. It does not let you do that. You need to cancel route then enter point b. After that you enter point a again. But for $150, this is still a nice basic unit with text-to-speech.

Lo Bueno: many of the features

Lo Malo: power

Resumen: I purchased this product and have found it to exceed my expitations.1.cheaper.2.IT's easy to use. 3.reroultes fast. 4.accurate. 5.many of the features. 6.POI can been upgraded. 7.It's is light and compact. 8. 90 days reture from costco if you don't like it.

Lo Bueno: - All in one including mounting unit charger- Affordable after Manufacturer Rebate (As of 3/2008 $150-$200)- Suggesting street names are great - No need to type in full address

Lo Malo: - Startup a Little Slow- Limited Point of Interest

Resumen: This GPS works right off the box. Fully charged from manufacturer. Nice piano black. Easy Simple Navigation Features. Good Sound Turn By Turn Prompt. There are only six icons on desktop. Address Book Saving Feature is so confused hard to work around. Suggesting street name are great, you dont have to type in full address. No point A to point B, only from GPS location to input address. Other than those. It is a great device. I loved it.