Up for Review: Magellan Maestro 4370 GPS
Keeping in view the necessity of GPS systems in car navigation, Magellan has come up with the Maestro 4370. These systems are quickly becoming indispensable to anyone who has used one. They provide directions during peak hour traffic which allows the traveler to reroute his travel plan accordingly. Magellan has come up with a sleek version of the GPS which will address most of the problems faced by frequent commuters. The advanced navigation features of the Magellan Maestro 4370 include text-to-speech functionality, Bluetooth and lane guidance.
The Magellan Maestro 4370 is a portable navigation device (PND) offering a OneTouch feature on its new user interface. The favorite restaurants, gas stations and banks can be pre-selected and kept on a page. Tapping on one of these icons will lead the user to the required destination. In this way, frequently visited locations can be sought easily, without going through the various menus. However, this feature is not applicable to multimedia or Bluetooth.
Available in an attractive and sleek design, with a black, plastic exterior, the Magellan Maestro 4370 is quite thin for its features. There are no buttons in the front to spoil the vibrant display. It is built to comfortably sit on the dashboard. There is an additional protective case to store it when not in use.
The Magellan Maestro 4370 is available with a 4.3” touchscreen with a resolution of 480 x 800. Unlike some other models, a QWERTY keyboard has been provided for searching destinations, which makes typing fairly easy. The display is sharp with an adjustable backlighting to suit the environment. There are over 65k displayable colors for navigation during both day and night. One disadvantage which can be talked about is the sluggish nature of the GPS. The “Please Wait” sign keeps flashing quite often.
Magellan – Maestro 4370 Features and Specifications Review
• Screen size: 4.3”
• Number of channels: 1
• Number of waypoints: 20
• Traffic and weather updates: Yes
• MP3 playback: Yes
• Portability: Yes
• Bluetooth built-in: Yes
• Text-to-Speech: Yes
• WAAS enabled: Yes
• Hard Drive storage: Yes
• Download capability: Yes
• Built-in base maps: Yes
• Mapping software: Yes
• PC Connectivity: Yes
• Voice prompts: Yes
• Backlit display: Yes
• Color display: Yes
• Battery life: Up to 3 hours
• Battery included: Yes
• AC Adapter: Yes
• DC Adapter: Yes
• 3D map view: Yes
• Accepts data cards: Yes
• Antenna: Yes
• Auto sort multiple destinations: Yes
• Auto re-Route: Yes
• Avoid Highways/Tolls mode: Yes
• Car locator: Yes
• Choice of route setup: Yes
• FM Transmitter: Yes
• Map provider: Navteq
• Speech recognition: Yes
• Small business features: Professional series
• Warranty term – Parts: 1 year
• Warranty term – Labor: 1 year
The Magellan Maestro 4370 is preloaded with maps of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The built-in Secure Digital card slot allows additional content to be added. There are 6 million POIs in the GPS. Navigation can be done by entering a specific address and selecting a POI. The routes can be calculated on the basis of fastest time, shortest distance or the most economical route. Navteq Traffic provides the real time traffic updates and the traffic incidents on the route too. Alternate routes are suggested by the SmartDetour feature.
The right side of the Magellan Maestro 4370 has an FM antenna input, a mini USB port and a SD/MMC card expansion slot for loading multimedia. The power button is located at the top with the speaker at the back. Included in the package is a car charger, an AC adapter, a USB cable, a protective pouch, a vehicle mount and reference material. This GPS is a bit highly priced at $399.99 MSRP but can be found at Amzon.com for around $250 at times. At the lower price, the Magellan Maestro 4370 car GPS system is one of the best available.