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Product Review: Page (1) of 1 - 11/01/06

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Magellan RoadMate 2000 Portable GPS Unit

Color, touchscreen device offers many features

By John Virata

Portable GPS systems have become more powerful and less expensiev at the same time. Just a few years ago, I purchased a Magellan Meridien Gold, a black and white unit that runs on two AA batteries. No touch screen, but rather, a series of buttons on the side of the device. Today's units are more often than not touch screen devices and in color. The Magellan RoadMate 2000 is one such device, controlled via touchscreen, in color, and powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery.

The Magellan RoadMate 2000 is a very simple to use GPS unit designed to get you where you want to go without having to learn the myriad features of other, more expensive GPS units. The RoadMate 2000 is based on a 3-inch touch screen with easy to use menus.  The menus include the Map menu, street address, which enables you to input a street address and get directions, Point of Interest, Home, address book, Intersection (find nearest cross streets), Trip Computer (which details average speed, trip time, drive time, and trip distance), Trip planner (which enables you to program and plan your trips), user options (access to POI selection, address book options, map options, map color options, route preferences, Detour Options, simulator mode, menu colors, tone options, and GPS options), and System settings, where you adjust the unit's volume, brightness, power, language, time zone, unit of measure, product information, and diagnostics, which enables you to perform an audio test, touch screen test, and video test.

The RoadMate 2000 measures in at 4.3"x3.4"x1.1" and weighs just 7.8oz. It uses the SirfStarIII receiver with 20 channels for processing the map data and features maps for the lower 48 United States. 1.3 million points of interest are built into the unit as well. It features an operating range of 14 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, an acquisition time of 1 second hot, 40 seconds cold, and a 5 minute initial start up time. Accuracy is rated at 10-16 feet for this WAAS(America)/EGNOS (Europe) GPS system. It is powered by a Lithium ion rechargeable battery and can be outfitted for car power use via the optional vehicle adapter. The battery can accommodate more than three hours of continuous use. The view map itself is available in both 2D and 3D views, and can be color customized based on your preferences (or your vehicle's lighting). You can view the maps in high contrast, night view, black and white, paper, wild (yellow and black), pretty (pink/purple, and olive), cool blue, and fire (red, orange).

Trip computer

In Use
The Magellan RoadMate 2000 is very simple to use, and thanks to this simplicity, there is not a lot of complicated menus to deal with, nor does the device act as anything else other than a GPS system. Features to the RoadMate 2000 that I particularly enjoy include SmartDetour, which finds an alternate route in the event of some unforeseen circumstance (SoCal traffic), multi destination routing, and QuickSpell, which most GPS devices feature anyway. The directional voice is female, and you have a choice of Tone options; Bell, Chime, and Beep. Another cool feature to the RoadMate 2000 (other GPS devices also have this feature) is the capability to touch a point of interest icon on the screen and get the telephone number. This feature works most of the time, as it depends on the POI detailing the information.

Map

You can also input street intersections and have the unit calculate the shortest time to drive there, shortest distance, least use of freeways, and most use of freeways. You can then preview the route and determine which roads (as well as the miles on those roads) you will travel on to reach the destination.

 The unit's Simulator mode enables you to simulate a route, complete with street changes and POIs. This is ideal for planning a trip as you can locate such things as restaurant's, parks or other POIs on your route. One feature I wish the company could streamline is changing the map from 2D view to 3D view and vice versa. It is just too many touches of the screen to change the map views. You can also choose a power scheme for the unit to never power off, power off in 10 minute, 20 minute and 30 minute durations. This is ideal when the unit is powered by the Lithium Ion battery and conservation is necessary.  

First Impressions
The RoadMate 2000 is a solid, utilitarian (it is waterproof!) GPS unit that has all the necessary features to help you get to your destinations. While it doesn't have POIs with company logos on them like the more expensive units, it does have some of the same features as those high end systems. Plus, do you really have to pay more for such things? Not with the Roadmate 2000. The unit also features an SD memory card slot for backing up your address book, previous destinations, and other user generated data. And it is portable, so you can move it from vehicle to vehicle, as well as take it with you on a foot patrol of a major city or when cycling in new areas. It is not confined to a vehicle, which is a plus for those who lead active, outdoor lifestyles. Highly Recommended. For more information, visit www.magellangps.com