Cons: confusing manual, maps not accurate, user interface could be better.
The Bottom Line: A great portable GPS unit. Best in class. Be aware of its limits to avoid being dissapointed. Not to be confused with a car nav system.
xqos's Full Review: Magellan Meridian Color Handheld GPS Receiver
I never considered a GPS until I demoed one at a store and thought it could be the answer to my terrible sense of direction. I spend half my time lost on my way to an important client fumbling for maps and stopping to ask directions from startled pedestrians as I screech to a halt next to them on the sidewalk.
The Meridian color looked good althou a little pricey at $500 with no map data or extra memory.
I saw it a little latter on line for $299 as a recondition unit. They said they had dozens that had been returned for a PROM upgrade. Any way I figured the money I saved would pay for the map CD and an SD card.
A few days later it arrived and looked brand new. Everything worked fine. I realized I went overboard by getting a 256MB SD card. A 32 MB card would have been fine.
Actually a 128MB would allow me to load all of California and have room left over. It only allows maps to be a max of 16MB so you have to create little chunks of California at a time (I need to do about 8).
I found the map data to be slightly skewed. ie my house is shown to be in between 2 streets so its about 50ft off in 2 directions (North and East). Otherwise its fine.
Its not really any good for in a car as it only does directions as the crow flies, ie no turns or street direction. Compared to the GPS systems in my RX8 and my wifes Lexus GX470 its very simple and lacks lots of details. I figured I could use it when I am travelling without my car or flying somewhere.
Just to give you an idea of the difference between a good car GPS system and the megellan, my Mazda RX8 car system allows me to enter a ZIP code, then as I enter the street name it quickly calculates the possible street names by the characters I enter by the joystick on the center console.
When I select navigate it uses clear speech to prompt distance to turns and when the turn is imminent. It automatically zooms in to show on/off ramp details and shows time and distance to upcoming turns with road names.
It shows ETA based on my current speed and with a few clicks all points of interest. Actually the Meridian has that last feature also. The car GPS has far greater resolution and screen update speed. It is completely accurate and even show which lane I am in. If I miss a turn it quickly recalculates a new route. I can specify to miss highways and go via any POI. On 1 DVD it has detailed maps of the entire US.
So the Magellan is a little weak but it still very useful.
I am dissapointed that the map is skewed and I cant manually shift the map and align it myself. This would be an easy to implement feature. If anyone knows how to do this please drop me a mail!
Before you complain about the price of car nav systems, realize there is a big difference. The unit in my wifes Lexus GX470 is even more advanced than my Mazda system and uses a touch screen,higher resolution and takes voice commands.
Overall I would recommend the Magellan, but realize what it is intended before and you will avoid being dissapointed.
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