Magellan - SE4 GPS

Okay after searching and testing for the past month I decided this was the best buy for the money. I tested this primarily against the Tom Tom XL340-s(as of this review the Tom Tom is going for $149 here on BB)Lets take a look at the highlights and the few low lights 1.This unit has hands down better text to speech voice than the Tom Tom. This unit you can actually understand street names where Tom Tom was horrid in this category.This is the best sounding unit I have tested, even hands down better than the Tom Tom XL 540 which runs about $350. 2.Very user friendly, easy to set up and go.Receives signal very quickly I didn't notice any difference between this one and the Tom Tom in terms of acquiring satellite signal.They both were good in this category 3.Can some one tell me why the higher end and more featured packed Tom Tom does not tell you which side of the street your destination is( The SE4 tells you your destination is either on the right or left side of street, it blows my mind why Tom Tom does not do this....... 4. Both units had maps which were pretty good in terms of being up to date.Tom Tom I feel might have a slight edge because of the Tom Tom Home feature were users can update map features.But I found both units both being very accurate. Okay so let me tell you were this unit is not quit to par with the Tom Tom. 1.Tom has alot more choices in terms of customization. It lets you pick different voices, color of your maps,more updated POI's. 2.The screen displays more info about the trip on the Tom Tom such as Direction of travel, speed, and ETA to destination.The SE4 only lets you display one of the for mentioned choices but one thing the SE4 can display which the Tom Tom cannot is the elevation.I like this feature and don't know why the Tom Tom doesn't offer this. Okay so there you go. Ya the Tom Tom has more bells and whistles but in know way could I justify spending the extra $60 for the Tom Tom.The SE4 does what you really need in a GPS much better-it gives you clear voice prompted directions you can actually understand. 4.

I've had a Garmin GPS for about 3 yrs (C330), and got very used to the ease of use, accuracy, etc of their unit...I bought this as an "upgrade" b/c my maps were becoming outdated...I found this on sale at BB for $95 after tax the week b4 christmas, 2009...this unit quickly made me yearn for my old, outdated Garmin...and here's why... The arrow showing you where you're going seems arbitary... If you pass a turn (which is easy b/c the hightlight route isn't accurate), it recalculates at it's own free will...My old Garmin would quickly say "recalculating", then get you right back on track...This Magellan takes forever to decide to help you if you miss a turn... Several times, it would send me the wrong way (This might be construed as BAD for a GPS unit...hmmm). Only decent qualities in this thing is that it speaks street names, good window plunger, and it's a wide screen....None of that matters, though, if you want to throw the thing out your window out of maddening frustration! All-in-all, I didn't like the Magellan unit...After 6 weeks, I sold it on the world's biggest on-line auction (wink, wink), for $70...so I took a little hit, but I couldn't stand this thing any longer, and I then bought a Garmin 255W for $119 on sale...Great decision!! I now know that I will never stray from Garmin again!! For the extra $30, the comaprison between the two is not even close. The Garmin unit does everything I want it to do (like get me where I want to go!), and it also tells me the posted speed limits as a I drive along and how fast I am driving, speaks street names, is a wide screen, etc...The 255W is exactly what I would expect in an upgrade...worth every penny...

I bought this mainly for price, looks and positive reviews and haven't been disappointed. For a $100, you get a fairly capable GPS receiver with a large, bright screen in a slim, sleek enclosure. The Garmin NUVI's have the best looking designs but they weren't on sale, so I settled for this one which comes close to them. Another nice feature is it's extensive list of points of interest. I was happy to find the address to an obscure restaurant that had recently opened. On the minus side, this receiver sometimes has trouble getting signal. This seems to happen when I power on this unit after the battery dies while I'm on the road and I recharge it later at home. It doesn't find my current location very well after the battery dies and can take about 10 minutes to find a signal. Another minus is something that I've been just alluding to-- this receiver's short battery life. I like to run it off its battery power rather than plug it into my cigarette lighter because the wires and adapter clutter up my console and simply make the whole console look unsightly. But ,unfortunately, the battery lasts only about an hour on a full charge. While there are batteries that power cell phones and iPods for days, the folks at Magellan decided not to used one of them for this unit. They probably assumed most users would have it constantly plugged into their cigarette lighter. Another negative, but this is small, is that it sometimes makes some strange decisions on how to get to a destination. The path it selects may not be the shortest nor quickest. But at least it'll get you there. All in all, it's definitely worth $100.

This is my first GPS and I wanted something that can get me from point A to point B and assist me with POIs along the trip like restaurants, malls, gas stations, etc. I got all these (and more) from the Magellan SE4 GPS. The GPS is responsive, picked up satellite signals right away, and it recalculates the route quickly if I decides to take a different route or stop somewhere along the way. It has all of the features I need with a 4.3" wide screen, turn by turn directions, Text-To-Speech, multi-route planning, and over 6 million of POIs, and all of the features are easy to use. The voice volume is loud and clear (but also adjustable). The unit is light but not cheaply made, has good quality. I don't know about durability yet since I only used it a few weeks. The GPS comes with the latest map already, the only thing I needed to do is plug it in and go. Sure it doesn't come with some of the extra bells and whistles the other GPS comes with like memory card slot, picture viewer, traffic updates, etc, but from what I heard the traffic updates and not that reliable anyways, and I don't really need all those other features. An additional benefit is if you are a AAA member you can get one additional year of warranty from Magellan. The only thing that's kind of surprising is even with the latest map it's missing a couple of addresses that I was looking for. One is my mother-in-law's new home which is a newer development from 2008 but the map is missing her entire new street. The other one, however, is a local pizza restaurant that my family frequented. It's been in business for years but I could not find it by its name on the GPS, I can only find the address but there is no information about the restaurant at all. In conclusion, if you need a brand name GPS that offers the best value and all of the features you need and nothing that you don't then this is the one for you.

I owned a Garmin Nuvi 205 before purchasing the Magellan SE4 GPS. The reason why I switched brands was because I was unhappy with the performance of the Garmin (granted, it was also an entry level GPS). The Garmin drove me crazy because it constantly couldn't find the satellites, lost reception while driving on highways, and had to recalculate routes all the time. The Magellan SE4 is a much better GPS than the Garmin Nuvi 205. It's easy to use, has a good battery life, easily readable maps, and alot of route specifications (ETA, distance remaining, time left on route, and distance countdown until next turn/exit). This unit also speaks the names of the streets/highways (although I wish the speakers were better because while the turn-by-turn directions are easily understood, it's sometimes hard to distinguish road names spoken). Overall, this GPS has alot of features, alot of POIs, and a great starting price. Highly recommended for the entry level GPS purchase.

Initially purchased an insignia NS-NAV01. That was my first mistake. NEVER AGAIN. That thing couldn't even find the best buy store I purchased it from. LOL. Ok, onto the magellan se4. This gem was only $20.00 more than the insignia and OMG, so much better. Finds the satellites very quick. over 6 million POIs. It allows you to set it up so that you can see all of them in the area or a select few. Screen is a nice 4.3" touch screen. Very responsive. Announces street names. Sound is adequate for the price range. Haven't had any major problems with it at all. As other reviewers have pointed out, it needs to come with a home charger. It cannot be charged with a USB attached to pc. It has the capability of live traffic updates but in order to get these you have to purchase the charger capable of allowing this which costs $79.99 from the magellan site. I could get another complete GPS unit for just 10 bucks more! LOL. May have to check ebay for that gadget. For the money, you can't beat this. Very easy to use. Tons of POIs and it even locates the store where I purchased it. What's cool about it, it actually displays the best buy yellow tag. Does the same for all walgreen stores. I'm easily amused. LOL.

We bought this GPS a couple of days before we drove from Minneapolis to Florida and didn't have any problems. Along the way, we selected hotels and rest stops using the GPS and it took us right to the front door of the condo. The voice was very clear and gave us plenty of notice to change lanes for upcoming turns. While in Florida, we have found many restaurants and shops by using the GPS directory. This was especially handy when looking for a specific store or locating a nearby town. This evening, a friend of mine was looking for a nearby hair salon. I simply searched my GPS and found one 1/4 mile from the condo. It's great to have in your purse as well as in the car!! To go home now, we can just press "HOME" and it will take us to our home in Minnesota!! I would highly recommend this to someone looking for a gift for elderly drivers who sometimes get turned around or might find themselves on unfamiliar roads. It's worth the cost even if they only used it for the "home" feature. You can easily set up other single-key locations (e.g., doctor's office, grocery store, friends' homes, etc.) Awesome technology!!

My biggest problems with Magellans are the fact that you have to constantly reset the thing, and the maps don't update fast enough. This is the second one I've had (first was a gift, second one was returned). Originally, I thought the first one was just a couple glitches here and there, and I'd only have to reset it. Within a year, I had to reset it at least once or twice a week, just so it would work properly. Bought a second one for Christmas, because it was on sale. Not only did I have to reset it from the get-go, the maps were not aligned with the actual roadway. It would have to re-calculate at every turn and exit ramp, and it would get me lost if it wouldn't recalculate on time for the next turn or exit. Maps would also shift for NO REASON, making it appear as if I would suddenly drive off-road. Not worth the sale price, the constant resetting, the number of times lost, and the shifting maps. Will never buy a Magellan again.