Magellan RoadMate 1440 Automotive Mountable GPS Receiver

I was impressed by the simplicity of a Magellan GPS we got with a rental car, so I bought a 1440 for our own use, basing my selection on a couple of nice features such as multi-destination trips and smart address entry. When we first got the device it flat out didn't work 8-(... It was "pre-owned new" and refused to take my address inputs; instead it kept trying to guide me to a state penitentiary in Tennessee... Eventually it started complaining about running out of memory and it would restart itself whenever I input a new destination address, forgetting everything in the process.

After a bit of fishing around on the internet, I found out that the older software versions get sick when the traffic advisory feature is enabled. So, I turned that off and it still didn't work. Eventually, I found out that the unit could be reset from the invisible system menu, which cure when applied appears to have corrected its behaviour. See

http://www.gpspassion.com​/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1​26617

I also found advice suggesting that updating the firmware might help with this problem. I almost did that, until I found a blog entry warning that the firmware update could outright kill the on-board system. I decided I was happy to stumble along with what I had already.

Now it works satisfactorily. It takes quite a while to figure out where it is after having been turned off for several days. It also isn't very smart about recognizing when we decided not to follow its directions. It eventually catches up and starts giving good directions, but it seems that it should be quicker (and more vocal) about correcting mistakes.

The multi-destination trip feature doesn't seem to work without user intervention to start each leg. I would think it could recognize arrival and departure events and automatically resume the trip. Oh well...

Magellan brand is the best Car mound GPS according to experience of using for years. User friendly design is the best plus confirm sound like double check flag to allow drive knowing that is right to make turn.
Seller sold this one without car charge as what AD said. i used as replacement for my old Magellan, small size but broken due to battery dead i think.

eview:
I bought the NewPhone 74205 three weeks ago and was immediately impressed with the number of features available on this inexpensive phone. It has a 1M-pixel camera, video camera, and speakerphone. The NewPhone's size is perfect for carrying in a pocket and the battery has a pretty good lifespan of roughly 4 hours. My only complaint is that the menu system on the phone makes you click four times before you can find someone in the address book, set an alarm, or perform a additional functions. Other phones I've owned have simpler menus and get you to important features easily. Overall, I'd recommend the phone if you're on a budget.

The GPS works great about 95 percent of the time. It helps with most of the parameters of driving, and gives a real insight about the process of driving. For example, by using the ETA (estimated time of arrival), you see that speeding or aggressively driving to get somewhere doesn't actually save a significant amount of time. You need to practically drive at the speed of light to gain a minute, and so you grow realize that safe driving at traffic speeds and good planning are the best practices. I also love the fact that you don't need a subscription or other monthly fee to use it.
The negatives include the inability of the basic model to note road closures, although I have been told that there is a supplementary adaptor that shows traffic and closures. I haven't had much luck finding that adaptor separate, so it makes sense to buy the RoadMate with the adaptor included. Allegedly the newer releases have it included, so check to make sure that it's there. Another minus is that it sometimes takes awhile to aquire signal, but a little patience remedies that.
I'm sure that there are better products out there, but if you can get it for less than the retail of $199, it's worth it. The time horizon for using it for me is fewer than 3 years, since I believe that there will be far superior products released within that time. I don't depend 100 percent on the RoadMate, rather use MapQuest, road signs and my eyes and ears in concert with the device.
Overall, a good companion to an alert driver.

I also have a Garmin 1200 GPS I just brought the Magellan 1440, and I feel this is a great GPS for the money. The system will voice command to you and it will let you know when you miss a turn; plus it recalculates the directions automatically after a missed turn. In addition, like my Garmin, you can load different maps, including maps of European and other countries. This device is also simple to use. Just punch in your home address and it automatically will calculate how to get you home from anywhere. In addition you can program directions to get your trip to include things like: no toll roads, gas stations near by, and shortest route ( just to mention a few ). My Garmin also has these features and I would also recommend that too. Any other questions you may have can be answered by the 1-800-customer service provided by each Company. I hope you found this helpful- Peter