Magellan RoadMate 1470 4.7-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

Price : $123.99
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Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
The Magellan RoadMate 1470 GPS device boasts a unique 4.7-inch color touchscreen and ultra-thin design, delivering powerful navigation in a compact package. This easy-to-use device gives you confidence while on the road with premium features, including AAA TourBook, highway lane assist, spoken street names, multi-destination routing, and pre-loaded maps of North America.


Powerful navigation in a compact package. Click to enlarge.
The exclusive Magellan OneTouch personalized search icons let you easily bookmark favorite destinations so you can find them anywhere you travel. Find your favorite café or restaurant in any city with a single touch. The RoadMate 1470 device delivers your favorites at your fingertips. Features include:

• Ability to personalize OneTouch search icons with your favorite places
• Announces street names and directions at each turn
• Ultra-wide 4.7-inch touchscreen display
• AAA TourBook and Roadside Assistance menu
• Permits multi-destination routing
• Maps of United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico

4.7-Inch Color TouchscreenThe large wide-format color touchscreen shows your position on the map, route, destination, ETA, surrounding Points of Interest (POI), signal strength, next maneuver, street names, and more--all at a glance.
6 million Points of InterestEasily find what you need. Gas stations, restaurants, hotels, ATMs, and hundreds of other businesses and services are intuitively categorized and searchable from the built-in POI database. Most include the phone number.
Expanded MapsTravel the entire United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada with all the maps you need, pre-loaded on the device.

Brilliant 4.7-inch touchscreen. Click to enlarge.

Announces street names and directions at each turn. Click to enlarge.

Easily find what you need from the built-in POI database. Click to enlarge.

Add Traffic Link for live traffic info. Click to enlarge.
Text-to-SpeechHear street names with every voice direction and have a clear understanding of when to make the next turn while you keep your eyes on the road.
Intuitive User InterfaceBold, intuitive menu options make it easy to pick destinations and choose how you navigate, without even reading the instructions.
Ultra-Thin DesignUniquely stylish and compact, it's easy to transfer your Magellan GPS between vehicles, or toss it in a suitcase to take anywhere.
QuickSpell with MultiCity SearchEnter destinations with a few keystrokes. QuickSpell searches locations and checks spelling to provide you with a simple list of available destinations.
Auto NightViewColor and contrast adjusts automatically for easy viewing at night.
Multi-Destination RoutingSelect several destinations and choose the order to plan a trip in advance and repeat the same trip again. Easily reorganize, add, or remove destinations.
Add Traffic Link for Live Traffic InfoStop sitting in traffic waiting for traffic updates on your favorite radio station. Traffic Link will alert you on current traffic conditions for the area in which you are travelling. Simply plug in the Traffic Link device to your compatible Magellan GPS device, and you'll receive free information on the type of incident (e.g., accident or slow traffic), status of surrounding freeways/interstates, and approximate time until you come upon the issue. With the touch of a button, Traffic Link will provide you with an alternate route so that you can avoid delays, saving time and money.
With the Traffic Link service, you'll also receive special offers from premium vendors. Simply touch the information on the screen to obtain details on how to take advantage of the various deals being provided. Stop sitting in traffic. Get Traffic Link, turn it on, and go! Features include:

• Free automatic traffic updates for life!
• Intuitive user interface clearly displays traffic events
• Reroutes you around reported traffic jams
• Valuable promotional offers from premium vendors

What's in the BoxMagellan RoadMate 1470 GPS receiver; pre-loaded maps of United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico; windshield mount; adhesive disc for dash mounting; vehicle power adapter; USB cable; user handbook; user manual on CD-ROM

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 3.3 inches ; 10.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001VEIYAC
• Item model number: 1470
  

Technical Details

• Wide 4.7-inch color touchscreen and ultra-thin design for powerful navigation in a compact package
• Includes maps of United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico with 6 million points of interest
• Features multi-destination routing, highway lane assist, spoken street names, AAA TourBook, and Roadside Assistance menu
• Personalized search icons let you easily bookmark favorite destinations so you can find them anywhere you travel
• One-year limited warranty

 

Magellan RoadMate 1470 4.7-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

 

Customer Reviews

I've been a Magellan user for several years - have owned four of their GPS systems, and always appreciate how they have improved their products. This unit is my 5th, and replaces a Magellan 4040. After using it for a while I've confident in saying this is the best one yet!
The most visible change is the actual size of the unit. The screen size has been increased, but the unit is thinner and lighter. Very sleek appearance, and the screen is a real joy -- sharp, clear graphics even in the sun, and bigger on-screen buttons for easy use. The mounting system has also been streamlined, and looks and works well. It mounts very easily on a NavMat holder (basically a bean-bag system that I got on Amazon. I'm a huge Navmat fan - makes it a snap to hide the GPS with narry a trace. Best accessory by far for any GPS).
The power connector was not well thought out, however. You have to connect it to the GPS unit AFTER you mount it in the holder. They should have moved the connector it a wee bit to the side to avoid that.
The only button is a slide-type power button on the top. Boot-up time is OK -- not speedy, but not a huge delay either. It does not have a "sleep" mode, so you have to do a cold boot every time. Not a problem in real world use - by the time you get situated in your car, the unit is ready to go.
Voice is clear and easy to understand. Not as natural sounding as a TomTom, but understandable.
Pretty much any recent GPS unit will get you where you want to go. I've found the routing on the Magellans to be very similar to Garmins - could be because they both use the same mapping set (Navteq). The Magellan shines, however, in features that I find helpful. The direction of the next turn is always visible regardless of how far away the next turn will be. Up until recently, Garmin did not offer this (they do now on some of their units). Sounds like a small issue, but I find it very helpful. The Magellan also allows you to very easily exclude a route (or portion). That's a fairly standard feature nowadays, but Magellan allows you to do it in a snap.
In terms of routing, Magellan offers four options (fastest, shortest, most use of freeways and least use). You can see all four options on the map (as a summary) at the same time so you can pick the best one for your needs. Perfect
Love the AAA Guidebook, which is a unique Magellan feature. Lets you get details about restaurants and other points of interest just like the paper version from AAA. I used it a lot in my 4040, especially when traveling out of town.
Other unique Magellan features I appreciate is the "ding dong" sound right before a turn (incredibly accurate!) and the fact that the software reminds you to "stay on the current road" when you encounter major exits. Some find that to be nagging, but it has saved me from inadvertently exiting on more than one occasion.
A new feature for Magellan is the lane guidance. Very nicely done. I've used this feature on Navigon units, and found it rather unhelpful. Magellan's implementation is far more useful, with better, clearer graphics. However, lane guidance is not available for every road.
The software is also nicely done - very logical to use. If you're a past Magellan user you can pick this up and use it in a second. If not, there's a short printed user's guide in the box (plus a CD-ROM with more in-depth info) that gets you up to speed quickly. The box also includes the mount, power connector for the car, and a USB cable. It does not include an AC adapter.
OK, now for the bad news. When it comes to customer service, Magellan has been horrid. We're talking so bad it's almost funny. I'm hoping this situation will change - the company was bought by Mitac late last year, and perhaps this will signal a change for the better in terms of customer support. Lord knows, they couldn't get any worse.
The leader, in my opinion, for customer support is Garmin. They are nice to deal with on the phone, answer emails promptly, and offer regular firmware updates. Whenever I buy a GPS as a gift I always buy Garmin since I don't want to saddle the recipient with the miserable service that Magellan offers. It's a shame, since Magellan offers some real benefits over Garmin, and more value for the money. Tom Tom is also decent when it comes to support, but they use TeleAtlas maps which are less complete than NavTeq (sp?).
Bottom line -- if you're looking for a straightforward GPS at a good price, this should be on your short list. It lacks features such as Bluetooth and an MP3 player, but for me, I want a GPS to offer guidance and not entertainment. This has a very robust feature set, great screen, and well-designed software. It also has traffic capabilities -- did not test that feature out, so I can't comment on it.
The "safe" bet continues to be Garmin. You'll pay a bit more, and get less features, but you can be assured of solid support. Whether Magellan's new owners will put them back on the right track (if you'll excuse the horrid, but unavoidable pun) in terms of customer service is not yet clear. I hope so -- they make a great product!
UPDATE: 5/21/09 There's a firmware update on the Magellan site. No new functionality (in terms of new features) but, according to the release notes it improves overall performance. Easy to install - just follow the included step-by-step instructions. It seems like it makes the unit a bit faster, but that could just be my imagination.

My previous experience with GSP navigators has been in rental cars when traveling many years ago. I've forgotten who made the units, but I thought they were more trouble than they were worth, trying to figure out how to use them and then dealing with all their weird little quirks.. I remember one time up in the Seattle area being on the freeway when the device told me to get off at an exit that was about 20 feet away with 3 lanes of traffic between me and the exit - no warning prior to that. Then it kept repeating over and over again that I had missed the exit. I was ready to pour my Starbucks coffee over the thing and I never wanted a GPS device after that.
But now I've had the opportunity to try this Magellan RoadMate 1470 and you would have to pry it out of my hot little hands to get it away from me. This thing is so different from the units I've tried in the past. This one is actually fun. First of all, it's super simple to set up. I hate to read manuals (and rarely look at maps until I'm so lost and out of time that I'm forced to do so) and was pleasantly surprised at how simple and intuitive this unit is, even without reading any instructions. I mounted the holder on the dash of my PT Cruiser, which was the perfect spot for it, plugged the USB power cable into the unit and then into my cigarette lighter and it was ready to go. It found my location in just a couple of minutes. Then, I pressed the "Go to" button on the touchsreen, selected "Address" and typed in the city and street that I wanted to find. It has the smart type thing which fills in the word after a few letters or gives you some suggested choices so you don't end up having to type a whole lot. It found my destination right away and I was ready to go.
The screen is nice and bright and you can easily see where you are going. It's zoomed in about a quarter mile, but you can zoom in and out if you want to see the bigger picture. The voice is pleasant and it's loud enough to hear even with the radio on. You can adjust the volume. The thing I like best is the lane assist and the several advance warnings about when you're going to turn and what lane you need to be in. There was plenty of time to be where I needed to be without having to rush across several lanes or elbow out other traffic on the freeway.
I tried several different destinations and it found all of them without a problem. It said the area that I live in wasn't covered, but it turns out that it is. There are all kinds of POI's (points of interest) already loaded in and there's also a AAA tour book feature that will be really helpful when traveling.
I never realized how nice it would be to just get in the car, set the destination, and not have to worry about paying attention and watching for streets when going to a new place. Did you ever try to find a location where you have to make a lot of turns on city streets that have little signs blocked by trees or hidden behind big trucks? You know how it is, trying to pay attention to traffic and slouching along, annoying other motorists, trying to see those little signs? With the Magellen 1470 you won't have to worry about any of that, it tells you when the street is coming up and when to turn. There's even a little "ding ding" when you need to actually turn. It gives you a sense of freedom. I travel a lot for work and this is going to make things so much easier for me! This unit has a good size screen and is slim and light, but still a small enough unit overall that I can put it in my medium sized purse or briefcase when I leave the car. And everything you need is right there in the box: the dash or window mount, cables to connect it to the computer for updates, power cable connectors for the car and even an alcohol swab to clean the dash or window before attaching the mount. (I have this Case Logic Compact Portable Hard Drive Case (Black) that I'm stealing from my external hard drive because this Megallan 1470 fits into it nicely. I posted some pictures of it in the case on the first page and also some pics of it mounted on the dash of my PT Cruiser.
The only flaws I can find so far are that sometimes the touch screen doesn't respond right away and you have to press a button more than once. This is usually when I'm rushed and hitting one thing after another very quickly. The other is the USB power cable connector location, which is right next to the little slot where you mount it so that you have to mount the unit prior to plugging in the power cable. The space to plug it in is small so it can be a little difficult. I'm sure there's some hack to make it easier.
All in all, it's a unit that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a GPS device with a sleek design, nice sized touchscreen that's simple to use right out of the box, but still has enough bells and whistles to keep it interesting. Two thumbs up for this unit!
Update 5/13/09 - I've had a chance to use and compare the Garmin nüvi 760 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Automobile Navigator that I bought for my husband a couple of months ago to this Magellen. The screen on the Magellen looks significantly larger even though it's only a fraction of an inch. I like the "ding ding" on the Magellen when I'm at the point where I should turn or enter onto a freeway. I prefer the data entry on the Magellen where it dims out letters that you probably don't need once you start typing. This lessens the chance of hitting the wrong key and makes entering data quicker. The Garmin has bluetooth where this one doesn't, but since I use an earpiece for my phone, that isn't a factor. My PT Cruiser is kind of noisy on the road so the noise cancelling earpiece works better for me anyway. Another thing I prefer about this unit is that it has the little gas icon right on the side of the main map, so if I need to get gas I don't have to go hunting through as many menus.
If I had to choose for myself between the two units I would choose this Magellen.