luxury1

A couple of months ago I promised a review of the GPS system compared to the Magellan 700 Roadmate. My job requires me to constantly drive to places I have never been so I have spent considerable time with both and here are my thoughts…

Hypothesis: The Roadmate 700 is designed by a company that focuses on GPS systems and therefore should be better than a system furnished by an automobile manufacturer.

Mercedes Navigation Con’s:
An exorbitant amount of roads are missing from the DVD (although these are mostly non major roads like 4 lane roads).
Tedious address entry.
House number is only performed in an approximate range.
System doesn’t inform you that it is rerouting you, the route is just recalculated
Major points of interest are lacking (for example, hospitals)
Trip stats are not displayed without actively accessing them
Cannot be your only source of guidance if it is used to find more remote places.
Terribly inefficient routing - best to look at the map, start driving in the right direction and let the navigation catch up.

Mercedes Navigation Pro’s:
Good verbal turn instructions such as including the name of the road in the verbal turning instructions (if it is a road that is a number such as route 11) .
Built-in means a cleaner look
Built-in means it is less prone to theft
Very quick location identification
Fast route calculation
Last city is easily recalled

Magellan Roadmate 700 Con’s:
System does not recall last city.
Clips fall out of the vent around turns quite frequently
Prone to theft
My unit requires a constant supply of cool air to be fed through the back of the unit or it will not function correctly.
Very slow location recognition.
Some roads are missing (not too many)

Magellan Roadmate Pro’s:
Efficient routing
Mobile system – easy to transfer from one car to the next
Reasonable price
Great points of interest
List of upcoming streets to be used on your route can be easily accessed.
Touch screen - quick entry
Can change the voice (man/woman)
System always displays trip stats including the road you are on, how much time/miles left in the trip total, which direction your next turn is (right/left/straight)and how long until your next turn.
Can be your only source for navigation.

Conclusion: Hypothesis 100% correct although the Mercedes navigation is acceptable for basic usage if you plan to stay on the main roads. The Mercedes navigation does not really compare to the Roadmate and I would hardly expect it to but we should expect this to improve in the upcoming years (hopefully).

No system is perfect and I find that it is nice to have two navigations systems and mappoint software loaded on my laptop in order to be confident that I can always get to my destination.

Just my opinion...

RAD

luxury1, thanks for taking the time for an intelligent, informed post.

But I gotta disagree! First, I disagree with the hypothesis. Mercedes doesn't make the GPS system--while I'm not certain who does make it for Mercedes, there are many auto telematics manufacturers (Denso and Alps in Japan come to mind) who have arguably as much expertise as a Magellan or Garmin.

On the Mercedes cons:
--I honestly haven't found an exorbitant amount of roads missing. I've driven my E500 from NYC to ATL to MIA and many points in between, on big interstates and small streets, in mountains and on flats, in rural and urban areas. Rarely if ever have I come across a missing street, even in newer subdivisions.
--Address entry is tedious, but logical, at least.
--Agree with house number range. I wish it had a feature (maybe it does?) whereby you could store a location based on where exactly you were at a particular point, rather than an address.
--I've found the points of interest (POIs) to be well done. Many, many hospitals in mine. And on a long trip, I can find the nearest fast food of choice: Chik-fil-A! Now only if I could find the nearest Starbucks...maybe in the next edition...
--Agree about the active trip stats
--Diagree about "only source of guidance"...I went to several weddings this summer, in locations I wasn't familiar with. Had to go to churches, receptions, etc. I simply plugged in the address and voila! There I was. Easy to get back to the hotel, too. I've used the system to go to all sorts of places and have found it to never miss a beat.

As for the other points, agree that portability can be a positive for some, but I'd rather have the built-in fit and finish in a Mercedes.

luxury1

I am glad someone chimed in from a bigger city. I kind of thought that more time would have been spent on mapping NYC and Atlanta than some of the smaller cities/towns. I was in Allentown, PA yesterday and there was something like 20 roads listed and believe me there are many more road than that! This is all from my opinion driving in my PA and OH territory but I do use navigation a lot since I drive 750-1,000 miles per week and always to unfamiliar places. If I didn't have my other nav or my mappoint software I would never get to appointments... Interesting to hear your opinion also, thanks for the post

JayT

The number of "missing" roads is a function of the data from the DVD. We have verssion 2004.2 which is from Navtec. My son has a Garman nav system which uses Navtec also. His software is a year older than the M-B but has more roads (it is actuall very complete). M-B needs to just use more current data.

PS They also use to provide one update for free, which was a nice touch.

Barry45RPM

How often is an updated Nav DVD released? With a "Nav Up" subscription, do you get one new DVD a year, or how many updated DVDs?

benzboy

I drive an '03 E500 (pre nav). So I bought a Garmin 2610 about six months ago. That's one great machine! Does not have too many of the drawbacks the Magellan seem to have. I like the portability because I have a '01 E320 in Florida so all I need to do is bring the Garmin with me when I'm there. It also goes into my wife's ML350. I figure I saved big bucks by buying one portable vs 3 installs. I just ordered (no cost) the latest City Navigator software upgrade from Garmin today. That should bring in current restaurant, entertainment, etc. listings through 7/20/04.

BklynBenz

i had the magellan roadmate 700 in my clk before i retrofitted a factory comand unit in there. my opinion, hands down, the magellan is a way better nav unit but just as luxury said, thats all magellan really focuses on. but on the other hand theres nothing like a factory nav.

CALBenzo

I like the MB Nav system overall with the exception of address input. The input in my wife's Acura MDX is really easy with the touch screen. Another nice feature of the Acura, which the MB system lacks, is a joystick and dedicated zoom button.

luxury1

I bought the car a couple of months ago, do you think mine is out of date?

cte430

One thing that I have found interesting (and annoying) is that on my E55 there are MANY roads (some pretty major) surrounding the road you are actually on and all you see is the "line", no name. When I had my '03 E500 these same roads were named.

Barry45RPM

Usually if you move the target, or the icon for the car directly over the line, the street name of the "line" directly under the target/icon will appear within a band across the bottom of the screen. Press "Back" to return the target to the previous screen at your actual location.

qpcc

I find the following reasons to prefer the Garmin over the MB Comand.
1. GPS can be programed in the home before the trip.
2. Remote control is a great feature.
3. Angle of vision is safer.
4. On screen display has more info.
5. GPS can be shifted between cars.
6. Upgrade of Data less expensive.
7. Touch screen is easier to use.
8. Use of desktop computer in home makes planning easier.

CALBenzo

There is no doubt that there are and will be better aftermarket systems. Unfortunately, they are not integrated which I prefer.