Magellan RoadMate 1475T with lifetime traffic
Magellan has announced the RoadMate 1475T, their first product with lifetime traffic. The 1475T is identical to the RoadMate 1470 I recently (and favorably) reviewed, with the addition of the traffic receiver. It carries a suggested retail price of $299 and will be available immediately.
Read on for the news release:
Following the recent release of the Magellan RoadMate series, MiTAC Digital Corp. is introducing the Magellan RoadMate 1475T to round-out the highly acclaimed series. In addition to the premium features available in the 4.7" Magellan RoadMate 1470, the Magellan RoadMate 1475T is equipped with traffic – enabled device (VPA) that offers subscription free, real-time traffic alerts, incidents and road congestion reports.
The free traffic solution is ad supported, where valuable offers and promotions of participating companies are delivered conveniently to the user. "Magellan is committed to providing navigation solutions that provide the best possible experience to consumers," said Mike Wagner, senior director of product marketing for Magellan. "The new Magellan RoadMate 1475T takes that commitment to the next level by offering users an enhanced ease-of-use and convenience with premium features like the built-in traffic link and the exclusive OneTouch user interface."
Like all new models in the Magellan RoadMate series, the Magellan RoadMate 1475T offers the revolutionary OneTouch(TM) favorites menu that puts personally selected addresses and searches just one click away. After the user identify and store preferred banks, restaurants and other destinations into the OneTouch favorites menu, the user can instantly obtain directions to closest preferred destinations anywhere they travel.
The Magellan RoadMate series also gives users searchable AAA TourBook(R) listings that include AAA Diamond Rated restaurants and lodgings, along with attractions, events and campgrounds – taking the guesswork out of planning a trip. Users can also access listings for AAA-Approved Auto Repair shops and businesses that offer AAA member discounts. All listings include the exact GPS location.
The new series also provides a toll-free menu for AAA members to access North America’s largest roadside assistance network.
The new Magellan RoadMate 1475T offers the following features:
- New 4.7-inch, WQVGA – color, anti-glare touch-screen display in an ultra-thin design
- Acclaimed easy-to-use OneTouch favorites drop-down menu with personalized search icons to easily find favorite places
- Features AAA TourBook listings and member Roadside Assistance menu
- 6 million points of interest (POI)
- Spoken street name guidance tells the user the street name and which way to turn before each maneuver
- Highway Lane Assist points the user in the right direction and ensures the correct lane will be chosen before the next interchange or exit
- Highway Exit POI search let the user find gas stations, restaurants and hotels near upcoming exits
- QuickSpell(R) with New SmartCity Search intelligently narrows searches and checks spelling when entering addresses
- Offers multi-destination routing with route optimization lets the user plan trips with multiple stops in the order they want or optimize a trip for the most efficient route, saving them time and money
- Includes NAVTEQ(R) maps of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico
The manufacturer’s suggested price for the Magellan RoadMate 1475T is $299.00 and is available for purchase. The Magellan RoadMate series ships with a windshield mount; a 12-volt vehicle power adapter; an adhesive disk for alternative, on-dash mounting; and a quick reference guide. For additional accessories, including cases, pouches and additional mounting options, visit www.MagellanGPS.com. Map updates for Magellan products can be purchased separately.
I have to agree with you Spitfire. Months later, and many business trips later, the Magellan 1475T has proved invaluable. It’s fast and direct re-calculations has been amazing, not missing a beat before taking you to the next turn and not trying to take you back to its predetermined route. It lets you change and picks up following your directions as though its working with you. I can’t say the same for the others. I love the 1475T and know I made a great choice going with it.
[[ I have to agree with you Spitfire. Months later, and many business trips later, the Magellan 1475T has proved invaluable ]]
Im sure the same can be said for other manufacturers. I do not doubt that what you or others say is true, but, the proper response to ‘my device works as well, and has more features for free’ shouldn’t be ‘oh well mine works fine’, it could be, ‘maybe I purchased the wrong unit, but I’m happy with what I have’
getting traffic for free, or an MP3 player, or any other number of differences that make something else better, cannot be dismissed blithely.
Many people here get a paycheck from Magellan here?
Dear Robert,
I do not work for Magellan; i am a 73 years old Doc practicing medicine for the last 45 years and still making house calls. I travel a lot in the rural areas of our state. I own two 1475T and the great 7 inch version in my SUV which i highly recommend for people who need a larger screen.
I had a few minor problems in the past which were solved by the upgrade of the software.
Our units are in use daily and they perform flawlessly, i purchased the GPS units to get me where I want to go and this they do very well.
In my humble opinion Magellan does not need your or someone else’s opinion about their products, this was done in market tests well before the product was released.
The old Doc advise “Enjoy life and drink the wine from the half full Glass instead of the half empty one”.
Sorry it upset you Robert … but the truth of the matter is, I bought a GPS, and that GPS performs pretty much flawlessly. It has not gotten me lost as a TomTom did, it is perfect in its quick recalculation utilizing the direction you took if it is enroute, rather than trying to take you back to the original way it computed as being the ONLY way, it gets me where I want to go and is very easy to set, easy to choose prior places as when you are in a hotel and want to find your way back as you are not familiar with the area yet … it does a great job despite the people who love to complain here.
I did not buy an MP3 player, I have one, plus most car radios have them built in so I don’t need an extra one for the car. I do not need to look at photos when I’m driving, so don’t need, nor want, the extra distraction of a photo viewer in a device intended for use in a car. I am a tech rep for a small software company, nothing related to Magellan nor GPS’s, nor mapping, nor public use software even. I do not get a paycheck from Magellan as those who seem to hate Magellan like to imply when someone says they like the Magellan product. It IS a great product. You don’t like it and prefer your brand X … fine, move on, that’s your option. My opinion is just as valid as yours, and no, I am not taking it personally, just stating the fact as you seem to ignore the fact that others can have opinions as well, even though they don’t match yours, and even though they don’t work for the company being rated. Are you on brand X’s payroll trying to convince others that they shouldn’t like brand Y? And yes, I actually did work for a company whose salesmen actually did that, put down other companies modems and stated how great their own was when the company switched to cheap crap that was nothing but problems. I was on the troubleshooting end and could only replace the many faulty ones. That is not my goal here … is it yours though?
I have the true 1475t and really like it. I had returned 2 others:
1st- No TTS. I returned it not knowing about the upgrade, bummer. It was the true 1475t.
2nd- Got another but this time it was the 1470 reboxed in a 1475t box. All worked well but their are differences especially in the address book layout with the 1475 being far superior.
Costco replaced both and I waited, checked serial numbers and got the 1475 finally.
Is it perfect? No. There is a lag on the map but the TTS and chime is accurate. Since I listen more than I look it’s not a big deal.
Another drawback is the traffic cord is very short. i’d get another cord but the traffic option is built into the cord so can’t be done. A coil cord would be nice.
I had 2 Coach leather Palm Pilot zipper pouches left over and this unit fits in just fine protecting the unit.
Otherwise it works flawlessly and I like it. This is my 3rd Magellan. Friends who have Garmin love theirs. Go figure we all made the right decisions for us!
This board was extremely helpful/ valuable in my getting the real 1475t by serial number, upgrades etc.
Thanks to all.
I ordered a replacement Windshield Mount directly from Magellan as mine has become loose in one of the pivot joints. Not sure if it is due to the design of the mount or the weight of the GPS unit.
Does anybody know of a sturdier mount that will work better that the factory one? After all the heavy rains we had in New England the streets are full of potholes which is taking a toll on the bracket mount. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Windshield mount update
My new bracket mount arrived today but when I took a close look at the old mount it was not worn out after all. The pivot joint was loose and all I had to do was to tighten it by turning round knob clockwise. Now I spent $31 on a replacement mount that I didn’t need in the first place. Nonetheless, I will keep it or just in case or install it in my other car.
After reading the many messages about various GPS’s as well as many on Amazon and other sites and looking for a replacement for my 4 year old Garmin Street Pilot I purchased a Magellan 1474T from BJ’s last week for $148 after a $50 instant rebate. I loved the Garmin and traveled all around the country with it and for the most part it worked great. There were issues with the Garmin, which caused me to get a new unit and not a new Garmin. On one trip to Cincinnati the car rental agent gave us printed directions to the hotel we were staying at and indicated it was due East and 20-25 minutes away. I had programed the GPS in advance and set it up and proceeded to follow its instruction. 1 hour and 40 minutes later we arrived at the hotel. The Garmin took us North past Cincinnati then East and finally South to our destination. This was the first time that the Garmin disappointed us with its ridiculous routing. I updated the maps when we got home and made sure that I had the latest firmware. In the past year we have made 3 trips South of our Connecticut home. All 3 times as soon as we get within 5 miles of the Tappan Zee bridge till about 15 miles past it the car icon gets separated from the road and the instructions get strange. with numerous recalculations for no apparent reason. Also when returning to CT from the Philadelphia area the garmin routing to CT is Northwest to Albany NY, then to the Mass turnpike, then to Interstate 91 South to Interstate 95 West to my home. This is 3 and half hours and a couple hundred miles out of the way!!! Totally unacceptable. It makes no difference as to the navigation option of fastest or shortest as they both give the same result. If we didn’t have a paper map the first time to check against we would have followed the directions and waster a lot of time and money. These are major errors and forced me to look at other companies products.
I am testing the Magellan every day and its routing is much better and more controllable than Garmin units. On one route to work from a particular starting point the Garmin always took me on particular route, again it was the same route regardless of the navigation option and it was neither the fastest or shortest and I would ignore it and follow the route that I knew was the fastest. The first time I used the 1475T it directed me exactly on the actual correct route. I programed a trip from Philadelphia to CT and checked the routing and sure enough there was no routing to Albany. It just programmed the correct roads home. This GPS works great and some of the options give it a flexability that Garmin’s and Tom Toms just don’t have.
There are a couple of issues that have been pointed out but they are minor to the actual navigation function. The car icon is a tad behind the actual location but the voice and chime prompts are right on the money and I really don’t look at the GPS when making a turn but at the road, so its not an issue. The traffic ads are brief and small and they are not an issue for me. The car speed calculation is all over the place and I wouldn’t trust it.
One feature that I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere that’s really great is that when following a route where your speed drops to 20% or more below the speed limit the Magellan assumes that you are in a traffic situation and an icon flashes on the left side of the screen. Tapping this brings up a list of detours that you can take to get you back on schedule. This is a great feature in my opinion especially where there is no traffic reporting or you are in a strange area. The interface is superior to the Garmin units and I’m definitely keeping this unit.
Well I have the 1470, I’ve updated it twice, and it still doesn’t work. I will never buy a magellan again. It can’t find a satellite – then keeps asking me if I am indoors. After about 15 minutes it will finally find the satellite. But it’s usually too late. And I live in the middle of Chicago – a major metropolitan area. And I have the traffic adapter, and that is lousy too, doesn’t work – or actually it does, but after about 10 or 15 minutes as well. Not helpful at all.
When the 1470 asks if you are ‘indoors’ – the only option is to check the affirmation box to get back to the screen where it will at least try to acquire the signal. Because I am never indoors, it’s insulting to have to ‘check’ the box.
I would never recommend this product.
Sarah, I’m not trying to defend Magellan, but any GPS can have trouble with reception if you haven’t used it in the last few days, turn it on and start moving before it acquires satellites. Just wanted to share that in case this is what is happening.
Did anyone else try the new app(content manager) and F/W(2.22)?
For those who don’t like ads, you might want to skip 2.22 because it shows them (Red lobster so far) even without the traffic on. It doesn’t bother me but FYI… I didn’t see any doc so I don’t know what else is changed/fixed but you will lose one touch settings – my address book and previous locations were intact.
I just purchased a Buick Lacrosse CXS with a built-in NAV system and I must confess I like my Magellan Roadmate 1475T much better, at least for the time being. The GM system is unnecessarily complicated and the maps are confusing especially the round-a-abouts (rotaries) that are displayed in black and white. However, the XM/Serious traffic is way better than the Roadmate.
So right now I am using the Roadmate as a back-up but primarily for finding POIs. OnStar offers the same service but sometimes I like to do it myself rather than ask an OnStar assistant.