UPDATE: Read our Magellan Maestro 4700 review
Over a month ago we broke the news that the Magellan Maestro 4700 had cleared the FCC. Well today its been officially announced, and here are some of the highlights:
- A second screen has been added for the OneTouch menu, allowing you to store a dozen more favorite locations
- A noise-cancelling microphone aims to improve Bluetooth sound quality
- The Maestro 4700 adds “Predictive Traffic,” meaning the unit looks at historical traffic data when determining routes; this is similar to TomTom’s IQ Routes
- “Find your car” remembers your location; handy for those mega-mall parking lots
The Magellan Maestro 4700 lists for $299.99 and is available immediately. And if it’s as good as the RoadMate 1470 I recently reviewed, Magellan could have a winner here.
Here is the full news release.
About Rich Owings
How does this compare to the Garmins?
I am very sorry to hear about the new tax.
I have the 4700 and is on the mark about 10′ on – better than Garmin which is at 30′ +
What I like about the 4700 vs the Garmin is that if you take another rout it tracks that new rout in the existing rout instead of like the Garmin which keeps wanting to recalculate and a lot of time is wasted while driving. I have always used a Garmin but after owning the Magellan Maestro 4700 I will not be going back to Garmin. One extra note the software updates for Magellan is half that of the Garmin which is a Big Plus i my Book. One more note -it doesn’t have a mp3 installed in it but I am after a GPS not a mp3 player.
In general, I think Garmins are better. But Magellan has made some amazing strides lately. I’d have to compare the price to a similarly featured model.
Re: the tax. Thank. I’m hoping we survive it.
thanks!
I am still shopping! I am trying to understand the wide range of prices – I don’t want to spend a lot of money but I don’t want a hobbled unit either…
I guess the 265wt is the best compromise but it is still expensive
Plus it has been a long time since Garmin came out with a new model and I am afraid they do so right after I buy!
Garmin has just released the 1200, 1300 and 1400 series nuvis, but unless you want the ability to use pedestrian / mass transit maps for major cities, it isn’t worth it.
If the 12/13/1400 series is cheaper, go for it. The only feature you might give up is speed limit display, which isn’t found on some of them, so check that carefully if its important to you.
does the new magellan 4700 caculate fast the routes? what aboute when i use the road avoidance option does it work as slow as the 3250-which is very slow
I haven’t tested it so I can’t say.
we tried various brands years ago, and went with a magellan 860T. Time to move up, so tried all the brands again. after test driving, (upstate NY to Long Island & back), NONE of them warn you properly about getting ready for exiting a highway. Tomtom:”ahead left, then right, then left”. ?????
Garmin & tomtom have bells & whistles to drool over, but, keep in mind, it’s not a video game. If you want dependable directions, go with magellan.
the 4700 recalculates as quickly as the other brands. All the brands hate DH’s voice, but I have no problem with voice recognition. Never misses.
Shoddy holder, no simulator, no map color changing, (meh,it’s good enough as is), no voice changes, but, as long as it tells me correct information , IN A TIMELY MANNER, clealy, loud enough, what of it?
I wish that the voice recognition would allow you to control zoom, because with the “auto zoom”(instead of split screen, it zooms in when you are at an intersection), sometimes it doesn’t zoom out enough.
Not perfect, but at least, it didn’t reboot & come up in a foreign language while trying to exit the freeway, like our other brand trial did.
Thanks for taking the time to share!
Why can’t I use Trip Planner on the 4700 like I did on my Maestro 5310? I could put in all the addresses in a route and then optimize them and it would set up my trip in the shortest distances?
From the manual:
1. From the Main Menu, tap the Go To icon.
2. Tap Address, POI, Previous, Address Book, Intersection, or City Center.
3. Select a new destination as described earlier.
4. If a route already exists, a new screen is displayed with Add Destination options (Replace Destination, Go
There Now, or Add to Trip).
• Replace Destination: the previous route is cleared, and a new route is calculated with the selected location
as the destination.
• Go There Now: the selected location is inserted in the route as the next destination.
• Add To Trip: the selected location becomes the new destination with the previous destination as the last via
point to reach.
5. The Multiple Destination List is displayed.
6. Tap on one of the addresses to move it up or down in the
list.
7. Tap Optimize to optimize the route.
8. Tap Add to put another destination in the route.
9. When done, tap (the check mark icon).
10.A screen appears with the address of the next destination in
the trip, the estimated time of arrival (ETA), the distance to travel, and the routing method (e.g. Fast).
11.(optional) Tap Options if you want to change the routing method or the vehicle type.
12.Tap the large GO button on the right to return to the Map screen and start navigating.
i tested the garmin 1490t and the magellin 4700 and liked the feechers om the magellen better and i lige it will give me suggestions om what routs to take
Has any one tried the 2.42 firmware update? Does it fix the lagging issue from 2.20 and previous firmwares? Magellan lists the following for the 2.42 firmware release:
* More accurate GPS positioning
* Faster Signal Acquisition
* Improved Traffic Reporting
* Improved Routing
http://www.magellangps.com/support/notes.asp?supportID=997