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Testing
Everyday Use: Day-to-day use seemed to be this unit’s sweet spot. Though directions weren’t really needed to get to work, the traffic alerts and ETA both came in handy occasionally. But if I wanted to run a few quick errands after work, I was able to quickly enter the stops I wanted to make either by their address or the POI feature and get an optimized route on the way back home, saving me a lot of time. These small jaunts with multiple stops were handled very well by the Magellan.
Trip Use: The 2230T-LM handled longer trips fairly well too. Directions are clear on where to exit and enter freeways and the ETA and traffic alerts again proved useful. The Junction View feature replaces the main map with a 3D representation of the freeway, displaying arrows on the lanes that you need to be in at a junction. This helps to simplify complicated junctions between two large freeways, but for some reason it would also pop up at most toll booths as well which became annoying.
The 2230 has one major issue though, it’s slow. Many actions feel like they take much longer than they should. Sometimes acquiring the signal after a reboot is very fast, other times it takes up to 10-20 seconds. After you decide where you want to go and how you would like to get there, it can take up to 10 seconds or so for it to build you a route and display it on the screen. If you are making multiple short stops this can get annoying quickly. Using the 2D map seems to lessen the problem, I would assume due to decreased strain on the processor.
This issue is especially noticeable when you make a wrong turn. If you deviate from the course the GPS wants you to take, it is slow to respond and calculate a new route.
The menus are very clear and not at all confusing. All of the most used features are within just a few clicks. One thing that I both loved and hated about the 2230 was the screen. It is a good size, large enough to clearly read directions but small enough that you can just ignore it and it wont distract you when you don’t need it. The issue is the brightness. At the max setting it is easy to read even in direct sunlight. However, at night it is too bright, even on the lowest setting. It becomes a bit distracting and I could see it causing some eye strain over long trips.
The key feature of these new units from Magellan is the Landmark Guidance. I found that it did help somewhat around town. Along with the usual spoken directions, I was able to easily find all of my destinations and keep my eyes on the road at all times. But the spoken directions were a bit wonky sometimes, alerting me to an upcoming turn later than I would have liked and counting down the miles to an intersection only to tell me to continue straight to another intersection.
Great… Now, I have an idea to buy this for my car. Thanks for your post.
I have already Magellan product the Watch GPS one. It’s so nice, I’m comfortable wherever I am, and I’m sure this Magellan Roadmate 2230T-LM it’s also nice and really users friendly. I want to have this for my car very soon.
Had 3 Garmins. 1st one died in the middle of a trip (returned), 2nd one also had iessus, (returned) 3rd one flew off dash, hit who knows what and cracked the screen (not Garmin’s fault, but they want $99 to fix ,only had for about 6 months, I guess I understand but not happy about it) Bought a new different one instead for a little more. So after nothing but problems with Garmin, I chose this one. Boots up FAST! Garmin does not. With Garmin you can drive for blocks before it catches up That is very annoying. LOVE the traffic feature on the Magellan. Gotten me out of more than one traffice jam in Chicago. Often gives more than option, how far do you want to go out of your way? The lane assist is helpful too. So far the difference in time of sitting in traffic or taking a new suggested route is less than 15 minutes or so. If you have ever sat in Chicago traffic and gone a whopping 3 miles an hour or like a parking lot, you will know how nice that is. You may spend way more time getting to your destination when you sit in traffic. The unit talks a fair amount, and tells you EXACTLY where to turn. If you have several options in a city, this is also helpful. For my money, this is a much better buy than Garmin.
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