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Magellan Roadmate 6000T GPS

by davidlap 25. September 2007 11:41

This is my first GPS unit and overall I am pleased with the product. It is interesting to use it locally to observe the routes the GPS unit suggests vs. the way I think is best. If I have the unit default to maximize use of highways then it will send me to the closer freeway entrance even though it adds several extra miles of driving time.

It has had trouble in downtown Boston keeping its position. I am assuming this is due to interference/reflections from the tall buildings.

Now that I have used it several times I realize that it is not a total replacement to having a good set of written directions and maps. If you really need to be somewhere it is good to have a backup.

A few other notes:

On a several hundred mile trip during the warm weather the unit overheated and would lock up. Turning the power off and placing it out of the sunlight during the long highway stretches resolved the problem.
There is a coax connector on the base of the unit that connects to the mounting bracket. In most instances when I remove the GPS the outer sheath of the connector remains in the GPS exposing the delicate center pin. I can move the sheath and place it back by hand but it seems like it is only a matter of time before the pin will be damaged. The connector is for an external antenna which I am not using so this does not really impact me but it is a poor design.

While on the subject of design I would really like to have a few minutes with the Human Interface designers. To turn the unit on you have to press the on button for 10 seconds. Waiting 10 seconds though is a LONG time when you are in a hurry to get going and you know you are going to have to wait even longer for the GPS to sync up with the satellites. The 10 seconds most likely stems from the fact that the button is not recessed in any way and if you put it in a backpack or bag it would likely turn on by accident. This is just another example of the software guys bailing out the hardware guys for a bad design. Instead of the 10 second option I would have had the user hold down 2 buttons simultaneously to turn the unit on.

Turning the unit off is similar. To fully shut it off you have to press the on/off button for 10 seconds. If you press the button for 3 seconds you put the unit into low power sleep mode. Note that once the unit figures out that you want it to power down it gives you a 5 second countdown to change your mind where if you press any button including the touch screen it will cancel the shutdown. This is particularly frustrating as the unit has buttons on the top, front and sides making the unit difficult to hold without accidentally pushing a button. It’s like getting the “Are you sure?” dialog box.

While the on/off issue is relatively minor overall it is certainly something that I will consider in my next GPS purchase. I would also look for a unit that offers companion mapping software for my PC that would allow me to set up routes on my desktop and then transfer them to my GPS. It is far easier to customize a route on the desktop than on the GPS. Note that on the Magellen if you choose to eliminate a road from a route and then you change the optimization from something like “Max use of freeways” to “Least use of freeways” the GPS may put that road back into the route. There is no way to permanently eliminate sections of a route for a given destination.

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Magellan Roadmate 6000T GPS

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