Magellan Maestro 3140 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Review
November 15th, 2009
Magellan Maestro 3140 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Review from David. Wish I hadn’t bought it., I have the pleasure of testing both this unit and the Garmin 370 (basically the Garmin 370 is a bluetooth 360, just with European maps included….and $150 more for me than the 3140).
Comparing both, here are MY experience/conclusions:
1.) 3140 has the brighter/saturated screen (about 2 notches better on a sliding scale–at the expense of battery life, of course) AND *louder/crisper/clearer* (less rattly) speaker (it can be a *BIG* factor if you’re hard of hearing or have a noisy car)………….However, this brightness/saturation is rather moot as strong direct sunlight will do a good job of markedly washing out the screens of both units (still useable though). At night, both screens do the job just fine as they switch to BLACK in “night mode”, so brightness doesn’t factor as much.
2.) 3140 is made of sturdier plastic. Definitely more bulletproof, but at the expense of being a little thicker and heavier. Also, antenna is built-in vs. the garmin’s flip antenna which could be foreseen breaking off at some point.
3.) TTS is less robotic sounding on the 3140. It has only a female voice option, but it’s very natural! Thusly, the pronounciations also are clearer and MORE pleasing (less grating) than the 370.
4.) Touchscreen inputs are easier on the 370 b/c the electronic keyboard is bigger–less input mistakes (note, however, that I’m 6’4″ with large hands). Also, the 370 allows you to scroll around the map with your finger (sort of what like Google maps allows you to do) — *AWESOME* for getting a lay of the land!! The Magellan anchors your map and only allows the typical zoom in/out feature found on most GPS units.
5.) While both use Navteq maps (what Google Maps uses), the 370 has a SLIGHTLY better sense of “intelligently” routing you. This is, of course, on a case-by-case basis of your area (your results will be different than my specific areas)! For instance, going to work in my area of San Jose, the 370 takes you off the highway at the correct exit. The 3140, on the other hand, takes me off the highway an exit early and routes me through the final portion of the expressway to my destination–a good route nonetheless, but it ISN’T “FASTER” than the Garmin’s suggestion (i.e the route I choose all the time) due to the insane streetlight clog-ups during the morning commute (i.e. highway is generally always better than expressway in my area). Regardless, both units will get you to your place in one way or the other…
6.) The 3140 gives you *MORE* flexible access/choices for routing (faster, shorter, more hwy, less hwy, avoid toll roads). Also, the “Detours” function is more customizable as to *WHEN* to route you back onto the freeway (3mi, 5mi, 10mi, 12 mi, custom). The 3140 screen also SPLITS telling you when to get off the freeway–better to have this for sure, but not necessarily better as the Garmin picture routing is simplistically very effective…….BTW, Re-routing calculations are CRISP/Fast on both units.
7.) The 3140 map is more detailed and not as simplified the 370. I like this! But again, not instrumental in getting the job done (Garmin’s philosophy is: less is more). However, more street detail allows you to use your brain on how to guide yourself when the computer will inevitably put you on a ridiculous route or stumble you onto a clogged streetway (which is bound to eventually happen on any GPS!)
8.) Satellite lock is FAAAST (~10-40sec) on 3140…..markedly faster by minutes (~1-3 minutes) than the 370. This difference can make a BIG difference when coming out of a car park in a strange hustle/bustle city. The antenna sensitivity is also *BETTER* on the 3140 by a GOOD margin–surprising, since it’s built-in! In the middle of a huge warehouse store, the 3140 (and other Magellans) had several satellite locks (6-7 sats), while no other unit from any maker aside of the Tomtom (1 sat weak signal) could get a signal. Inside my home, the same is true. The 3140 gets 7-8 satellite locks, the 370 gets about 3 locks. In the car, the Magellan gets more satellite locks as well.
8a.) Satellite *accuracy* is also higher on the 3140. For instance, in my house that’s at the “U” of a dead end street, the 3140 will pick up my location from my house. The 370, on the other hand, thinks I’m at the house on the other side of the “U” of the dead end street and plots a route from that location. Of course, the 370 corrects itself when you get in the car and go on your way…..But still, in one case, when getting on the hwy at a critical multifacted juncture, the 370 mistook a parallel road next to the hwy and guided me on that road giving me confusing misdirections (I used my brain to 2nd-guess the computer’s advice)–it took over a ~3 minutes driving on the hwy for the 370 to correct itself (my wife found that error unforgiveable due to the separation distance of the parallel road to the hwy.)–this type of error hasn’t happened on the 3140 b/c it’s proven to me time and again to be more *PINPOINT*! Another great thing of the 3140…..if you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere, it’s nice to be able to call AAA (for which the Magellan has a handy “all in one” icon with AAA phone #/plot-point data on the screen) and give them EXACT longitude/latitude and not more effy plot points the Garmin gives me.
9.) POIs: I get more hits with the 370 in MY AREA (your results may vary). Not surpisingly, it could be b/c the Garmin has a 6m+ POIs vs. the Magellan’s 4.5m POIs (which is huge regardless & very competitive in the marketplace). HOWEVER, the 3140 does have the AAA Guidebooks which is *FANTASTIC* for roadies!!!! BUT!…The AAA POIs do need to be *INTEGRATED* into the 3140 POI database! Both are accessible only by pressing time wasting *separate* buttons/screens–hopefully, in the future Magellan will address this issue with future software upgrade??!! Magellan are you listening??……So again, it depends on what YOU value most from each of these units. One way or the other, it’s all about tradeoffs folks! If Magellan brings up the POIs to 6m+ in an update and integrates the AAA databse then that would be fantastic!
10.) Bluetooth is gimmicky on both units. Quality of call from both ends ain’t that great–but doable. Battery life takes a good hit when bluetooth is on.
11.) Accessories is better on the 370. The 3140 lacks an AC charger or pleather case, albeit with that $150 price difference you could purchase these things in auction….and then some! BTW, the $30 Garmin dashboard beanbag (portable friction mount) for the Nuvi units is awesome(!)–especially for us Californians who aren’t allowed to suction cup things to the windshield–lest we get a ticket!
12.) Maps can always be upgraded with Garmin and customer service is second-to-none among GPS mfgrs. The Magellan? Where are your European maps? How about upgradeability and more readily **accessible**/knowledgeable customer service? The 3140 does have an SD card slot so I’m sure product is coming out for its use, but as of this writing, I’m not aware of any 2008 Europe maps.
Which leads me as to why I’m choosing the Garmin 370 for MY NEEDS. I travel to Europe on a constant basis and the 370 has the Europe maps included, so my choice, BY DEFAULT, is obvious……..FWIW, to add Garmin Euro maps to your non-370 unit, it costs $300(!!) from Garmin! So if you ever think of roadtripping Europe more than once, it’s *MUCH* better paying the price premium on the 370 over the cheaper 360 (you’ll save money in the long run)………If Magellan had Euro maps, then it’d be a different story–also, hopefully much cheaper(!!) than Garmin’s ridiculous eye-gouging pricing of its maps (indeed, for $300, it’s better then to get a latest technology Europe-specific GPS)!!
If you don’t need Europe maps, then it’s a TOTAL no-brainer to take the cheaper 3140 over a Garmin 350/360. Aside from Garmin’s ~1-2% more sensible routing in certain parts of my area (though LESS satellite accurate leading to errors, as explained above), the basic performance or price premium difference isn’t warranted in the least….and even if they were at the same price, then it would become a matter of which gimmicky side-features you value more….To me, a MARKED advantage to the Magellan–if only for those AAA guides! (who here nowadays doesn’t already have a much better sounding/more functional MP3 player than the Garmin anyway??!)
I have faith Magellan will come out with Europe maps/updates in the Fall. But until then, if you frazzle easily with electronics or need your Europe fix *NOW* (like me) then Garmin will hold your hand much better as a customer….at least for the time being. It all depends on your specific needs and comfort level with these GPS devices.
All in all, the 3140 is an extremely solid, simple to use unit and isn’t shamed in the least by the famed more expensive “Mercedesesque rep” of the Garmin Nuvis.
To check price or purchase Magellan Maestro 3140 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.
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Posted in Magellan Portable Vehicle GPS | Tags: Battery Life, Better Sense, Case Basis, Electronic Keyboard, European Maps, Female Voice, Garmin 370, Google, Google Maps, Gps Magellan, Gps Navigator, Gps Units, Grating, Magellan Maestro 3140, Night Mode, Noisy Car, Notches, Pronounciations, Tts, Voice Option
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