Costco’s New Electric Car Opportunity
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Will new legislation get the big box retailer to invest in electric car charging stations again?Unusual Ways to Save Money at Costco
You've got to spend money to make money. Sometimes, you also have to spend money to save money . Does buying a Costco (or other warehouse club) membership actually save you money? Well, it depends. It depends on whether or not you need to buy what they are selling, whether it makes sense to buy large quantities of that item, and if you can consume or store the item before it goes bad. For a lot of people, myself included, a Costco membership makes sense. We've already discussed 5 ways to saveMagellan Maestro 5310 5 Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Magellan Maestro 5310 5 Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
The Maestro 5310 delivers a superior navigation experience, in an ultra-wide 5″ screen that makes it easy for customers to enter their destination and go. With large icons and buttons, it is now easier than ever for drivers to get to their destination. Advanced features include integrated live traffic alerts, a highly intuitive user interface that guides drivers to their destination with on-screen prompts, 6 million points of interest, and more. Built-in Navteq Maps includes pre-loaded maps of the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. The included Live Traffic Alert service comes with a free 3-month subscription, and provides both real-time traffic updates, and reroutes drivers when an alternate route is available. SmartDetour prompts drivers to route around heavy or stopped freeway traffic Exit POIs make it easy to access commonly used POIs while driving on the freeway AAA TourBook travel information for the United States and Canada AAA member Roadside Assistance details AAA Show Your Card & Save member discount locations Atlas III GPS Chipset 5-10 meters GPS Accuracy 1900mAH Li-Ion rechargeable battery, up to 3 hours Route Calculator Methods - Fastest Time, Shortest Distance, Least Use of Freeways, and Most Use of Freeways Option to Avoid All Toll Roads Basic VantagePoint Support Dimensions - Height 3.61 x Width 5.64 x Depth 0.79 (9.18×14.34×2.03cm) Weight - 6.9 ounces (196 grams)
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Star 5310 Customer Service is Crap on a Cracker
Sirs,
I recently purchased a 5310 GPS on 10/30/2008 at Costco for my HVAC business and I was shocked to learn the 5310 GPS unit with a production date of 10/01/2008 has a map that is from 2006/2007 and the update due in the first quarter of 2009 will cost $[...] more, and would not be provided for me at no cost, I learned this after speaking to your resolution specialists.
This is my second unit I also own a 4040, I did buy the upgrade for this unit 6 months ago.
Any reasonable person would expect to receive the latest software with a new unit, the Garmen units we own are provided with the most current software at NOCHARGE, so when I return this unit even though I like it because of its intuitive capability you have no one to blame but your poor customer service and unrealistic company policies.
So in closing I repeat the 5310 and their Customer Service is Crap on a Cracker
J.Holt
1 Star Brand New and Doesn’t Work
I bought a Magellan 5310 today. It will be going back to Costco tomorrow. When I set it up and pushed the On button, I got a screen about safety while driving. I then pushed OK and nothing happened. It would never go to another screen. Then when I tried to shut it off it stayed on.
Even with the power off of it, it won’t shut down. So, it’s back in the box with the screen lit up like the middle of day. That will surely wear the battery down to nothing. This is my second attempt at buying a GPS unit (previously I bought a Garmin and it gave me nothing but problems too). Obviously, the technology isn’t there to produce a product that is of value to consumers. It’s disappointing because my wife really needed it for a trip she’s taking tomorrow. But I’m not buying one ever again. After two tries, I’m not happy with this particular technology or the Magellan product. I really thought that buying top of the line this time would make a difference. It didn’t.
4 Stars Buyer Beware - Good GPS Though
I purchased this unit after evaluating several different vendors and models. It was exactly what I wanted however - PLEASE NOTE THE UNIT DOES NOT HAVE BLUETOOTH NOR VOICE COMMANDS. Amazon has yet to change the descriptions as someone else noted this months ago. The unit works well and I have done the free OS upgrade . Just be aware that Amazons prices fluctuate on this unit - I paid $380 and two days later it was $349 now it’s $352 so check often as they do not do price adjustments.
4 Stars my purchase
i first ordered freom another site. they just tryed to sell me items to go with my gps . i told them no i just wanted my gps. of course after that they were out of stock. amazon shipped the gps .i received it in a short time i am very happy with it bob
4 Stars Not Bad
I purchased this item and have been using it regularly, it tends to try to send me on some strange routes some times with many turns but when I had absolutely no idea where I was going it was usually fairly good.
Had a couple of addresses that were not located correctly and it sometimes does not know specific towns if they are too small.
Graphics are good, traffic alerts seem generally pointless to me and not usefull.
Unit does recalculate routes preety quickly and has been a lifeline on those side street for the most part.
Haven’t used any others so no comparison from me.
Magellan RoadMate 1212 3 5 Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Magellan RoadMate 1212 3 5 Inch Portable GPS Navigator
The Magellan RoadMate 1212 offers budget-conscious consumers basic, fully functional auto navigation at a low price point. Its stylish, pocketsize design includes a new, intuitive user interface that guides drivers to their destination via voice and on-screen prompts. You can easily search for restaurants, hotels, airports, gas stations, and more. Results include telephone numbers and addresses. An integrated rechargeable battery enables drivers to operate the Magellan RoadMate 1212 for up to three hours while away from their vehicle. Recharge it while driving via the included vehicle power adapter. SmartDetour prompts drivers to route around heavy or stopped freeway traffic Text-to-speech tells drivers the street name of their next turn 3-5 meters GPS Accuracy Up to 3 hours rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery Life 64MB Built-in Memory with SD Card and USB 1.0 Slot expansion United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada Map Coverage SayWhere Text-to-Speech Dimensions - Height 3.30 x Width 3.63 x Depth 0.69 (8.40×9.22×1.75cm) Weight - 4.9 ounces (140 grams)
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Entry level, but it works! And look how we can geocache with it.
Costco in Mesa, Arizona had a Black Friday sale for $100 on the Magellan Roadmate 1212 yesterday. My wife and I were out to get it at 9:00 a.m. On the same outing we saw and picked up a refurbished Magellan Roadmate 3100 at Pep Boys for $69. So we tried them both out and discovered the refurbished 3100 didn’t pronounce the street names (Text-to-Speech), and though it had something like 160 million Points of Interest vs. the 6 million in the 1212, the 1212 had our local Target store, while the 3100 had no Targets within 8 miles. So we returned the 3100 and kept the 1212.
One thing we noticed in testing the 2 devices was that Text-to-Speech really makes for safer driving and is reassuring when you get off course. We turned into a neighborhood and the 1212 got us right back onto course via a way unknown to us. Hearing it say “Turn left on Capri Street” was very reassuring to us, and was the deciding factor in returning the 3100 in spite of the price difference. (I also knew the 1212 was newer technology).
Lucky us! I learned later that day online that the refurbished units aren’t eligible for a one time map update. We would not have been happy customers under that scenario.
So I thought it would be neat to see whether we could do any Geocaching with the Magellan Roadmate 1212, which is a car gps, NOT a trail GPS. Initially I was discouraged. Nowhere in the menus is the least hint of the ability to enter Lat/Lon destinations. I got online and read the users manual, which mentioned the ability to create Points of Interest on my PC and import them with an SD card. That intrigued me because the SD slot had been taped over at the factory. I installed the included CD and sure enough, got a program called Magellan POI File Editor. With it I created the following:
-File: Geocaches.mgln
-Category: Home Geocaches
-Point of Interest
Then I copied the .mgln file for it from the My Documents folder to the SD card and stuck the card into the RM 1212.
In the RM 1212 I did the following:
-Cancel out of any current route
-Points of Interest
-My POIs
-Change POI File
-Select a POI File
-Pick my file “Geocaches” from SD card
-Choose categories to display (Home Geocaches)
-Go back
-Select category from file (Home Geocaches)
-Pick Nearest
-Select the POI I entered on my PC
-Save
I’m still not sure how I got it to exist in my address book once I removed the SD card. That was weird. But it does.
Sorry I’m not more of an expert. But I’m pretty happy that I can geocache reasonably with this entry level Roadmate 1212 from Magellan.
Other stuff:
-Vehicle mount: good
-Car charger: good
-Wall charger: none
-USB cable: none
-Speech volume and quality: good
-Navigation: OK (well, astonishing), but keep in mind we are in Arizona, where that’s not much of a challenge. Your mileage in the eastern US may vary.
-Display: bright and clear
-Menus and controls: easy, simple, and optimized
Should I have given this 5 stars?
4 Stars Great, inexpensive and a little odd…
I purchased the 1212 from a big box store recently and so far I like it. It is very easy to use and the interface (Windows CE Core 5.0) is easy to use and the voice direction is clear and easy to understand. There are a few quirks though….
1. Sometimes the system lags when you press a button and you have to press it again or wait.
2. If you enter into a submenu from the map or route screen it is difficult to get back to the original map menu. Though the system seems to still keep you on track and let you know about turns etc…
3. The included software link and software on the installation package are not very useful. You get a standard PDF version of the user manual which contains a good amount of information on the operation of the product and was useful. The software POI (Points of Interest) editor allows you to enter additional points of interest and upload them to the GPS. Only one problem with this software. Unless you know the longitude and latitude coordinates of the place you want to add you won’t be able to and the software is very basic in that you can only enter known information and there is no way to look it up or select it. Other software Vantage Point and Mapsend and mapsend manager are not for this unit and therefore do not work.
4. This may not be a problem with the routing algorithms of the software but it insist that I take a turn into a oneway street to get to my house which is not possible. On the upside is that if you turn around and go another direction the unit quickly calculates a new route for you. Same thing it does if you miss a turn. As a side note: the maps for this unit according to the magellan site are from 2007 and the site lists the unit as a new product and there are no updates for it. I have not contacted magellan asking them about an update but the other products seem to have one so eventually we’ll see one for this one.
In the box:
The unit comes with a suction cup windshield attachment kit and a power cord to plug into your car lighter. If you want to connect it to your PC you will have to purchase a separate usb to usb mini cable.
Some other neat features it has..
-You can edit (from the unit) and add your own points of interest.
-The unit contains a SD card that you can backup and restore saved information on.
-the unit can be carried with you around town and so if you are walking it will tell you where you are, direction etc…
- the screen has “+” and “-” buttons to easily adjust the topview detail. again the lag sometimes hits here.
-It is sensitive to where I am moving and even vertical direction when moving around just inside my home office here.
-If you touch and drag your finger on the screen it will move the map accordingly though with a slight lag.
When purchasing this unit I also looked a the comparable Tom Tom 130, I chose this unit because the text talk (where it speaks the street, destination and road names). The tom tom unit had that as an add on for ~$100
All in all for the less than $200 that I paid for this unit I think I got my money’s worth and I like the unit so far. Only time will tell if my needs out grow or the maps become dated too quickly.
I you are looking for a unit under $200 and are willing to put up with its little quirks then you will be quite happy using this little gem.
One thing you might consider before purchasing any GPS unit is to figure out where you want to install it. I have not found the perfect position but I am thinking that on the drivers side near the door on the windshield near the dash. So I would have to operate it left handed. But that seems the most out of the way. I also tried installing it way up by the rear view mirror but it seems a little close to my head to read easily. The windshield attachment is fully adjustable and is about 6 inches long fully extended.
5 Stars Does amazing things for such a low price, and VERY easy to use
I’m not a GPS expert (this is my first one), but from what I have read in reviews and seen at stores, the Roadmate 1212 is awesome, especially for the price ($80 at BestBuy on Black Friday). It’s hard to find a GPS that speaks street names for under $200 (most in this $ range only speak the turns - I found a Garmin 260WT for $189 that did this, but that was on a super sale). Don’t be fooled by the specs on the Roadmate 1200 - it does not have spoken street names, just turns. The 1212 is the least expensive model that calls out the street names. The touch screen is very responsive, menus are easy and intuitive, and the features for this price range are great (points of interest mapping, POI off of highway exits, auto-rerouting if you miss a turn, accurate routing, easy detour and rerouting during current trip plan, etc.). 3.5″ is plenty big so don’t be fooled into thinking you need 4.3″. In fact, bigger is not better, especially if you mount on your windshield - you want to be able to view the road.
All-in-all, if you haven’t had a GPS, or even if you have and you just want something relatively simple and that works, I highly recommend the Magellan Roadmate 1212. The 1212 is a great value, nice features for this price range (e.g., spoken street names), and very easy to use.