I bought a Magellan Maestro 3100 GPS for a trip I was taking. In the past I had thought GPS products (global positioning system) were not for me until a co-worker showed me his on a business trip. He had the Magellan 2000 and we used it to find a restaurant to go out to eat. After seeing the product in action I was sold, though at that time I didn’t have an immediate need for one… until I had to take a 1,300 mile drive to North Carolina…

I was able to score the Magellan Maestro 3100 from Dell.com for $199 and free shipping (this was about a month and a half ago). The lowest price I could find anywhere else was $240 at that time so I also felt like I was getting a good price which helped me go through with the purchase. I did not print out any directions for my journey to North Carolina and instead only brought the GPS system. Let me say that if you have never experienced a GPS system it is pretty amazing. The unit gave me step by step directions on how to get to my destination. It shows you a map on the screen and a triangle represents you, and you move along the map as you drive. And if you run into traffic, no worries, you hit the “detour” button and it will reroute you around the traffic. The map displays different locations, such as gas stations, parks, railroad tracks, bodies of water and more. When you initially enter your destination into the system it allows you to select different methods for getting there (i.e. Shortest Time, Shortest Distance, etc…). While you are driving it will tell you what city you are in, how fast your car is going (which is pretty amazing), how many minutes you have left to reach your destination, what direction (north, south, etc..) you are traveling, and more. You also have the option of selecting “points of interest”. With this option you can select a category, such as restaurants, and it will tell you almost every single restaurant that is near your immediate location and how far away that restaurant is from you. The other categories are entertainment, gas stations, shopping locations, etc… Or you have the option of typing in a place, such as Taco Bell, and it will list out the closest 15 Taco Bells. When you are driving the system “talks” to you to warn you when you will need to take a new road/highway. As an example, it will say “Need to take Exit 15 in 2 miles” and it will warn you again when you are within a half mile of the exit. So no matter where you are, you will never be lost. No more wondering when you’ll hit the next gas station, or if there is a rest stop coming up anytime soon. I have not tried any other GPS devices from the other companies that manufacture them (such as Garmin, Tom Tom, etc…) so I cannot compare the Maestro 3100 to anyone’s GPS product out there, but I will say that I am extremely happy with this purchase and if you’re the type of person who travels a lot, always get lost, or just likes to know what is around I would highly recommend this product. If you are hesitant about spending the money you could wait until Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) when all the retail stores have HUGE sales. I’m sure you’ll be able to score a GPS unit that sells today for $200 for probably around $125-150 on Black Friday (if not less). If you have any specific questions about the Magellan Maestro 3100 post a comment and I’ll answer them for you.

Maestro 3100 on Amazon for $187

Official product specs:

• Sophisticated and simple - Bold, streamlined touch-screen buttons minimize steps to locate a destination for stress-free navigation
• Turn-by-turn voice and visual guidance - Enter virtually any address or point of interest and get there quickly and safely
• Precision navigation - SiRFstarIII chipset and integrated multidirectional antennae offer superior GPS accuracy using the Wide Area Augmentation System
• Graphical interactive maps - Maps and destinations for the 48 contiguous United States (Alaska or Hawaii not included) are built-in so you can travel the country and always know where you are and where you’re going
• Birds eye 3D view - Clearly see your surroundings in 3D or 2D
• Rechargeable battery - Navigate while driving without plugging the cigarette lighter adapter in
• SmartDetour - Customize the settings to automatically route you around sudden slow freeway traffic
• Auto Re-route - Never miss a turn and quickly get back on track whenever you take a detour
• Auto night view - Adjusts color and contrast for easy night viewing
• QuickSpell^™ - Easily enter addresses with unique auto-complete feature that even corrects spelling
• Complete mobility - Transfer to any vehicle with no installation
• 750 thousand points of interest (POI) - Easily find gas stations, restaurants, ATMs, airports, parks and more with smart location search by name, category and region
• Interactive POI icons - Touch an onscreen icon for a nearby destination; see phone number and get an instant route
• Customizable route method - Shortest time, shortest distance, least use or most use of freeways, avoid toll roads
• Route exclusion - Select streets and freeways to avoid so you can get there on the streets, roads and highways that you prefer
• 4 helpful views - Map View, 3D map, TrueView™^™ 3D split screen and Maneuver List
• Address Book - Create and store personal points of interest for easy reoccurring trips
• Instant locate - One touch shows your location; quickly advise roadside assistance or emergency services
• Optional AC adaptor - Available for purchase at select dealers and at magellanGPS.com