The best unit for $200 I have ever seen

There are lots of units out there for $200. But when you actually use it, you realize why it costs $200. Then you pickup Maestro 3100. It looks rather simple. Power it on outside and GPS locks on quickly. You scroll the screen and it pans fast. Then I started to wonder, what's the difference between this unit and others?

So I recently purchased Nuvi 370, and after using both units and writing the Garmin review, I was tossed as to what to say in my Nuvi review.

First of all, I had a good reason to buy Nuvi 370, (European maps). Granted traffic capability, and Bluetooth is handy. But I can't think of a reason why someone should not look at Maestro 3100. I am shocked that it's not flying off the shelves.

As in my Nuvi review, what makes for a good GPS comes down to two things.
1. Good GPS chipset (SIRF III)
2. Good maps (Navteq)
And Maestro 3100 has both.

Satellite tracking is flawless in this unit. SIRF III kicks in and does it's job.

So why would you pay more for Nuvi 3 series, which others have said “it's better”.

Well, some of the directions in Nuvi is said to be better. I think it's slightly better as well. Let's look at the interface. The button in the bottom corner to expand on time is a bit hard to get to, but besides that, everything else is great. In fact, I like the way Maestro does search better then the Nuvi.

There are few things lacking from 3100 that may convince you to go with Nuvi
1.Lack of text to speech. Though you can always go with bigger 4xxx series.
2.It's a bit of a pain to take the unit off the auto bracket.
3.Battery life could be longer (3 hrs vs. 6 hours in Nuvi), and no case provided.

Then again, there are few things that you will like over Nuvi
1.Better search interface
2.Better detour capability. (Automatic detour if your car slows down for a interval you can choose from.)

If you plan to keep this unit as a dedicated car unit, and you can live without text to speech then this is the unit.

The only 'flaw' I have discovered with this unit is that on couple of occasions, the unit claimed an address was on the wrong side of the road. I'm shocked as it's using a Navteq maps.

Pros:
Great price, wonderful interface, great search interface, and nice detour capabilities

Cons:
Lack of text to speech, unit is hard to remove from the car attachment, and battery life is too short to be used as a 'walking' gps.

Summary:
In short, if you are on tight budget, this is the unit you should be looking at. I have been taunted by others that I didn't buy a Nuvi on the first try. But after trying both of these guys out, Maestro does almost as good a job as a Nuvi 3xx series at almost half the price. And because, I think, Garmin is crippling 3xx series to promote the 6xx series, Maestro does certain things even better then Nuvi 3xx series. These include better POI searches based on your headed, better address search interface, and detour design.

It's true that Nuvi will have more bells and whistles. But you are paying hefty price for the difference. If you have a chance, do give Maestro a try. Magellan did a good job and deserves a chance. You can find this unit for under $200 on sale at times and it is a gem at this price.