Author: Ken Payne

 

This is part two in a series of articles reviewing the use and installation of a Magellan Ford F150 navigation system. Part one, the installation procedure, can be found by clicking here.

One of the features I like about the unit is that it looks like it belongs on the truck, the texture and fitting look OEM, and the curvature of the housing matches the driver’s dash area.

Notice the satellite icon on the right of the Magellan’s screen? When you power on the unit for the first time it will take a few minutes to sync up with the GPS satellites and find your location. If you leave the unit off for several days it may occasionally go through this syncing process. The accuracy is very good and it nails my home’s mailbox within about 15 feet and the shop (pictured above) by about 20 feet.

The setup procedure involves entering your home address (it will store up to 3 addresses for different drivers or locations) and then you’re all set to go. The unit is pre-programmed with maps of the USA and Canada, along with 7 million points of interest.

If you don’t travel often or you don’t mind using maps you might ask yourself “why do I need a navigation system?” Well, whether you’re looking for a different place to eat, trying to find an ATM, want to find a new place to fish or the wife wants to find new places to shop (!) -- the points of interest can really simplify day to day driving.

My first test of the unit involved using the points of interest to find a nice place to eat dinner with the wife. The Magellan easily solves a common dilemma for some couples: You want to go out on date but you’re tired of the same old places so you drive with no specific destination in mind, wasting your time, convincing yourself you’re going to find someplace new and the next thing you know you’re back at the same old places. I decided seafood would be a nice change of pace…

Step 1: Push the points of interest button.

Step 2: Choose your location method. You can spell the name or select by category. I choose by category. If you choose to spell the name the unit has a handy feature to simply input of the name using the touch screen. As you start entering letters the unit is searching matching entries at the same time. With each character you enter the selection of characters is narrowed down to only matching entries.

Step 3: Select “Restaurant”.

Step 4: Here’s where it gets really handy. You can search by distance, city, name or cuisine type. I selected “Cuisine Type.”

Step 5: I selected “Seafood”. (Note: The list of cuisines is large and I’ve used it to find many interesting places located in the county that I never knew existed.)

The unit will take about 1-3 seconds to give you a selection of matches. You then select a restaurant and mapping options. Mapping options include Shortest Time, Shortest Distance, Lease Use of Freeways and Most Use of Freeways. Additionally, in on of the configuration menus you can select whether you want the system to avoid toll roads (not a problem where I live).

I found a seafood place about 15 miles from away and proceeded to drive. The unit gives step-by-step visual and verbal directions. It will announce any turns required before you arrive at intersections. With highways it tends to give much more advance notice (probably due to the speeds involved). A chime will ring just as you arrive at an intersection which requires a turn. 20 minutes later the wife and I were sitting down to enjoy a nice meal at a new place.

I put this unit through its paces and purposefully tried to mess it up. Here’s the great thing: you can’t get lost even if you try. Pass up an intersection you needed to turn and shortly the unit will tell you to make a u-turn or will provide alternate directions back to your destination. Drive 10 miles off the route it gave you and it will continuously recalculate directions to get you to the destination, including “detour” style instructions if you drive more than 5 miles off the original course. No matter how many detours or incorrect turns you make it will re-calculate the route, whether the destination is a point of interest or an address you enter.

Overall I am impressed with the unit’s abilities. Its screen is readable even on the brightest of days. The computer generated voice is accurate and easy to understand. Naturally there are some streets will to mispronounce due to local variations in pronunciation but not enough to make a difference. Driving directions are impeccable and I’ve even found short-cuts to destinations I’ve driven to for years. My only complaint is that in a fast growing metro area like Atlanta the points of interest are out of date the day after they are published! This is a problem with any navigation system, there’s no way (yet) to have them 100% up-to-date because mapping data providers don’t provide real-time data. You’ll be able to get the unit updated periodically through your local Ford dealership if that’s an issue for you.

If you’re looking for a great unit with OEM-style looks you can’t go wrong with the Magellan Integrated Ford F150 Navigation System.

(Next month we'll review the details of the advanced features.)