The 2200T just came out this fall (2006), so many of the online review summaries have not adequately compared it to the competition. The most direct competition comes from the Tom Tom One (same price range), although many may be considering paying more money for the Garmin Nuvi 360 as well.

I took a look at the Nuvi 360 in the store, and it was quite flimsy feeling compared to the 2200T. The Nuvi felt a bit cheap compared to the very solid feel of the 2200T. Considering the Nuvi's significantly higher price and large overlap of key features, I didn't consider the Nuvi further. Your mileage may vary, but the Nuvi seemed like a poor value.

The Tom Tom One has gotten a lot of praise, and I'm sure it's a good product, but most of the online reviews were written before the 2200T was widely available. The reasons that I chose the 2200T over the Tom Tom are:

1. Spoken street names. Often called "text to speech," the 2200T actually says the street names when giving directions ("Turn Left on Main Street") so you can keep your eyes on the road (and look for the street sign). The Tom Tom just says "Turn Left" and you either have to trust that it means the next possible left turn, or you have to take your eyes off of the road to find the street name on the the screen. And on the Tom Tom website it doesn't appear that the name of the street that you should turn onto is always displayed on that map.

2. Display information. The 2200T always displays above the map the name of the street you are on AND below the map the name of the street you will turn on next. You can always find that information quickly. The Tom Tom only displays below the map the name of the street that you are currently on: there is no fixed display of the street (or exit) coming up (a big oversight in my view). You have to wait until you get close to it to see it on the map itself. This can be a problem if you need to get into an exit lane or turning lane well before the turn--the Tom Tom will not give you adequate information to do that.

3. Display information (part II). The 2200T shows a detailed view of the intersection at the upcoming turn as you approach it: this clearly diagrams any tricky traffic flow that you may have to navigate, and it can appear on half the screen while the standard map remains on the other half. In a sense, the 2200T walks you through the turn, which can be extremely useful when street layouts and traffic flow are complex and unfamiliar (exactly why you buy these things in the first place). The Tom Tom only has the standard map view, so it doesn't provide the extra detail that the 2200T does (it's not even a view that you can manually call up).

4. Interface design. The 2200T has a very easy to understand design. Many extra bits of information are accessible by pressing different buttons on the map screen. Press the readout of distance to the next turn, for example, and it repeats the last verbal instruction. Or press the symbol for the next turn in the bottom left, and it shows a whole list of the turns for the route. The Tom Tom also has a friendly interface, but the online reviews that I saw didn't credit the 2200T with also being good.

5. Expandable. The 2200T can be expanded to include off-road topographic maps (when Magellan introduces these in the next couple of months). The Tom Tom only has maps for roads, and Tom Tom has no expansion plan to include topo maps.

6. Backup and restore without a PC. The 2200T will backup (and restore) all of your stored data (addresses, additional points of interest) to an SD memory card. No connection to a computer required. The Tom Tom needs you to have a computer with their software installed in order to backup and restore.

7. Import Points of Interest (POI) from all standard formats. The PC (Windows only) software for the 2200T reads all of the standard file formats (including XML) for Points of Interest. So if you want to pull a dataset off of the internet (for example, if you are into geocaching), the 2200T software can show them on the map. The Tom Tom does also have the ability to add data points, but it's unclear from their literature whether all of the standard formats are supported.

8. Battery life. The 2200T has an eight-hour battery life, so you can really use it all day outside of the car (if you're walking around an unfamiliar city, for example, or if you get the upcoming topographic map upgrade for off-road use while hiking or fishing). The Tom Tom One has only a two-hour nominal battery life, and the manufacturer's estimates are usually optimistic. It's a pity since the Tom Tom One is also highly portable and would otherwise be useful when not in the car. (N.B. The 2200T only ships with a car charger. If you want to use it outside of your car when you first open the box, you need to charge it up for two hours. You may want to get an AC charger in this case (unless you plan to be driving for a couple of hours after you get it). AC chargers are available from Magellan and various after-market suppliers on the internet.)

By comparison, the Tom Tom has few advantages. It does provide Macintosh software as well as Windows, but the Magellan 2200T is self-contained. The PC software is not required to operate and backup the device, so the advantage here is slight.

I hope the results of my research are useful. Both the Tom Tom One and the Magellan 2200T are very good, but I think the 2200T offers more value. I also notice that several folks have posted comments about inaccurate maps and software problems with the Tom Tom (which uses the Tele Atlas map database). I expect Tom Tom will sort out those problems, but the 2200T uses NAVTEQ maps, which are the best available for consumer GPS, so accuracy should be very good out of the box.

In a nutshell, this is a very functional GPS and good value for the money. I think the text-to-speech function works very well, and it gives one plenty of time to navigate. The map view is one of the best I've seen. While it is not slick as some other units, it gives you quite a bit of essential information (like which road you're now on, and which road you'll be turning onto, and in what distance, in a nice LARGE font). I especially like the expanded view of upcoming turns that pops up when your intersection or exit is coming up. This view will also show you multiple upcoming turns if they need to be made in quick succession (great!).
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br /However, there are a couple of things I would really improve on this unit. The primary one is the routing engine, which rarely seems to find the optimal route. The second is the somewhat dated user interface, which could use some improvement.
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br /The unit has not crashed on me, and is very stable. Interface is a tad on the sluggish side.
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br /In all other aspects the unit is great. Windshield mount is sturdy, it has good battery life. Custom POIs can be loaded, specific roads can be excluded from a route. I also think that the price is good for what you get (text to speech and optional traffic receiver).

After waiting a rather long time, we decided to finally buy a hand-held GPS navigation unit. What better time than to buy it just before our Labor Day weekend vacation?
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br /After comparing products by Tom-Tom, Garmin and Magellan, I decided to buy the 2200T. I weighed Tom-Tom One and the Magellan 3100 Maestro and for kicks, the Mio C220. Both the Tom-Tom and the Mio products didn't my ONE essential feature you should look for - text-to-voice. This feature alone is a time and stress saver if you are driving alone and say you see three streets ahead and the unit says 'turn right 200 yards'. When you are new to Manhattan and you need to make turns fairly quickly with all the bumper-kissing traffic behind and incredibly over the speed limit, you do not want the unit to not say the street name. I say the one feature, because I was looking at a unit costing less than $200 and at
br /this range you will have some basic plus features built-in such as portability, voice directions, pre-loaded maps, easy-to-use interface, maybe the sirfstar III chip, etc. The 2200T I ended up buying was a refurbished unit and with speed shipping cost me slightly over 190.
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br /I can state all the features of the unit which would be mere repetition. So, I will stick to what struck me most.
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br /After it arrived, the unit wouldn't power on. After some frustration, my wife realized that it was because the battery wasn't charged. So plug in the unit with the supplied power adapter. Look for the adapter being part of the package, some units only have the car adapter.
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br /First off, the unit (Lynn as I called her or sometime M.J. both together rhyming with Magellan!) gives easy options to override a route. This is handy if you know which route to take best at the start of your journey, like from home to the nearest entry to the freeway. Whenever, you don't follow the displayed route, M.J. re-routed fairly quickly, almost within 3 seconds, due to the advanced Sirfstar III chipset.
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br /The unit reminded us about 2 miles and again in 1/2 mile in advance of a turn, which is nice, especially in unfamiliar territory. Over the 800 miles we drove, it missed this only once, but it wasn't a big deal as the road (I-95) veered off the right after splitting into another route, something I didn't miss due to the clear markings. Along with the warning, it tells what the next turn would be preparing you in advance. For e.g., 'Exit number 123 in 0.4 miles followed by a slight left turn'. At exactly (almost) the point where you turn or veer-off, the unit emits a ding-ding sound that assures you are on the right track (or just missed the turn, for e.g.).
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br /As I was driving, I almost never looked into the unit as my wife or my son were keeping track more than I was. But the voice was pretty clear to follow, if I were to use it on my own. The voice lacks intonations and the words can sound funny sometimes and not clearly comprehensible, but seeing the road signs ahead I could make out what was meant. The unit is pretty light weight and though a bit more than desirably-slim, can fit into a pocket or a purse. But the coolness factor was not my priority.
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br /There were times when the road name wasn't recognized correctly. It kept repeating 295 for 395 around Washington D.C and similarly in another area in Maryland. But, don't expect this or any GPS unit to be perfect. You can't forget to look out a bit for yourself, lest you want to enslave yourself to the unit, however enticing!
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br /The best part was, and the whole price I paid was worth it, when we were entering the Harbor tunnel in Portsmouth and there was over 3 miles of back-up. The yellow flashing image on the left side of the unit, when pressed, showed us an alternate route. Not wanting to wait over 30 minutes, we decided to act as directed. And, lo-and-behold, in an area we have never been in, it guided us through to the other side over a close-by bridge. This feature (alternate route), comes on when it senses the speed of the vehicle to have slowed down considerable (like 10mph) due to traffic, for example. Time and stress saver, right here! It saved us more when we were again stuck in traffic at 9 PM and guided us through back-street Norfolk to our hotel.
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br /Now for another great feature - We were easily able to find an Indian restaurant in the vicinity and arrived there without any problem at all. Without the unit, we wouldn't even have ventured to drive 7-8 miles after dark! This gave us so much confidence that we tracked down another restaurant to our liking the next day.
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br /We couldn't find a Wal-Mart close by when we wanted to, but we found an outlet mall easily. Again 2 million points of interest (POI) is a lot but not enough to cover every conceivable store/doctor you would like to find in a vacation place.
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br /As I write this review, we all feel that M.J. or Lynn (still being debated) is already part of the family and we are eager to explore more with it. Did I say that the display was clear and that Consumer's Reports rated the 2200T as a best buy? If you are on the line with the 2200T, I am confident you will love it as we do.
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I purchased a Magellan 2200T two weeks ago. Overall, I am happy with this GPS unit and I think it provides good value for the relatively low cost (compared to other units in its class).

The reason I purchased this unit (instead of the Tom Tom One and some of the Garmin units) is that it DOES include features that I valued like:

- Text to speech, the unit says the name of the street / road you need to take
- SIRF III chipset (faster satellite lock)
- Extended battery life (don't need to be constantly charging the unit)

This unit also excludes some "features" that others charge for that I don't feel add value to a GPS unit in this price range, specifically Bluetooth capabilities. I own a BT phone and headset, and can't imagine why I'd want to drag a GPS unit into the mix.

The NAVTEQ maps are as accurate as any GPS unit, and the POI set is adequate (I think it may contain slightly fewer points of interest vs. other units).

Again, overall I'm happy with the features, quality, and functionality. My only "wishes" are for a more robust POI database and a better online documentation from Magellan.

Let's start with what it does well: It will reliably direct you to an address, even an obscure one. No problem at all with that function. It was only after purchasing this unit and taking a long drive with it that I began to notice the shortcomings. Here are some of the more significant ones:
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br /1. No city or town names in "map" mode.
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br /I'm not kidding. It will tell you the name of every single park you pass. It will label the lakes and rivers. It will even tell you where the railroad tracks are. But it won't tell you the names of the cities and towns that lie ahead. If you're driving from Alexandria, Virginia to Rockville, Maryland, you might want to know that Washington, D.C. is in between. Magellan doesn't feel that you need that information.
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br /2. Very limited information regarding services at exits.
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br /My old handheld Garmin Vista, which was really designed for hiking, would tell me every gas station, restauarant, etc. at every freeway exit. Magellan tries to do this too, but it only covers the next 6-7 exits. What if you want to stop in 20 miles but not in 5 miles?
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br /3. Gaps in "points of interest" information.
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br /Driving down the interstate, I found that it often "missed" gas stations, etc. that it should have known about, like Shell stations that had been at a certain location for a decade.
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br /4. Incorrect "estimated time of arrival" information.
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br /ETAs with the Magellan always assumed travel at around 50 MPH. Don't ask me why. Couldn't it at least assume that if your average rate of speed is 65 MPH (many freeways now have 70 MPH limits) that you're going to get there faster, and recompute?
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br /5. Clumsy "browse map" feature.
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br /When I returned this unit, I still hadn't figured out this feature, since it's not described in the manual. But in "map" mode, you can "tap" the touchscreen then pull the map in a certain direction. Would be a nice feature, IF the cities and towns were labeled. Since they're not, you can't really know much more than that there are roads, railroad tracks, and city parks in a certain area.
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br /6. Useless bells and whistles.
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br /It's supposed to play MP3's and let you look at pictures, but it cannot do so and navigate at the same time. So who cares? My MP3 player can do all those things, and comes in a much more efficient form. I would rather Magellan spare us the bells and whistles and improve functionality.
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br /Just my thoughts. If you're going to use this mostly for keeping you on track when you're driving around towns and cities, this unit will serve you fine. As for me, I'm going back to Garmin.
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I have used this GPS (Roadmate 2200T)for about 4 weeks, it has done everything that Magellan said it would do. The voice is clear and loud. The only thing that I would like the GPS to have is a recall button, sometimes when my wife and are talking, I would miss the first part of the announcement. I guess It really isn't that bad, all you have to do is look at the screen to see your location-The really nice thing about this GPS is that you don't have to look at the screen,(unless you miss the announcement) the announcement has good enough instructions to keep you going in the right direction.

Overview
br /The Magellan 2200 T is a compact model in the Roadmate series. If you are familiar with other Roadmate models you will instantly be at home with the primary color theme with boxy icons of the GUI. Although very similar in look, the 2200 has many subtle GUI changes from earlier models (like the 300 series) that enhance performance. It features a 3.5 inch touch screen that controls most functions. Like other Roadmates, the screen is very bright giving it an advantage over other brands in bright sunlight. Other unique properties include the fact that it is weather resistant and has an exceptionally long battery life (8 hour is listed on the box). These later facts could make it practical to use out of the car.
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br /Routing
br /The reason that anyone buys a GPS unit is routing. You put in an address and the unit guides you there. Magellan's big break into the US market was by putting "Never Lost" systems into Hertz rentals, so it had to develop a system that could be used by someone without reading a 100 page manual. These characteristics have carried through to their consumer products.
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br /Imputing an address is very simple and improved from the earlier 300 series. With the older series (which I have) I often felt that adding an address was like playing Sudoku. Which combination of letters would give me the address that I knew was inside the unit? The 2200T has some simple changes (like asking for a city first) that has made this process much easier and more efficient. For instance, I no longer have to dig through a dozen "River Roads" to find the right one. In conclusion: entering addresses is a snap!
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br /Magellans always ask your route preference (shortest time, most use of expressways, least use of expressways, etc.) every time you ask it to plot a route. I never realize what a huge advantage this was until I used units from other brands which typically require you to change routing methods by digging around in menus. For instance, if you are traveling through a big city during rush hour you may want to avoid an expressway (which is routed when you pick "shortest time").
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br /Roadmates are very good at giving your multiple, clear, auditory and visual indicators of your next maneuver. I have used other units (the Mio brand) where I couldn't even figure out what the maneuver icon was telling me (it looked like a letter from the Klingon alphabet). This has never happened using Magellan units (and I have used them for years). Roadmates will also tell you what side of the street your address is on, surprisingly, this is not a universal practice among all brands.
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br /The 2200T has "text-to-speech" or TTS. This means that the unit will say something like: "Turn right in 500 feet, Washington Street" instead of "Turn right in 500 feet." Professional reviewers think TTS is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Personally, I think that it is nice, but the old audio cues worked fine too. Anyway, the 2200 has this feature.
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br /In addition you get a number of routing enhancements in the 2200T. It is easy to exclude a part of a calculated route (perhaps you know the road is under construction). The 2200T will also sense and then signal you when you are traveling too slowly on an expressway. By pressing a button or two the unit will "detour" you off that expressway for the number of miles you prefer. The unit will also allow you to plan a trip that has up to 20 different destinations and it will then route you between those destinations. This feature could be useful for a delivery driver who needs to drop off at multiple sites.
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br /Magellan units have a little function called "locate." By pressing a button the unit gives you your location, simple, but really useful. On an expressway it will tell you the next exit. On a rural road it lets you know what town (township) you are in. It will also approximate an actual address. Great if you need roadside assistance!
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br /I thought that all of the Roadmates used the same routing engine but the 2200T seems calculate things a bit differently. When choosing "least use of highways" other units tend to go for the major streets where the 2200T will sometimes pick smaller (but perfectly acceptable) streets. This is more to my preference. The 2200T will get you where you want to go.
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br /Points of Interest (POIs)
br /Routing is the most important function of a GPS unit, but POIs are important too. Combining the POI database with GPS capabilities can tell you (for instance) where the closest gas station is.
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br /Roadmates not only give you the distance to a POI but also the direction. It may be easier to go to a grocery store 20 miles ahead than to backtrack 10 miles behind. Surprisingly not all brands of GPS units give you this directional information (they just give distance).
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br /The 2200T has a relatively small POI data base of 1.5 million. This will give you access to core POIs (gas stations, hotels, restaurants, ATMs, car services) and quite a few other categories (grocery stores, shopping malls, police stations, schools and many others). Still, at this small size categories that could be useful to travelers are missing (like campgrounds, pharmacies and cinemas).
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br /All POI data bases (and I have used many) are incomplete and inaccurate. With that said, they are still useful. I tested the 2200T by searching various categories at my home location. Generally I found that it did list most (but not all) gas stations, restaurants and the like. Unfortunately, I found that the data base also had a lot of old data in it. When looking under grocery stores it listed one that had closed 15 years earlier. A major shopping mall had changed its name at least 5 years ago, but it was listed under the old name. I name searched for "Target" and it said that the closes one was in a different state despite the fact that I have two of them less than 10 minutes away from my house.
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br /The 2200T has a category called "Exit POIs" which I have not seen in other brands. This is a very useful and clever feature. When you are traveling on an expressway it will search for core POIs and list them per exit(s). For instance it may say that the next exit is 20 miles ahead and there are gas stations and restaurants close to that exit. Touch the appropriate icon and you will get (for instance) the names of the restaurants.
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br /You can also add custom POIs to the 2200T using an easy to use (and provided) program from Magellan. Using this program not only allows you to make your own POI data bases but to also convert the many that are available on the internet. In this way you can beef up your built-in POIs. There seems to be an endless supply of POI data bases that range from Target store locations to drive-in theater locations. The PC software has several data fields, but only the "name" field shows up on the GPS unit. This is unfortunate as there is space for at least one other data field which could provide additional info like a phone number. A simple firmware update could easily fix this problem. You can also set alarms to custom data bases. For instance, an alarm could sound when you enter a school speed zone.
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br /Fluff and Stuff
br /GPS units are basically little computers and like any computer they are running an OS under the GPS program. This fact makes it easy (and cheap) to add little "value added" applets that may make a unit seem more desirable.
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br /The 2200T features a basic MP3 player and a photo viewer. Personally, I can't see using my GPS unit to look at photos or listen to MP3s.
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br /The 2200T is also "traffic upgradeable" which is a cool idea "in concept." You can buy a traffic receiver for the 2200T (not cheap) and it will send data to your unit. It will then alert you to bad traffic conditions an help you plan an alternative route around it. It is a great idea that is not quite ready for prime time. Only about 50 major cities have these traffic broadcasts and only on major highways. The function may be great if you do a lot of center city driving but it is certainly not very useful in the suburbs (unless you constantly drive into the center city) or outside these major markets. In addition, you have to pay a yearly subscription fee. At this point in time a good old traffic report on the radio serves much the same purpose and it is FREE.
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br /The 2200T can be upgraded to also be used outside the car (adding topo maps). It then become a multi-purpose unit for both car navigation and outdoor activities like hiking. The problem is, I can't find the "upgrade" software anywhere, including the Magellan web site. If is was reasonably priced the upgrade may be a nice bonus. However, the serious adventurer would probably opt for a dedicated outdoor GPS device which would offer more specific features and a smaller size.
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br /In conclusion: The 2200T is a basic GPS unit with some added features. It (like other Roadmates) does a fantastic job at routing to destinations. It is very easy to use and includes many convenience features not found on some other competitors (always asking for routing choices, telling you what side of the street an address is on, exit POIs, etc). Although still useful, it is a shame that it has a limited and aging POI data base. This is partially remedied by the ability to add custom data bases but again hampered by the inability to view a second data field on the unit (for data like a phone number). Other add-ons, like the traffic receiver, may be desirable to subgroups of users. You can now get the 2200T as a refurb for about $200. At this price point it is a great value and recommended.
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I bought this item from Amazon and definitely found it worth recommending to others who might be interested in an not-too-pricey or not-to-cheap GPS receiver. I have used it for about 3 weeks now to navigate my way in NJ/NY/DE/MD/DC

Form Factor - Small / Lightweight / Portable / Very nicey sealed to be splash resistant. The antenna is built into the unit, not a pop up type so no fear of breaking anything. I expect the unit to be very durable because of this.

Battery Life - Specs say around 8 hours, but I have been able to get at least 5 hours or so without recharging the unit, one problem though was that the power level is not visible at all times on the main screen and the unit just shut down at low power without any advance warning. No wall charger supplied and thats a bummer for a unit that costs close to $450.

Navigation - Very clear and accurate directions. Ultra fast rerouting (less than 6 seconds) if you were to miss a turn. Anything faster will be counter productive. The interface is very basic compared to others, but I chose the unit for its simplicity. The built in antenna was able to lock on to at least 11 out of 12 satellites at 90% of the time. Worked nicely in Washington, DC hovewer in New York this unit was useless with tall buildings it could not even get a bearing on its current position.
The maps were accurate most of the time however not perfectly upto date. One good feature is that this unit is upgradeable compared to the Roadmate 2000, hovewer cost to upgrade is unknown at this time.

Text to speech feature - This unit actually spells out street names "Turn right on Main Street in 0.2 miles" instead of just "Turn right in 0.2 miles". On occasion I have even tried to navigate without looking at the screen just listening to its voice prompts in the background and the unit did a good job at pointing me in the right direction. I personally found this feature to be very useful and definitely worth the extra premium in price. One drawback the unit could not not spell numbers it says "exit one-zero" instead of "exit ten", interestingly for interstate highways it said the opposite "I twenty five" instead of "I two five"

I am still testing the unit and will continue to add to this review

Update:
I got my replacement yesterday, and it works great. It's much more responsive than my first one. There must have just been something wrong inside of that one. Fortunately, Amazon was really quick about sending my replacement. I don't know how widespread the problem is, but if you buy one and it seems sluggish and starts doing the random reboot thing, you should try to exchange it where you bought it. Magellan tech support is useless.

Original Post:
Anyone else have this problem? The thing starts giving me directions, everything going along fine, and then all of the sudden the whole unit does a power-cycle and resets for no reason. I then have to click through the goofy "legal disclaimer" screen and several menus to get back to my directions- by that point I've probably missed my next turn. It seems to happen about once every 15 minutes. Plus, it happens 100% of the times that I try to use the "smart detour" function. I have it mounted properly, and it even happens even when I'm plugged into the power source. Magellan tech support wasn't of much help, so I've started the process of returning it for an exchange... hopefully I just got a bad apple. If it wasn't for this, I'd probably give the thing 3 or 4 stars. The address entry functions work very well, but there does seem to be a pretty bad delay when you try to do anything in the map screen (you press 'menu', for example, and it takes at least 5 or 6 seconds just to acknowledge your click). I don't know if this is normal, or just another symptom of my apparently defective unit. This is my first GPS, so maybe my expectations are too high, but the interface feels about as responsive as a Commodore 64. I will post an update once I get my replacement.

I have been able to compare this GPS wit hthe most expensive Garmin NUVI, plus read reviews and did some research about other systems. One thing that wins 2200T over is that, as all other Magellans, the systems will ring a bell at the moment when you actually need to do the tirn. That is it will first tell you 2.1 mileas ahead that you have a turn coming, then 1.1 miles ahead, then 0.4 miles, then ~0.1 and right where the lanes split, that's when it will sound a bell (you can select the tone of your preference). This, I find, is the biggest advantage over NUVI. NUVI would just repeat "turn to..." command when you need to make a turn, whereas 2200T will sound "ding" right at the moment when you see road marking starting to divide the lanes.

Another advantage to my taste is that it is not that verbose as Garmin. 2200t will say something like:

"Turn right in 0.5 miles followed by left turn, exit 5 Johnson Street"

compared to Garmins something like:

"In 0.5 miles make a right turn onto exit 5 ramp to Johnson St and then immediately make a left turn to Johnson St."

I find the latter less clear. I would prefer to know where to turn first, and then what is the distance, plus when processing a lot of information while driving, I do not want to hear the phrase that requires an effort more than necessary to understand.

I did find though that NUVI was overall finding a smarter root that 2200T. What I mean is the following. Say you a driving a divided highway that has express lanes and local lanes and selected "Shortest time" as you routing option. 2200t would sometimes want you to take local lane, then express and then back local simply because the overall distance to destination will be shorter this way. NUVi would keep you driving express lane all along, despite the loss of few humdred feet in distance. This does not mean driving express lane would take you less time of course, because sometimes express lanes are more congested that local, but just something that I noticed, and concluded that NUVI might have a bot smarter routing algorythm.

For me, the ideal GPS would be Garmin, but only if it has that turning bell. That bell is worth for me a lot, and without it, I find NUVI way too expensive compared to 2200T. I would pay $1000 for NUVI if it had the turning bell, but I find it not worth the money when there is a simpler 2200T that has the bell but costs under $300.

This is my first GPS unit I've ever had and did a quite a bit of research prior to buying, including reading the opinions here. The things that sold me on this unit were the SirfstarIII chipset, the abiliy to (when they are availble) download topographical and nav charts for use for camping and boating (it's also waterproof). Portability and eight hour rechargable battery. Text to speech lets me keep my eyes on the road and announces the next turn and street name. And finally the price. I've read some complaints that there is no a/c adapter included. I believe that may have been an issue that was addressed because when I bought the unit the saleman tried to get me to buy an a/c adapter, I said I'd come back later and for now just use the car charger. When I opened the box, there was an a/c charger as well! As far as performance, I have no compaints. I've also read some complaints that when people put their systems to the test, it could have taken a shorter route. Yeah, its true, sometimes when I test it our just to see the route it takes, I kinda scratch my head, but I've read that about most all other manufactures as well. However, If I don't know where I am or where I'm going to be honest I really don't care what route it takes I just want to get there, and this receiver performs spot on every time. I live on the East Coast and recently made a trip to Las Vegas, I got off the plane rented a car and turned on the Magellan, after about a minute I was off. Where ever I wanted to go was in the "Points of Interest" and got me there every time. It was a great feeling not to have to bother with maps or missed turns! For the money I don't think you'll go wrong buing the 2200T

I just bought the Magellan 2200T prior to a road trip from New England to Tennessee. Although there was an error or two, for the most part, the unit was dead on with directions and very helpful. Many of the Points of Interest were already in the unit and made life much easier. The picture quality was very good, battery life excellent and the touch screen very easy to use. The detour feature also came in handy during a few traffic jams. I would definitely recommend this unit over the Tom-Tom and Garmin comparable devices.

After a lot of research, I purchased the item from Amazon with a 2 GB SD card. Item showed up charged (3 bars) and out of the box was able to pick up coverage in my home. Took it on 3 trips last week and the unit was very accurate in getting me to the places that I entered. Some people may not be happy with the number of POIs as this was the most frequent draw back that I read about the unit. But, if you have the address to the location you will be all set.
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br /I am very pleased with my purchase with the exception of a few minor items. No wall charger the there isn't a case sold with the unit. I would think that after spending this type of money a case and wall charger would be sold with the unit. Other than that I am happy with the unit.

You will be using it 1 minute after opening the box. Very intuitive. Very quick to lock on, great battery life, most POI I need are in there. Came with manual on a CD, and an AC adapter. Reset switch is a push button, has a nice feature to disable screen for more battery life, (when listening to MP3s).
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br /Easy to load on new POI's. I downloaded a complete list of Costco's, Wal-Mart's and Applebee's, no problem. Missing some of the bling from the Garmin, but why pay for stuff you don't need? Easy to read, easy to use. Pre-loaded with August 2006 Maps.
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br /You want it for a GPS, and this one is nice. A lot of features people complain about are in the menus, and work fine! Use it for more than 2 minutes before you write a review!
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The largest retail chain in the world is Home depot. Home depot does not show up - at all - in the POI database.

Also, the graphics are very very poor.
I returned it and purchased the Garmin Nuvi 350.
The Garmin has every business I can think of (6 mil POIs)

Calling Magellan for support is a joke. You have to wait a really long time to speak to anyone. Usually you get a "A representative with the support level you need is not available , please call back". This even happens during normal business hours.
I finally spoke to someone. I asked the guy on the phone why I couldn't find home depot. He had me spell the name about 5 different ways, reset the device, and try all kind of different things. After about 45 minute he finally figured out that Home Depot is not in their list.
Battery life is decent. The unit does not come with an AC charger - just a car charger. (The Garmin comes with both)

Directions were good. It recalculates quickly if you take a different street. (The Garmin does this too)

The Magellan is very very basic. It does not have comparable features with other models in the same price range. Adding POIs with their software is really difficult. You must know the Lat/Long of every location - what a joke.

I bought the Garmin Nuvi 350 - just about $75 more - and it blows the Magellan Roadmate 2200T away.

(I think the radio shack is the only retailer I could find that actually carries the 2200T in stock)

I recently acquired the Magellan RoadMate 2200T driven by the recent price drop to about $180 and the fact that I have used Magellan products in the past. In fact this unit replaces an old Magellan RoadMate 300 and is quite similar in operation. If you are comparing this product or other products from Magellan to Garmin (e.g Nuvi series) my opinion is that the software that comes with the Magellan is far superior. The first nice thing about the Magellan RoadMate is that the main screen at all times tells you the name of the street or highway that you are currently on along with the direction of travel. Nuvi unfortunately does not provide this basic status/location information on the main screen and I found that to be a major downside of using a Nuvi after having gotten used to the RoadMate main screen. The other great thing about the RoadMate software is that once you set a destination you can always preview the route along with a turn-by-turn list of maneuvers; you cannot do this with the Nuvi. This is a really nice feature because it lets you validate the proposed directions, a nice ability in areas that are unfamiliar or being travelled for the first time. The one irritation I discovered with the 2200T compared to the RoadMate 300 is the removal of the "general direction of destination" arrow. Once you set a destination on the RoadMate 300 an arrow is displayed on the main screen which at all times points to the general direction of travel that you will have to pursue in order to make progress towards you intended destination. This is a really useful feature because it always reassures at all times that you are making progress towards your destination, especially if you have to take an unexpected detour. Unfortunately, the display of this arrow has for some inexplicable reason been removed from the software for the Magellan RoadMate 2200T. Why, Magellan, Why? Why remove a perfectly nice feature that only serves to annoy your long time users and customers? The preloaded points of interest databases for Magellan RoadMates compared with Garmin Nuvis are comparable in that they seem to be both equally deficient. I had purchased a non-skid dashboard mount in the aftermarket for my RoadMate 300 which I was able to reuse with the RoadMate 2200T since the mounting interfaces are identical. The dashboard mount is a tripod like device that has heavy, non-skid feet that just sit on the dashboard. I have found this to be superior to using the suction cup mount provided. This information may be useful to those who have the non-skid dashboard mount tripod since this compatibility is not mentioned anywhere else. If you are looking for a basic unit that works out of the box this is a good one to get hold of.

This did exactly what I wanted it to do. Sure, it has the ocasional route that I wonder about (in areas where I'm very familiar), but it has gotten me from point A to point B with minimal fuss, and other manufacturers have similar direction quirks. Only problem is that when recalculating a route (if I've left the recommended route for whatever reason, like getting gas, eating lunch) on two occasions it crashed. I had to switch the little toggle to turn everything off on, then restart it. It came on knowing where I was and resuming the trip, but it did die for a minute or so. Otherwise, a 5. I bought this since I was familiar with the directions from using Hertz Neverlost, so others' problems with the icons don't bother me at all.

Goods:
br /
br /1. Easy to use
br /2. 6-8 hours runtime on battery which is higher than most others I researched.
br /3. Features matching with models almost $ 200 more expensive.
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br /Not so goods:
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br /1. Maps not upto date. Atleast 3 times in as many months that I have been using this, the GPS got confused.
br /2. Voice directions commands are not natural and not very clear. Especially long names.
br /3. Cannot listen to music while showing directions.
br /4. Doesn't work well in downtowns near tall buildings.

I've been thinking about getting portable GPS for awhile. My wife and I don't argue alot but she gets on me once in a while in the car if I get lost. Of course paradoxly she didn't want me to spend any money on a portable GPS nav system.
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br /So, with a big weekend coming up in Napa for a friend's wedding...I decided to take a plunge. Costco had a good deal on the Magellan Roadmate 2200T. I checked the reviews and they were decent. Figuring it was better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission from my wife...I bought the Magellan!!
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br /In the Costco parking lot I opened up the box and plugged the thing into my car. I punched in my home address and it lead me straight home. Very intuitive and easy to use. At this price point the voice instructions with street names is very nice.
br /
br /Napa weekend was upon us. My wife glared at the GPS. I punched in the hotel address and off we went. Two hours later we pulled into the hotel parking lot in Napa...not a single missed turn as the GPS said "You have arrived at your destination". My wife looked halfway impressed. That night there was a rehersal dinner at a winery the next town over...not a single missed turn. Breakfast the next morning in another strange town...not a single missed turn. Wedding day at another winery...not a single missed turn. Etc, etc, etc.
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br /Nice weekend, no missed directions, and no arguing in the car. On the way home my wife finally admitted it was worth it!!
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br /Magellan thought this product out well. So far so good and five stars!!
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br / - JT Clark / San Jose, CA
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br /One Month update - the unit freezes up occassionally (once a week) and I have to push the reset button. After it resets it works fine again. But, the frozen screen makes it frustrating for my wife to use by herself so I may return it.
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br /Two month update - The 2200T unit has been returned. It froze too much...too bad, everything else about it was decent. I'm looking around for another unit, possibly Garmin Nuvi.
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My Magellan is less than 3 months old and freezes up. It's extremely hard to update as well. But that's not the problem, I could deal with those things. It's the customer service that is HORRIBLE!!!! All the customer support is out of India and they have set scripts which they use to answer your questions. If you want some real fun, start asking off the wall questions...they won't know what to do. I sent my unit back for repair by UPS, insured. It's been over 11 days and they state they have not received the product though I have the proof they did. But it doesn't matter because you will never find anyone that is actually in America to answer your questions. I finally called the company headquarters in California and spoke to Accounting so they could patch me in to someone in AMERICA!!!
br /I still don't know if I am getting my unit back. They are very shady. There is no upper management to speak to, no seperate email addresses, no alternate numbers. I sent the unit to the Repair Center in Fort Worth, TX. I can't find a number to the address. I even called the 411 in Fort Worth. They provided me with a phone number to the address my unit was shipped to. Guess what? No answer. The worst thing of all is that I have to drive across country in 3 weeks. Forget this GPS system. When purchasing a new one I will be sure to ask if the customer support is based in the USA.

The Roadmate 2200t, which I purchased with the Magellan Traffic Kit in late July is my first venture into the world of GPS navigation. My only previous experience with GPS navigation was when I had rented Hertz cars with their "Never-Lost" system which is manufactured by Magellan. I have had problems with my unit ever since I purchased it, mostly involving the thus far useless Traffic Service. To make a long story short, Customer Service at Magellan has been outsourced to India and is quite frankly virtually useless. I have come to the conclusion that they are paid by the telephone call taken, and thus it is in their interest to not resolve an issue but rather to drag it out by requiring additional call-backs. Their standard line is that their computers/software/systems are currently being upgraded and they are unable to do what-ever it is that you want/need them to do. I have heard that line on so many phone calls that I have actually began to laugh out loud when I'm told that.
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br /Regarding the 2200T, and ignoring the traffic kit, which has tried to send me on a major interstate highway (I-376) that was completely shut-down for repairs, and down I-95 from the Capital Beltway into a 35 mile long bumper-to-bumper traffic jam, all the while telling me there were no incidents on the route, I have found I can almost always do better than the 2200T when I am familiar with the local roads. Maybe that is to be expected, but last Sunday it sent me on a 75 mile drive (1:45) to a POI that I drove back from, choosing my own routes, in just over 63 miles and a few minutes less. So while I am at this point completely under whelmed by their Traffic Service (I'm awaiting delivery of a replacement that I called about around Labor Day, but -- their software is being upgraded and they don't know when....), and not too impressed with the capabilities of the GPS itself, the Tech and Customer Support are the low-lights for Magellan. My assessment of the 2200T is - "If you haven't a clue in the world on how to get somewhere, it will get you there - eventually."

Good product but, takes too long to find the satellite and calculate route.
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br /If I was given the choice again I would have purchased a Garmin.

On November 11, 2006 I purchased a 2200T to use on a trip during Thanksgiving week. The unit worked sometimes, but often made errors which sent us in the wrong direction.

I received authorization to send the first unit to the Repair Center in early Dec. and received a brand new unit (with different features and serial number) on Dec. 29, 2006.

That new unit worked well briefly and then began to mal-function every time I turned it on. It could not even locate my home half the time, and would have had me turn into a lake on another occasion. Subsequent attempts produced only GPS tracking or maps with incorrect street names and even missing major highways.

I spent an hour on the telephone with Katrina at Magellan 2/7/07 asking for a refund and was told someone would call me within 48 hours (by 2/9/07).

No one called. I spent another 1 1/2 hours again on 2/12/07, speaking with Tani, Lisa, Rita, David, and Ral trying to get authorization for a refund. Either my cordless phone died twice at the exact moment I was to be transferred to some who could help, or I was purposely disconnected.
Despite being told over and over that a supervisor who could give me a refund was going to speak to me next, I never spoke to any. I was promised again that a supervisor would call me.

Bad product, worse company!

I bought this thing thinking it was well priced and would do the job. I was disappointed. I have used Garmins and find it more accurate and easier to use. If you try to put in an address this thing doesnt like it just refuses to allow you the option of putting in the numbers. Instead of identifying each street as you come to it, it identifies every other or less. I am sorry I bought in now. Will probably give it to someone else and buy the Garmin

I am very happy with the performance of the product itself. It is quite intuitive to use and gives reasonable, clear directions. It recalculates routes after missed turns quickly. The rating on product performance alone would be a 5.
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br /Conversely, the rating on the units physical design and construction would be a 1. I only had the unit for 3 weeks before the port that accepts the power cord broke. Magellan did repair the unit for free, but they took their time about doing it (rating 3).
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br /I ordered a protective pouch and AC power supply the day received the unit (2 months ago) After a call to customer service (more on that later), the case is supposedly being shipped, but I have no idea when I'm going to get the AC power supply. And I had no luck finding any accessories locally. Rating 1.
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br /The calls to customer service (for service on the broken unit and to get an explanation on the wait for accessories) were adventures. Language was definitely an issue on both calls. After I explained that the website had been telling me for 2 months that my ordered items were on backorder, the person on the phone told me only that they would be shipped as soon as they were available (but he had no idea when that would be). One day after the call, one of the items is supposedly being shipped. Hmm. Rating 2.
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br /As long as I don't have further problems with the unit, its performance will outweigh the other issues. It truly does do what it is supposed to and is easy to use.

I just purchased and used this in the Boston metropolitan area while looking for different places to rent. I picked it up at Coscto for $250 and it worked out of the box, no upgrades or anything. This was very important as we were leaving quickly on a trip. I am upgrading the firmware now, but I never experienced any of the bugs that this new firmware fixes. It worked great and I can't imagine getting around that area without it. I was somewhat concerned because I had read (I think from cnet reviews) that some Magellan products were sluggish on the recalculation of routes after wrong/missed turns. We found that it worked just fine for us and we missed plenty of turns. Keep in mind that I have not compared this to other units to see if it is slower or faster. We did find however, that sometimes the route recalculation would have just been better to say "Turn around." I don't know if all GPS units do this or not. Eventually, however, we did ignore the directions enough that we got the instructions to "make a legal u-turn as soon as you can."
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br /I really like that it speaks the name of the street (text to speech) that you are turning on. In fact, after this trip I think I would have returned it if it didn't have this feature. For us this was important, otherwise you have to look at the unit more frequently while driving.
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br /For the price I paid think it is a great value. Instead of having your co-pilot buried in the laptop computer screen or map and me pestering him/her with "what street are we on," "did you see that street yet," "how far until this or that." It was a much more enjoyable trip and we could both see and get to know the area.
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br /Improvements:
br /Easier POI of interest integration with your current route. This happens when you have plugged in your destination and want to detour to a point of interest. I think you can do this in the trip planner but not on the fly. I may be wrong.
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br /Would like to have the ability to change the voice once in a while. After a while I just start to tune out some of the commands. I think some of the tomtom products allow for different types of voices. Not necessary but would be nice.
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br /Show the names of the cities on the map. I thought this was strange. It doesn't show the name of the city, even if you pass by the city center.
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br /Its not as small as the more popular garmin nuvi but it does fit in my shirt or pants pockets.

This is not a bad performing unit and it would be a good unit except for one fact. It ships with (mediocre at best) maps dated August 2006 and Magellan wants you to pay $80 plus shipping for an update. If you buy the refurb and then the update disk you are at the price of a new Garmin Nuvi 350 which will have a one year warranty (instead of absurd 90 day as with the Magellan refurb - evryone else's refurbs come with same as new warranties, by the way) and it will come with current maps plus the Nuvi is a simply superior unit. (Consumer Reports Best Buy.)
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br /Do not buy this unit unless you simply MUST have obsolete maps, poor customer support (no excuse for not including a map update) and a very short warranty.
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br /Offering this unit with the ancient maps and no free map update is an intellegence test that Magellan is running on their customers. (My excuse, I simply did not know that they had the no-free-updates policy. Their competitors do provide free updates and I thought Magellan would follow the pattern.) I strongly urge that you think long and hard before rewarding them for their very anti-consumer maps policy. (Garmin and TomTom both give free update down-loads with the purchase of their units, new or refurb. No reason for Magellan not to do the same other than simple greed.)
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br /This is the last time I will ever even consider a Magellan product. I urge you to not make the mistake I did in buying a Magellan product. You can do far better for the same money.

I am very pleased with this gps. It is basic without all the bells and whistles they come with now and easy to operate. It does need the option of putting in destination coordinates though. I'm satisfied. Dick

After owning so many of the old style GPS units, thought it was time for a street direction unit with a nice color screen. Have used this now for 4 months and have had ZERO problems! Another wonderful thing, is it comes with every single thing you need included. A charger for the car OR the home AND a mount for the car. And with up to 8 hours of charge when removed from a power source, this is just a GREAT device!
br / I have done endless wrong turns etc on purpose to watch the MAGIC of this units ability to reroute me. Just always "fixes" my dilemma every single time. Just added a Motorcycle mount as well so when it is not in my car or truck, I just "snap" it out of its cradle onto my motorcycle. The voice directions are loud and CLEAR. I LOVE this unit!
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br /July 8, 2008 UPDATE: After so much time with this unit, I LOVE it in my cars trucks. But NOT on any of my motorcycles OR Motor Scooters. You can NOT see the screen at all in direct sunlight. You can also NOT hear directions on 2 wheels either I have even tried an earpiece in my helmets. Several different ear buds as well=can NOT hear! Just in case you want this for 2 wheels? I would remove a star to make this a 4 star product but am not allowed to do so. I also am a bit worried that the internal battery is something I can NOT replace and it is holding less less of a charge after 1 year. When it dies, I just have a paperweight....Uneasy feeling.

I went to CNET and read reviews on portable Nav systems. I decided for the money, the Magellan RoadMate 2200T had the best performance and features.

I have been impressed with how quickly the unit orients itself to a new location. It typically takes about a minute or so. The directions and voice prompts have been very accurate and timely on the routes to locations. The unit is very easy to use and very intuitive.

I purchased this Because of Price and learned that going cheaper isn't allways better. I used it three times and now the unit won't even turn on. I've called customer service and get some guy in India who I could barely understand. It's not worth the hassle, Just spend the money on a Garmin.I saw some reviews where they were satisfied with there Magellin.I have nothing good to say about it and won't purchase another magellin product.

I purchased this unit, and it worked well for 2 weeks. Then, problems required the unit to be sent back for repairs.
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br /Since then I have been on calls with Magellan's Chennai (India) repair call center five (!) times, and after 6 weeks I still have no unit, nor is the repair center able to tell me when to expect it back. Another call today revealed their entire computer system being down, and no status information being available until the "system is back up - but we don't know when".
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br /If you even *think* that you might need customer support, do not buy Magellan.
br /

I bought this unit 2 weeks ago and now returned it. Reasons?
br / 1. Satellite lock takes from 5 to 10 minutes, even after latest software updates. Isn't it vaunted SirfstarIII chip set?
br / 2. It's reacts slow. Even the speed is 30mph and you missed your turn and the next possible turn is in 100 yards range it takes 1-2 sec to understand what I missed the turn, 2-3 sec to recalculate the route and no time left to tell you about next turn. So you missed the turn again and again and again.
br / 3. Some places, developed more than 2 years ago are still not on the map. I saw it in Newport, VT
br / 4. POI database is very old and limited.

i bought the 2200t and returned it after 2 days. it froze on me a few times while in route. The POI database is horrible. I live in the suburbs of a big city and it couldn't find common places for 100 miles. It was very frustrating. I then bought a garmin and have been very satisfied for the past week.

I have found that many streets that I have tried to navigate to are not present on the system. Sub-divisions that have been around for about 2 years are not there. There was a part of an interstate that was also missing. I went to the Magellan website and submitted a support request but that went unanswered. I have a friend that paid $100 more and got a Garmin. So far he has not had a street not show up on his system. Navteq has the addresses on file, but it appears that Magellan has not put out an update. Does well with the locations that are present on the system. Not experiencing the power down problems that others have been having.

I've owned the 2200T for about two months now and have had mixed experiences with the unit. First off it will get you where you are going and that's a good thing.
br /When we first got the unit we used it to go to places that we always went. Like mom's house or work or the store. Although the route the unit picked was not always the easiest route we were able to get to where we were going. If you use the "shortest route" feature be prepared to get on and off highways and go through some back woods. This route is generally shorter distance wise but can lead to very long drives. Using the "fastest route" seems to work well and will get you there in better time. One trip I used the "shortest route" route calculation and then proceeded to take the fastest route that I knew. The 2200T quickly recalculated the route and displayed the new "shortest route" directions. The only real drawback I can see with this unit is that when you take a trip where the destination is on the other side of a divided highway the unit doesn't realize that you have to go down the street to turn around to get to your destination.
br /Conclusion: This is a very good unit and works very well. I particularly like the antenna system that is non-intrusive. Meaning there is no hint of an antenna. I would recommend this unit.

I purchased this unit in early December of 2006, based on the promise and news release from Magellan that the unit could be upgraded to a Crossover unit that I could also use offroad on my ATV. The Crossover 2500 (which does both of these functions) had not been released at that point, so I purchased this 2200T unit based on Magellan's promises. It is now almost eight months later, and still no upgrades are available. Magellan's poor Customer Service Dept. keeps making false promises as to a release date and they have now removed almost all mention of the upgrade from their advertising. If I wanted an on-road only GPS unit I would have purchased a Garmin. Think twice before buying this unit...!!!

I'd have to say the biggest problem with this unit is how restrictive it is in entering an address. In neither the map function nor the address book can you enter one in directly but have to search for it starting with either a zip code or city and then slowly work your way through the screens till you've found the entire address. If it thinks your address is actually in a different city or the street name is different then you can't enter it.
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br /I had a business address that was #1036 on a street located in Bridgeton - according to their own company letterhead. I started with the zip code which produced 8 city results - Bridgeton and 7 surrounding towns. How does that happen? Doesn't the U.S. Post Office give each city their own zip code?
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br /I pick Bridgeton then have to type in the street name. It then comes up with the number range to type in and it only allowed #1-1001!
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br /After messing with it I discovered it was showing the street name as having #1-1001 but that same street also has a route # designated to it that I happened to know and when I tried that it showed the #'s available as 1-1100.
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br /If I hadn't been local, knowing that streets route number, and went by the businesses own letterhead I never would have found it. Actually discovered all this the day after I gave up on the unit and just winged it.
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br /A GPS unit is supposed to save time and this one does nothing more than take up more of it. What an expensive mistake I made.
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br /Also complained to the company that it tells me to take a longer route in one direction and the shorter route back and they advised this will be addressed in the many updates they expect to put through since it was such a new item. This was a month after I bought it 5 months ago and not one update has come out.
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br /Yes it has the nice features everyone else mentions(that POI editor wants lattitude and longitude, can't put in an address - gave up on it)but if you can't put address's in it what good are all those features? Don't waste your money or your time with this unit.

Magellan Customer service is the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. They offer a free 30 day map update since all of their products ship with out of date maps. This would be a good thing except it is in the fine print of their products and their customer support email address that their website list is the wrong address. I had to get through to their customer service by posting a bad review on their website. By the time they responded my unit was beyond the 30 day limit and they refused to give me the update. This is a bad business practice. Garmin has a 60 day guarantee which is posted directly on their website in plain view.

I've had this product 3 months. It would be a good product to get you from an airport to most addresses. I bought it for local use and found that about a third of the time it did not have the roads I was looking for. One time it sent me in the opposite direction I needed to go! There web sight had no updates even though this model had been out for well over a year.

Like another reviewer, I bought this several months ago based on the promise of crossover maps. I'm beginning to doubt that Magellan has any intention of ever providing them.
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br /It does okay on the road, but I had hoped for something that would eliminate the need for two units. I would not recommend just because I don't feel comfortable recommending a product from a company I can't trust.

Don't buy unless you like outdated roadmaps and poor customer service. Magellan apparently doesn't plan on providing parts for their products. The cradle broke right after I purchased the unit, I went to their website and ordered a replacement. I have been waiting over a month now, I have had contact with service dept. twice, but was a waste of my time. The part is on backorder with status of 'availabilty unknown'. You either hold it in your hand or lay it down to use it. I have a Nuvi 350 that is much better, and the maps are excellent .

I have owned my 2200T for 2 years. I started with the original maps, hopelessly out of date, bought the $80 Map Upgrade in May 08. The new Interface Voice were greatly improved. The Maps themselves were more current but not as good as I had hoped.
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br /3 problems have spoiled the experience.
br /1. Time it takes to link with a Satalitte. I fly all over the country arrive with the unit off. That means I sit in a parking lot for 2 to 20 minutes while I wait for the minimum of 5 satalittes it takes to locate my position. Rain, Snow, Clouds, Trees Buildings often cause the link to be dropped.
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br /I drove 30 miles waiting for the next instruction only to find I had no signal. I pulled over waited another 15 minutes for the link to be reestablished. Couldn't the unit announce "Signal Lost"?
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br /2. THe New Maps look great I really like the new interface, however the routing software is often confused when 1 road passes over another. Toronto, Lester Pierson Airport, Newark, Liberty Airport, many others, the routing has you turn left, drive 1 mile, "Recalculating Route" then "At the next intersection, make a legal U-Turn" back to the same place you turned left then it takes you right back around the circle. I find when I get close to the Airport, I just turn it off follow the signs.
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br /3. Customer Support? What Customer Support. CS e-Mail Address on the Web Site returns as Bad Address. I've never talked to or had any Customer Support short of buying the Map Update.
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br /THe 2200T was my 1st GPS I was pleased with the old routing software though the maps were hopelessly out of date the voice was very hard to understand. At least it got me there.
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br /I was pleased with the new interface but the routing software sucks the Satalitte links are fragile. THere is no Antennae booster unless you buy the Traffic Package. Hmmmm, $75 for something it should have had all along.

I purchased this unit about 2 weeks ago. The unit is light, readable, audio is ok, battery life seems good. But the map is lousy. I live in Miami, the metro area is one of the biggest in the US. Yet some of the most basic roads it does not seem to have or does not have them correctly! I called Magellen and updated the software to the latest, but it does not seem to affect the maps. Magellen claims to be coming out soon with updated software to make this unit a Crossover,which will be nice. But that won't fix the map problem. Since this is the most basic feature required of a GPS I can't give it a passing mark. Luckily I can return it, and I will.

I bought this unit somewhere else for two hundred thirty. This is a pretty good unit for the price I paid. POI database is lackluster, but you can input your own POIs (You need to update to the latest firmware first). This unit also gets me to the right place everytime regardless if it's the most efficient way. I'd rather have this than get lost like I usually do. My favorite part of this unit is the bell that sounds when you're about to make a turn. Re-routing was fast for me. Text-to-speech is decent. The robot voice is awkward when saying street names, but not annoying at all. A firmware update could probably fix it.
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br /I didn't need to read the instructions because it was so easy to use. To start it up, you need a pencil or something else small and pointy to hit the reset button. After reset, hold the power button until you see the magellan logo and you're good to go.
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br /The only gripe I have is the map is date 8/26/06. Wish they gave us free map updates. Rumor has it map updates cost $100. No thanks.

This Magellan 2200T is sturdy, portable and really is simple and intuitive. I thought it might be to complicated, but all the family uses it to be the "co-pilot." I think it is a great value for the price. The talking option is great for when you don't want to take your eyes off the road, as in bad traffic. The user manual is a little thin, but you can find good online primers for usage.

This GPS provides an option of most use of freeways which is not available in Garmin GPS. We tried both Garmin Nuvi 350 and this GPS. Garmin has good databaseof point of interest. Magellan is good on highway driving as it lets you pick up freeways. I like this GPS a lot.

Great unit, but it does not come with the crossover upgrade. It has to be purchased, seperatly. Unit works well and text to speech sounds good. Has a great battery life. Suction cup mount works well.

This product works great. Even though it has the occasional mishaps when it's trying to locate where we are or re-route my driving, it's still great. The signal strenghts depend on satellite and sometimes it has taken a moment or two for it to realize that am somewhere else. But then it fixes the problem and this whole process took all of 30 seconds to fix. I love driving with it, I avoid so much traffic because of it. However, my car charger broke and now I'm searching for a replacement:(

First I was little bit nervous after reading some negative reviews. But after receving my 2200T, I found it very useful. On the last weekend we went to Chicago downtown, and amzingly it worked so fine that for the first time in life, we enjoyed so good driving experience. Just forget all driving direction worries, this small unit will take care of everyting. I like the bell sound on the exact turn. Its a wonderful feature. Maps are good and POIs also okay. Overall me and my wife are happy to have this GPS. Its really a good roadmate.

this is a very easy product to use. The only frustrating part was that the instructions were on a cd. The cd was good, but it would have been less frustrating if a hands on 'mini-manual' would have been included. In this manual it could have had a 'basic' use to get started and use for example runs.

The best I've seen and used. Easy to learn how to use it to find anything. Arrived quickly. Installed in my vehicle in seconds and down the road I went. The Magellan RoadMate 2200T is all they said it would be. You have to get one of these!

I've purchased two of Magellan's 2200T and am very satisfied. I bought my first unit to utilize on my motorcycles as this is the only reasonably priced waterproof unit I could find and was happy with a previous Magellan gps. Liked it so much as a general use gps that I've recently purchased another as a Christmas gift for my daughter. The interface, especially with the upgrade including boating and backpack use, is quite nice.

I actually have two of these, one for me, and one for a guy who works for me.
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br /I read over some of the negative reviews, most of them are referring to defective units. One was from someone who was trying to enter in an address that didn't exist.
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br /I use this unit for my company that provides mobile services. We have entered in and navigated to probably 1000 addresses using this unit. Working correctly (which it always has for me), it picks up signal within 30-60 seconds after being turned on, battery lasts for a while, and it recalculates fairly quickly, maybe around 5-10 seconds. My favorite feature is that you can enter addresses starting with the Zip code instead of the City which was not the case with my Garmin Steetpilot 340.
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br /This is a very inexpensive unit, if I were to buy another inexpensive unit, I would go with this one because I know that it works solid and have used it extensively to know that there are no major defects in its operation or design and will work dependably in any situation that I require from it.
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I moved to a new town, thinking that with Magellan GPS getting around will become easier. The unit is useless in remote areas. I have used it for a few days and it is a complete flop. Absolute wrong directions. From one point to another the unit freezes again and again and gives wrong directions.

The maps and direction are inaccurate. Needs improvement. Does not meet expectations. Buy it from ebay and forget about getting back your money.

I purchased this item about a month ago and had to return it. The unit worked well for two days, then it started acting up. It constantly froze up and had to be reset. When it did stay on it kept rebooting itself for no apparent reason. The POI database is very limited. I just purchased the Nuvi 350, i hope i have a better story to tell about that one.

Doesnt locate my home address, although in been there for 6 yrs. Instructions very vague at first use, you have to use allot of trial error.

So far so good. Display is easy to see. Directions are easy to follow. Points of interest are sometimes difficult to access.

Roadmate pretty accurate for POIs in my area. Ease of use is very good.

Worked great right out of the box, accurate and easy to use. It is alittle quirky but tolerable, but thats were it ends!! If you need customer service or tech service and you will with this one and you like them to treat you nice then stay away from Magellan. I have been trying to get the right windshield mount for 4 WEEKS and still do not have the right one. I have been lied to, called me a liar, hung up on(believe it or not), and mis quoted, they just don't care. The worst part of all this is all of their support is in India, they can't understnd you and you can't understand them. I wish I would have listened to the reviews before I bought this one but of course I didn't. There are alot of horror stories with thier support just read them. After this experience I will NEVER buy a Magellan product again. Please take this to heart.

As a former field artillery officer who relied on maps for navigating, I was initially skeptical about the ability of this portable GPS navigation device to correctly get me from point A to point B, but my skepticism turned to admiration when I used it on several trips to test if out: from colonial Williamsburg to Winchester, Va., this wondrous device literally took me from my house to the door of the programmed destination. I subsequently used it to successfully navigate from the Boston airport to Peabody, Mass., and back.
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br /br /In the past I've relied on road maps and TrikTiks from AAA, but this technology is amazing, not only in its accuracy but in its flexibility: If you take an alternate route, it'll reroute you so that no matter how many wrong turns you make, it'll put you back on course.
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br /br /Using a very clear color display -- two or three dimensions -- and a clear, mechanical voice to indicate turns and directions, this device will literally steer you in the right direction.
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br /br /I've put the maps and AAA TrikTiks away forever and will be relying on this as my indispensable road guide: affordable, portable, reliable, and flexible in its programming, it is best used within cities to navigate when it's impossible to navigate and drive at the same time. (As I do a lot of driving in large cities, this ingenious device will be packed along with my laptop computer and cellphone.)
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br /br /I previously used a handheld Magellan that had a black-and-white LCD display; and although it was very useful, it was difficult to see during daylight (not enough contrast), though at night the backlit orange showed up very well. The problem is that it showed your location, but did not have the voice and navigational prompts that make the Magellan RoadMate so useful.
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br /br /If I'm going anywhere to car, in a strange city, especiallly at night, or in bad weather, I think that this is the best insurance you can have against the possibility of getting lost or disoriented. It helps if you can read a map and have a general idea where you're going, but it's even better if you can have this mechanical aid that will reliably tell you where to go and how to get there without fail.
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br /br /This earns my highest personal recommendation.

I brought the 2200T in November 2006 after having my Magellan 700/760 stolen from my car. It barely last a month. From day one I was on the phone with customer service. I had to reset it constantly as it would freeze up in the middle of navigating on the highway. It then started to reset itself, constantly going on and off never completing the task of finding an address. I sent it in for repair and they sent me back the same unit with no repair and all the maps removed. Finally I just had to return to Amazon. I have lost my faith in Magellan and going over to Garmin. I bought the c530 yesterday and saw far it works right out the box, The navigation is spot on. Although it does not say the street names, the directions are very clear and accurate. I can put it inside my window sill in my apartment and get a signal. The 2200T took forever and indoors even by the window could not get a signal. While I did like the photo veiwer and mp3, neither one was worth writing home about. The mp3 was tinny and with a cassette adapter played with such static on my stereo it just was not worth it. The pictures were okay, but the screen is tiny and fuzzy. Both features would have been passable if the device performed its main task, but it didn't.

If you like what Hertz has in their rental cars, you'll find this easier to use and better with the same voice.

I am very happy with my GPS system. I am the type of person who never knows where I am going and that doesn't bother me. But when it comes time to go home I want to get there quickly. My GPS helps me get home.

I tried out "the baby brother" to this one, The Magellan RoadMate 2000. I found the 2000 to be VERY good! But, the 2000 will NEVER be able to be used in Europe! The maps don't fit it and never will! I was told, however, that European maps WILL be made available at "some future time" for this GPS, the 2200T. The "problem" is that the person at Magellan could not tell me "when". So, I gave this GPS ONE STAR originally. But, then I decided to change it to FIVE STARS with the caveat that Magellan gets the European Maps ready soon. Otherwise, "it's back to ONE STAR for this baby again!" :o) Email: boland7214@aol.

PS: Actually, even though the Garmin C530 doesn't have "voice recognition of streets" I prefer the Garmin C530 because what you see on the screen is easier to read as you drive---all the information you need is in BIG LETTERS on top with the Garmin's---this one has lighter lettering and the information is on the lower 3rd of the screen and is fainter than the Garmin.