Magellan releases map/POI updates for 2200T, maybe other models.

And by the way, save 15% with your AAA membership.

It seems you have to call AAA and get a promo code that then gives you the discount on the Magellangps.com site.

* Save 15 percent on Magellan® GPS units, accessories and map updates*. Free extended warranty for an additional second-year on AAA Edition Magellan Navigation units ($65 value). Free AAA data updates. Call 1-888-222-6277 to request a required promotional code. To purchase, for more information or complete terms and conditions, visit AAA.com/gps.
* * Maximum discount of $50 per item purchased and valid up to 5 items.

I know a lot of folks registered to get updates from Magellan and never did, and boy, are they frosted. I never got the email, but found out about it, so I'm not mad.

I did not get an email either and just found out about this upgrade.

I was registered and got my email on March 14.

Glad I delayed getting my update.

Has anyone installed the upgrade?
comments?
worthed?
easy Installation?

Thanks,

Installation

The installation was not entirely without problems. I already have firmware version 2.14 on the 2200T (which is now a Crossover). The first part of install was to reinstall the 2.14 firmware. While copying over one of the sound files, the installation locked up and I had to Ctrl-Alt-Delete it and start over. The second time through everything went fine, and the firmware installation then updated from 2.14 to 2.36.

The SD Card

I don't have a ton of Custom POI, and I really don't use the music and photo aspects of the unit, so the internal memory and rest of the space on the new map SD card is probably going to be enough for me. I did notice that when the unit is off and you turn it on, there is a bit of a longer delay than before when hitting OK on the "if you kill yourself, it's your own fault" welcome screen. One morning, in fact, I got a blue backgrounded screen that said "please wait for maps to load". It disappeared after about 10 seconds.

Driving With the New Maps

I live in a relatively new part of town, so getting the map update gave me the streets near my house, so that was nice, even if the GPS had trouble pronouncing some of the names. Of course, it can't pronounce "California" properly, so what can you do? I do also notice it doesn't think that I'm taking the best route out of my neighborhood and insists that I U-turn and go the way it wants, even if I'm much closer to an exit of my subdivision than the way it wants me to go.

The biggest thing I noticed was that the unit no longer says the name of the interstate unless there's too much ambiguity.

Let me give you an example:
With the old maps/version, it would say, "Keep to the right. Exit 522 I-80 San Francisco/Reno". Now it says, "Keep to the right. San Francisco."

With the old maps/version, it would say, "Remain on the current road. I-80". Now it says, "Remain on the current road.", without saying the interstate. A few other people that post on a Yahoo group I'm in have noted the same thing in their areas, too.

However, in part of Sacramento, US-50, I-80 Business Route, and California 99 all share the same road. I was staying on US 50, and the GPS did say, "Remain on the current road. US-50.", when I-80 BR and CA-99 split off, so I guess that's what it's supposed to do.

I also haven't decided if I like this not hearing the interstate names or not, since I know where I'm going around where I live, but if I'm traveling and not sure where I'm going, the reassurance would be worth having. On the other hand, the brevity is refreshing, too, since in one area the GPS would say, "Keep to the right. East US-50, I-80 Business Route, California 99 South" and my wife would say, "Can't you mute that damn thing?" Now all I get is a "keep to the right". So in that regard, it's good for the marriage.

I have the traffic module and it has continued to work through each upgrade of the firmware, so I'm pretty happy with that. All in all, I think I have to remove some of my disdain for Magellan. I've owned the unit less than a year, and I have reasonably up-to-date maps and it gets me where I want to go. I don't know if I'll get another Magellan, but as of right now, it's working very well.

I think you can turn that on or off. I don't have the new map update, still debating whether I will buy it or put the money toward something else.

But in my software it has an option to announce offramps by name or not. That may have been turned off by the update where you had it on before.

I have it off, I have the same problem with the darned thing announcing things too much. My wife also demands I mute it.

That's what I thought, too. And when I realized what it was doing, I went in and made sure those options were checked. They were. This is definitely a change in the way the firmware reads off the road information. What I should do is take out the map card and see what it says--whether it reads off the whole interstate road name like it did before.

Can you create routes for this unit?

You mentioned you have the traffic module.

Can you review that?

It's kind of expensive at $75 and some new models and brands have that traffic receiver integrated, and the Navigons have it free forever (at least on the higher end models, over $300).

I think Magellan have some serious problems, frankly. I have never had a Garmin automotive unit. That may be the next thing for me.

But I'd like to hear about the Magellan traffic.

I'd like to hear about the traffic receiver too.
I'm about to ditch the Magellan and get a Garmin instead. I really need to be able to create my own routes for motorcycle rides.

Does anyone have any feedback on the upgrade yet?

I'd like to get some info before I invest more money on this GPS. Otherwise, I might just use it to get a newer one.

seeyardee posted a review a few posts above.
Did you see it?

you can get lifetime traffic for a 2100 Navigon off ebay, and they will email the activation code for $30.00.

Bob

Sorry folks, I haven't come back to the thread for a bit, but I'll give you my thoughts on the traffic module.

The traffic module replaces the bracket that you currently use to attach the unit to the suction cup piece. If you flip back the rubber cover on the bottom of your 2200/Crossover, you'll notice the gold contacts. There are gold pins on the traffic module that those meet up with.

If you've gotten it installed properly, you'll see a car and a green symbol at the bottom of the screen. If ther are incidents, the green will turn to yellow.

I live in Sacramento, but go to San Francisco every month or so, and have also taken trips to Seattle. All three of these cities are traffic enabled. However, in visits to Miami and Columbus (Ohio), I was stuck in non-moving traffic, and the unit said there were no traffic incidents. You can go to the Magellan website and check out their "Magellan Traffic Service" link to see if the traffic is available in your area. Major cities are all listed there.

Anyway, the latest firmware versions are all traffic enabled, so if you've done any updates, you're ready to go once you've installed the new base unit. If you're driving to a destination that you've entered and it takes you on roads covered by the traffic data, you'll see an alert symbol and a description quickly cover the entire screen. There are different categories: accident, severe weather, stationary traffic, etc. You can choose to ignore any or all of a particular category and not be alerted. (Slow traffic can sometimes consist of traffic going 49 mph, which while isn't the speed limit, you're going reasonably fast.) At this point, depending on how you've got the options set, once of two things will happen:

1. If the auto-reroute is on, the unit will figure out a (supposedly) better routing around the incident.
2. You can choose to keep the same routing.

I say "supposedly" a better routing because sometimes the rerouting is a bit odd. It will have you exit off the freeway only to get right back on. This happens quite often if the unit thinks there's "slow traffic" (see above). I don't actually know if the option to keep the same routing even still exists. When I have the v1.74 firmware, I used it for awhile, but didn't like having to fiddle too much, and set it to the auto-reroute, and haven't gone back.

I found incident reporting in San Francisco and Seattle to be very good, mainly because a lot of the roads have digital sensors in them, but once you get out of the metropolitan area too much, there is no traffic coverage. Sacramento is a mixed bag, because there are roads that do not have complete digital coverage, and must rely solely on incidents.

If you buy a new traffic module, it comes with a coupon for 3 months free traffic service. After that, it's $60 for a year (=$5/month). I guess my overall review is that after the initial purchase price, I don't think $5/month is all that much, and if I can avoid just a bit of slow traffic or an accident or two, it'll save me enough time to more than make up for it.