Sound to low on Magellan 3225

Yeah I agree the volume needs to be higher, also can we change the voice type?

same problem with 4250.

Yeah, unfortunately we can't....I wished they could have put some sort of input thingy so we can hook it up to our car stereo...

Wow, how noisy is your car?

I've got a 4000 and the volume is plenty loud.

Does the 3225 have a earphone/headphone jack?
If so there probably are several things you can do to hear it better.

Holy smokes - I keep my volume level on the second bar. Didn't realize my ears were so sensitive.

My car is pretty loud, I have a convertible+toddler=loud

I know you can adjust the volume in the GPS setting, but I was looking at the back of my 3225. It has a picture of EARPHONES with a (+) and (-). What is that? Is that small hole the volume control? I don't want to touch it...If it ain't broke....

On mine, it is a jack to plug in earphone/headphones !!

I'll have to take a look on mine, thanks

Take a look on my 3225 , it does have an earphone sign and a hole, I think this is for future implementation to the unit, right now it's useless.

And just exactly what makes you think that?

The manual for my 4000 says there actually is a headphone jack inside that hole. Imagine that!

Did you try to plug in your headphone? Does it work?

Yes and yes. Stereo type.
Any other questions?

It looks like the head phone hole is covered...

Make up your mind:

It has a picture of EARPHONES with a (+) and (-). What is that? Is that small hole the volume control?

I guess the models are different enough that you need to find someone with that exact one (3225).
Similar might not be close enough for this discussion.

I just got Magellan 3225 from Costco for $150. I compared it versus my other GPS: Garmin nuvi 650.

I found Magellan 3225 sound volume is as loud as Nuvi 650. However, the speaker on 3225 is crap. The maximum sound is too loud for the speaker to handle. When volume is max, the sound produced is broken with static. If I turn the volume down 1 click from max, then sound is much better.

Does other folks have this problem? For $150, I'm OK with the poor sound quality, if it is built as such. However, if it is defective unit, then I want to return/exchange it.

Jimmy

I also bought the Masg 3225 from Costco recently for a buck and a half.

Re the volume, my experience is different than yours -- I find the volume level is more than adequate, and that the quality is acceptable also. I either keep it at max volume, or down one notch. I'm completely happy with the sound quality on mine. It is a small speaker, so I don't expect it to sound like a high end stereo or something. I can easily understand what it is saying, so no problem here.

Great bang for the buck, BTW. ... incudes features that you normally have to buy a much more expensive unit to get: text-to-speech, SD card slot, and AC adaptor included.

I also purchased a 3225 at Costco for $150. Sound quality is excellent, even on full volume. Yours may be a defective unit. Costco has a very liberal return policy, so you may want to exchange for a new one. I agree wiht webrun, great bang for the buck. Same maps (NAVTEQ) as Garmin, but has text-to-speech, SD, AC adaptor and easy to use POI editor. I am very pleased with mine.

Wow.. seriously?

I own the Maestro 3225 (birthday present), and my first reaction was that the volume nearly deafened me!

I don't own a fancy silent car or anything (15 year old honda civic), and I don't need the volume higher than 3 bars.

To be honest, I don't know if the system is louder or quieter than other GPS devices.. this is my first one. But if it is already at the max there is no way to make it louder except for making sure the speakers aren't being blocked.

My 3225 is adequate. Since the speaker is on the back, if I have it sitting in the seat I can't hear it. However, if I put it on the window mount, the volume is o.k. 1 down from full. I agree that on full it seems to distort a little--but I didn't think it was that much. I think someone has pointed out that although there is an icon for headphones, there is not actually a jack (hole) there--probably the same case used for a model that does have one.

I commented that my Magellan 3225 sound quality (speaker) is poor. I went to Costco and tried out the display unit. The display unit sounded a bit better, but not by much. I bought a 2nd unit and compared the 2 units at home. Again, the sound on the new unit is just marginally better, but not by much. The poor sound is the limitation of the small speaker.

Now, more importantly, I found the displays on the 2 units to be very different. The 1st unit has very low contrast and much dimmer. The 2nd unit has much higher contrast and brighter. I double checked the settings are correct: at all brightness settings; with/without the "On-Battery Dimming (75%)"; with/without power source; with unit fully charged.

The difference is HUGE, especially on side-by-side comparison. This makes a significant difference for readability, particularly under direct sunlight.

I heard bad story about Magellan customer support. Now it appears Magellan's production control and quality is also suspect. I will keep the 3225, since at $150, it is one of the cheapest unit that speaks street names. I'm happy that I bought a 2nd unit for comparison. Obviously, I will keep the unit with brighter display.

Some details: The software version is identical. On the back of the display, the P/N and REF numbers are different.

The 1st unit (worse display):
P/N: 800-0004-013
S/N: 0737206xxxxxx
REF: 457

The 2nd unit (better display):
P/N: 800-0004-010
S/N: 0737205xxxxxx
REF: 447

The better unit actually has lower numbers, which I assume to mean older production. So it does not appear to be version update/change during production to make the units better. I suspect it is just variation in their production or quality control.

Very Interesting ...

My Magellan 3225 from Costco:
P/N: 800-0004-013
S/N: 0737214xxxxxx
REF: 527

Mine seems to me to have good brightness and contrast, but I don't have anything to compare it to, so who knows? I just purchased mine a couple of weeks ago.