I am a Realtor and I did have a TOMTOM one and sold it because it wasn't always accurate. So I decided to get the Magellan 3250 because it told you the street names and had all the other high tech features. Well I had to go show 10 homes in one day and the Magellan only could find 4 out of 10 homes. These homes were older homes so the Magellan had no excuses and when I called the customer service they told me I would have to pay $80 m more for upgraded maps. I sent the junk back and bought me a TOMTOM one xl and haven't had a problem yet. Also TOMTOM allows you to down load the newest maps for FREE. In my line of work I need the most up to date maps with out paying $80 every so often. I was going to try a Garmin as well but Garmin runs off the same Navigation company as Magellan. No GPS is going to no where everything is but over all the TOMTOM is worth the money.

This was my first Magellan unit but I have been using GPS for over nine years. I find Magellan's menus and basic features very easy to use and prefer them over that of the Tom Toms. However, I returned the 3250 and opted for the 4210. Why? The voice recognition system of the 3250 was troublesome to use. Also, call quality while using the unit's bluetooth for hands-free calling was not very good. Lastly, I think the 4.3" widescreen is beneficial.

I spent a lot of time going round and round in circles reading the various reviews from the various products, I chose this because it had the most useful navigation features for the money.

Pro's

* Text to Speach - speaks turns in street names and works very well. Gives you good warning and the screen actually splits whilst speaking the directions for more compex junctions and turns for example if you need to make a left and then an immediate right. Also gives you a chime just on the turning, this has always been accurate.

* Accurate Maps and Routes - The routes are spot on, the re-routing feature works extremely well and you can switch it off if you like or to configure it to act based upon a specific time period deviated from the route or distance. This is very useful, sometimes you don't want the re-route to happen straight away sometimes you do, this can do either.

* Points of Interest - You can choose which points of interest appear on the map, it has voice recognition which allows you to say some basic commands like Take me Home, Distance to Destination, Nearest Gas. This feature works very well and you can switch it off if you don't want it. It had no trouble recognising my voice and I have a strong Welsh accent. As with any voice recogition somtimes you have to repeat or raise your voice but works very well. The points of interest is also a great safety feature in my opinion, gives you local hospitals, gas stations. Also provides you with phone numbers for those points of interest.

* Screen - Bright and clear on summer days and not too much glare at night. The screen changes its use of colours at night time automatically, this is useful as it reduces disractions at night time driving.

* Other useful features - Say where am I and it gives you exact information, even speed and elevation.

* Bluetooth - you can make calls through the device with a blootooth cell phone.

Some reviews mention a problem with the power button, I've had no trouble at all but I did notice that if you had your power adapter connected to the device but not plugged into the car socket it would not power up, but if you connect it in the car socket or disconnect it from the device, it will power up. The behaviour seems to be intentional in that if you have your power cord plugged in then plug it into that car socket or unplug it. I haven't had any problems that would indicate a dodgy power button.

Con's

* No headphone jack.

* No mention of any European Maps becoming available for this device

* Battery life not as long as some other devices - 3-4hours.

* Does not come with AC adapter so you must charge though the cigarette lighter or USB cable.

This is a very easy to use GPS system. Love it. We took it on the airplane with us to Florida, got there, put it in the rent car and off we went....worked great. My kids took it from there to Georgia and then back to Texas. Have had absolutely no problems.

This is my 3rd GPS unit. I upgraded from the Magellan 3140.

The 3250 is nice and small. The traffic feature is super. Voice command is just a gimmick, needs a lot more refinement. There are limited commands and you have to have the windows up with the radio off for it to understand you.

It seems to take longer to acquire satellite signals than the 3140. And is just seems to be slower as well.

Overall, how can you go wrong with all the features of the 3250 for the prices.

We purchased this unit for our son,who loved it. Then it started to 'freeze' up. We contacted customer service via e-mail...several days later they replied....told us to push the re-set button. No kidding! E-mailed back(the way you need to correspond with them is very annoying)told them that the re-set button does not fix the problem. They e-mailed back that we should send them our information and they would send us a return authorization #. We sent all the information to them....never heard from them again. 2 weeks went by...decided to call. Big mistake! Over an hour on the phone,being switched from 'department' to department...having to give the same information over and over again. (How many times can you spell your name!) Finally after an hour on the phone,I was given a Repair authorization #. That's right,they are going to repair the defective brand new unit,not replace it. I sincerely hope I never have to call customer service again.

My husband and I bought this because our job requires us to work at people's homes, and mapquest-ing every address was getting to be a bit of a pain.

My top three favorite features are:

1. It says the street name. Lots of models will just tell you to turn in "approximately .2 miles", which can get really tricky in a residential area, especially because the gps is accurate only within around 50 feet, so estimating .2 miles can be rough.

2. "Where am I?" Ever find a hole-in-the-wall restaurant you love, or a grocery store with perfect produce? With this feature, the gps can actually pinpoint your current address and you can add it to your address book, so you can find your way back there. Also a great feature if your car breaks down and you need someone to bring you some gas or--even worse--a tow truck to find you.

3. AAA locations. I love this. Especially useful for snowy days when you need to stay at a hotel in some podunk town you never would have thought to make a reservation in. As a AAA member, I'm extremely satisfied with this feature, although it's useful to nonmembers too. I just like knowing where my discount will apply.

MY ONLY PROBLEM:

It takes a second or two for it to find you when you first turn it on. And by a second, I mean about a minute. Then again, I live with my apartment against the mountains, so satellite reception there isn't all that great!

I love this gadget. Great navigation, very intuitive. Only 1 change I would make, volume control should be on the device not embedded in menus.

About the third time I used it, the unit froze up. I tried shutting it off and using the reset button. Nothing worked. I was told that the only way to "fix" it is to let the power run down, and then restart it. That is no solution if you are travelling and need it to navigate. When it worked, it worked fine. But this is a major flaw.

I bought this item for my girlfriend because she constantly gets lost trying to go to the grocery store :-) She loves it. She especially loves that it tells her road names instead of just...turn here in 100 ft. Very nice starter type GPS for a reasonable price.