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If you don't own a car with its own navigation system, and you're tired of looking up destinations on the internet and printing the results--or even worse, stopping to ask for directions--the Magellan 2200T make be just what you're looking for. Its sturdy and easily portable design, simple operation, and multi-function capability make it a great choice for any journey. 
Small, rugged, and powerful; the Magellan 2200T packs everything you need for navigation, and nothing you don't. View larger. | 
Select from a huge database of POIs. View larger. | 
Navigate to a tasty snack in a jiffy. View larger. | 
Use the address book to store your most important destinations. View larger. | 
A user-friendly browser lets you search through and display your photos. View larger. | Design
The Magellan 2200T is compact and solid, making it easy to bring along wherever you go, as well as providing a sense of confidence that it can survive the bumps of bruises that come with the mobile lifestyle. It measures just 3.7 x 2.0 x 0.6 inches (W x H x D) and weighs 7.8 ounces, making it only a little chunkier than your average PDA or Smartphone. The first thing you'll notice on its exterior is almost complete lack of buttons. This is because all interaction with the 2200T happens between the touchscreen and your finger. In the interest of simplicity, there is not even a stylus that can fall to the floor and roll under your the seat of your car. The only button you'll find on the device is the recessed rubber power button on the top right. All other connections are protected by rubber covers that can be peeled away for access. Below the power button you'll find ports for USB, headphones, and the external power supply. On the left is an SD/MMC card slot, a reset button, and a handy hold button that puts the device in a temporary power-saving mode. Setup and Interface
Setup is as easy as turning the device on, since it comes loaded with maps of the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, and is ready to go right out of the box. We found interacting with the touchscreen to be intuitive and reliable. With this device, there's really no need for a stylus or navigation buttons, which simplifies things on the road. The screen itself is sharp and clear with its 320 x 240 pixel resolution display and support for 64,000 colors. The 2200T comes with a dash or windshield mount, a wall charger, a USB cable, a CD with software for photos and music. Unfortunately, a vehicle charger is not included, however. The 2200T not only provides audible commands for turns, but is able to indicate street names using a text-to-voice system Magellan calls "SayWhere." We found this to be a very useful feature, especially when attempting to navigate in an unfamiliar city, although some of the street names were difficult to understand, particularly those derived from Spanish. 
A handy music player makes enjoying tunes on the go a breeze. | Navigation
The main purpose of any car GPS device is to take you reliably from point A to B. Here the 2200T performs nicely indeed, providing several options for finding your destination. To get going you can select either a street address, a specific point of interest, a destination from the address book, or an intersection (if you're not sure of the exact address). To speed up text entry, the unit employs a QuickSpell feature that displays only the letters that spell an item in its database. This greatly reduces the letters from which you have to choose to tell it where you want to go. Once it knows where you are headed, the device offers you the choice of shortest time, shortest distance, most use of freeways, or least use of freeways. You'll also find a trip planner that lets you layout and save multiple destinations. Other Goodies
Like a number of other similar devices, the Magellan 2200T also houses an MP3 player and a very nice photo/slide viewer. It's a breeze to drop music files or photos into the folders already located on the included SD card. We found the music player intuitive, with no serious learning curve. You can't listen to tunes and navigate at the same time, however. The device is also ideal for sharing snapshots of summer vacation with grandma once you make it over the river and through the woods. Colors are crisp and bright, and displaying your photos is idiot-proof for anyone who has ever used a computer or digital camera. The 2200T is a rugged and functional GPS navigator that is easy to use and reliable. If basic navigation is what you are looking for, and you can do without the bells and whistles of Bluetooth connections and real-time traffic information (although Magellan states that real-time traffic information can be added to the 2200T as an accessory), this could be just the ticket. Pros
- Rugged device with multiple functions and options
- Easy to use
- Reliable map included on SD card
- Includes MP3 Player and Photo Viewer
Cons
- Can't listen to MP3 player and navigate at the same time
- No bells and whistles
What's in the Box
Magellan RoadMate 2200T, windshield mount, DC power adapter, USB data cable, quick reference guide, reference manual on CD-ROM, car holder, and adhesive dashboard disk.
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 Best in its class |
| Review Date: November 13, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Charles, Santa Cruz, CA USA |
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. |
Magellan 2200T
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| Review Date: March 18, 2007 |
| Reviewer: J. P. Shupe, Boston, MA |
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.
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. |
This is a great item. Amazing really.
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| Review Date: January 8, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Dapper Dan, San Jose, CA USA |
I own an older Garmin GPS (one of the first available), and a built in GPS on my Acura. I was looking for a portable GPS for my son to use in his car. This seemed to fill the bill. I would have given 5 stars if it was not for the totally unacceptable customer support.
The unit would not turn on Christmas Day (what a drag) and I could not get anyone on the phone all day on the 26th. You have to navigate a frustrating menu system only to have the system disconnect the phone call!
Anyway the power on issue must be a common problem because there was a procedure listed on their web site which worked.
The antenna on this thing is amazing. We had the unit in the ash tray, on the drink holder, etc. and it worked wonderfully. The user interface is fantastic. I wish it would give you a little more notice for some turns but this may be a configurable setting. We found all kinds of locations across Michigan quickly and easily. The route optimization and re-routing functions work well also. The text to speech function to road names can be hard to understand but it is a nice feature.
This is so much easier than my 8 year old Garmin unit. No wires, better antenna, no computer downloading. It works quite a bit better than the built in GPS on my Acura. I highly recommend this model. |
Thumbs up. Cheaper than marriage counseling!
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| Review Date: May 29, 2007 |
| Reviewer: JT, San Jose, CA United States |
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.
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!!
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.
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.
Nice weekend, no missed directions, and no arguing in the car. On the way home my wife finally admitted it was worth it!!
Magellan thought this product out well. So far so good and five stars!!
- JT Clark / San Jose, CA
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.
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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Right on the money
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| Review Date: January 12, 2007 |
| Reviewer: C. Dallas, |
| Got the 2200T for Christmas for my motorcycle and the car. This unit is everything you could ever hope for. Bright, easy to see, water proof,and tells you everything. You won't go wrong with this one. I researched for a month or so before deciding on the Magellan 2200T.I think I made the best choice. |
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