A Review of the 3000T - By JAMES DERK

I've always been too cheap to fork out the money for a GPS system for my car even though I always get one when I rent a Hertz car. I have a GPS attachment for my Dell Axim handheld PC, but downloading the maps and getting all the wires set up in the car was always too much of a hassle to use it.

And I'm too cheap to own a fancy-enough car to have GPS installed by the factory in the dash.

So when Magellan offered me the chance to test out a member of its new Roadmate line of portable GPS units on a family vacation to Florida, I was happy to give it a whirl. It arrived in a plain box a day before I left with no user manual or instructions (it was a demo unit) so I had a real-world test of how easy the Magellan 3000T would be to use and set up.

If you've ever used the Hertz NeverLost system you would be familiar with this unit, which works much the same, right down to the same female voice telling you when to turn. (The Roadmate obviously is based on the same technology, but the Hertz system is far more advanced since it relies on a computer in the trunk.)

The 3000T, which lists for $599, is powered by rechargeable batteries or via the 12V adapter in the car. (You also can have it wired directly to the power supply in the dash if you're handy.)

Once powered on, the unit locates the satellites and orients itself. One thing that impressed me was the unit's ability to locate satellites even while being held by the passenger in a car; it didn't seem to need line of sight to the dash or even clear view out the windows.

The unit's 3.5-inch color screen was bright and easy to use. Using the touch screen you type in where you want to go and you're offered several options, including the shortest time (duh!) or most use of freeways, etc. Once you pick that, it selects the route it thinks is the best and off you go.

Sometimes the routes Magellan thinks are best are, shall we say, interesting, but I never found it to be totally off-base. Once in a while it will be a house or two off but that's more a fault of the map and not the device. You can subscribe to live updates that will route you around traffic delays and construction zones as well.

One fault I would have with the device is timing; sometimes it told me too late to make a turn off an Interstate for example. Also the device's female voice is sometimes too soft for a van full of people and the radio. However, it located gas stations, ATMs and restaurants automatically, which nearly paid for itself a couple times.

Is it worth 600 bucks? If I drove a lot I would definitely own a GPS and this one was a good one. In a few years you won't be able to buy a car without one and maps will be one of those odd things our kids will look at in antique stores.

You can see the details at Magellan's Web site at www.magellangps.com