The Magellan RoadMate 860T looks quite different to others units in the RoadMate range, having a circular cluster of buttons on its right hand side. Unlike many other vehicle navigation units, both the touch screen and buttons are used for navigation. A highlight of the Magellan RoadMate 860T is the 20GB hard drive which has 10GB reserved for multimedia use - music and photos.

The units GPS functions are powered by a SiRF Star III receiver which is highly regarded for its GPS performance. The 860T has Bluetooth for hands-free phone calls and is Traffic enabled allowing users to avoid traffic delays using real-time traffic information. Also included is the popular text-to-speech functionality whereby street names are pronounced which Magellan call SayWhere.

Traffic Enabled

Integrated in the Magellan RoadMate 860T is a traffic receiver which provides live traffic incident reports to allow users to avoid accidents, slow-downs, road closures, severe weather, road work and other traffic delays. Traffic incident locations and details are available on the touch-screen and automatic re-routing around upcoming traffic problems is available. Traffic data requires a traffic subscription however, the units do include a lengthy, free 15-month subscription. The 860T prompts for the renewal the subscription at the end of the subscription period - which can be done at www.magellangps.com.

Display and Operation

As mentioned, the touch screen measures 3.5″ diagonally. The screen is a full-color, high resolution, transflective TFT which automatically adjusts backlighting to ambient light conditions. Transflective LCDs are used for displays to be exposed to direct sunlight - as common with a automotive GPS. In low light (indoors) transflective displays use backlighting. In bright light (sunlight) they absorb the sun’s rays and utilize them to boost backlighting making the display legible and simultaneously reducing power consumption. Only the area of the display exposed to sunlight increases its light output making the difference in brightness between the shaded and lit areas far less than would be the case for a transmissive display. Transflective screens are a more expensive option for manufacturers and though they lack some of the sharpness and resolution of transmissive displays it’s a moot point if you can’t see the display.

Unlike many other car navigation GPS units available, the Magellan 860T has buttons on the top, sides, and bottom as well as the touch screen. It’s unlikely that this mix will continue long with the release of new projected capacitive touch screen technology by Synaptics Inc used by the iPhone. A mesh of metal wires between two layers of glass registers a touch when the electrical field is broken. The capacitive touch screen technology provides very bright, crisp displays. Market research company, iSuppli Corp, expects that capacitive touch screen technology shipments will leap to some 21 million units by 2012.

Navigation

The Magellan Roadmate 860T provides both turn-by-turn voice and visual guidance. Standard or 3D views are available for visual guidance.

There are numerous functions to assist you with navigating including:

• Multi-Destination Routing and Route Optimization - Select up to 20 destinations and optimize the most direct route between them
• SmartDetour - Customize the settings to automatically route you around sudden slow freeway traffic
• SmartVolume - Turns up the speaker volume at 45MPH
• Auto night view - Adjust color and contrast for easy night viewing
• Quick Spell - Easily enter addresses with unique auto-complete feature
• Auto Re-route - Quickly get back on track whenever you take a detour
• Interactive POI icons - Touch an onscreen icon for a nearby destination; see phone number and get an instant route
• Customizable route method - Shortest time, shortest distance, least use or most use of freeways, avoid toll roads
• Route exclusion - Select street or freeways to avoid
• Instant locate - One touch shows your location

An especially handy navigation tool is one which allows the configuration of proximity triggers. When within a specified range to a particular type of POI (eg. a post office) you will be notified by an alarm. Location based services are extending this concept to detecting other person’s willing to “share” their location information.

The where-am-I functionality is something all cell or mobile phone owners in the US or Europe will have in some 18 months or so. Mobile operators in both regions have an 18 month compliance clock ticking on them to meet new European Union emergency call legislation and similar E-911 legislation in the US. Read about BlueSky Positioning’s A-GPS SIM card which will help enable this capability.
Maps

The North American version of the Magellan RoadMate 860T comes with built-in maps for 50 United States, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Canada including over 6 million points of interest (POI). For an extra fee users can unlock access to maps from 27 European countries.

Multimedia Features

The 860T is well equipped as a multimedia device with a digital music player and a photo viewer and plenty of storage available with the 10GB allocated on the hard drive.

Out of the Car

A vehicle adapter is included for powering and charging the unit in the car and an integrated battery allows drivers to operate the device away from the car (2 hours). An AC power adapter is an optional accessory. There is a Magellan RoadMate Tools Application CD with software that allows you to connect the RoadMate 860T to a PC (no Mac support) and manage custom POI’s, photos, and music.

Magellan RoadMate 860T Portable GPS Navigator

Magellan RoadMate vs

If looking for similar functionalities but with Bluetooth for hands free calls then the RoadMate 6000T is the model to look at. You will have to forgo the internal hard drive however.

Competition for the Magellan RoadMate 860T includes the TomTom GO 910 and the Garmin StreetPilot c550 - both of which have internal memory.

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Magellan RoadMate 860T Specification