Over the past couple of years, the Magellan company has come up with a very wide range of portable GPS navigators, designed to fit the needs of a very wide range of consumers, from newbies to power users. And for the latter category in particular, Magellan launched back in October 2008 its Maestro 4370, which offers a wide array of advanced navigation options, from 3D landmarks to Bluetooth and a car speaker system.



The PND offers a host of very interesting navigation-related functions, one of the most interesting being the OneTouch menu, which allows users to create shortcuts to one's favorite destinations and points of interest. Furthermore, the detailed navigation maps also include 3D landmarks, for easier visual navigation, plus spoken instructions, lane guidance as well as Live Traffic capability, which provides you with real-time incident reports to the screen with alerts for slow downs, accidents, road closures, severe weather, and more.



Other interesting navigation-related features include the QuickSpell auto-complete feature, the available pedestrian mode and also the SmartDetour function, which automatically prompts users to route around sudden slow freeway traffic.



Moreover, as any modern PND should, the device also packs a Bluetooth module, as well as an MP3 player and an FM tuner, for transmitting either music, navigation instructions or mobile phone calls directly via the car's audio system.



Of course, we must also pay some well-deserved attention to the PND's technical specs. The navigator has been fitted with a 4.3-inch VGA display, as well as 2 GB of built-in NAND flash memory, used for storing the navigation maps and software.



Magellan has chosen a non-mainstream solution as far as the GPS module is concerned, going with the WAAS/EGNOS enabled Titan 1 module, which provides a level of accuracy between 3 and 5 meters (10 to 16 feet). The battery is also rather standard, since we're dealing with a 2200ma Li-ion rechargeable unit, which provides an estimated functioning life of around 3 hours.



The Maestro 4370 can be purchased for around 650 US dollars, which is way above the average price range for this type of devices, and it remains to be seen whether it will actually enjoy the level of success its manufacturers expect it to or not.