6. Magellan Roadmate 700

The Roadmate 700 kit comes with the GPS unit itself, a cradle that is attached to a flexible arm and a suction cup, as well as a power cable. Initial setup requires the user only to slide three plastic pieces together.

Installation in the car usually is completed in less than a minute by attaching the suction cup, sliding the Roadmate into the cradle and plugging the cable into the cigarette lighter of the car. The flexible arm consists of a wire ¼" in diameter and 8" in length. It is covered by a flexible plastic pipe and allows the driver to easily adjust the Roadmate's position. This setup will work in most vehicles with decent windshield sizes. When space gets tight, as is the case in our 1996 Corvette, the arm is too clunky and too long in order to move the unit in a comfortable and acceptable position that did not impact the visibility of the road ahead.

The Roadmate's suction cup, arm and cradle.

Magellan Roadmate 700 installed in a 2003 Subaru Outback.

We were not completely happy with the supplied power cable. With a length of 25 inches, it worked well in five of our six tested cars. The 1999-2004 versions of the Honda Odyssey however have a power plug on the bottom of the center console and require about 40" of cable between the cradle and the power source. The Roadmate's cable stretched over the distance, but ran tightly across the center console and partially blocked access to climate and stereo controls. A few more inches of cable certainly would be appreciated by drivers of cars that are not equipped with cigarette lighters or power plugs in the middle of the dash.

The cable of the Roadmate (left) runs tightly across the dash of our 2004 Honda Odyssey.

The suction cup is not the strongest we have seen and requires very clean and dry surfaces to securely stick to the windshield. Slight condensation causes the suction cup to loose pressure quickly and simply fall off. Removing the unit is done in a snap either by simply clicking the GPS unit from the cradle or removing the whole arm by using a switch on the suction cup.

The Roadmate 700 lives up to its ready-to-use promise of a very easy installation. Users should be able to install the whole system in less than five minutes.