9. Portability And Rental Cars

One of the major advantages of these devices is their portability. Forget about research of available rental cars with navigation systems, renting pricey high-end cars or dealing with maps and traffic in unfamiliar geographies. The Roadmate 700 is the more portable device of our two units due to its lighter weight and smaller dimensions. We never had problems fitting the three parts of the device (main unit, cradle, cable) into carry-ons.

Compact and light weight: The cradle, arm and suction cup easily fits even in notebook briefcases.

The iWay is bulkier, heavier and needs more space and therefore was the less preferred unit to be brought onto plane trips. While there is no question that the system is very well suited to be used on business trips, most users in the end felt that the iWay is more of a stationary system that is best used when switched between cars within a family. The iWay 500c does not only add at least two pounds to your carry-on luggage and requires significant space, but also attracted interest from airport security staff. For example, the rubber stand was confused with a "propeller" on the security screen and made screening staff extremely nervous-which quickly convinced us to leave the heavy base at home when traveling by plane.

The iWay's 3-leg stand is bulky - and a cause of trouble at airports.

Smaller and built to last: The iWay's suction cup.

Both devices come with about two million preinstalled points of interest. Navigation in unfamiliar areas is simplified with the iWay through a capability of adding up to 1,000 personal points of interest, so-called waypoints, by the touch of a button. In this respect, the Magellan is less user friendly, since waypoints can only be saved through a dedicated entry of an address and saving it to the address book. Both devices automatically save previous entered destinations, so finding the way back to a rental car drop-off, airport, office, hotel or Grandma's house is no problem.