Magellan RoadMate 700 Car GPS Receiver

What's GOOD:

Relatively large touch screen, excellent street and destination database, very smart routing algorithms, nicely designed maneuver prompts. It really did change my life (while it was working). It was the most useful gadget I've encountered since the cellphone.

What's BAD:

First of all, the air-vent mount is a complete disaster, and Thales Navigation (the manufacturer) never should have released the unit until a better system had been invented. It's unstable, and and frequently slides around and falls out during turns. In one vehicle I had to make a rather unsightly harness with wires to mount it in. Then I bought a new car, and the air vent mount has already scraped and scratched up the dashboard. Only by reading Cnet reviews did I learn that Thales now offers a free windshield suction mount, which is supposedly better. Why didn't they tell me that or send me one? Thales has proven a very difficult company to deal with in various respects, and I'd recommend buying a GPS receiver from a company with better technical support if possible. Another problem: when you start it up, the RM 700 usually takes a long time to find satellites and figure out where it is: up to 30 minutes or more if you're in a city. Thales told me the solution to this is to buy their rooftop external antenna, which improves reception. I'm not an engineer, but I don't understand why that's the fix for this problem, when the unit never loses reception once it has found its satellites. I'm skeptical of a solution that requires buying extra accessories -- if accessories are required for satisfactory performance in routine use, then why aren't they included? After a few months of only intermittent use (for occasional long trips only), my RM 700 stopped working. I think it's probably the hard drive that failed, although I can't really say for sure because Tech Support isn't available after hours or on weekends. Before buying this thing, I worried that a hard drive wasn't the best data storage method for automotive use, and now I think I was right.