Magellan Introduces the 7-Inch RoadMate 1700

Magellan pushes the envelope with a 7-inch LCD display, one of the largest we've ever seen. Will this help them stave off extinction?

Magellan RoadMate 1475T

Magellan RoadMate 1700

from $224.79

The news for GPS manufacturers has not been good lately. The big three, Garmin, TomTom, and Magellan, are now seen as lumbering dinosaurs, shambling toward their ultimate destruction at the hands of GPS-enabled SmartPhones that threaten their existence. The inevitability of their extinction is almost considered common sense now, at least in the marketplace, and while they may still be selling products in the short term, the long-term forecast is decidedly dismal.

We've talked a little bit about how the manufacturers are responding to this. Garmin, to their credit, has attempted to enter the SmartPhone fray with their own handset, the Garmin Nuviphone. It was a good idea when they announced it almost two years ago. As the months dragged on and no phone materialized, it seemed less and less like the savior the company hoped for. It's now scheduled for release this winter, but all the buzz that once surrounded it seems to have dissipated.

TomTom, also to their credit, has begun to evolve from a company that makes GPS hardware to a company that provides GPS software to SmartPhones. Their iPhone application was released this month, and though it's still too expensive (around $100), it's a good first step toward accepting their fate and trying to compete on the new playing field.

Magellan's response to the death of standalone personal navigation devices, however, was not clear. Since their acquisition by MiTAC, Magellan has been relatively quiet, with only a few minor product announcements and no big moves. Considering the relative silence, the announcement of the Magellan RoadMate 1700 can be interpreted as all we're going to get from the manufacturer, and it demonstrates a definite lack of interest in the future of GPS. Magellan's answer seems to be "go big," but maybe they should just go home.

The Magellan RoadMate 1700 has a manufacturer's retail price of $299, and will be released on October 10th. Compared to other Magellan models, the feature set is rather basic. The only distinguishing aspect of the 1700 is its incredibly large LCD display, which measures in at a whopping seven inches. Seven inches! That's huge in PND terms, with most high-end luxury displays maxing out at about five inches, and usually at much greater expense. But what good is a seven inch screen when the iPhone is breathing down your neck?

For drivers interested in high-visibility directions, the 1700 is a decent option. Affordable, reasonably equipped, and very large. The future, however, doesn't lie in devices like the RoadMate 1700, and it's still unclear whether Magellan has any thoughts on how to approach the future of GPS. It sure doesn't look like it.