Magellan RM5145SGLUC 5-Inch RoadMate 5145T-LM Navigator (Black)

I purchased the Magellan Roadmate 5145T-LM to replace a Magellan Roadmate 1412 gps I previously owned. I have been very disappointed in the 5145's operation since I received it.

This unit will only display the road ahead of it approx. 1/4 mile. If you try and zoom out any farther, all secondary and most main highways disappear from the screen, making it impossible to know what is coming up ahead of you. I have went back to my old 1412 gps until there is a fix published for the 5145. In my opinion, if they had used the programming I have in the 1412, and just made the bigger screen, etc. this would have been a good gps.

This unit will pick a route, and even if you ignore it's choice because it is obviously not correct, it will keep telling you to make u-turns to go back to it's chosen route, even when the u-turn would add miles to the trip. It should recalculate for a different route, but it is very slow to do so, and keeps telling you to make a u-turn instead. I have been on a paved highway and had the gps try to route me to a gravel road, even though I knew the paved route was faster. My 1412 Roadmate would choose the correct route on this same trip.

I have updated the map and the software to the newest version, but this didn't help. I have been in contact with Magellan support who said if I have the latest software etc., that there is nothing they can do. I have sent screen shots to Magellan support when I described my problem, who said they had forwarded the info to the dev. people to look at, and hopefully they would have a fix in the next update.

Jan. 29/13...I have updated the latest map for this GPS and it has now gotten even slower than before. I noticed that instead of having seperate regions to pick from such as Canada or USA, the map now only shows 1 region. If the gps has to search all of North America everytime you enter an address, I would think this would slow it down a lot. I tried clicking on the points of interest and picked emergency services to see what would come up. Instead of loading anything, this piece of **** froze up for approx. 20 seconds and then restarted it self. It did this the 3 times I tried it. What a joke. I believe the next step for me may be the hammer on cement fix. Don't buy this item.

This unit is very frustrating to use as it is very slow to process information. When inputting in an address, each letter/number takes several seconds to process. Once the address is finally accepted, and I hit "Go", it takes the unit another 20-30 seconds to finally show directions. I do not have this issue with my 6 year old Garmin. I recommend staying away from this unit - I will likely end up selling it at a loss and buying a Garmin.

I can't seem to enter the code for updates and have emailed the company for assistance, to no avail. The troubleshooting text is of no use. I've left it for my girlfriend to try, as the program that they have set up for this GPS is now blind to my requests or responses.
Am I happy. Not at all !! I think I'll just stick to buying books from you (Amazon) its a safer bet. I don't normally buy anything on-line for the same reason that I'm bitching about this devise. I prefer hands on !!