Magellan RoadMate 9055

If you've ever looked enviously at luxury cars, with their big, built-in LCD screens for GPS navigation, the 7-inch Magellan RoadMate 9055 may be just what you need to cure your lust.

The all-plastic RoadMate 9055 measures 4.5 by 7.5 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.8 ounces.

Inside, a new 533 MHz processor replaces the older unit's Samsung CPU. The increased speed was noticeable.

Magellan preloads six million points of interest (POIs), plus maps for the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also includes Magellan's AAA TourBook, which helps you find restaurants, hotels, and other attractions along with descriptions and ratings.

On back, an A/V input lets you plug in a portable video player to use the RoadMate 9055 as a 7-inch LCD.

The mount deserves special mention. Magellan includes a removable, heavy-duty extension that adds 12 inches of length. That makes the RoadMate 9055 perfect for the far-away windshields in larger SUVs, minivans, and RVs.

The 800-by-480-pixel, 7-inch plastic resistive LCD looks bright and crisp, and Magellan tuned the screen well: I never had to touch a button twice in order to trigger it, and the size of the user interface elements made it easy to press the right thing.