As the holiday season (and hence, the Christmas shopping spree) approaches, almost all consumer electronics' manufacturers are trying to come up with "hit" products, whose features and price tags will make them very popular with the consumers, especially those who can't afford to spend a fortune on a certain item. And that's exactly the case with Magellan, who has just announced the launch of the RoadMate 1200 GPS navigator, an entry-level PND that provides basic navigation functions at a very affordable price tag.

The new Magellan RoadMate 1200 is designed for easy portability and features a sleek pocket-sized form factor, a full-size 3.5-inch QVGA bright, anti-glare touch screen display and a simple, intuitive user interface designed for fast input with a minimal amount of keystrokes. It also features a clutter-free menu and map screens that incorporate stylish icons and graphics that are clear and crisp to the user. As in the case of most other PNDs available on the market, the maps are stored on SD cards, and the device also sports an USB connector for hooking up to a PC or for recharging the battery.

The device also incorporates a SiRF Star III GPS chipset (like most of the other similar products available on the market), and allows users to view maps in 2D and 3D modes with auto day / night mode switching. Moreover, it provides a number of interesting navigation functions, namely a trip computer and trip planner, the QuickSpell address finding function, as well as the SmartDetour function that prompts drivers to route around heavy or stationary traffic.

According to the company, in North America, the Magellan RoadMate 1200 comes preloaded with NavTeq maps, which cover the 48 contiguous United States, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. It also features 1.3 million points of interest (POI) data, such as gas/petrol stations, ATMs, hotels, restaurants, airports and more, with contact details such as phone number, address and the travel distance. The European version will include maps for France, Germany / Alps, United Kingdom / Ireland, Northern regions, Italy / Alps, Iberia and Benelux.

"IDC expects vendors to ship 20.3 million units worldwide in 2007, meaning hundreds of thousands of consumers will either purchase or receive a GPS unit this holiday season," said Christian Bubenheim, vice president of product marketing for Magellan. "With a price that consumers can afford, the Magellan Roadmate 1200 delivers a highly portable design and powerful features, making it one of the most sought out holiday gifts for 2007."

The Magellan RoadMate 1200 will retail for just $229.99, which makes it one of the most affordable GPS navigation solutions on the market and a good choice for those first-time GPS users who don't want to spend too much on their first GPS-enabled PND.

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