A Closed Circuit for the Streets
The Magellan RoadMate 6230-LM records your trip because – like it or not – you have to share the road.
The one bad thing about driving is the other drivers. That’s why the Magellan RoadMate 6230-LM, seemingly the last relevant portable navigation device on the market, keeps an extra set of eyes on the road for you. Rather than serving as a glorified Google Maps app, the RoadMate incorporates a dashcam that automatically records accidents and the sudden neck-tweaking braking maneuvers that happen when some jerk cuts you off in traffic. The 5-inch screen can be switched from map to video view as the device shoots in 5-minute increments, slowly eating up ts 4GBs of memory (expandable using a microSD slot). When it runs out of room, it starts overwriting the older files and when someone runs into you, it catches them on tape.
When accidents don’t happen, which should be most of the time if you’re doing it right, the RoadMate will record your drives, turning your slightly illegal race down that lonely stretch of highway into one long, 720-p take. The nav system’s free lifetime map updates and red light camera warnings are also a bonus, but the two-in-one gadget did present one challenge: The ideal position for the best video isn’t the best position for viewing the navigation screen inside. Still, the system is as worthy a road-trip addition as a radar detector. [$230; magellangps.com]
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