Garmin StreetPilot c320 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
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List Price: Our Price: $129.00 You Save: $620.99 (83%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin StreetPilot c320 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: GREAT aftermarket GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me start to say that I have been using the C320 for about 4 months to the day. I bought this device when I was living in Fort Lauderdale, FL knowing my family was moving to a small county(but growing county)in North Carolina.
I used this on our first offical trip to our new home here in Waxhaw, NC. There would have been no way I could have found our new home, with all of the winding country roads, without the C320. Yes, I was there when I purchased our new home, but the realtor was the one that did all the driving while we were looking for new homes. My family has used it numerous times in finding different locations(shopping, dining, post offices, etc, etc) without failure. It truly is an amazing device in finding locations since we do not know our way around in our new town. Even my wife says that it is very easy to navigate/program.
Some friends came up to visit us and they wanted to go look at land to buy in another small county near us. They could not believe how well this device showed them around the rural areas that they were looking in. They also commented how easy it was to program using the touch screen buttons.
One of the down falls that I have found that the maps are not up to date but the C320 still gets you to your destination without failure. Once you learn the roads you can figure out the fastest/easiest way to get there next time. Also the display can get washed out with the bright sun at times but the voice navigation tells you were to turn.
I would absolutly recommend this device to anyone in the market for a portable GPS.
Customer Review: Very Nice
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using Delorme's Street Atlas with a GPS device for my notebook computer for that last several years. It works well, but bulky.
The C320 is the perfect alternative. It comes with everything it needs, including the windshield mount, AC and Auto adapters. Compared to Street Atlas it is so much easier to use, and the maps are up to date.
The complaint that it doesn't readjust the arrival time based on actual speed is ridiculas. What is it supposed to readjust it to? If you stop at a light is it supposed to go to 100 hours for the last mile? No GPS system does this. They all use a preset average speed based on the highway you are on. It does readjust based on the distance left.
All I can say this thing works well. I seriously thought about getting the C330 with all the maps preloaded on a built in hard drive, and just couldn't justify the extra $250. I bought a 512MB card for $30, and I can put almost half the US on it. I use the 512MB card most of the time, but if I travel out of the territory, then I use one of the other cards loaded with that territory. You can change the territory on any card at any time with your computer.
My only complaint is I can't set an actual route myself. I don't view this as much of a problem, whereas if I travel a different way it will readjust the route based on the way I am actually traveling.
One feature I really like is that you can select from numerous places near you location, like Restaurants, gas stations, amusment parks, etc... and it tell you how far away they are and how to get there.
You can't go wrong with this unit.
Customer Review: Easy to use, works well, price is right
Summary: 5 Stars
At $275 to your door, this Garmin unit is hard to beat. I was amazed at how intuitive the interface was. I never even looked at a manual. You just follow the onscreen prompts and you're in business.
When it comes to navigating, it's like most NAV units... A human brain who knows the area well could get you there faster in some cases, and every now and then you run into road names that are unfamiliar to you locally or new roads that aren't in the Garmin's system map yet. It will also sometimes tell you to "stay right" on a road that really doesn't have a "stay left" to it. But overall, very good navigation.
The mounting is solid. So solid, in fact, that it's sometimes hard to remove from your windshield. I would have preferred the power plug to insert into the unit itself rather than be integrated into the base, so that you can velcro the unit to the car if you wanted. But it's not a big deal. Besides, you can use battery power for quite a while, long enough for short trips around town.
The main improvement you could see by spending more would be voice prompts that give you the street name you will be turning on, rather than just saying "turn right in 50 feet". But those were nearly double the price. I'm sure power users can think of many more "must-have" features, but I am pleased with the unit for the price. A more expensive unit would just not make sense for me, since it would not get enough use and I would be worried about breaking it or having it stolen.
I did my research and nothing touched it in this price range.
Customer Review: Great GPS, great price
Summary: 5 Stars
i did a lot of research regarding Garmin GPS units. for the price, in my opinion, the c320 is the best one. the bells and whistles of the higher c series, c340, c510, c550, etc, did not interest me. while it would be nice to have the unit announce the name of the street (the c340, c550, and c580 "speak street names," i.e. "turn right on Main Street" as opposed to "Turn right"), the name of the street to turn on is still on the screen. if there is any confusion as to where you are to turn, you can simply look at the screen. in addition, bluetooth would be nice, i can just as easily pull out my cell phone and press a few numbers. moreover, traffic alert is appealing, but it is not available everywhere and i am pretty sure it requires additional fee (although i could be wrong about the fee).
the batter life is good (i dont doubt the 8 hour claimed battery life). the screen is completely readable, even in sunny conditions. the unit finds the satellites quickly. maps are easily loaded on to the unit, given that you have a DVD drive on your computer. moreover, it is incredibly to easy to use. bottom line, if you do not know where you are going, or are unfamiliar with the area, the c320 will get you there. and for $250, it is inexpensive for a GPS unit.
it is interesting to note that when this unit initially came out (i think ~2 years ago), it retailed at somewheres in the range of $700. currently, the new streetpilots and nuvis are in this range. if you need the hottest and newest, get the c550, c580, or a nuvi. if you need a GPS unit, get the c320.
Customer Review: A GPS Lacking Latitude and Longitude
Summary: 1 Stars
The most incredible deficiency in this model -- and I understand the entire "c" series of StreetPilots -- is its near total lack of any way to use numerical latitude and longitude, the oldest, most fundamental and universal of all navigational standards.
Can it display Lat/Long on its screen? No. (Even my cell phone does that.)
Can it output Lat/Long electronically via USB, NMEA-0183 or RS-232, etc? No.
Can you key in Lat/Long on the touch screen? No.
Can you input Lat/Long electronically? Yes, via USB, with some difficulty. You have to generate a .CSV file on a computer, and download some software from the Garmin web site.
Absolutely astounding, it's like a suitcase without a handle or a TV set without a picture.
Initial setup and installation are also quite difficult. It took me a couple days. The documentation included in the package consists of a few random scraps of paper. The actual manual you have to download from their web site. There's a cumbersome password thing you have to find and key in. Why I don't know, it should be fairly easy to make the software specific to the hardware.
Once past the initial hurdles and disappontments, though, it does have some good points. It does a much better job of gathering and interpreting satellite signals than my old 75 did. The voice prompts and simple map display work very nicely while driving. If you choose a different route home than it suggests, it seems to learn your preferences and use them next time.