Garmin StreetPilot c330 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin StreetPilot c330 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Very useful
Summary: 4 Stars
For the very small additional cost compared the the almost identical 320, this provides nationwide coverage built in. There are some small quibbles about the maps. I live on a small street, and the Street Pilot doesn't know it exists... but of course I do, and I don't need this unit to find my way home. Second quibble is that the audio goes from loud to almost inaudible in three of the ten steps. I'd like to be able to set it at medium vollume, but it seems to be either LOUD or inaudible. Third, some rural addresses don't register easily. I recently wanted to go to a wedding at a farm, and the unit didn't recognize any version of the address I was given, until I decided to use HWY as an abbreviation, and then suddenly my destination actually WAS available. So you might need to be "creative" with some addresses. You CAN locate a town and then navigate the screen to where you believe your destination is, and lock that spot in. That's how I disovered that HWY was the key part of the address I wanted. Last quibble, the face is very reflective, and in daylight can be essentially unreadable depending on the sun. I've tried various angles and so on, and nothing works well to reduce the glare factor. Maybe some sort of anti-glare surface, even a removable film or something like that would be cool. POSITIVES are that aside from a few mapping quirks, it will always get you to where you want to go. VERY nice feature is the ability to set "home." If you are like me and like to wander back roads or whatever, you can set your motel as "home" and wander as much as you like, and you can then hit "go home" and it will take you back to the motel. To me, that's worth the price of the unit.
I recently had to go to a place in a city 50 miles away. The Street Pilot took me there precisely the way I would have chosen on my own, being familiar with the route. It didn't like that on the return trip, I chose to avoid some major road construction by taking a back road.... but once it recognized that it couldn't logically get me back on the "preferred" route, it actually took me the way us "locals" would go.
So all in all, it probably isn't going to take you your favorite way through your neighborhood.... but it WILL get you where you want to go, It gives you the choice between "fastest" and "shortest" route, but even so, it seems to ignore some routes as being shorter than others. I.e., here in my town, you can choose a route with two hospitals and three schools and MANY traffic lights... as opposed to a route with two traffic lights and none of the other traffic congesting issues. The Street Pilot will choose the congested route, either on "shortest" or "fastest" setting. So It is clear that locals know better..... but it is also clear that Street Pilot will get you where you want to go. I think everyone tests out the Street Pilot on local runs. I know I did. But the fact is that while local knowledge can trump this device, there's no way around the fact that it will ALWAYS get you to where you want to go.
Six months later: I have no revisions to the above, but I really was amazed that Garmin was $70 for its 2008 map upgrade!! One third the cost of the unit!!! This is REALLY ridiculously priced and I know I'm not going to fall for that crap. So maybe they've updated some stuff and added new developments. It ain't worth one third the cost of the whole setup. I'm downgrading my rating by a star just for this idiocy.
Customer Review: Catagory Killer Product
Summary: 5 Stars
Hands down the best value for the money. Easy to use, very small, internal battery, and preloaded maps. A monkey can use this out of the box. Be very wary of some of the reviews on Amazon regarding GPS. Many may be by people who have a vested interest either because they work for a competitor or because they invested in or shorted the stock of the companies making these units. GPS navigation is really starting to catch on in this country and the economic stakes for the companies involved are large. These are multibillion dollar companies trying to compete in a market that is just starting, the market for portable navigation devices.
Garmin makes the very best consumer GPS units in the world. They are the only GPS company that makes FAA certified integrated instrument pannels for airplanes. Do you really think they are putting out products that don't work? Garmin also has the best support I've ever experienced from any tech firm. I also own a Garmin PDA which broke and they replaced it for free outside of warrenty.
This is the GPS unit that will bring GPS to the masses. This is the first product that is easy enough for everyone to learn to use within 5 minutes. The C series does not have all of the functions and features of the 26xx series, it doesn't show individual sat. data or lat or long, route sorting, but most of these features add little value and make the OS interface more complicated. This is a pure GPS auto navigation unit. For more tech savy buyers the 2600 series or iQue is a better choice.
Compared to the Magellan Roadmate series, there is no comparision. The Garmin unit is less expensive and better on every dimension. Much smaller and lighter but with the same size screen as the 700. Touch screen and internal battery. Much better mounting system. It really works well. And a much larger POI database 5 million versus 2 million I think. Most importantly, the Garmin is MUCH easier to use. No one who tested both would buy the Magellan, unless they were French.
The unit is so small and light it really is a marvel of engineering. For the average Joe or Jane, this is the perfect GPS.
Garmin is a great company and supports its products very well. They provide free updates of the firmware for all their products and their customer service is first rate. You won't be sorry if you buy this one.
People who complain about the outdated maps should realize that there is a 1 or 2 year lag in adding new streets and POIs and no GPS has fully updated maps. If you live in an area with a lot of new construction, this can be very frustrating. Garmin provides map updates every two years or so (they are on version 6 now) for $75. It is a lot easier and less expensive to update a Garmin handheld than a built in car nav system. Some of Garmin competitors use maps by a different company that are very poor in comparision. Garmin uses the best mapping data available from navteq and develops its almost 6 million POI database themselves.
If you have any question about the C330, check one out in person at your local electronics shop. You won't believe the size and ease of use. Compare it to anything else out there and you will be buying the C330.
Customer Review: 4.9 stars = Very impressive device with a few minor flaws.
Summary: 5 Stars
FIELD TEST:
When you turn this device on it instantly tells you of your current location, sets the time of day and time zone and can instantly tell you where the closest Dairy Queen or McDonald's is. A fitting start to a device that will continue to impress you throughout its life.
I have used my Garmin c330 StreetPilot for about a month now and I have found a few restaurants that aren't listed in its database and a few streets that don't run on the built-in maps like they do in real life. Chalk some of that up to construction, I guess. But for the most part, the road test in my home city in West Texas is expertly outlined with very few flaws. That means when I tell it to find the fastest way to the mall, it will. When I type in the address of my friend's house it will guide me right to the door and even tell me which side of the street it will be on. Wow!
On a recent road trip I took this baby along for the almost 1,000 miles traveled in a weekend. When we were craving food, it would tell us which restaurants to expect in the upcoming towns. It even provides estimated times of arrival which were always accurate withing 30 minutes on trips that took six or seven hours.
WHO IT'S FOR
I would highly recommend this device for anyone who is driving around a lot in a city they're not quite familiar with or someone who travels to unknown areas at least once every two months. It will save your road trip several times.
It's for anyone who (like me) has ever turned the completely wrong way out of parking lot on the way home in a city I've lived in for years. If your sense of direction needs a supplement, buy this device.
However, if you live in the same small town you've been in for years and don't travel at least bi-monthly, you don't need this. Maps would be a cheaper (but not always easier) way for you.
PROS:
- Detailed mapping, impressive route recalculation
- Very easy to use (if you can use a digital wristwatch, you can use this product)
- Customizable for more hardcore users
- (This is cool!) Automatically switches to "night mode" after sunset -- it knows when sunset is for wherever you are. This makes it easier to see the information in the dark.
- Has a very accurate database of food, fuel, hotels and many more points of interest -- very useful for going to small towns where you don't want to drive around for hours.
- Changeable languages. You can change the voice directions to French, Norweigen or several others. It even has a woman with an American English voice and a different one with a British English voice. The British woman is much less annoying and much more soothing.
CONS:
- Tells you of upcoming turns three or four times (can be annoying at times, but the volume is adjustable)
SUMMARY:
Buy this device -- you will not be disappointed. When a friend or co-worker rides somewhere with you and sees it, they will be very jealous. A personal anecdote, my dad advised me not to buy this product. He quickly went back on that opinion when he rode around with me. It's a see-it-to-believe it product, but believe me -- it's worth it.
Customer Review: Garmin versus Tom Tom
Summary: 2 Stars
My wife and I couldn't decide which GPS to buy. My wife comes from a family of loyal Garmin customers, and I thought the Tom Tom looked like it was a little more intuitive, and I liked the screen readout.
Here's how the Garmin and the Tom Tom stack up:
The Tom Tom allows you to save a GPS position in a couple of quick steps: about the time it takes for a stop light to change. The Garmin requires you to stop your car at the side of the road, bounce around a half dozen screens, then when you save your location, it defaults to "001" not "53 Lincoln St." Now you have to change the name - Oh, wait, someone is trying to tow my car!
Taking an alternate route with the Tom Tom - much easier. Taking an alternate route with the Garmin. You probably ought to park your car somewhere.
You want to enter an address - they're about the same, but who came up with the idea that the street number should come before the street? With the Tom Tom, you go: state, city, street, then number - sounds logical right? The Garmin, you go, state, city, street number, then street. Something about that is just whacky. Or if I was speaking in Garminese, "Something about that is whacky just."
Alright, still can't decide? I haven't done any exhaustive analysis why this happens or if it's just with streets in my town, but if a street goes between two towns, say for instance, one end of the street is in Greenwich and the other end is in Warick. The street won't show up in Warick (even though my mail goes to Warick), but it does show up in Greenwich. To optimize my Garmin, I carry a handy road map to determine which town I might have to look for.
The Tom Tom has a great little screen readout: it has the street you're on (very handy in New England where only half the streets have signs) and how far from your destination. The Garmin has a funny little readout that gives me my estimated arrival time. Somebody who lives in Nebraska came up with this idea. This doesn't work for anyone living in Boston. I'd like to buy the Garmin accessory that gets my car to the destination at the arrival time; otherwise, I'll think about moving to Nebraska.
In fairness, the thing that the Garmin has over the Tom Tom is that the Tom Tom is not easy to pop into it's carrier, and the Garmin, pops in and out quite smoothly. I also like that the Garmin's volume control is on the side, and I don't have to poke around the screen.
You'll also be glad to know that every day you plug in your Garmin, you'll get an onscreen agreement that you have to tap before you can start. I think this is what it says:
"The user of this device agrees not to
operate it while the vehicle is in motion."
They mean it - you'll have to park your car. Don't try to drive and change things on the Garmin. That's an accident waiting to happen. Garmin has the best lawyers in town.
Price-wise, Tom Tom and Garmin are about the same.
Problem is, my wife won't let me use the Tom Tom - she was the one that wanted the Garmin and now I'm stuck with it, and she's loving her Tom Tom. I don't blame her.
Customer Review: Best value for the Money
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the GARMIN c330 because it gave me the most features for the price range I was looking in. There are better more expensive GPS models but this gives you a nice 3.5 inch full color screen, volume control for the voice command, a speed screen that gives you avg speed-max spped-driving time-stopped time, a turn by turn screen and and estamated time of arrival, it's fully loaded ready to use out of the box.
The unit can be used as a stand alone hand held battery operated GPS or placed in a powered windshield mounted cradle, it even comes with an adhesive disk to give you a dash mounting surface if you prefer that to windsheild mounting.
The data base is loaded with features for finding food in 19 categories, lodging, fuel, attractions (7 cat.), shopping (14 cat.), Parking, entertianment (4 cat.), Recreation (9 cat.), Transit, Auto services, Hospitals, nearby cities, near by community services. You can set up a home address, favorite places and it listes the places you've most recently visited. You can enter a specific address or the intersection of two streets. It has a detour button which recalculates your route around whatever stiuation you are in.
One very good feature they have which other GPS units in the same price range don't have is the navigation feature. You can set the GPS up for whatever type vehicle you are driving. Car/Motorcycle will calaulate every route for every available road. Truck will limit the vehicle to roads allowed for trucks but will route you around restricted access roads. My boss purchased 4 for his trucks and the drivers love them. No more mapquests or hoping to find a gas staion down the road. The GPS gives them point to point directions and locates lodging, fuel and food when they are on the road.
The negatives are few but there are some. Not enough to lower this unit to a 4 star but maybe a 4 and a half. the first is you can only set up point to point directions. You can set up one VIA point along your route but you have to set up your destiantion first the then add the via point. You can't set up say 4 points along a route. There are two ways you can set up the GPS to find your destination, shortest route or fastest route - the shortest is not always the fastest. I have it set to fastest route and it calculates that by the speed limits posted on each road it calulates. I find that sometimes I can make better time on roads it has calaulated around because I will drive abouve the speed limit so the route it chooses is the best if you drive the speed limt. I find that the attenna works very well for all situations however it works better when the unit is powered then when it is on batteries and some newrer cars windshields block some of the signal so an exteranl antenna may be necessary on new cars.
Other than that I give this unit 4 and a half to 5 stars.
Do you homework - I've seen this model sell for as much as $500 and as little as $299 for NEW units and $279 for refurbished so shop before you buy.
KA