Garmin StreetPilot c330 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
|
List Price: Our Price: $249.00 You Save: $300.99 (55%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $29.98 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin StreetPilot c330 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Overall, the best GPS to fit my needs
Summary: 4 Stars
I initially tried the Tomtom GO 700, here in Northeast USA, Boston area. In the first day, using it on routes I knew already, it did fairly well, but sent me astray occasionally, and once on a very strange route. (Instead of taking the proper left at an intersection, it had me take a right, drive 1/2 mile to a rotary (a.k.a. traffic circle) and loop around the rotary to make a U-turn to come back to the same intersection.) I felt that if I had to second guess its route, it was not doing what I bought it for.
I then tried the c330, since it uses a different company for its maps. After two days with it, it has not yet led me astray. I also tried that same intersection above, and it properly told me to take the left.
I considered the c340, but there are many reports of it locking up... not good.
So, I'm settled on the c330. Comparing this to the Tomtom 700, here are the pros and cons I found:
Pros of the c330 over the Tomtom 700:
- Routing and maps superior on the c330 in my limited time with each
- Points of interest (POIs) are much better on the c330. A more extensive database, phone numbers of POIs in the database, and a better user interface. Tomtom's POIs are fairly useless.
- Ability to zoom out and in on route and have the view stay that way (the Tomtom insists on resetting back to its preferred zoom level after a short time)
- Audible tone setting preceding voice guidance; it's good to have a consistent tone to get your attention so you know what to listen for, especially when cranking tunes.
- $200 cheaper!
- Service seems to be better from Garmin than from Tomtom, from what I've read (no first-hand experience)
Things I liked on the Tomtom that the c330 doesn't have:
- While the ability to add new voices sounded appealing, GPS forums indicate that the "funny" and celebrity voices get annoying after a few minutes and most have reverted back to the stock voice. Still, a cool feature nonetheless.
- Brightness setting. The c330 has only two brightness settings, and I find the dimmest is still quite bright and annoying at night.
- Route demo. Very cool features of the Tomtom that allows you to preview the route at 5x speed or slower. C330 can step through route, I believe, but not as slick as Tomtom.
- Bluetooth phone compatibility, of course.
- Traffic compatibility, although I don't think I'd really use this (a pay service and hardly worth it in my area).
- In general, the Tomtom is more user configurable
Some annoyances of the c330:
- Silly startup screen which warns you about not typing on it while driving or something like that. Requires user to hit OK each time starting up. Dumb.
- Mount is a bit short, which doesn't enable me to mount it low on my windshield, where I would have preferred. Tomtom wasn't much longer.
So, overall, the c330 will be my GPS.
Customer Review: SD Slot Dead
Summary: 1 Stars
TAKE CARE IF YOU WANT A EXPANDABLE UNIT!!!!!!! THEY DON'T CHECK THE SD EXPANSION SLOT BEFORE THEY SELL!!! BELOW YOU CAN FIND THE SAD HISTORY WITH GARMIN.
I BOUGHT A BRAND NEW C330 FROM AMAZON ON JULY 2006. THE UNIT IS NOT RECOGNIZING ANY SD CARD INSERTED. USING THE DIAGNOSTIC SCREEN I SEE THAT THE UNIT IS NOT DETECTING THE SD CARD. MY UNIT SAYS:
SIZE NO CARD
SERIAL NO CARD
READ-ONLY? NO CARD
--:--:-- ------
MODEL NO CARD
BOUGHT FROM AMAZON 11/01 A FRESH COPY OF MAPSOURCE EUROPEAN NAVIGATOR VERSION 8 DVD, UNLOCKED THE PRODUCT WITH SUCCESS, USED A CARD READER TO PROGRAM THE CARD (IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO USE THE UNIT TO TRANFERS THE MAPS TO THE SD CARD) AND NOTHING HAPPENS. I'M GOING TO EUROPE, SPENT A LOT OF MONEY AND NOTHING HAPPENS. THERE IS NO INFORMATION AT ALL AT GARMIN'S WEB SITE, IN THE PRODUCT MANUAL, NOTHING. THE QUESTION IS VERY SIMPLE: I HAVE A BRAND NEW C330 WITH THE LAST FIRMWARE VERSION INSTALLED, I JUST BOUGHT A BRAND NEW COPY OF EUROPEAN CITY NAVIGATOR VERSION 8. WHAT SHOULD I DO TO HAVE THE MAPS WORKING IN MY GSP UNIT? THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE.
TRIED TO USE DIFFERENT CARD SIZE, TRIED TO FORMAT CARDS USING FAT, FAT32, DIFFERENT CLUSTER SIZES, TRIED TO TRANSFER JUST A FEW MAPS TO THE UNIT, TRIED TO TRANFER THE WHOLE EUROPE TRIED TO FORMAT AGAIN THE CARD BUT NOTHING HAPPENS. I WAS IN NYC 11/06 AND INSERTED THE CARD PREPROGRAMED WITH THE MAP OF LYON (FRANCE) ON A BEST BUY'S C330 DISPLAY UNIT AND ALSO A NUVI. THEY BOTH STARTUP WITH THE MESSAGE "CANNOT UNLOCK MAPS". OF COURSE THEY CAN'T BECAUSE I UNLOCKED THE MAPSOURCE SOFTWARE TO MY GPS SERIAL NUMBER. BUT THIS MESSAGE SHOWS THAT THESE UNITS ARE WORKING WELL. WHEN I ENTERED THE DIAGNOSTIC PAGE IN THE BEST BUY UNIT IT DOES RECGONIZE THE SD CARD (SIZE, ETC, ETC.).
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? I HAVE A UNITY WITH NO MEANS OF EXPANSION? THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE.
AFTER A MONTH GOT A RESPONSE FROM GARMIN:
Thank you for contacting Garmin,
In order to correct this issue, we will need to bring the unit in
for repair as it appears the SD card reader in the unit is likely bad. You have two options for doing this. First, you can send it to us directly, but when we send it back you may have to pay Customs duties on the unit. Your other option would be to take it to a local dealer and have them process the repair for you. If you would like to have us process the repair directly,please let me know and I will get an RMA number to you ASAP. If you have any further questions or require additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Best Regards,
Brad Gardner
GARMIN International
1200 E. 151st Street
Olathe, KS 66062
Ph: 800-800-1020
Fax: 913-440-5488
If replying to this message, please include all correspondence. This is very
important if you are an AOL user as previous correspondence is automatically
deleted.
Customer Review: A Realtor Favorite!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a Realtor, so I'm always going to new places, and down streets that I'm unfamiliar with. I guess you could say that on any given day I'm showing 8 different houses in different locations. NO problem, I just punch in where I want to go and I'm there, easy. I'll break down some of my likes vs. dislikes:
Likes:
-When I'm sitting in traffic, I can either hit the detour and it will pick a new route- or I can just look at the overview of the GPS mapping itself, and look for parallel side streets.
-There is nothing I hate more as a Realtor than having the street sign missing for a street. Not a problem anymore! Rain, snow, nighttime, I can always see the streets coming up on the unit, too. I don't have to squint to see the upcoming street signs (my eyes are horrible).
-If you miss a turn on your programmed route, the unit will automatically refresh with the best new route.
-If I'm in a county over from me, I can pull up food, gas, ATM's, hotels, etc. and it will find the closest ones, or I can search by name.
-The unit shows you your speed, distance to your destination, distance you have gone, minutes sitting idle (in traffic), avg. miles per hour for the trip, and destination time. The destination time is important to me when I have to be at a meeting...I'll know how long it will take me to get there, and it's pretty accurate.
-It will give you a voice command to "turn right in 300 ft", or "turn right and then stay left" for example. Easy to hear.
-I ALWAYS drive with little fuel (I'm always on `E'). I love pushing the FUEL icon and it listing all the nearest gas stations and their distance, location, and phone numbers (call for fuel price if bored on a trip). It will also map for you how to get there.
-It also has, ATM's, Restaurants (you can search by `type' of food- and it will have phone #'s), or you can just punch in the letters- like WALMART for example.
-No problems locking onto satellites, in any type of weather.
-It has an internal battery, so when you turn your car off to put gas in, it'll stay on & keep your current destination on.
-Want to stay on MAIN roads in unfamiliar territory? Go to `Options' and tell the unit you are a semi-truck instead of a car.
-The quickest route is the default, but you can switch to shortest (in miles).
Dislikes:
-I wish it would tell you when to turn a little earlier. It normally tells you to turn left or turn right in 300ft, but this may be difficult in heavy traffic.
-Does not give X axis or Y axis coordinates. No altitude, either.
-You have to take it out of your car when you park (or lock in glove box) everywhere you go, so it won't get stolen. Of course this would be a drawback for any portable unit.
Are you really going to find a unit that does all of this for under $300? I've searched for the last 3 months and haven't found a better unit for the price.
Customer Review: Never expected Garmin C330 will surpass my expectations
Summary: 4 Stars
This thing works.
Received it yesterday and I just had about 3 hours toying and trying my Garmin C330 and man, I'm happy and very proud with this unit.
The display is superb and didn't expect it to be better than TomTom Go 300 & Magellan 700 which I was able to use as well. The color auto mode is perfect in my taste. Never had problems with sun glare although not fully tested with a scorching California sun.
I love the huge amount of POIs. I could easily find nearest establishments like McDonalds, Costco, Circuit City. You may also find POIs along your routes and in cities you specify. POIs categories are well-thought. Night spots, amusement parks, city centers and more. Noticeably, no bank nor atm categories. But you can easily find the banks with spell name. No Quick Spell though like Magellan. But the search is smart. Just search for WELLS and it will find you places with WELLS anywhere in the name.
The navigation, another big surprise for me, is the best among the units I've tested. We all know our best routes and in a junction that both TomTom and Magellan kept telling me to turn left, this Garmin told me to turn right which imo is the best route. Bravo to Garmin!
The signal reception is very much acceptable. Never lost a signal especially when WAAS is enabled. I could get a 4-bar signal inside the house.
The guiding voice is so good. I could still hear it so well even when my windows are open. This unit has good speakers and well placed.
Snapping it in and out of the mount is really a snap. And the mount is sturdy and firm. Although the make looks cheap which in this area, I preferred the TomTom suction mount. But this is much better than the Magellan mount for windshield where it made my MRM700 dangling like a bobble head.
More good news. I don't know if this will work in Europe but man, the time was automatically set for me. I love it.
Ok. I've said a lot of good points. Now, here are the bad points. Not much but best to tell everyone so you can decide for yourselves.
POIs are not shown while on the driving map. The favorites are shown though. You may see the POIs only in the browser map.
Routes cannot be saved. Ugh! I knew that before I made up my mind for this unit. But still, I love to save my routes (using my natural intelligence with the local roads) so I will not be annoyed to be asked to use roads and/or highways that I knew I have a better alternative.
I also read from current users of Garmin that map updates are not free. Very bad customer support imho. Garmin should not charge updates and if they give it freely, they'll certainly win more business.
Alright. The bottom line is Garmin C330 is a very good unit. I have not tried the TomTom Go 700 nor the new Magellan Roadmate 760. But GC330 is far superior in comparison with TTG300 and MRM700.
Customer Review: garmin c330 vs magellan rm760
Summary: 5 Stars
i tested this out after using the rm700 about 9 months ago on a road trip from nj to california.
what i liked about about the rm700 was that it chimed right when you were at your turn. this proved useful when we were caught in a whiteout snow storm in wyoming and had to exit. our only cue to turn was the chime and it pretty much saved us. otherwise, we would've been running into curbs trying to feel our way out of the freeway.
i was pretty set with the rm700 but wanted to try out garmin just for fun.
pros for the garmin: (besides the ones already mentioned)
1. i placed mine on the top of the windshield next to the rearview mirror. it's that small. very convenient access and i didn't have to turn the volume all the way up.
2. detour, trip data, next trun, and all of the pertinent data all within 1 or two touches.
3. only has two options: shortest and quickest. but really maps out the quickest and shortest route (unlike the rm760).
4. lightning quick re-routing
5. has an option to turn off u-turn re routing (very important).
i thought the rm760 would be a better unit since it was more expensive but i thought wrong. the poi is pretty good since it did have a higher price tag but i have a feeling half of them are going to be outdated in the next year. that's pretty much everything i like about the rm, except the chime thing.
what i hated about the rm760
1. u-turn re-routing. if you miss a free way exit for example and you have the 'shortest time' routing method, it would tell you to exit at the next one, make a u turn, go back the other way, exit again, then try it again. what the...
also, if you miss a street, it'll tell you to make a u-turn or keep telling you 'make the next authorized and legal u-turn. with the garmin (same destination and same detours), it just routes you the other way.
i was driving about 3 miles before the gps was convinced i wasn't going to make a u turn. that's just unacceptable
2. poor satellite reception. i was losing signal at places where i wasn't with the garmin. and this thing would hang ( i acutally missed a turn) while it does that. i lost signal on the freeway ( no tall buildings or mountains).
3. turtle slow re-routing. compared with the garmin, the rm 760 took an average of 10 secs longer to figure out that i was off route. this is annoying when you're moving at 55mph and need to know which street you can turn off to right away.
4. big and bulky. the bigger screen is nice, but i barely noticed that it was.
5. shortest route, least freeway route = longer trip time. i think this is true for both units, though.
and now that the c330 is three hundred dollars cheaper, i think this thing towers over the rm760 hands down.
the rm760 is one case where u don't get what u pay for.