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: disappointed
Summary: 2 Stars
Most of what these reviews say about the unit is mostly true. But I was still disappointed with the unit's overall performance. To be fair, I think the biggest problem I had was how outdated the maps were.
My first trip was from my home to my office (to try it out). My office building was constructed about 3 years ago. The road and the building are not on the unit's map. So the directions were not optimal.
Later, I took a trip to the NC mountains. During one segment of the trip, the unit routed me way off course (about 1 extra hour). I know this because after I returned I typed the same route into Mapquest and Mapblast. Both routed me the better way. What was more annoying was that all of the roads were included in the maps in the unit. So not sure what the problem here was.
During multiple segments of the return trip, the unit showed my location way off the highway (i.e., running parallel to the highway, but about 1 mile north). I reset the unit and it corrected the display. This problem happened frequently, but was intermittent.
Summary:
The unit worked well about 75% of the time, but when I needed it most (i.e., driving in areas I'm unfamiliar with) I was constantly checking the unit against a map to see if it was working well.
Weighing all of the evidence I concluded that the unit was more distracting than navigating using a good map and a semi-functional brain. So I decided to return the unit and wait for better technology and/or a better solution to the map-lag problem (see below).
Note: I think the biggest problem with this whole approach may be the task of getting the updated maps to the units. Garmin told me the same thing that others here say: maps are updated about every 12 to 18 months. Assuming this is true, my experience indicates that that's too long. In other words, there were so many new roads added since the last map update, that the unit didn't perform well enough to meet what I consider pretty realistic expectations during the trip described above.
Customer Review: Navigation for Dummies ~ Great
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, right out the box, you can use it, forget the instructions. Turn it on, it knows exactly where you are, and you can see a list of gas stations, restaurants, shopping stuff, etc from closet to farthest away automatically. Yes the maps of the whole US are already in there, I guess you can update the thing via the Internet, haven't tried it yet. I've lived in this place 20 years, and found places I didn't know existed!!! Choose one, and it talks you there, or you can watch the map. Putting in a location to someplace is very easy, hell I could do it. Of course there is a slight downside, once it choose a longer way to get to a place, a half mile difference, and kept trying redirect me back to it's way. Big deal, I can live with that. The best thing is night driving on an unfamiliar road. You can see on the moving map twist and turns in the road that might catch you by surprise normally. Yeah, there are cheaper systems, but this got the best reviews, now I know why. I am old the bigger screen helps. The PHD (Push Here Dummy) menu is so easy to use. I saw cheaper units, the screen was a tad bit too small for my old eyes, who needs a MP3 player (what is it?). I brought mine at Amazon, even Walmart was sold out, the display model gone, other GPS's, even the cheaper ones were still in stock, hmmm. That tells me something. Living in Florida I had to flee screaming from many Hurricanes in the early morning to avoid the traffic bottlenecks. Man I wish I had this GPS then. Ever drive on a moonless night in a blinding rainstorm not sure if your turning is coming up, or you just passed it, then end up staying in some town you have zero clue where anything is, how to get to it, and with my bad sense of direction turns it into a hair pulling experience. I think this is the best safety device to have outside of a seatbelt in your car when looking for someplace. Instead of goose necking trying to read a faded street sign, you can watch the traffic. If your detoured cause of an accident blocking the road, it still talks you through back to the main road. Great stuff.
Customer Review: Great Basic Use But Could Use Improvements
Summary: 4 Stars
I'll start with the pros:
- Easy-to-see map/screen/directions
- User friendly, anyone can figure it out
- Big buttons to push
- Good suction cup
- Accurate map directions
- Loud and clear, good volume control
- Has maps of the entire US, Canada, and Puerto Rico (good for vacation needs)
However, there are a number of cons:
- Does not say street name aloud (c340 does, not c330), which therefore increases the amount of times you need to look at the screen to be sure you are on the right track.
- Calculating the route can take up to 5-10 seconds, which feels rather slow when you're driving, waiting for directions.
- Satellite reception seems somewhat poor in cities with tall buildings. In Toronto and Montreal (of Canada), it rarely ever gets any reception. In LA, it took several minutes before it detected any satellites after leaving a garage. But in other cities, the reception is normally fine.
- Though it is rather small at 3.5 inches, it is not a flat screen monitor and is therefore harder to carry and awkward to hold by hand.
- Cannot choose alternative routes if the current one is not convenient, but this is typical of most GPS and other navigation systems.
- Though the buttons are big, typing in the letters of a city or street name can be hard for your fingers to do accurately, but the c330 does not come with a stylus of any sort.
- When traveling to Canada, I had to delete all of my favorites and recent selections in order for it to realize that I was no longer in the US.
Overall, if you do not have high standards for a GPS, this one will probably exceed your expectations for the most part and fulfill all of your needs. However, if you've tried a number of GPS systems and value portability, quick calculation, fantastic reception, and specific verbal direction, I suggest you look into something more advanced/expensive, such as the Garmin Nuvi 350 (which I have not tried, but it seems very promising according to the reviews).
Customer Review: Much better than my TomTom Go...
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought a TomTom Go last October. It replaced a Garmin StreetPilot III. While the TomTom was a lot easier to use and great, it was limited by out-of-date maps (roads, bridges and exits 5 years old were not in the database). When it worked it worked great.
When Garmin introduced the c330, it was stikingly familiar to the TomTom product. In using it extensively in the last few weeks, I have concluded that it is superior. It is just as easy to use. And I love the trip information screen that is lacking in the TomTom. The maps are great.
The TomTom does have a number of features that are missing in the c330. You can set your present location with one touch as a favorite. You get your next turn displayed on the screen at all times (which is lacking on the c330, though you can touch the screen and see and hear it). You can do a detour with various options and then if not acceptable return to your original route.
The c330 is smaller than the TomTom. It is also easier to attach to the windshield mount than the TomTom. The windshild mount itself is easy to attach and remove from the windshield, unlike the TomTom. The display was not overly affected by direct sunlight, and can be set automatically to adjust to night time driving mode. Though I like the dc cable being part of the mount, I would have preferred one that was not permanenty attached to the mount so I could use it without the windshield mount. Though for short trips the battery life is more than adequate.
Though I have not used Garmin's customer service to compare, I found TomTom support slow and not responsive in answering what I had asked.
I also recommend buying the Covertec screen protector that they make for the TomTom Go. With a few minor cuts at two corners with a scissors it will fit very nicely on the c330. It feels smooth to the touch and protects the screen well. I bought mine from MobilePlanet.com.
All in all, I highly recommend the c330.
Customer Review: not bad as an old gps device but still
Summary: 3 Stars
has some problems that could never improved or corrected by garmin so far:
1) very bad windshield mount design and material. the angles are only good for certain vehicles' windshields angles and totally useless to lot of other vehicles'. the sucking cup is made with very fragile low quality plastic material that would be melted by the heat of the sun, glued to the windshield and become totally damaged and useless. the only way to make it useful was to attach three strips of double-side adhesive scotch tape under the sucking cup and permanently adhere and anchore it on the dashboard but it would still constantly vibrate with the road conditions but at least it could be used.
2) even with 2011 maps, the map data is still very incorrect and absurdly wrong and confusing during critical driving moments. two occurrences already further lowered my rating to this garmin c330: there's no ramp or exit under the imperial hwy 90, yet the machine insisted to make a right turn. there's no correct location of an address in chino, yet the machine showed a driving route and direction that only made us like riding a merry-go-around nuts with endless lane and fwy changings
3) the road change announcing voice volume sometimes suddenly mysterious minimized to a tiny and weak volume
4) it's not bright enough to read clearly under the daylight. the screen would turn almost gray under the sun and very difficult to read clearly. word directions on top of the map are too small to read.
5) too slow to notify the upcoming turns even driving at 20-30 mph. constantly overshot and has to driving to the next crossroad and make a u turn to come back in the opposite direction to get into the over shot lane or exit, or force you to make emergency brake to make the turns.
luckily so far, no accident happened. YET!
the 2011 north america city map, in general, still sucks big time!