Garmin StreetPilot c330 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
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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 |
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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: Excellent performance for price
Summary: 5 Stars
I have this Garmin StreetPilot C330 for at least 1.5 months. I am an engineer by trade, so I will make this a little more technical--layperson's level though.
Nice Features:
+It is easy to use--has touch screen, wide color LCD display.
+It has different colors for streets, highways, and interstate.
+Mounts on window and is adjustable. Suction is strong and stays in place.
+It remembers recent locations that one's selected.
+It has a night and day mode--automatically adjusts light levels.
+It announces next turns.
+It estimates time of arrival fairly accurately within 2 to 5 minutes so far.
+If not in "Where To" mode, can select "View Map" and it acts as a mvoing map and speedometer.
+Can simulate going to a location when at home.
+Can find hotels, restaurants, and gas stations.
+Has entire map of US and Canada in memory.
+Can store locations. Can also make it remember a location not on the map.
+It has rechargeble battery so you can take inside the house and it still works.
+It warns you if you are traveling when you try to make changes.
Limitations:
-It really is just a machine and can't do the thinking for you.
But there is no machine out there that can that.
-It gives direction to what it thinks is the quickest way but if you know the area, it is best to ignore it.
-If you disobeyed its direction, it recalculates and tries to put you back on. After a few disobediences, it will eventually see your way.
-Would be nice if it can also be RADAR detector and show where Smoky is
hiding. Future product enhancement may be?
-Would be nice if it can see IR and warn of say people or animals by the road---another future product enhancement suggestion.
Overall, I am very satisfied with this product and I highly recommend it.
Heard it is way cheaper than paying for the option in a new car.
Customer Review: I'm Liking It
Summary: 4 Stars
I just bought c330 from Amazon recently. It came with V8 mapping software. This is a bonus as I was expecting V7. It took me an hour or two trying to figure out how things work, but it appears to be relatively simple to use.
Here are some good features that I found with it.
1. V8 mapping software.
2. Very light.
3. Gives decent directions that come on time (I didn't miss any turns using it).
4. Street names appear above the roads (except not so much after dark). This is useful if you are trying to figure out where you are compared to the map.
5. Seems to find satelites very well. It can even locate them from inside my house.
6. It recalculates the path in case you make a mistake.
7. You can locate various parks and recreation areas by typing in their names.
8. You can move the map around and point your finger on green areas. The GPS will tell you whether it is a park or a cemetery or whatever. You can use that information to get the GPS to help you go there.
9. Has a setting to avoid paid roads, highways, dirt roads.
Here are some of the things that can be improved on.
1. The lever on the window mount must be tilted back or the mounting will fall off. It did for me. Thankfully the GPS wasn't attached at the time. I think that the manual didn't emphisize this strongly enough. - Upon using it for a while, I found that the mounting fell off even when the lever was tilted back. This problem went away for me when I learned how to take the c330 out of the mounting without struggling.
2. I haven't yet been able to find how to set waypoints so that you could determine a part of the way.
3. The GPS has the category for public parking, but doesn't seem to know anything about a really large municipal parking garage in my town.
Overall, I like the unit for the price I paid for it.
Customer Review: Good for what it is
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been a happy user of Garmin products for years. I often take long drives through the USA and Canada, and my old Streetpilot III has been a faithful helper through it all. The SPIII had one serious disadvantage, however: its flash card can hold only the detailed map data for one or two big cities. Even with the crude basemap information, the SPIII was useful, but detailed maps made it twice as good. So when I saw that Garmin was offering units with detailed map data for the whole of North America preloaded, I was psyched.
If you're going to get a unit with preloaded maps, you have two main options: a c3xx such as the c330 (this item), or a 27xx such as the 2720. What's the difference?
If you're the kind of person who hates complex controls, who feels a sickening sense of malaise at the thought of navigating through a menu system, who wants to just turn it on and have it work (whatever "it" is), the c330 is for you. It's simple and requires virtually no set-up. Its purpose is to show you how to get from here to there. It does that, and it does it well.
If on the other hand you're like me: someone who finds that the default settings are never quite right, who goes through all the menus first thing to find out what the machine is capable of, and ends up after a while using almost every feature, you should get a 2720. I was disapponted with the c330. It doesn't display points of interest on the map (so, for instance, you can't see at a glance how close you are to the next rest stop), doesn't allow you to save routes, doesn't keep track of where you've been (a useful feature when you're trying to find your way back out of some mess you've driven into).
In summary, if you want a simple (and less expensive) unit to give you directions, this unit, the c330, is for you. If you want a full-featured versatile GPS receiver, something like the 2720 would be better.
Customer Review: I really really love this !
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this model 3 weeks ago and am still amazed at what it can do. First of all, I was able to use this gadget out of the box with minutes of walking out with it from the store. I paid for it, got in the car, ripped it out of the box and turned it on. I didnt even open the manual. This was the very first time that I ever tried using a GPS unit, yet I was able to turn it on and head straight home using the voice instructions. It has no visible buttons except for the power on switch and the volume dial on the side. Large letters and large screen. Clarity of picture was excellent and this was at 12 high noon. The sun was directly above me so the car had ample shade for the screen anyway. Fast forward to now. Three weeks later, I used this thing on a trip to New Jersey which is about 300 miles from home. Auto rerouting was almost instantaneous, though I did lose satellite reception a couple of times while roaming in downtown streets. Very user friendly, you can search for nearby points of interests, gas, food, lodging, etc and the touch screen menu was very easy to use. I still haven't opened the manual! It does have some problems distinguishing left versus right . Once I was arriving at a state park and it did bring me all the way there, but it said it was on my right side when actually the park was on my left! For a complete gps novice like myself, this unit has proven it self to be very very easy to use and packed with so many details. Fully loaded, you don't need to download the US as it is already downloaded for you. Battery backup is very handy as you can use it as a handheld device for hiking although it is shaped somewhat funny/boxy for that purpose plus it is not waterproof. It saves your favorite searches too. You can choose between 2d or 3d view. It attaches to your front window via a suction cup mechanism. Would definitely recommend for ease of use and comprehensive information content.Customer Review: Don't know how I lived without it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this unit back in August 2005 and absolutely love it! I did experience some minor annoyances - like the sunction cup falling off the windshield when the car got too cold. Easily solved - I crazy glued the disc to my dash and placed it where I could see it easily. This also cut down on the white out from too much sunlight. I can't tell you how many times it has saved me. Love the fuel button. There were so many times, while travelling in an unfamiliar area, that I searched in vain for a gas station. Now, I find one within minutes! Once in a blue moon, it is off by 100 feet or so, and once it told me to make a left into a cement barrier. I too, live in NJ, and it does not understand all jughandles, but that is easily overcome. Just take the 1st U turn and listen to the unit tell you - "Off route, recalculating". Love hearing that so much I often go off route to see what route it will come up with next. Also love hitting the Detour button to learn new roads. Back in October, we had major flooding here and MANY roads were closed. I just turned whenever I came across a flooded road and it recalculated. Got where I needed to be while many in my area could not find a way out of the neighborhood. I have learned where so many roads go now as I am no longer fearful of getting lost. Driving has become fun again. I recently took it on the plane with me to Florida, rented a car there and drove 100+ miles to a house I had never been to before in a town I had never been to before. Sure beat the car rental agency's GPS fees. The latest minor annoyance is that the fuse loosened on the car charger and broke. The breaking shorted out my car charger in my car. Have to get that fixed and get a new fuse, but still love the unit. I have to charge it in the house until I get some time to get both fixed, but definately a small price to pay for the number of times it has saved me! Well worth the $.