Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
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List Price: Our Price: $42.52 You Save: $321.27 (88%) 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 c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: C530 excellent choice
Summary: 5 Stars
A month ago I bought a Garmin C530. I chose the C530 over the cheaper 330 for its more sensitive SirF 3 chip, a display that was easier to view in strong daylight, its slightly thinner design and for its ability to alter route according to traffic conditions (the extra FM receiver is required).
My experiences have been extremely positive.
The unit locks onto sattellites ( depending upon the time of the day ) even when inside my appartment. Why it even locked on while flying inside a Southwest Boeing 737 en route to Orange County( indicating a max cruise speed of 527 mph )
Today after spending a hour at a local Circuit City here in San Jose and playing with several other units ( Nuvi 200, Tom Tom 1, Magellan, LG, Mio ) I am even more convinced that I made the right choice.
By far the best feature in favor of all Garmins in my opinion is the simple intuitive interface. One can switch it on and find your way around the basics without any need for an instruction manual.
By contrast I was and still am totally perplexed by the LG and Mio software.
Tom Tom was better but nowhere near as intuitive as the Garmin.
Maglellan was closest but even there there were clear differences in favor of the Garmin, for example in the larger buttons used for typing in information.
Garmin maps, while they may appear less detailed and cartoonish, I find do the job better under real life conditions. The colors are big and bold. The colors on the LG by comparison are anemic.
So what are my thoughts on the C530 deficiencies. Almost none for my purpose. On checking out the C550 this evening I wanted to hear for myself the unit annouce the street names. On this albeit limited trial I found the computer generated speech of the street name to be rather artificial and so am less convinced at this point in time of its desireability.
Maybe in a couple of years time when computer generated voices have improved, units all have voice recognition, the ability to handle a wireless back view camera, I will invest in a newer unit.
I have found the V 8.0 maps on the current units to have their fair share of errors ( gas stations supposedly on my left but in fact on my right , restaurants long since gone, however, these are small niggles )
One curiosity that I have noted is that with the same preferences selected, (and no wireless service connected) the unit will occasionally choose a different initial starting route. The main route is always the same. Most people would not notice this as they would not repeatedly use their GPS to find a route that they clearly have no need to use a GPS on (eg home to work). I wonder if this is a function of the particular set of satellites in view.
The unit calculates a new routes very quickly, however, it clearly avoids left turns and minor roads.
Living in California I am not able to use the windscreen mount. The friction mount works very well and further is easy to place on the floor if one needs to not advertise the prescence of a GPS in the vehicle.
One last point. In seeing the new Nuvi 200 I wish that Garmin would pay a little more attention to the tactile aspect of these units. Unlike the C530 which as heft in its favor, my experience of the Nuvi 350, 660 and now the 200 is that the outer plastic casing looks fragile; not ideally befitting a unit costing several hundred dollars. I do not expect Leica quality engineering, however, a little more care could I feel be directed towards creating a unit with a more substantial hand feel.
Are there any features that the competition does better. Perhaps the smoother vehicle icon movement on the Tom Tom units.
Sum up: I am even more convinced that Garmin will, capture increased market share. One very satisfied C530 owner.
Customer Review: Nice budget GPS
Summary: 4 Stars
I initially bought the c330 but was disappointed in the GPS satellite reception. Not the it was terrible, but it would lose reception sometimes when overcast and driving under foliage particularly due to the fact that I was using it in my Class C motor home which has a upper cab that hangs over the windshield. The upper cab overhang prevents a good line-of-sight to the sky. Due to its' advanced SiRF III GPS chipset, the c530 locks on and stays locked regardless of the weather or foliage above. I can even get reception inside the house with no problem at all. Note, the first time you turn it on from a factory new condition, you will need to have clear line-of-sight to the sky but subsequent times, it normally can lock reception even inside a single story house. Once it is on and has locked reception, it seems you can even go through long tunnels and it won't lose reception. It really is amazing compared to my old GPS that I have for my laptop. I am very satified with the GPS reception of this unit.
The unit includes millions of POI (points of interest) which is useful to find hotels, gas stations, hospitals, places to eat, and even nightclubs/bars to name a few. The unit allows custom POI files to be loaded into it's internal memory via an optional SD card or via the USB cable (included) using Garmin's POI loader found at www.garmin.com/extras and you can find custom POI files that others have made at poiFactory.com. You can make and load a POI file of any theme. For examples, having a motor home, we travel to State Parks and other campgrounds so I loaded a POI file of campgrounds in my state. Now when we head out I can pull up the custom POI menu and simply select the campground by name and hit "Go" and it directs me there. It also allows me to select a campground using the "Near" function. That is, if I want to go to a campground on my custom POI list but I do not know the name, I can select "Near" and enter the city name, it will display all campgrounds with nearest (to that city) on top. It includes miles and direction information from that city as well.
The unit mounts to any window using the included suction mount and can swivel to allow viewing from any angle. It plugs into a cigarette lighter receptacle and also has an internal battery that is charged while connected to external power. This allows for usage outside the vehicle but it's a bit big to be carrying it on a walk. This internal battery power is mostly intended for setting up the unit for a trip when not in the vehicle.
There have been some reports of this unit failing after only a few uses with the symtoms being that it will not turn on or has a software error when turned on. I haven't had any problems like this at all. I did notice that one of the software updates was to repair a problem where the unit software would be corrupted so it appears this problem has been fixed via software update. Because of this, I highly recommend that you update the unit software as soon as you turn it on for the first time. This can easily be done by loading the webupdater software located at http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater. The latest unit software (not to be confused with map software) at the time of this review is Version 6 dated Oct 12, 2007 and is free. Don't delay updating the unit software. Even if your unit is brand new, it likely does not have the latest software due to the time they sit on then store shelves.
Overall, this unit beats using a bulky laptop with a GPS puck but it does not replace a good street atlas particulalry if you like to go into rural areas or backroads of the forest.
Customer Review: Buy this GPS c530 today!!! I wish Amazon had 10 stars!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This Garmin GPS c530 is an incredible value for the money. It really is ready to go "right out of the box".
My wife surprised me with it as an early Christmas present. We went to pick up our Garmin at the UPS center, went back to the car, took it out of the box and plugged it in - in a few seconds, the screen showed our exact location and we were ready to go!!!
We both liked it right away and couldn't believe how fast and accurate it was!!! Instead of going home, we actually decided to go shopping just so we could play with the GPS some more, so we entered the address of the Safeway we usually go to and it directed us right to the parking lot.
It's so accurate; I almost took it into the supermarket to see if it could lead me to the dairy section. =8-D
We then set the "Home" option by typing in our address. I only typed in the street number and the first three letters of our street name and it found it and asked if this was the correct street address. We answered "Yes" and the GPS saved it into memory. Then we set it for "home" and it began giving us directions even when we were still in the parking lot.
I wanted to "test" this GPS to see how well it could handle "wrong turns". So on the way home we purposely made a wrong turn and the c530 knew almost immediately that we went off course. The voice prompt said "Rerouting" and immediately gave us an alternate way home using the street we were on.
It was actually a pleasure driving to work this morning and having the gps
In checking the "businesses" on this GPS, we clicked on "restaurants", and then chose "Asian" as the type of food we were looking for, and the Garmin found this very small noodle place right across the street from where we live. We were very impressed that it found this small, local restaurant in our neighborhood.
I've seen quite a few GPS units both in stores and in other cars, and I can say that the c530 is by far the most accurate and easy to use. The voice directions are clear and given in plenty of time to make the turns. The estimated arrival times are accurate within one minute.
Another reviewer here wrote that he didn't like the fact that the c530 voice prompt didn't say the actual street names when giving directions. Actually, my wife pointed out that it's better that it doesn't give street names with the voice alerts; only the turn directions. The reason is that sometimes there will be two turns right after one another and by the time the voice command tells you about the first turn, it comes right back on and tells you about the second turn. If the voice command said street names you could be on a certain street for no more than a second or two and it would be confusing if the voice told you what street you were on and then in the next two seconds told you to turn onto a ramp or another street. The command says "turn right, then turn left" and it's a lot clearer this way.
Amazon has just lowered the price on this item and I can tell you it's worth every penny. Just think of how much you will save on ink and paper printing maps out from your computer all the time, not to mention no more frustration from getting lost and being late for an important meeting.
You have GOT to get this thing ... it's really incredible!!! Excellent product!!!
Customer Review: Great value for "just" a GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very good value if you want just a mapping GPS. IT has none of the latest add-ons (I call them distractions!) but the GPS engine is the latest with WAS and the display is excellent. What more do you want from a GPS? I was a little concerned about all the reliability problems in reviews but so far this one is just fine. Excellent SAT acquisition - even in the house. I bought the lifetime North American map update card on Amazon for less than $100. It's $120 on Garmin's site and you really have to look for it to find it. Also a great value. The maps that came in the unit were out of date (they always will be out of date!!! See below. The subscription gets you map updates 4 times a year for as long as you own the unit. It gets Garmin's MapInstall and MapSource software running with full maps on your PC. Excellent for planning trips and other things. Google Earth in integrated. Wow! You then have all of the maps and POIs on your PC. Also you can transfer new POIs and waypoints (favorites) back and forth. Unit has great screen, battery life and windshield mount. It's not "shirt pocket" thin like the newer ones but it's still pretty compact. For the price, I am not worried about leaving it in the car on the floor out of sight. It has 1G of memory which is mostly filled up when you get the No. American maps installed. It has an SD Card slot that takes high density (I tried a 4G) SD cards so it should be able to hold all the stuff you want to store in it. Garmin is the leader and is not taking any prisoners in their markets.
None of the Garmin or other mfg's GPS Navigation units are not infallible so don't expect them to just choose the route YOU would take every time without your help. The map data will always have minor problems so don't expect it to be perfect and 100% up to date. It will NEVER be up to date. YOU are responsible for driving the car and IT is an aid but if you turn over ALL of your navigation decisions to it, YOU WILL NOT BE HAPPY. That's what you bought and that is the state of the art for now. Work WITH it and it will be a faithful and valuable servant.
Try this: When you know you are going to use it, the night before your trip, pop a beer, take the GPS inside and get comfortable in your easy chair, fire it up and program your trip (before you are pulling out of the driveway as you try to remember if you packed your cell phone charger!). Review the route by stepping through it (touch top bar on display to advance). IF you don't like the route, check to see that you have the map preferences set right. IF that's OK, hit Menu and then "Detour". The unit will pick a different route. If you don't like that one, do it until you get the one you want. You can also force it to go by one additional waypoint so you can steer it that way. When you have what you want, turn it off. When you pull out of the driveway the next morning, turn it on and it will be ready to go - the way you two decide was best the night before.
Customer Review: Almost perfect, but pricey
Summary: 4 Stars
We have started using c530 for a week now and here are my comments about the unit.
Pro:
1. Compact and lightweight. It has no problems in staying put on the front glass and can be carried around in your pants' pockets. It is a little too big for your shirt pocket.
2. Easy to navigate. There is no set up or loading of maps. It took less than a minute to come on and find some satellites.
3. The announcements are enough, but not too much. It has no text to speech (does not say the street name where you have to turn.) I personally think this is better and less distracting. Being a male, my brain has a very limited capacity to process human speech!
4. The sensitivity is pretty good. Inside my house, I was seeing all but one bar indicating a strong satellite signal. Better sensitivity is the reason we went with c530 instead of the much cheaper c330.
5. There are no cluttering buttons on the front and the size of the GPS is just perfect. The small size does not obstruct your clear view of the road. A 5+" GPS, might obstruct your field of vision.
6. Thanks a million Garmin for including a very nice carrying case.
Now the bad:
1. Too expensive. I have paid $330 from Amazon. For another $25 more, I could have purchased TomTom Go 510 with a ton of additional features. I went with the c530 due to Country of origin (Taiwan vs. China) and probably due to lock feature (I could not find this feature in TomTom).
2. The sound is not enough. I keep the sound at the max, still can barely hear it with the road noise and the audio book playing in the background. Also, the sound adjustment is through an old style turn wheel. As you might know, the turn wheel audio control is very fragile.
3. When you take a wrong turn, the GPS takes a while to figure out that you have veered off course and start re-calculating for a better route.
4. Even in front of my house, I have to enter the password to unlock the GPS.
5. The next turn direction is not displayed on the bottom right corner. It says, "Turn in 1 mi". I think this is some thing Garmin can fix by releasing a new software update. The display could easily be "Turn R in 1 mi".
6. Another missing feature that could be fixed using a software upgrade is a speed warning indication. The GPS unit already knows at what speed you are moving. It also knows the allowed speed of the road. What is preventing Garmin software from adding a flashing yellow/red dot somewhere on the display to indicate that you are over the speed limit? It could probably display a yellow dot for speeds up to +10 miles over the limit and a red flashing dot for more than 10 miles over the speed limit.
I sincerely hope some bright software developer would take care of points 5 and 6.
That's all folks.