Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Meets all my expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
In selecting a GPS, I made a decision that I was not going to spend a penny over $400. With GPS really entering the main stream this Christmas season (Gamin, Tom Tom and Magellan commercials are everywhere) I felt it would be wise to stick to the budget. I think GPS units are going to follow the lead of digital cameras and have big price drops in the next few years.
At the last minute, I did a 180. I was seriously looking at the new Magellan Roadmate 2200T. It had all the features I needed, was solid state and waterproof. However, I kept on reading less than glowing user reviews. It is not uncommon for the units to lock up or crash and the routing it chooses is not the best.
Based on that,I ordered a Gamin c530. Of the 50 or so user reviews I read, only 1 was negative. The other 49 gave it their highest rating. They raved about the units accuracy in route selection. It also have a wonderful screen that is bright and does not wash out in direct sunlight and uses flash memory. As is the case in life, there were trade offs to consider.
1. The c530 is not waterproof. However, I do not ride my morotcycle much when it rains. On the few occasions I do ride in the rain I will stick to major roads and a map should work just fine. I am not going to explore the back roads in bad weather. Plus, I will use it a lot more in the car than on the motorcycle.
2. The c530 does not have text to speech. That would have been nice, but it does tell you when to turn and the street name is prominently displayed on the screen. I felt the superior accuracy of the Gamin was more important than the text to speech the Magellan offered.
3. The Gamin will not save multiple destination trips. I rarely do long cross country motorcycle trips so this feature was more of a luxury than a necessity for me.
In the three weeks I have had the c530 it has worked flawlessly. Although it does not have a couple features I was hoping for, that is more than offset by the 530's accuracy and ease of use. Another positive is that I was albe to make the purchase well under my budgeted amount. I figure in two years prices will be lower and I will buy a new unit for the motorcycle and give the c530 to my wife to keep in her car. The Magellan 2200T has wonderful features, but it does not seem to be accurate or reliable. If they ever get their act together, they should have a winner. I felt more comfortable buying a unit that is getting rave reviews from current users. I have no regrets. I defenitely feel I selected the right unit to meet my needs.
Customer Review: The Garmin C530 Is State of The Art Gps
Summary: 5 Stars
This GPS Garmin C530 (along with The Garmin Nuvi 350 for $130 more) is "state of the art". It is so because it has a "Sirf Receiver" that is more sensitive in acquiring satellites than "normal" receivers. The reveiws on this web site are incorrect about the maps---this one has the latest version 8 maps available. This one is better than the Garmin 340, 330 and 320 because it is brighter and, once again, it has The Sirf receiver. And, it costs about the same as the C340 which makes it a good deal! Is it worth the extra money as compared with the 320 and 330. Yes, because if your GPS won't "acquire a satellite" it is worthless. Email: boland7214@aol. I highly recommend this GPS.
ONE MORE THING: I don't want people to get angry with me for not telling them that this C530 does NOT have "voice recognition of streets". That's where the voice SAYS the name of the street. I found out after trying units with and without "voice recognition" that you DO NOT NEED IT. The reason? The reason is that the name of the upcoming street is WRITTEN IN BIG LETTERS on top of the screen. You WILL need to glance at the GPS when making turns so when you do, if you know how to read, you WILL read the name of the street for yourself. Thus, there is no need for "Garmina" (the voice) to READ the name of the street for you...that is unless you're illiterate and failed kindergarten! :o)
PS: My C530 died on me about 10 days ago. But, Garmin sent me a brand new one with no hassle on warranty. Write me and I'll let you know how the new one is doing.
Also, I tried the Magellan 2000 and the Garmin C530 side by side today. I liked the Garmin screen "look" better and it is easier to read than the Magellan. But, they are both good GPS Navigators---but I still prefer the Garmin C530. The Magellan 2000 cannot handle any European or other maps than North America while the Garmin C530 already has maps available, for a price, for Europe. If you are going to Europe do not buy the Magellan 2000---you'd need either the Garmin C530 or the Magellan 2200T or above.
ADDENDUM AS OF MAY 20, 2008: I saw a Garmin C550 for sale for about $200. Due the low price for these, I'd go for the C550 now. The most notable inprovement of the C550 over the C530 is the "text to voice" feature that SAYS the name of the street instead of only putting it up in large letters on the screen. Though this feature isn't a large benefit, it is probably worth $50 more to get it.
Customer Review: Ships with old map data and costs extra to update.
Summary: 4 Stars
The Garmin SteetPilot c530 does not have all the detailed GPS information of my handheld Garmin eTrex latitude-longitude, bearing, altitude, etc. , but it does a good job of street navigation. The GPS receiver in the c530 is much more sensitive than my eTrex. The display is clear and bright.
If you have the address, the c530 will get you there. If you miss a turn that it wants you to take, it will recalculate the route to the destination. It tends to be a little optimistic about arrival times because it does not seem to include traffic light delays, and it also does not seem to include traffic light delays in its calculation of fastest routes, so you might know a faster route. On the highway, the arrival times are more accurate. The c530 also gets confused about divided streets, not knowing some available left turns, so it sometimes routes you so you can make a right turn.
It has a fairly comprehensive list of businesses for destinations, but there are some missing businesses that have been around a long time, still amazing when considering that it covers all the US and Canada.
The Garmin c530 ships with map data that is about 2 years old. When I first registered my Garmin c530 online, I got a supposedly free DVD in the mail to update the map data to their 2008 version (really 2007 map data). I was pleased at that time, but then the map update DVD did not work since Garmin gave no unlock code. After long phone waiting times and talking to multiple Garmin tech support people, the final conclusion was that the c530 (even purchased as new) is not eligible for a free map update, and the map update costs $75 more. I turned down paying for the update since it seemed sneaky selling a brand new unit with old maps, not mentioning the map version in the product information, and then charging extra to make it up-to-date. The free DVD that Garmin sent to me was blamed on a glitch in the Garmin web site. Since buying the unit two months ago, I have encountered three major mistakes in the Garmin maps/directions on interstate highways (and several more errors on side streets) since the maps are out-of-date. If you travel on old roads that have not changed in the last few years, this c530 will probably work fine for you. Otherwise, beware that this c530 has an unmentioned extra cost to update it to current maps.
Customer Review: I was lost but now I'm found
Summary: 5 Stars
What a life altering piece of technology this is. I'm very impressed. This is my first navigation system so perhaps I'm easily impressed. In any case, this is a very well thought out system. It is very easy to use. It is so easy you can use it without reading the instructions, but reading the instructions is still a good idea. My wife also has no problem operating it. Its got so many great features. The touch screen works very well. Want to see turn by turn instructions...touch the top of the screen. Want to see an over head map of the area, touch the top of the screen and select map. Zoom in and out with the +/- screen touch. You scroll the map by touching the screen and dragging the map. If you don't like the route it choose for you its easy to point to the route (just touch the screen) you want to take and select GO...it asks you if you want to include this as a way point and then changes the route to get you there. After you select your destination you can search for food or hotels etc. either close to your present position or your destination. Save locations to a Favorites folder and give them a custom name if you want. Save your HOME location to a special button...just press home and GO.
The screen is bright and easy to read. There is no need to have it announce the street name as you can easily see the next turn in big letters at the top of the screen. The volumn control has plenty of range though I think up down buttons on the side would be better than a wheel. The suction mount works great and the unit is easy to pull on and off of it. The power connector could have been a bit simplier to connect...but this is minor.
Before buying this my wife and I would always get lost and stressed out. Many an arguement would insue. Now we have a new sense of freedom. We can go anywhere without a care. The unit does a wonderful job of navigating. The voice instructions are great though at sometimes a bit too detailed...at least you won't mess up. And if you do happen to mess up or choose a different route, rather than yelling out you like my wife would, it simply re-calculates and routes you to the next best alternative...wonderful.
There may be other good units out there, but of this I'm certain...this unit is GREAT!!! Highly recommended.
Customer Review: Disappointed
Summary: 2 Stars
I had a Garmin Street Pilot III before, and I like it a lot. Since it has been a long time, the map needs to update and it looks a little bulky,I decided to get a new one. After a while of research, finally I decided to get this C530.
But I am very disappointed compare to the one I had before.
First, the voice prompt always says 'turn left' as 'turn B-left', it's annoying.
Second, after each turn, it won't show the road name of the next turn until it gets to about 0.2 miles. I don't feel I am giving enough time to prepare.
Sometimes, after you make a turn, it won't promt the next turn for you if the next turn is between 0.2 - XX miles alway. The GPS is just silent until you reach 0.2miles, always makes me wonder if it talks at all.
The volume adjustment is very bad. There are about 9 or 10 scales, but the top 2 are almost the same, and the bottom 7 are almost the same, basically it is like only two scales. If you use the top 2 on the local, it's too loud. but if you use the bottom 7, you won't hear much if you are on highway. You have to adjust the volume when you get on or off highway, very inconvenient. Also the place to adjust volume is very easy to be touched accidently.
The calculation is not as good as what I thought. I use fastest route calculation, it often leads me to a lot of small roads, makes a lot of turns, and usually there are a lot of traffic lights, the result is it takes me much longer than it originally calculated. It supposed to have traffic information considered in it's calculation, but I haven't activate that function yet. On the day I updated the software on line, I lost the traffic icon on GPS.
I wrote to technique support for two questions, but haven't got back from them after about a month now.
There are really a lot of things to complaint about. especially the screen design and the software. Just to be fair, the screen design and the software problem are not only in this model, I tried Magellen roadmate 2000, had the same problems too. I would rather return the Garmin C530 I got, but I will lost half of my money due to Amazon return policy. I really would rather continue using the old one I have.