Garmin StreetPilot c580 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct
by Garmin
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List Price: Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin StreetPilot c580 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct
Customer Review: Garmin Street Pilot C580- Happy Fathers Day!
Summary: 4 Stars
I ordered this as a Father's Day gift to myself (from my family, of course). Got a great deal (right around $220), which is comparable to the low end of Garmin's Nuvi lineup. I have a number of friends that have the Nuvi, and so far, the only thing I can tell is different is the size. The C580 is not pocket sized, as it is about the 3 1/2 inches thick. But luckily, I don't ever need to use it in my pocket. Thickness doesn't matter when it is stuck to the windshield.
Here are the positives:
Bluetooth- I use Big G as a speaker phone in the car, and it works great. It immediately paired up with my Samsung blackjack, downloaded the phone book, and was ready to go. Using it as a phone couldn't be easier.
Directions- isn't this really why you buy one of these? I have no complaints on any directions, and I have done the obligitory "input a location that I know well so I can see how it does" drill, and it did fine. Sure, maybe I would pick a slightly different route a couple of times, but when I am somewhere unfamiliar, knowing that I can trust this to get me to my destination is great.
Estimated time of arrival- I travel a lot by car for business, and I can input my location and know, within a minute or two, what time I will arrive. That is a huge stress reliever.
MSN Direct- When I am in larger cities where their is service, the traffic updates are very helpful, and usually pretty accurate (not sure I would pay for this service, however, as so far I have only used it to know how long I would be delayed).
MP3 player- not a huge issue for me, as I have a Sirius and an Ipod, but nice to know it is there if I need it.
Picture viewer- I have downloaded a couple pictures of the family, and it is nice to be able to see those when I am bored in the car.
Garmin Extras- the only thing I have used so far is the Garmin Garage, which is the various icons you can use to replace the standard car. My kids all argue over who gets to pick the icon on each trip (the Black Pearl, Pizza Slice and Santa's Sleigh seem to be the most popular).
Text to Voice- having the street names is key. Not only for directions, but for entertainment. I use Karen, the australian female voice, and some of the Native American names around here really give her a hard time. She is a valiant soldier and tries anyway, much to our amusement.
Negatives- I really don't have any. Sure, the maps are missing some roads and points of interest, but they all are. I wish that Garmin offered free map upgrades, but they see that as a revenue stream. I wish that the MSN Direct service worked here in Green Bay, but it only gets a little north of Milwaukee. None of these are really a big deals in relation to this unit over others. If you need to put this in your pocket however, spend more and get the Nuvi. But to get the same features as this one, be prepared to spend a LOT more.
I have had no issues with acquiring satellites, I have gotten 6 hours of battery time on the rare times I needed it, the screen is a good size, etc. I really don't have any major quibbles with this unit.
Again, if navigation is the name of the game, and you are using this in a car (and not moving it around a lot), go with this one. For the price, you won't be unhappy. If size is critical, shell out a couple hundred more dollars and get a high end Nuvi.
Customer Review: Very fast and excellent GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
We have had our Garmin C580 GPS for about a month now and could not be more pleased with it. It does have a few quirks. For one thing, it does not seem to like gravel roads. We've seen it suggest a route that is 3-4 miles longer in order to avoid going 1 mile on a gravel road. We recently had an unusual experience on a 110 mile, mostly freeway trip. It started to route us off the freeway (I 75 in Michigan) about 25 miles before we expected to exit. We ignored that and continued on the free way. However, at each exit after that, it wanted us to exit that freeway. It gave no reason why we should exit early. We knew where we should exit though, so ignored each attempt by the GPS to route us off. Finally, we passed an exit and got a WRITTEN only warning (no audible alarm or voice message) "Make a U-Turn as soon as possible". We were approaching the Zilwauakee bridge, a 2-3 mile long high rise bridge on I-75. We later learned that the bridge had been under construction but was restored to service the same day as our trip. Evidently our GPS had not gotten the word. Despite these quirks, we are very satisfied with our GPS. It is lightning fast in recalculating a new route if you miss a turn etc. We particularly like the fact that it says street names when turning ("Turn left on 8 mile road" etc.) instead of just "turn left now". Also it speaks freeway exit numbers which helps. The gas price feature (part of the MSN service) is also very helpful. We have saved money on gas purchases by getting gas price info on stations for miles around our current location. The price we paid for our GPS at Amazon.com ($149 with a one YEAR free subscription to MSN traffic control and other services) was cheap for a GPS with all these features. We highly recommend this unit to anyone looking for a full featured GPS at a very reasonable price.
UPDATE (01-12-09):
I've learned that the ability to avoid gravel roads is a programmable feature of the C580 which can be enabled or disabled. It is found in the setting of avoidance features in the GPS. Mine had avoid gravel roads enabled by default. After I found this, I opted to leave it set up to avoid gravel roads. Near our home we know of a few gravel roads that are not bad roads to travel, and can cut miles off some trips. However, in the general case, if I'm traveling in an area I'm not familiar with, I think I'd prefer to avoid gravel roads. With our GPS set to avoid gravel roads, if we turn on a gravel road anyway, the C580 quickly recalculates and sends us down that gravel road. So nothing is lost. If you want to take a gravel road it allows you to do so. However, you have to make the decision. The C580 (with avoid gravel roads enabled) will take you on a longer route to avoid a gravel road.
Update 5/26/09
We recently took a trip from the Detroit, MI area to the Oak Park, Ill area (near Chicago). I was nothing but pleased with the performance of the C580 GPS. It provided important info about weather and traffic during the trip. It also gave good and timely lane control info. We had not the foggiest idea as far as how to make this trip, and did not have a map. The GPS was invaluable and worked flawlessly.
Customer Review: Big disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
First off this is my 3rd Garmin GPS. I purchased a C340 for myself and my girlfriend and then after reading some of the positive reviews for the C580 I decided to purchase it and give my C340 to my daughter. What a mistake that was. I can't really knock the unit while it works. But after 6 months of usage my original unit decided to die. I tried to power it on and it was just dead. Now comes the part that I dreaded and that was to contact the Garmin support. I called around 4pm one day and was given an estimated wait time of 30 minutes which turned out to be 60+. Ok so not everyone can estimate. I got a guy who obviously was having a bad day and proceeded to describe my problem. I was then asked to do several tasks that I had already tried a number of times. With the same result. He then gave me a RMA and asked me to return my "new" unit for repair. I received the replacement "Factory Refurbished" unit about a week after and wasn't too keen on it being a refurb but gave it a chance. The GPS worked fine but when I tried to get the bluetooth function working it would display "Enabling Bluetooth" then die. I would then have to power down the unit to get out of the screen. I called the Garmin support line again and waited about 40 minutes for a tech. He then asked for my email and sent me a few things to try and ways to reset the device. I downloaded several versions of the software for bluetooth and all of them failed. A version of the bluetooth firmware actually caused the unit to digress even further. I contacted Support again and he gave me a RMA and asked me to send the unit back....again.
I got another "Factory Refurbished" unit sent to me about a week and a half later. This time it was dead out of the box. I actually started laughing. The Garmin product support was worse than anything I had ever dealt with and that goes for Microsoft or even Verizon cause when you get those clowns they actually help you. It took me close to an hour to get another real person on the phone. This time Katy was the rep. I explained all that had happened and that I was ready to take all of my Garmin products and run them over with my truck(I also have a handheld Garmin Etrex Vista). She asked me to do another reset of the unit and when nothing happened she told me to hold on and talked to her supervisor. When she go back on she asked me to send the unit back to Garmin and that they were going to send me a "New" Garmin Nuvi 780 as a replacement for the C580 and for my going through hell over the past 6 weeks. Its 3/25/09 and I have to send back the unit, which they're paying for this time, by the way. I also have to have them transfer a "Lifetime Map" Update License I purchased for the C580. That should be fun ya think? I'll keep you posted.
Customer Review: Great Garmin!
Summary: 5 Stars
This model is a step up from the now deleted 550 version and is a terrific replacement. This newer version which can be found for hundreds of dollars less than it's original price offers just about everything anyone could ask for. I will confess I love the look of the slightly larger, newer, flat-screen Nuvi models but this beats almost all of them for the money. If you get a new one and find that it does not have the latest map version, Garmin will supply you a CD for upgrading or you can download the new maps from their site for free. The mapping system is great, in the year and half I've had my 550 I have not found a single street that was not in the data base, and this new one residing in my wife's vehicle seems to have even more info. As with all GPS units, you may find that the Garmin will not always know the shortcuts that you my have discovered over the years in your local area, most folks don't need a GPS to get around their own back yard.
The built-in MP-3 player is very cool and will take a regular SD Card for music or as in my case, old radio shows for playback as you drive. If your auto radio has inputs for external devices you can play back your music and driving directions through you car sound system. I've found that one of the best features is that this model will sync with your bluetooth phone and you can ditch that annoying earpiece while you are driving. Your phone rings through the Garmin unit or your radio, you press one button and have your conversation. When you first pair the Garmin unit with your phone, it installs all the information from the phone onto the Garmin so when you go to make a call, one button brings up your list of names and numbers, you press the dial button and your call is made. The speaker in the Garmin is fine for calls and I've never had any reports of problems with anyone I've called hearing me loud and clear at their end. I do wish the volume went a tiny bit louder for music playback when it's not playing through my radio, but that is a minor complaint for sure.
The 580 also comes with a free year of MSN which allows you to check movie theater locations, start times for the movies, the location of gas stations in your area with the current price of gas, weather and traffic conditions, temperature, in your area and more. Of course there are ton's of points of interest included and you can add more with some optional Garmin tools available from their website. Thousands of addresses for restaurants, coffee shops, etc., are at your fingertips too.
Highly recommended by this Review: good but not perfect
Summary: 4 Stars This is a good product but not flawless. I think every gps system out there has some flaws but this is no exception.
First I would like to thank Amazon for getting this product to me within 2 days. Very fast. Now I know why I do business with this company.
Anyways, There are alot of plus's on this unit and very small negatives. The screen is bright, and the maps, to some extent are accurate. The speech is able to be understood completely and there is no doubt where exactly where to go. the points of interests are good. For those who complained they couldn't find a staples...If you're on a trip do you really need to know where Staples is? If anything i would be focused on finding smaller businesses or a Walmart, if i am on a trip. Which this unit did really well.
Now the negatives.
I don't have MSN service in Utica. I would have to live in the next big city (Syracuse or Albany) to get any use out of this feature.
This unit has a VERY NASTY habit of telling you to turn when you're right on the turn. It doesn't give you a warning. If there is a feature on that that allows it to give you a warning someone please tell me where to find it. because i couldn't.
The attachment to put it on the windshield didn't fit. I seen this as a complaint on most reviews. I didn't find it much of a big deal and let Garmin know. I sent them an email and they were like yeah it will fit you just gotta push harder. What do they want? a possibility to break the thing?? I was pushing hard as it was. I was forced to go buy a new one for 18 bucks, which did fit....hmmm... Great Customer service. <<not>>
And the only other thing thing that was wrong with it is sometimes (not all) it would send me to turn on a street that didn't exist. I was told that another friend of mine who had a Navigon did the same thing with in same spot. So it just might be the maps themselves if the same thing happened on a different system.
Overall, the more I use it i do like the Garmin. But i am NOT a fan of the C.S. nor am I fan of MSN. So if you could deal with that i would suggest this unit hands down. If you absolutely must have msn or if your a frequent caller (or emailer) like myself for CS i would find another company to go to.