Garmin Streetpilot C550 2.1-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
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 C550 2.1-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Garmin C550 great, with a couple of bugs
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently started an apartment renovation job in Jersey City and dreaded the drive from my house about 65 miles Northwest of there. There's a variety of ways to get there, and I was afraid of the traffic congestion. I got the Garmin for my second drive down, and it was a relief not having to try to read Mapquest directions and keep my eyes on the road at the same time. The Bluetooth function allowed me to make and take cellphone calls safely which was also a blessing. But so far, the Garmin has sent me down and back in several different routes. I don't know if it's because of the Traffic warning system that comes free for 90 days or what, it doesn't explain (it does tell you when there is congestion ahead, and includes a little yellow icon to indicate that--when my 90 day free trial of the Traffic receiver service is up, I may lose that little perk). Also, when I became familiar with Jersey City I would start to take the side streets, but the Garmin would recalculate my route by telling me to make an illegal U-turn and getting back on the main roads to follow it's original path. I'm still trying to figure out how to request a path that lets me bypass tollroads. I don't know if it will do this for me, like RandMacNally.com does (fastest vs. most direct route). One time I had a problem with inputting an address called "Route 97 South" -- the "south" part refused to be recognized by the unit. It only recognized "Route 97", and I had to figure out where I was headed by just following mailbox numbers. This is probably a Navtech problem though, not a fault of the unit. If you buy a GPS, I would get used to it's functions by taking it out on roads you know first, so you can learn how to use the unit without worrying about getting somewhere unfamiliar.
I like the points of interest function. When looking for a parking lot in Manhattan it directed me quickly and easily via the POI function (admittedly there's a garage around every corner in Midtown Manhattan). You can select a destination, and call them via the Bluetooth link just by pushing a couple of buttons! I haven't tried the POI for other destinations (gas stations, restaurants) yet.
The mp3 player function is of limited use to me. I did upload some "This American Life" podcasts and the Garmin refuses to play them. File size limits maybe, I don't know, because it played shorter mp3s. But I think the mp3 player is kind of pointless anyway, since you can't use the GPS and play mp3s at the same time.
I told myself until the prices of these things came down to something reasonable, I wouldn't get one. But it has saved me a lot of frustration already and is worth the money, especially if you live in a metropolitan area (I wouldn't bother if I lived out in the boonies and a paper map would suffice). Bugs and all, I'd spring for this unit again. Amazon's price was the best (some others were a couple of dollars cheaper, but shipping is extra and those vendors had less-than-stellar feedback). If you buy one of these units, I'd spring for this one, which is supposed to have an updated chipset that recalculates your route every one second (see CNET.com) over the cheaper models. The Bluetooth function is a necessity, and they should all have the ability to link to a phone like the C550.
Happy trails!
Customer Review: EXCELLENT UNIT-A FEW **VERY** MINOR ISSUES
Summary: 5 Stars
Bought this unit a couple of days ago. I've had a chance to explore all the features, and overall, this is an EXCELLENT unit.
Here is what I like:
* From the time I opened the box to the time I started using it was less than 5 minutes. Very simple and intuitive interface.
* Incredibly sensitive satellite receiver. The unit even worked indoors in my kitchen when I first turned it on. How can that be, since I thought you had to have a clear view of the sky? I don't know, but it did. No issues in the car either. No dropped signals, and virtually instantaneous satellite acquisition.
* Directions for the most part were very accurate (see below for minor exception),
* You get plenty of advance warning for turns.
* When you deviate from the directions that the GPS gives you, it recalculates a new route almost instantaneously.
* Spoken street names.
* Anti glare screen (you can still see it in bright sunlight).
* Bluetooth phone link works perfectly with my Razor phone (see below for minor issue). Sound on both ends is crystal clear. I could even access my address book on the unit itself.
* Windshield mount is very easy to get on and off, and it held the unit very securely.
Here are the minor issues:
* Maps seem pretty up to date, but you still have to use common sense. There is a road that opened up near my house about 5 months ago, and the GPS didn't recognize it. It kept wanting to take me a different route, but since I knew the road was there, I took it. The good news is that it recalculated a new route almost immediately once I left that road. Along those same lines, I was visiting someone in a gated community, and I knew that you had to go in the front gate and not the back. The GPS kept trying to direct me to the back gate because it was closer. This is a common sense issue, not a technical issue.
* On very rare occasion it gives you an odd or unusual turn. Near my house, it wants to route me through a small subdivision to get me home (very small-only about 20 homes), when I can get there by staying on the main street and making one turn. Not sure why it does that (perhaps it may be a few feet shorter and the GPS thinks it's a shortcut).
* Remember to check or uncheck the box to avoid highways and toll roads depending on what you want to do. The very first time I used it, it sent me on a toll road for 1 exit, then had get me off and resume on surface streets. I could have gotten where I was going without going on the toll road. I don't fault the system because technically it took me the shortest route, but it's just something to keep in mind.
* When you are talking on the speaker phone, it mutes the voice giving you the directions. If you're talking and driving, that is a bit of an issue. You can still see the directions on the screen, but you lose the voice prompts. I read some review where the person said that you have the ability to change this feature, but I haven't figured out how to do it yet.
* Pricey, but you get what you pay for. The cost differential with the C340 (about $150) is well worth it in my opinion.
Customer Review: Good unit, I recommend it.
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had the StreetPilot c550 (SP) for four weeks now and I am very happy with it. Overall, the SP will get you there and the hands-free function with my phone is a good feature.
Navigation - Both my wife and I have taken turns using the SP to take us to places we are already familiar with [such as work and home]. This is a good way to get to know how the SP performs. What we have learned is that the route the SP first calculates is not always the most efficient route. I don't believe it takes traffic patterns [street lights and volume of traffic at different times of the day] into consideration. My daughters enjoy listening to the SP say "recalculating" as my wife or I decide not to follow the recommended route. What we have learned is don't be afraid to take a different route. The SP will eventually figure out which way you are going. One time my wife did take a rout I think is less efficient and she reported that after hearing "recalculating" several times, the SP finally stated "There's a better route".
We have both had a chance to use the SP to take us somewhere for the first time. NOTE: When going to someone's house, don't expect it to take you right to their driveway. The checkered flag will be a few houses before or after your destination. If you've added the destination as a favorite, it will announce the name you set and not the address, so make sure you have address written down. Also be sure that you choose the correct type of street. If you are going to Lichtenauer Ct and you select Lichtenauer Dr, the checkered flag may be off by a block.
The Estimated Time of Arrival indication at the lower left hand corner of the screen is pretty accurate and is helpful when you think you may be running late.
The point of interest (POI) database is fairly extensive. NOTE: If you know the name of where you are going, you can save time by simply selecting the option to spell the destination. In addition, partial name is the best way to go. I entered "PRICE" and the SP found the "Price Chopper" [grocery store] near my house in its database.
Bluetooth - When my wife has the SP I use a Bluetooth headset with my phone. When I have the SP, I use it in place of my headset. I have a Nokia 6133 and my wife has the Motorola RAZR V3. The SP is paired with both phones and will connect to whichever one it finds first. I am able to use the voice dial feature of my phone. NOTE: The success rate recognizing a voice command is an issue more with the phone than with the SP. I have a 4 out of 5 success rate with both the SP and my Bluetooth headset. The SP will pull up the phonebook of both phones [whichever one it is connected with]; I can view my call log; and I can even read the text messages I have received [don't try this while driving].
I am not terribly impressed with the MP3 feature. I tried connecting the SP to my car stereo using a cassette adapter, but it picked up a lot interference from my phone.
My wife and I are looking forward to bringing the SP with us when we go on vacation.
Customer Review: Great GPS with only few problems
Summary: 5 Stars
After buying and using the C550, I found the review at rated4stars ([...]) to be very good.
Pros: Very good directions. Easy to use menu. Grabs satellites quickly. Mounts well on windshield.
Weaknesses: Traffic service so far is a bust. GPS gave mistaken directions.
(Edited June 04th by jb) Overall this is an amazing unit. However, I did have to spend quite a bit of time downloading and installing the map update ... but at least it was "free." The screen is great even in bright light, the directions about where to turn on what street etc are given several times along the way so there are no surprises. Directions are helpful.. E.g., "Turn left on Maple Street in 500 feet" followed by "Turn left on Maple Street", etc. or "1316 Everit Rd is 200 feet on right." Of course the map shows the directions and also the distance to the next turn, etc.
Unit did misloacate several major stores and two different malls by about .5 miles or more in the Albany/Schenectady area and suggest an incorrect turn. I traced this problem to Navtek. The same mapping errors exist on google maps and mapquest. Tele Atlas (TomTom) is even worse regarding the same stores/malls. So errors in maps may be a widespread problem. Otherwise the c550 has known where things are very accurately. So far I would not pay anything extra for the FM traffic service (3 mo free). On a 10 mile trip it told me a road was closed in 113 miles. Good grief. Unit is very steady on windshield mount. Unit gives you option of having it turn off with ignition/accessory key or stay on with own battery power. It finds satellites very quickly in my experience. I often don't even notice any lag; it seems ready to go as quickly as I am.
One odd thing is that for sharp turns in the road, the unit says you are making a turn on to the same road. However, once you know the unit does this, I don't find this a problem. In fact, it is a warning that there is a sharp turn ahead, which could be quite helpful at night on back roads.
One way to make sure the unit takes you on the desired route is to put in waypoints, but this unit is limited to adding only 1 waypoint or stop. It is possible to create lots of short trips that add up to one long one with many intermediate "stops", but that is less convenient than entering waypoints before starting a trip.
So far, customer service via email has been slow, and sometimes inaccurate. This unit appears to be the same as the c580, except the 580 has the MSN FM service instead of ClearChannel.
My Palm Treo 680 syncs with Bluetooth quite nicely, after a couple of tries. After that the pairing occurred automatically. I had to "push" the contact list to the c550, as Garmin explains on their site (only once.. it remembers how to get the list). To send a revised or edited contact list you have to unpair the two units and then re-pair them and then "push" the new contact list to the phone.
If I could, I would rate this unit at 4 1/2 stars, but overall it is very, very good.
Customer Review: Love it
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not an early adopter, and could have gone through life just fine without one of these, but... my away-at-college, freshman daughter called last week wanting to visit a friend in another city over fall break. She's never driven cross-country alone, and never been to the city she wants to drive to next week, and she's only been driving for two years... "hmmm, sounds like a good excuse to try out one of those Garmin things," I thought. A friend put me on to Garmin's stock last November, I've almost tripled my money in that investment, so I thought it was worth looking into... if the stock's doing that well, there must be something to the product, right?
I'm completely sold on these things, and although I was confused before purchase, simply because of the huge number of devices offered by Garmin, I think I made the right choice. As far as I can tell, this model is the least expensive one that comes with Bluetooth capability. I find that very handy. Not only can you talk on your cell phone through the c550 as if it were a speaker-phone, make & receive calls as well as text messages, it will also load your cell phone's phone book... you can scroll down the list of names & numbers in your cell phone right on the Garmin's touch-screen... much easier to do when driving than having to look down at your phone. Even better, this device can connect to as many as 5 different bluetooth devices (one at a time). Every member of my immediate family now has their cell-phone tied to the Garmin... you can switch what's "Bluetoothed" to the Garmin via a few strokes on the touch-screen... very easy to do.
My only gripes are these: the info is a little dated... for example, some restaurants shown in the c550 don't exist any more, in some cases for a year or more... maybe they should try to update that list as often as they update the street maps. That doesn't bother me a great deal, but some. The only real gripe I have is that the speakers don't work as well as I wish they did. In a really, really quiet car, they're fine. You don't have to turn the Garmin's volume up all the way and you can hear as well as understand the directions. In a car that has the least bit of road noise, like mine, I have to turn up the volume all the way, so that the speech comes out a little distorted, and it makes me think I may blow the speakers by keeping it turned up to max. volume all the time. The speakers are on the sides of the device, toward the back... I assume they were too big to put on the front of the box, but where they are now aims them at the sides of the car... if they can't be in front, would they be better in the back if they were aimed at the windshield? Maybe more sound would bounce off the windshield back to me better? I'll leave that to Garmin's designers... it's something that would improve the device in my opinion.
All-in-all, very happy. This is one cool, useful gadget. Love the Bluetooth capability, don't really need the mp3 player. This is a very, very easy device to use too.