Garmin Streetpilot C550 2.1-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
|
List Price: Our Price: $299.00 You Save: $100.99 (25%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $59.99 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Streetpilot C550 2.1-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Awesome GPS with Bluetooth and MP3 player!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love it! This GPS is AWESOME! I don't know which feature I like the most. It is either the text to speech (TTS) feature that reads the directions (and text messages) for you (with the female Austrailian accent - there are plenty of others), the Bluetooth feature for hands-free phone usage, the fact that you can load MP3 files directly on the 2GB internal Flash storage (about 650MB free from the factory) and also use SD Cards (I bought an 8GB Micro SD HC card, which works great!), or that fact that I can use all of the features at the same time. Yep, it's definitely the fact that I can use them all at the same time. I can set my destination, by entering an address, search by name (if it is a commercial location), or select a location that was saved as a favorite. While driving I can play mp3 files, and the voice prompts will interrupt the music when necessary. If the I get a phone call, the Bluetooth feature takes over and I have the option to ignore the call or answer it and talk hands-free while driving. It even shows who's calling, if you number is stored in your phonebook on the phone (I have a Razr v3). While talking the display shows your current location the the next set of change in direction you should make. Once the call is done, the music and voice prompts resume. When I arrive at my destination it says, depending upon the destination) "Arriving at Home on the right" or "Arriving at Work on the left" or "Arriving at Mom's House on the left" or "Arriving at Detroit Metro Airport Berry Terminal". You can name a location whatever you want and it will read the name speak it back to you when you get there. Finding places the Airports, Hotels, places to eat works great, even in Canada.
The detour feature works great, as well. When there was some traffice congestion on the freeway, I took the closest exit the used the detour feature to get me around it. The GPS took me along road the were along side of the freeway to the next point of entry. So, I kept hitting detour button until I got to a point where the traffic was moving, six miles away. I got to see some nice scenery, while bypassing the sitting traffic. It was great!
Speaking of Bluetooth pairing, which was easy, the GPS unit automatically connects when the phone is in range and not connect to another Bluetooth device. In my case, I was using a Bluetooth earpiece with walking to my car. Upone starting the car, the GPS powered up when it realized it was getting power to the plug. I turned off the Bluetooth earpiece and the GPS Bluetooth connected to the phone. All the while, I never stopped talking. Did I mention that your incoming text messages are read using the select text to speech voice? Cool!
I got this as a birthday present from my wife and parents. After two days, my wife decided that she wanted one of her own.
Customer Review: Great little unit
Summary: 4 Stars
The very first time I used this unit, I got totally lost. But the problem wasn't with the GPS, the problem was the connection between the chair and the mouse - I programmed in the wrong address. When I got the right address I was right where I wanted to be.
Garmin have done a great job in making a car navigation system that is so easy to use straight out of the box. You can get where you want to go without even reading the manual, the software is so intuitive. And the Bluetooth connection to my phone is just wonderful - I didn't even choose the unit for this feature, but it is so useful I would consider it an essential on any future unit I buy. I have used the FM traffic service, but to date I haven't had to try any detours so I can't really comment on this feature.
I have had a hiking GPS for years now, and so I'm familiar with how they work. It actually amazed me that about the only thing that a hiking GPS and a car navigation system have in common is the connection to the satellites - the way they use and present the data is totally different. As a result of using the hiking GPS there is some functionality that I wish the car system had (Garmin software engineers, I hope you are reading this):
1. I wish the c550 would display current heading (in cardinal points or as an arrow on the compass (track-up or north-up), user selectable) on the map screen. You can get heading info on the "Trip Information" screen, but it means toggling back and forth. This is important information to know when you are navigating unfamiliar areas.
2. I wish the c550 displayed altitude. It could display this on the "Trip Information" screen. While not necessary for car navigation, it is interesting info that I've grown to love on my hiking GPS. Sometimes I even drive with both GPS's in operation, just to get altitude, which I guess makes me a certifiable gadget freak.
3. The next one might be a little harder to implement. I rent cars a lot, and have to fill up with gas near the airport. I would like to be able to aim the car at the airport, specify a detour along the way to a gas station (you can do this at the moment), but then I'd like to specify that the gas station must be the closest reasonable stop along my route to the airport. At the moment I take aim at the airport, then change my destination to a gas station when I get near the airport. Most times this works, but on occasions I've had a sizeable detour to get to the gas station.
4. A QWERTY "keyboard" would be more useful than the current ABCDEF one.
5. LAT-LON data would be nice too, maybe tacked onto the "Trip Information" page.
Keep up the good work, Garmin. I'd have given you four-and-a-half stars if I could figure out how to do so.
Customer Review: update: only 1 or zero stars
Summary: 4 Stars
Update First:
Well, after a month, my c550 quit picking up sats. I had to call Garmin for technical support. I ended up being on hold about 5 hours over 2 days before getting a return authorization. They do have some really cool "on hold" music, but 5 hours is still not cool.
Day 1:
On hold for Over 3 hours. This is partially my fault because after a little over an hour I had to go to work. Went to work and called back (put the "on hold" music on the speaker phone and worked while I waited). After almost 2 hours I got on with a tech and he helped walk me and my wife through a reset procedure. Unfortunately, the reset procedure takes about a half hour to then pick up the sats again. So he had to hang up.
Unfortunately, this procedure did not fix the device. So I then followed the directs to update the operating system. This also did not fix the device.
Day 2:
On hold for almost 2 hours. After talking with the tech about what I had done. He gave me a return authorization.
My conclusion:
I would not buy another Garmin device. The c550 is really cool and when it works, it works really well. However, the company is really not worth dealing with.
The pros:
Great screen. Really good directions. Basically like having a dynamic Mapquest map talking to you the entire way. Recalculates quickly when a mistake is made. Really gave my wife a lot more confidence driving in places she is not familiar. My wife and I really love it. The database for locations and phone numbers of local things like gas, shopping, food and instantellers is really amazing and usefull.
The cons:
FM traffic report is basically useless in the bay area. Sometimes it tells you about a traffic jam after you are already in it. Other times it confuses the direction of the jam so it says there is a problem when the problem is on the other lanes. Also, Garmin advertises this is free for the first 15 months, however this option is not available on sign up. False advertising actually.
Also, as California does not allow windsheild mounted GPS, then the next step is to buy the dash mount system. This is a useless design and in the end, I had to crazy glue the mount to my dash to get it to not fall over. Crazy glue works great though. The device still wiggles in the mount however as it is just plane a bad design.
Too bad too because the c550 is a really nice device made worse by a bad mount design and a company that falsely advertises their traffic package. I guess they could correct this and this post could go out of date, however I question a company that has to be told that they a not fullfilling their obligations.
Customer Review: C330 (older) now C550... much better!
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought the C550 since the price has somewhat dropped to where I can afford it and bought it here at Amazon since the price is unbeatable and free shipping compare to going to my local store or other less reliable internet store. I bought it on Saturday and got it by Wednesday. I had a C330 prior to this unit and sold that for half its original price before buying this one. The C330 alone served me well as far as navigation goes, but the new design and features of the C550 is well worth the upgrade. Besides the bluetooth (works very well) and traffic capability that this unit adds compared the the C330, there are a lot of subtle changes that makes it even better. I'll start off with the suction cup design, before it was bulkier and the round base has a bigger radius, now it is smaller but can still support the unit well, great for places in tight spaces in your car. Also I did not like how the cigarette adapter was permanently attached to the suction cup holder in the C330, now the cable can be dettached from the unit making it more flexible. The unit itself sports a dark gray body color and a shinnier aluminum face, it looks much better at least in the interior of my car. It also is thinner that the C330 occupying lesser space specially if you place it close to your windshield like me. I have not really had a chance to use the traffic capability since my drive from home to work are on the streets and only takes 10 minutes, but I'm glad it is there. As far as the MP3 goes, I guess it's nice to have whenever your battery in the car dies out of nowhere and you are stranded in a deserted place, you can at least have some music until your navi dies or some psycho gets to you, whatever comes first (heheh joke). The Navigation software seems to move faster and now that it reads street name which makes you feel more assured you are going the right way. Other improvements? I would rather have an add on software in it that can read movie files than the MP3. Also I like how they included a nice case for the unit but I wish they added a hole or slit where the cigarette lighter cable can go through. Lastly, for mac users, your Mac will read the garmin when you plug it throught the USB it will come out as a hard drive then you can drop in your MP3 files and images for the splash screen. I will try to do another update in a month or so for more of my experience with this unit. There is always room for improvement... so I gave it four stars, hopefully it will be as reliable as my last one. Oh yah, Do not leave this unit on top of your dash, parked in the hot sun, it will mess up your unit, put it away. This happened to me once and Garmin was still kind enough to exchange my unit covered by warranty, (I am not saying they will do this for you also).Customer Review: Excellent GPS - Traffic Service is great, too
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted to share our experience with the Garmin Street Pilot c550 GPS.
5 Stars - Love it & Highly Recommend
I bought this GPS last week and tried it around town. Great directions, for the most part (missed one street one time, but not a big deal). The unit actually tells you the street names, which really helps!
When you turn on the GPS it must find the satellite to find your current position. This takes about 20 seconds at my house, but less than 5 seconds at other locations. You can preprogram set destinations (home, work, etc). and also just type in the location you are going to next. It shows you a map, and then tells you step by step which way to turn, on what streets, and how far it is to that turn. For instance: In 1.8 miles turn right on Main Street. And when you are arriving at your location it says "arriving at 123 Main Street, on the left. It is useful to know what side of the street you are looking for.
If you miss a turn, or decide to ignore a route, it will recalculate based on where you are & get you back on track, or find a different route. I forced it to find me a different route a couple times, and it chose correctly.
By far my favorite part of this GPS is the traffic feature. Its an add-on, but comes with 3 free months when you purchase the unit. It monitors the traffic conditions/accidents/road closures, etc and routes you around them. Today we were driving home on the 101 freeway. Our home is right off the 101 freeway, so we were a little surprised when the GPS told us to get on the 170 north. Traffic was going well, and I thought it was very strange to have us go off in another direction. I decided to see where it was taking us, and did take th 170. Meanwhile, we tuned to the news channel on the radio and sure enough there was a traffic accident a couple miles further down the freeway with 2 lanes closed. The GPS unit routed us around the accident and then back on the 101. I was really impressed :) I dont know how much the traffic subscription is, but I think its a must-get.
This specific GPS unit also plays mp3s, pictures, has the Points of Interest built in (MANY of the restaurants on the list are out of business, however - I went through the list in our hometown and quite a few were no longer valid). But thats ok, I didnt get the GPS to help me find restaurants!
It also supports bluetooth phones. My phone is not a bluetooth model, so I cant tell you much about that.
So if you are in the market for a GPS, look closely at the Garmin Street Pilot c550.