Garmin Streetpilot C550 2.1-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
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List Price: Our Price: $299.00 You Save: $100.99 (25%) 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 C550 2.1-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Great GPS at a great price
Summary: 5 Stars
Having tried the Garmin Nuvi in the past, I wanted to find a similar GPS system without the cost - I found that in the Streetpilot C550. When compared to all other products it definitely provides all the best features at the lowest cost.
I spent a lot of time researching each model and realized the C550 had many advantages. The Streetpilot offers the following features that lesser models either offered none or few of;
1. Bluetooth (allows handsfree cell phone use while driving)
2. Mp3 player (you can take songs from your ipod and play them on the Garmin although the sound quality does suffer during playback)
3. Traffic receiver is included! (This is huge since with other Garmins, you have to buy it seperately at a cost of over $100 - plus they give you 3 months free).
4. Touchscreen - you can type in streets and addresses rather than scroll, which is very helpful.
5. Speaks street names - which is suprisingly helpful if you're in an unfamiliar area and have a lot of streets all coming together at once. This device will tell you to turn on "Elm street" rather than turn in 30 feet, which can be confusing if there is three different roads coming up in 30 feet.
The traffic receiver also includes a cigarette adapter charger, so don't think that you need to buy one seperately from the device which I almost did since they recommended it.
My only complaint about the Garmin, although trivial, it lacks common sense sometimes. When you calculate the fastest route, it really means the fastest route. It will tell you to take truck bypass routes or go down side streets (rather than along the main road) just to save yourself 2 or 3 seconds off your trip.
One surprising advantage to this device is how up-to-date the maps are. My neighborhood is less than 1 year old and it had all the streets. That was a surprise since every other GPS device I've used did not and also Yahoo and Mapquest don't even have my neighborhood online yet.
Lastly, the yellow pages feature makes this device worth the price alone besides all the other options. You can type in the name of where you want to go and it seems to have everything! Banks, restaurants (even obscure hole-in-the-wall places are listed), gas stations, airports, hotels, etc. and it includes their phone number which if you have your cell phone connected you can dial!
I highly recommend the Streetpilot C550!
Customer Review: An Improvement Over the c330
Summary: 5 Stars
A year ago I paid $850 for a Garmin c330 and returned it because the display was not sunlight readable.
For the same price I was thrilled with the c550, which includes a sunlight readable display, talking street names, built-in real-time traffic information (first 3 months free, $60 for next 15 months), Bluetooth hands-free cell phone assistance, and MP3 player.
The touch screen is very easy to use, probably the easiest of any PND (personal navigation system) on the market.
It also includes one via (mid-trip destination) so that a sophisticated user can force the routing to take a known detour.
The real-time traffic updates work, at least in Chicago. In one case I was actually warned soon enough to take an alternate route. The c550 quickly recalculated a new route. Usually there's not much I can do about entering a traffic jam, but at least the c550 shows me how long the traffic jam is.
The talking street names are easy to understand and help keep my eyes on the road.
The Bluetooth worked with my cell phone even though it wasn't on Garmin's approved list (Motorola E815).
The speakers do not give the same audio fidelity as a car radio with built-in Bluetooth. They are adequate for navigation, OK for cell phone use, and unacceptable for MP3 music. There is no problem understanding the person on the other end of the cell phone conversation. The person I was talking to told me that my audio quality was excellent. They couldn't tell I was talking through the microphone on the c550 which was an arm's length away. My phone was in my pants pocket with the cover closed. Bluetooth will also dial numbers for me, either from my phone book which is automatically loaded into the c550, or from the phone number listed in a point of interest such as a restaurant.
To Garmin's credit the c550 includes a headphone jack that could be plugged into an external speaker. Talking on a cell phone with an improved speaker is like talking to the person next to you. Its more natural. But in a rental car on a business trip it would be too cumbersome to schlep around an external speaker.
I see the c550 as an excellent PND for car rental companies. But for personal use, the Garmin Nuvi is still my favorite because its smaller and has more features.
Customer Review: Worth its weight ...
Summary: 5 Stars
I had a Magellen for about 2.5 years, but when it stopped navigating properly, the folks at Magellan said I'd have to drop $275 to fix the processor. Considering I paid $1100 for it, I thought that was a lousy option. So I bought the c550 and am very happy with it. It is very accurate-even more so than my father's in-car unit he has in his Nissan Morano. My father and I recently went on a 180 mile trip (twice in a week) into rural Maryland, once while using my c550 and once in his vehicle. The c550 was able to get us to our destination as well as to some destinatins during side-trips without a hitch. The Nissan's unit, however, had difficulty not only getting us to our destination, but also in re-calculating routes when we changed course.
Another nice feature is the points-of-interests that are preloaded. My Magellan had this, but the interface on the Garmin is much nicer and informative. And, with the built-in Bluetooth, you can make a call right from the Garmin. For instance, on a recent trip to Pittsburgh, my wife and I were looking for an Indian restaurant. I checked in the Garmin under cuisines and located several, all with distance displayed. I chose one then had the Garmin call to see if they were open as we were arriving into town late. They were and it worked out perfectly. We were also able to locate hotel accomodations as we were there unprepared. It saved for a lot of 411 info calls and anxiety for trying to find a place to stay in while in an unfamiliar area.
The traffic feature is nice, but limited to big highways. While driving to Pittsburgh, it was fairly accurate in locating slow traffic. It was correct in one accident that we came upon as well as slow traffic due to construction. The unit comes with a free 6 month trial for the traffic feature, but will cost $60 a year thereafter. I'm not convinced this is a need as of yet.
The bluetooth feature is very nice. It displays the caller's info. It will also link to your phone's address book allowing you to search from the Garmin for a contact. The calls come through clear on both ends. This feature is worth the difference in price IMHO.
As you can see, I am very pleased with my Garmin to say the least. At the time, I thought the Magellan was the bomb, but I now know that I was definitely missing out.
Customer Review: It was the best bang for the buck...
Summary: 4 Stars
Please keep in mind that I am writing this review after using the unit for just over one week. I have researched and demoed several portable GPS units in preparation for an eventual purchase. This is the first unit I have purchased, though I have used others. For me it came down to this unit and one of the TomTom Go units. Ultimately I decided on the Garmin. This unit will do everything you expect it to, and even a little more.
The voice prompted turn by turn navigation works very well, and on screen display is very user friendly. The Garmin auto-update software and the USB connection make updating the unit fairly easy, but it can be a little slow depending on the traffic on their website at the time. It also includes the Garmin Lock security options. You can set a pin number to be entered each time the unit is turned on, or the unit is unusable. If you should happen to forget your security pin, you can set an unlock location that you can drive to, and the unit will unlock. However, should you forget both of these, you will have to send the unit to Garmin to have it unlocked.
The Bluetooth enabled speaker phone option is a great feature. Once setup, the C550 becomes an extension of your cellphone. You can make and receive calls by simply tapping the screen, and when you receive a phone call, the number appears on your screen. If the incoming number is listed in your phonebook, it will tell you who is calling. This hands free feature is incredibly handy, and works very well. If you phone uses voice activated dialing, this device allows you to use that feature as well.
Again, I have only used it for a week but so far the unit has held up to everything I have put it through, even dropping it from the dashboard a few of times with no ill effects.
Pros:
Compact Size
Non Glare Screen
Web Update Interface (USB cable included)
Bluetooth Cell Phone Interface
Built in 6 hour battery
Downloadable car icons and voices
Garmin Lock Security Code (widow stickers included)
Cons:
Maps are slightly out of date
Sometimes slow web update
I highly recommend this unit to anyone thinking of investing in a GPS unit. I have only given it four stars because I haven't used it long enough to rate a five.
Customer Review: Dandy
Summary: 5 Stars
I did a lot of research before buying this. I didn't want to be a sheep getting Garmin just because it's popular. However, after exhaustive looking around at other brands, reading review after review, I chose the C550 because it was the least expensive GPS of quality that has bluetooth, which allows you to make hands-free calls through the unit if you wirelessly connect to a bluetooth enabled cell phone. You can then call all of the points of interest in its vast system as well as all of your own contacts that are in your cell phone listings.
I also realized that I rented a car last year and also rented a GPS unit, and it was an earlier model of the same general type, probably a 330. Anyway, my experience with that was so favorable, that I knew I'd like this one also. You see, that rental was in Santa Fe, and if you know the streets of Santa Fe, you know that it would be hard to find a more challenging place to drive around. Tons of one way streets, small, short, out of the way streets, etc. The Garmin I had then never failed to find anything I put in, and made our trip SOOOOO much easier than it would have been without it.
Anyway, I bought the C550 and operation was as easy as I recalled. I just plugged it into the car and it was ready to go. It "found" my bluetooth enabled RAZR phone in a few seconds and within seconds, I was talking to people on the phone through the unit, and they said they could hear me, and I could hear them loud and clear.
Now I can't wait to find all of the shorter routes I know I will find to places of interest. I was also glad that the unit came with an adhesive disk to mount the unit on the dash. My recollection about the suction cup on the window deal is that it can fall off. (However, if you have a GPS and only use windsheild mount, the trick is to wet the suction cup a bit before sticking it on, and then it will stay like a charm. I, however, use the dashboard mount, and the angle is perfect for me, and of course adjustable to however you wish to tilt it.)
It also plays MP3s, so you can load your ipod songs to an SD disk and play them, though I admit I haven't tried this yet.
Love it. Couldn't really ask for more.