Garmin StreetPilot c320 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator by Garmin
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List Price: Our Price: $129.00 You Save: $620.99 (83%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: GPS or Navigation System See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Garmin StreetPilot c320 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Digital camera Review: Easy to use and good value for your money.
Summary: 4 Stars
This unit is great for the price I paid ($450.00 including shipping and taxes). The screen and usability is amazing clear and easy to use. I was ready to go in 1/2 hour once I received it. The reason I gave it 4 stars is that I have two issues so far:
1. The screen is little difficult to see in the bright sunlight, so you have to really stare at it.
2. The routing algorithm has a few bugs. The map told me to turn left but the voice prompt told me to turn right. I knew where I was going that time so I did not get lost. But even then the recalculation is pretty fast.
Overall, a pleasure to use this GPS and I am really enjoying my trips to Downtown Boston without any sweat.
Digital camera Review: Easy to use, good value, minor mechanical problem.
Summary: 4 Stars
Got the C320 for a trip to California. Was able to load Arizona, all California, and a couple more states on the included SD card. Routing was easy to use, did have some problems acquiring satellite signal downtown in between tall buildings (drove in the general direction of where I thought I needed to go until satellite signal was picked up).
Took it also on a trip to Kansas City. Also some problem acquiring satellite signal initially. Had a highway entrance ramp that was closed, and had to 'guess' whether to go east or west on another freeway. After making the guess and following the new freeway, the GPS recalculated the route quickly and took me to my destination.
Had a problem with the mounting system...there's a lever to flip down for the suction cap to attach to the windshield. This lever worked at first, then stopped working (required too much force). Rather than forcing it and breaking it, I looked closely at the mount and saw that one of the pins that the lever pivoted on was loose. Shaking the mount a few times until the pin fell back into position fixed the problem. If shaking it a few times did not work, a convenient tool to use (for pushing the pin back in) is the plug from any headphone.
Also bought an 1 GB SD card for $20 and now have the entire US map loaded in the memory (no more loading maps before trips).
In summary...
Pros:
1. Easy to use, touch screen nice and faster then other data entry systems.
2. Fast route re-calculation.
3. Removable SD card allows inexpensive memory upgrade.
4. SD card better than hard drive - no worries about hard drive crashes.
Con:
1. Mounting bracket has problem with pin falling out
2. Voice volume sometimes not loud enough
3. Voice instruction tells distance to turn, but not street name (requires looking at the screen to see street name)
4. Sometimes routing is not best - will take you on small streets, even a gravel road (turned out to be blocked)
5. Entering custom POI's not very intuitive or easy
Conclusion:
For the price, it's a great value and gets its work done. It's dependable, though it's good to have a general idea where you are going (like north or south) even if you use GPS systems.
Digital camera Review: Easy to use, works well, price is right
Summary: 5 Stars
At $275 to your door, this Garmin unit is hard to beat. I was amazed at how intuitive the interface was. I never even looked at a manual. You just follow the onscreen prompts and you're in business.
When it comes to navigating, it's like most NAV units... A human brain who knows the area well could get you there faster in some cases, and every now and then you run into road names that are unfamiliar to you locally or new roads that aren't in the Garmin's system map yet. It will also sometimes tell you to "stay right" on a road that really doesn't have a "stay left" to it. But overall, very good navigation.
The mounting is solid. So solid, in fact, that it's sometimes hard to remove from your windshield. I would have preferred the power plug to insert into the unit itself rather than be integrated into the base, so that you can velcro the unit to the car if you wanted. But it's not a big deal. Besides, you can use battery power for quite a while, long enough for short trips around town.
The main improvement you could see by spending more would be voice prompts that give you the street name you will be turning on, rather than just saying "turn right in 50 feet". But those were nearly double the price. I'm sure power users can think of many more "must-have" features, but I am pleased with the unit for the price. A more expensive unit would just not make sense for me, since it would not get enough use and I would be worried about breaking it or having it stolen.
I did my research and nothing touched it in this price range.
Digital camera Review: Exceded my expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
bought this item for a trip to north carolina and loved it. it performed flawlessly, with the only problems being user error. i never read the instructions, and quickly picked up on how to use it. the unit found all the addresses we needed and also made some great suggestions on resteraunts and grocery stores. we found a few resteraunts that we would not normally have know about. this is my first gps and i am hooked now. it is small enough that i just put in in my backpack when i fly and atach it to the windsheild of the rental car. the suction cup ataches well, sometimes too good, making it hard to remove at times. the ladies voice is pleasing and the prompts seem to be at the right interval. i was a little nervous buying this unit, not know much about gps navigators, but havent regreted it for a second.Digital camera Review: Excellent Affordable GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this GPS two years ago and it has worked great ever since. It was affordable then, and even more now. It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles the new ones have, but it makes up for it by being extremely easy to use. Out of the box it takes literally 5 minutes to learn how to use.
I also like this exact model because it doesn't have an on-board hard drive and therefore you can add any size SD card to it. This keeps the cost low as SD cards have dropped in price lately. A single 2 gig card will hold maps of the entire US.