|
The Garmin StreetPilot C330 is the second cheapest in the C-series Personal GPS Devices. It comes with the GPS unit with a 3.5 inch touch screen, a car charger, a windshield mount, and a unit to stick to your dash.
The Garmin StreetPilot C330 retails for $350, but I picked one up for $280 this past summer. I've seen prices as low as $150 for refurbished units during Boxing Day and Black Friday.
The StreetPilot C330 is very good for its price. It's a GPS and nothing else. It comes out of the box preprogrammed with the City Navigator NT street maps, and contains lots of Points of Interest such as Hotels, Restaurants, Gas Stations, Banks, Malls and Attractions for North America. This device has a touchscreen to navigate through the menus and enter locations, and also has turn by turn voice instructions to go along with the instructions on screen.
In The Box
The box includes the GPS Unit, Windshield Mount (very easy to use), car charger, and another suction cup that you can stick onto your dash, incase you want to mount the GPS unit on your dashboard. However, I think you can only stick it on once. It also comes with instructions on how to set up your GPS device, and of course a user manual. It also has a USB cable and USB drivers disk
Setting Up
Being my first GPS device, I was confused as to what the other suction cup was for! I didn't know what to do with it, and I thought I had to use it. But, I went with my instinct and just peeled the plastic protector off the Windshield Mount's suction cup and stuck it to my car windshield. Done. The car charger attaches to directly into the bottom of the mount. Then I attached the GPS to the mount. Some people may have trouble with this. But taking it on and off is very easy once you know what to do, or at least take the time to figure it out.
To mount the C330 onto the Windshield Mount, place the front bottom edge in first, and then tilt the device back, and it should easily snap into place. To remove it, there's a quick release button on the back of the StreetPilot. Just press it and it'll come right out. I really love the mount, since the power cord attaches right to it. Before you get out of your car, you can just take off the C330 by unclipping it from the mount. You don't have to disconnect any wires, and the mount can stay right on the windshield.
Later on, I learned that you have to use the dashboard mount in certain States such as California, because having the unit mounted on your windshield is illegal!
Interface
The interface was very friendly and easy to use. There's a scroll wheel on the right side to adjust volume, and beeps when you adjust to show you how loud it will be. Theres a SD Card slot in case you want to add more maps.
The graphical interface on the screen is very easy to navigate. The first screen asks if you agree to the terms and conditions, which I guess is the law, and tells you not to enter info into the unit while your driving. It's good advice.
The main menu has 4 options.
- Where To allows you to look for directions to a specified address or point of interest (POI). You can even save favorite locations, such as your house, or work place, so you don't have to always enter this info in case you want to get home from wherever you are in North America. It also saves recent entered locations for your convenience.
- View Map displays where you currently are. If you are in the middle of receiving directions, it will give you the directions along with a red line to help you follow where to go. It will even save your trip directions if you turn off the power and turn it back on.
- Settings (wrench) will allow you to customize your GPS.
- Brightness (sun) will allow you to change the brightness of your unit depending on how bright it is outside. To be honest, in the middle of the summer, its not very easy to see the screen even with the brightness all the way up. Other StreetPilots have better screens which allow you to view the GPS easier while in direct sun. Of course at night, theres no problem viewing the screen even at 10% brightness. Of course, you can always adjust the angle of the mount so you can see the screen better.
The GPS
The unit comes with Navteq City Navigator NT Street maps software. The map is easy to understand and provides you with turn by turn instructions. No, it does not read out the names of the streets, it will say "turn right in 400 meters", instead of saying "turn right on Main Street". If this is important to you, you can purchase the Garmin StreetPilot C340 series.
 The map displays the next turn both in text, and graphically. You can zoom in and out of the map with the + and - buttons on the top corners of the screen, and your whole route is traced in a red line. Your next turn is shown by a white arrow. Pressing the bottom right corner (where it tells you the next turn), will show you the entire route in case you want to know what other tuns you have to make well in advance. Pressing on the bottom left corner will actually display your entire trip information such as maximum speed, average speed, average moving speed, total time, total time stopped, and total time moving. It's fun to see this information. You can reset this at each trip, but once you reset, all the previous data is gone. I'd like to be able to have two trips, or more importantly a total life time of the GPS unit, to go along with individual trips.
 Searching for a location is a breeze. If you know the address of where you are going, just enter in the address. You don't always have to enter in all the info. After entering half of the letters for a street name or city, it will search its database and give you options of street names and cities that match what you have entered so far. Great time saver. If you know the name of the location you are looking for, just enter it into the Spell Name function, and it will find the location and order it by distance to your current location. You can also browse for food, hotels, gas, and attractions, to name a few if you like.
The antenna does require some time to pick up a signal. If you are out in the open, the StreetPilot C330 will find a signal in a matter of seconds, even when it's "cold". However, when covered in trees, or really high buildings, it will take a while. If you don't know where you are going, its best to turn it on, and let it find itself before moving. There are better antennas available on other units. You can also by an improved antenna for this unit as an accessory.
Pros
- Great, easy to use mount. The GPS can be taken off of the mount in a second because of the quick release button. It has fallen off once though.
- Easy to use software.
- Fairly cheap price
- Gets you where you want to go
Cons
- Fairly big and not very portable compared to the flat Nuvi. You better hide it in your car because you can't just stick it in your bag or pocket and take it with you.
- Hard to see the screen when its bright outside
- The antenna takes a while when surrounded by tall buildings, such as when you are downtown
Specifications
| Physical & Performance |
| Unit Dimensions (w x h x d): | 4.4" x 3.2" x 2.8" (11.3 x 8.2 x 7.2 cm) |
| Display Size (w x h): | 2.8" x 2.1" (7.2 x 5.4 cm) |
| Display Resolution (w x h): | 320 x 240 px |
| Display Type: | 16-bit TFT LCD with White Backlight |
| Weight: | 9.45 oz. (269 g) |
| Battery: | Rechargable Lithium-Ion |
| Battery Life: | Up to 8 hours |
You can also purchase more accessories for this device, such as face plates, an improved antenna, a wall outlet charger, and carrying cases.
Final Thoughts
Like all GPS Maps, they DO get outdated. So you will have to purchase new maps. I found a few errors in my maps and I had to follow my instincts. New roads are added and changed, and there are also construction. You cannot fault the GPS for this. If you need something that will give you traffic and construction updates, you have to pay an extra monthly fee. If your budget can handle an extra $100, then I suggest going for one of the 500-series GPS units, which come with Street Name recognition, a better antenna, better screen, and more features like an MP3 player, and Bluetooth. Of course, do some research and keep checking the prices to get better deals. There are a lot of GPS devices out there by other brands like TomTom and Hewlett-Packard. I do recommend this product for those looking for a GPS device that performs well at a cheap price.
|
