Most helpful client reviews
705 of 714 humans found the following review helpful.
Undoubtedly the best Car GPS in today's market !
By Han38some
UPDATE:
Below is my review which a lot of humans found useful. So, i want to write this udpate. Now, get the C340 & not the C330. the biggest divergence is C340 spells street name out like turn left on main st, take 95S etc. It MAKES A BIG DIFF FOR ANOTHER $50 !!!
458 of 462 people found the following review helpful.
Nicely Done, Garmin!
By J. Evans
The Garmin C330 is a well designed, easy to use GPS. It does not offer all the bells and whistles of the Garmin 2620 or Magellan RM700, for example - but the C330 offers simplicity and quality in a nice neat package. The vantages of the C330:
- The display is aweinspiring - high solution with good contrast.
- No buttons! Everything, except volume and power, is controlled by the touch screen.
- The software is fast; route calculations take just a few seconds.
- After the firstborn lock, this little unit locks on very speedily after powering up.
- The internal battery is terrific; you may do your route planning indoors without looking for an AC receptacle, and you may leave the unit on for the duration of a rest stop on your trip to preserve trip data. Battery life is 3 to 4 hours.
- The OS is super intuitive.
- The 3D view is simple to follow, but the map view is excellent, also.
- Navigation performance is excellent.
- Speakers are built in, with magnificent sound quality.
- Windshield mount is small, sturdy and simple.
- The unit is little sufficient that it won't obstruct your view.
- The power cord is hardwired to the windshield mount - no plug to contend with.
A few disfavors I've noticed:
- The battery is not user replaceable
- The C330 cannot save a route. But this is not a big deal. When you start out up after a stop, you just have it calculate the route to your destination, which takes just seconds - or just leave it on if your stop doesn't exceed 3 to 4 hours.
- The display may get washed out in direct light on a bright day - but I suppose that is mutual to all GPS units.
- As I mentioned, it doesn't have the bells and whitles of the 2630 or RM 700. For example, you can't monitor satellite signal strength from indiviual satellites. you can't determinen your lat/long position, and as I mentioned, you can't save routes in the C330. And you can't program it for assorted dissimilar users like you may with the RM700.
But all in all, the C330 is a winner. It's simple to operate, well designed, very effective, and reasonably priced. It's a strong buy!
200 of 202 humans found the following review helpful.
Hats offf to Garmin's C330
By N. Joseph
This is my introductory Navi ever, but I'm no stranger to it, I just never owned one till now. For the features I was looking for, I narrowed my choices to The Garmin 2620, Garmin C330, and Megellan 700. Needless to say the C330 was my pick.
I painstakingly reviewed these (3) GPS items and read each review and feedback I could find, then I comb the makers internet sites for all specs and features,updates yaddy yadda, then I made a few trips to the store to get some hands on experience and feel of the products.
The C330 has a freshening out of box experience. It may be fired up right away to start out use. I did not need to read the manual to commence using it, the moron proof interface makes it very easy to learn, which is a plus because my wife may use it when I'm doing the driving. The models that I also considered provided a little more features than the C330, But they did not have an internal power source. Memory-wise, the C330 has a 2 GIG micro drive, which is rather adequate for all the US maps and any updates etc.
Personally, my heart was set on the Magellan 700, but the cost and the fact that it only had 2 million POI (Points of Interest) equated to Garmin 5 million POI, turned me away from it. Of the (3) items I considered, the C330 is the only one that has a 100% touch screen interface and the smallest size so that it may be mounted/stored anywhere. GPSs' are not getting any bigger, with today's designers using micro/flash memory technology, our units will become more inconspicuous.The C330 may be a little difficult to see in the Sunlight, but not too bad. The Megellan 700 and the Garmin 2620 does have a port for an external antenna as well as the C330, which may be had for when it comes to $20 from a third party source.
The manual is very easy to read and colorful, but I found that it was not in-depth, a heap of things I had to call Garmin to clarify. I was curious regarding the internal battery, that only they may change. It would cost $125 just to send the unit in if it necessitated work outside of the warranty period.....hopefully the battery will last with regards to five years when I'm ready to upgrade.
Garmin altered maps normally comes out each 10-14 months so one is due out any time now. and it would cost me $75 to update the maps if I so desire. If you plan to get one and you get it on or after the new maps release date, the upgrade would be free.
I'm very please with the touch screen response and the layout out the maps, the list of Hotels, restaurants etc. all w/ phone numbers too. the volume is great, as long as you're not do 80MPH w/ your windows down. It recognizes dirt roads also - provided that the roads all existed before 2004 (the last map release date).
I will not be redundant and mention all the other points that the former reviews mention, but for the most percentage the (3-4) reviews before mine were exact and very helpful.
The C330 does not display your elevation, which is a minus, it's nice to know when driving in the mountains.
This unit has it is part of nuggets to find that will just leave you in amazement. If I had to choose all over again I'll still get the C330.
Buyers beware, If you buy the more pricey model (c330) it comes preloaded with all the maps so there is no need to be transferring selective information back and forth, but you DO NOT get the software on City Select CD ROM. If you opt for the for less version (C320) you will get the City Select CD, because the entire map can't fit on that unit..you'll have to transfer data thru memory card.
I've also noticed that unless you are looking directly perpendicular to the screen, the colors don't show correctly, in other words if you are the driver or passenger and you look at the screen at an angle, it will be still visible but the colors tend to wash out, sort of like with a laptop if the screen is not tilted right.
My experience with Tech help is fair. The wait time is a little lengthy, but once one the phone, they don't try to rush you through your questions to get you off the phone. I was helped adequately with all my questions.
A outstanding vantage is the mounting flexibility, any area of the windshield, the dashboard or solace (comes w/base mount) or as a handheld supplying the internal battery doesn't quit. Icons, splash screens and markers may by customerized by way of the Garmin software on their website. the images may be transported back and forth from the unit as BMP files and edited.
There are three ways to view the map
1) Bird's eye view with the map always facing north and the arrow/cursor moves as you drive.
2) Bird's eye view with the arrow remains still and the map moves around as you drive
3) "3D" mode. Where the view is the same as you would see out of your windshield except it's somewhat elevated so you may see a wider angle and observe streets with regards to a block away an all three sides of you.
The unit mechanically detects your speed and zooms out when you're driving fast and zooms in when you're moving slow, so you're never over/under driving the map. The receiver is very good in my opinion, most times (depend on what portion of the house I am) I get a good signal indoors. I have my C330 mounted above my rearview mirror in my vehicle (barely got it to fit) so it does NOT have a clear view of the sky and if it did, the factory tint in the windshield would likewise block it...yet I get a good signal. Mounting it on the middle of my windshield yield the best results and commence up time, but I chose to mount it above my rearview mirror to eliminate any sunlight glare from hitting the screen and it's working great.
To respond to former reviewers comments.... It was pointed out that Garmin should've added a feature where you may see an Icon or marker that conveyed the emplacements of all the POI nearby as you drive by them. Well I've found a way to do it, though it's not cited in Garmin's sub-par manual. All you have to do is go to [Menu - Where To - Show Map] and you'll see all the attractions, lodging, eating, gas etc. locatings on the road/area that you're presently on.
Another thing that's not cited on the manual. Lets say you're someplace and you don't recognise the address, but you want to save and revisit that location. Go to [Menu - Where TO - Show Map - Info - Save]
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