Garmin StreetPilot C320 - 3.5 in. Car GPS Receiver
- Form Factor: Fixed
- Map capabilities: Map cartridges / Data cards, Download maps
- Receiver Type: 12 Channels
- Enhanced accuracy: WAAS enabled
- Screen Size: 3.5 in.
- GPS Type: Automobile
Available From
Why are these offers here?
Lowest Price!
- Overview
-
Reviews
- Compare Prices
User ReviewRead All Reviews »
Amazing Unit for the price! ($350 at Costco.com)
Pros
Super-easy, good accuracy, great voice prompts, nice mounting options, CHEAP!!!
Cons
Can't browse map in navigation mode; sometimes quirky directions
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Excellent unit for the price -- same routing accuracy, maps, and POI's as the much more expensive models. Super-easy to use!
My wife decided to surprise me with a TomTom Go 300 for my birthday (~$550 at CircuitCity). Before I tore open the box to play with my new toy, I decided to take the unit back to the store and do a little more research on the various GPS units out there (as I always obsessively do with any significant purchase).
I have spent many hours at various electronics stores playing with GPS units from all major manufacturers (TomTom, Lowrance, Magellan, Garmin, etc.) and many more hours doing online research on all of the different models. So, to sum up all of my research, no one single GPS system is perfect for everyone -- each has its pro's and con's. However, for me, the Garmin c320 won hands down!
I separated the GPS units into these categories: Cheap, easy-to-use, and feature-packed.
If you want the most features per buck, check out the Lowrance iWay 350 (~$500). It has everything under the sun, including an MP3 player and an FM modulator so you can listen to music/directions over your car's stereo. HOWEVER, these features come at a HUGE price! Performance on the iWay was HORRIBLE -- slow map redraws, slow searches, etc. Also, it was the most difficult to use of all the units I played with.
If you want to do complex routing (plan roadtrip or find the optimal route for delivering to 10 different addresses), then I'd look at the Garmin StreetPilot 2000 series units (2610, 2720, etc.). These units are AWESOME for route planning -- if you give it a bunch of waypoints, it will find the best route to visit all of them (nice for deliveries). While these units are not overly complex, they are not nearly as friendly as the Garmin StreetPilot c320. Also, while the 2610 is reasonably priced at around $500, the 2720 costs roughly about $800 -- that's a lot of $$$ if you're not relying heavily on this thing (business needs, etc.).
The TomTom Go 300 is a very nice unit that has a very nice blend of gadgety features and simplicity. I must say that the menus drove me crazy -- everytime you make any sort of selection, it throws you back to the map automatically. It was kind of annoying. I read several reviews that claim that the TomTom Go 300 had a few issues with map accuracy. TomTom claims that they have "millions" of points of interest (POI's), but that to me sounds like somewhere between 1 and 3 million. Most Garmin units come with "almost 6 million" POI's (not just "millions"). Also, I did not like that it does not categorize it's POI's as well as the Garmin units do. That is, when you instruct the TomTom Go 300 to search for food, it automatically lists all food POI's, without distinction. The Garmin units will allow you to specify what type of food (e.g. Mexican, Italian, Fast Food, etc.) or simply list all food POI's.
So, now the Garmin StreetPilot c300 series. Garmin makes a few StreetPilot c3xx models, of which the c330 and c340 are probably the most advertized. The c320, c330, and c340 are all very similar units with very different prices. The c320 is a very basic single-destination GPS system. That is, you simply tell it where you want to go and it will get you there (using the fastest route most of the time, but not always). It comes with a 128 MB SD memory card, which holds roughly about 3-4 states worth of data (depending on the state, I guess). I purchased a 1 GB SD memory card for $50 and now have most of the US East Coast loaded. This unit is priced at $350 (at Costco.com) probably because it does not have built-in memory and uses only the SD cards (I like it because SD cards keep getting bigger and cheapers -- cheap ugrades, I guess).
The next model up is the c330 ($520), which comes with 4 GB of internal memory (I think). It comes pre-loaded with all of North America, out of the box. If you don't want to mess with loading any maps or dealing with SD cards, this is a nice alternative to the c320. However, it does not come with an SD slot (although their website leads you to believe it does). So, if you bought the North America model and wanted to take it to Europe, you'd probably need to unload the North America maps and load up Europe maps (or perhaps simply overwrite the maps). The SD card allows you to simply exchange the card -- but you still need to load the card the first time.
The c340 (~$580) is just like the c340 (I think), except that it has traffic alert capability via FM TMC service (~$5 per month) and an FM TMC receiver (~$100), plus it has an SD card slot along with built-in memory.
After comparing all of the units and recalling how much such units cost just a year ago, I quickly realized that it would be best to not spend a lot on one of these units right now because the technology is improving VERY quickly and prices are dropping even quicker! So, the feature tradeoffs of the c320 versus the more expensive models, when considering price, the c320 is the clear winner. Keep in mind that the $800 GPS system today will sell for about $400 in less than 12 months. Also, since these units all have touch screens and complex circuitry, I felt a lot safer spending less, knowing that I wouldn't lose a lot of money if it broke 3 days after the warranty expired.
I find that the c320 offers the same routing accuracy of much more expensive units (like the 2720), uses the same POI database, but is whole lot cheaper. Definitely a great buy! I sleep well at night with this purchase.
By the way, the glare problem that a few others have posted about can be easily overcome by simply tilting the screen downwards a little so that it is not reflecting images of the windows -- I get a mild reflection of my passenger seat; it doesn't bother me at all.
I have spent many hours at various electronics stores playing with GPS units from all major manufacturers (TomTom, Lowrance, Magellan, Garmin, etc.) and many more hours doing online research on all of the different models. So, to sum up all of my research, no one single GPS system is perfect for everyone -- each has its pro's and con's. However, for me, the Garmin c320 won hands down!
I separated the GPS units into these categories: Cheap, easy-to-use, and feature-packed.
If you want the most features per buck, check out the Lowrance iWay 350 (~$500). It has everything under the sun, including an MP3 player and an FM modulator so you can listen to music/directions over your car's stereo. HOWEVER, these features come at a HUGE price! Performance on the iWay was HORRIBLE -- slow map redraws, slow searches, etc. Also, it was the most difficult to use of all the units I played with.
If you want to do complex routing (plan roadtrip or find the optimal route for delivering to 10 different addresses), then I'd look at the Garmin StreetPilot 2000 series units (2610, 2720, etc.). These units are AWESOME for route planning -- if you give it a bunch of waypoints, it will find the best route to visit all of them (nice for deliveries). While these units are not overly complex, they are not nearly as friendly as the Garmin StreetPilot c320. Also, while the 2610 is reasonably priced at around $500, the 2720 costs roughly about $800 -- that's a lot of $$$ if you're not relying heavily on this thing (business needs, etc.).
The TomTom Go 300 is a very nice unit that has a very nice blend of gadgety features and simplicity. I must say that the menus drove me crazy -- everytime you make any sort of selection, it throws you back to the map automatically. It was kind of annoying. I read several reviews that claim that the TomTom Go 300 had a few issues with map accuracy. TomTom claims that they have "millions" of points of interest (POI's), but that to me sounds like somewhere between 1 and 3 million. Most Garmin units come with "almost 6 million" POI's (not just "millions"). Also, I did not like that it does not categorize it's POI's as well as the Garmin units do. That is, when you instruct the TomTom Go 300 to search for food, it automatically lists all food POI's, without distinction. The Garmin units will allow you to specify what type of food (e.g. Mexican, Italian, Fast Food, etc.) or simply list all food POI's.
So, now the Garmin StreetPilot c300 series. Garmin makes a few StreetPilot c3xx models, of which the c330 and c340 are probably the most advertized. The c320, c330, and c340 are all very similar units with very different prices. The c320 is a very basic single-destination GPS system. That is, you simply tell it where you want to go and it will get you there (using the fastest route most of the time, but not always). It comes with a 128 MB SD memory card, which holds roughly about 3-4 states worth of data (depending on the state, I guess). I purchased a 1 GB SD memory card for $50 and now have most of the US East Coast loaded. This unit is priced at $350 (at Costco.com) probably because it does not have built-in memory and uses only the SD cards (I like it because SD cards keep getting bigger and cheapers -- cheap ugrades, I guess).
The next model up is the c330 ($520), which comes with 4 GB of internal memory (I think). It comes pre-loaded with all of North America, out of the box. If you don't want to mess with loading any maps or dealing with SD cards, this is a nice alternative to the c320. However, it does not come with an SD slot (although their website leads you to believe it does). So, if you bought the North America model and wanted to take it to Europe, you'd probably need to unload the North America maps and load up Europe maps (or perhaps simply overwrite the maps). The SD card allows you to simply exchange the card -- but you still need to load the card the first time.
The c340 (~$580) is just like the c340 (I think), except that it has traffic alert capability via FM TMC service (~$5 per month) and an FM TMC receiver (~$100), plus it has an SD card slot along with built-in memory.
After comparing all of the units and recalling how much such units cost just a year ago, I quickly realized that it would be best to not spend a lot on one of these units right now because the technology is improving VERY quickly and prices are dropping even quicker! So, the feature tradeoffs of the c320 versus the more expensive models, when considering price, the c320 is the clear winner. Keep in mind that the $800 GPS system today will sell for about $400 in less than 12 months. Also, since these units all have touch screens and complex circuitry, I felt a lot safer spending less, knowing that I wouldn't lose a lot of money if it broke 3 days after the warranty expired.
I find that the c320 offers the same routing accuracy of much more expensive units (like the 2720), uses the same POI database, but is whole lot cheaper. Definitely a great buy! I sleep well at night with this purchase.
By the way, the glare problem that a few others have posted about can be easily overcome by simply tilting the screen downwards a little so that it is not reflecting images of the windows -- I get a mild reflection of my passenger seat; it doesn't bother me at all.
