Garmin StreetPilot C320 - 3.5 in. Car GPS Receiver

This is the second automotive GPS unit I have owned, and this one is far superior to the first, and cheaper too (if you purchase from an online retailer).

THE GOOD
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1. So small! The biggest part of this unit is the screen. Easily fits in the palm of your hand, and thus doesn't take up much space on your dash when installed. But don't be deceived... there is plenty of room on the touch-screen to touch your selections, even with fat fingers like mine.

2. Quick satellite acquisition. On my old unit, initial setup took about 30min to get oriented, and every time I booted it up, it took 60sec to find the same satellites it was just using before. The c320 took 5min to initially locate satellites, and subsequent off/on cycles typically take less than 10sec if you use uncovered parking, 30sec max if you park under a cover, even if you turn the unit off and on while in view of the sky. I have a feeling that, even while off, the unit is still monitoring satellites to shorten acquisition times. NOTE: I have & use an optional external antenna, so your mileage may vary if you use the built-in internal antenna.

3. Good touch-response. On my prior unit, I found I needed to use my fingernail to actually 'tap' the screen. The c320 allows me to use the fleshy tip of my finger to touch my selections.

4. Intelligent address input. The c320 uses a common-sense approach to getting you to tell it where you want to go. Address input starts with the state, where you can either spell (which actually means provide the first letter and then pick from a list of loaded state) or tap a button with the last state used. Next is the city, which again you can either spell (only the first few letters are required, and then it presents you with a list of possibles) or tap a button for the last city used. Then is the street address number, and then finally the street. Unlike other units, the c320 uses all of the previous info to narrow down the possible streets you are looking for. If you only know the main name of the street, like "Broadway", the unit will use the address number and city to whittle down all of the N, S, E, W, St, Blvd, Way, Pl, Cir, etc. If there's more than one possible, it will present you with a list to choose from. If you provide the direction or type in the name, such as "N Broadway", you can skip the last step.

5. FAST processor. Garmin really made my day with this. They not only put a fast processor in this unit, but they optimized the way that a route is calculated. It took my last unit 10 seconds to route a 5mi course, and almost a minute to calculate a route from Los Angeles to Phoenix. The LA/PHX routing on the c320 took LESS THAN 5 SECONDS, needless to say, so have all of my other routes. This is extremely helpful for when you go off-course due to traffic, road closure, or a missed freeway offramp. My old unit took so long to calculate a route that by the time it knew how it wanted to re-route me, I had already passed the street or off-ramp it planned on using, putting me in a constant "off-route...recalculating" cycle. Rerouting on the c320 is almost instantaneous, once it declares you off-route, which sometimes can take awhile. There is always a [Detour] button on the main menu which will immediately recalculate a route based on your current heading if you are at all off-course, or will get you off the current route and back on at the next possibility to get you around an accident or construction.

6. The battery. Nice feature, especially if you wanna just gab the unit and head off in another car. Also cool to grab the unit and put all of your addresses into the address book (called "Favorites" on the unit) while sitting in front of the TV, rather than sitting in your car.

7. Large POI (Point Of Interest) base, helpful display. When searching for a place to eat or a gas station, just tap a couple buttons, and you will be presented with a list arranged from closest to furthest. The list will display the current distance from that place, as well as an arrow pointing in the direction of that place (because some of them may be behind you). Pick one, and you are presented with the address, phone number (in case you need to call to make sure they are still open or to make reservations), and then a big button that will calculate a course from your present location to your chosen POI. Especially helpful POIs are car repair facilities and parking locations.

8. Dynamic ETA. Unlike many other units, the c320 not only immediately calculates an Estimated Time of Arrival to give you some idea of what you are in for, but constantly adjusts that ETA based on current travel speeds, so that if someone calls you to ask where you are, you can give them an intelligent estimate of when you should be there. It has been dead-on every time. It even gives you an ETA to each maneuver along the course (so you can look up not only how far away the next turn is, but how many hours/minutes at your current speed until you get there).

9. Screen self-adjusts. While not as nice as a photosensor that will brighten or dim the screen based on ambient light, the unit is able to determine when sunrise and sunset are for your location, and will dim the screen at sunset and then brighten it at sunrise.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD
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There is nothing on this unit that makes me regret purchasing it. But I do have a few disappointments.

1. Voice prompts. There is only a female voice (my last unit let me choose between male and female), and the voice is 'clunky' so that it is very obviously computer-generated. My old unit would announce "Approaching right turn" or "Approaching freeway entrance, on the left". The c320 is very matter-of-fact with all voice prompts: "In 300 feet, make right turn" or "In point-three miles, exit left" to get ONTO the freeway (it uses the same prompt to enter and exit a freeway).

2. Upcoming maneuvers. My old unit would CONSTANTLY show me my next maneuver and the distance to that maneuver. While the c320 constantly shows the distance to the next maneuver, it doesn't always show what it is. When traffic is thick and lane-changes are tough, it's nice to be able to glance over and see whether you're going to be turning left or right so that you can get in position before the gridlock. However, the c320 does allow you to see the upcoming turn with a single tap, and it also reads it off, so distraction from the road is minimized.

3. No on-map display of POIs. My last unit allowed me to place selected POI types (for me, gas stations, public parking, and restaurants) on the main map, so that even as I was just driving (not following a route), I could see upcoming gas stations if I needed gas without having to search for them, and I could tap on the restaurant icon to see what restaurants were around me. My wife and I found a few new cool restaurants that way. The c320 does not offer that ability (at least, I have not been able to figure out how to get it to do that), which I kind of miss. But searching for POIs is so fast and easy that I don't miss it much.

4. Clunky mounting. The c320 has a special suction-cup mount that comes with it, and the cigarette-lighter adapter is integrated into that mount. The mount works great, but it is much 'beefier' than the typical gooseneck arms that come with such units. Because the power is integrated, that pretty much means that you are pretty much stuck with this mount.

5. Screen could be better. At full brightness, the screen is still a little dim. And the actual screen surface is glossy, which allows for amazing screen resolution, but also means increased glare. I would have given up a little resolution for a non-reflective matte surface.

6. Lots of harmless errors in map data. I have found at least three freeway offramps in the Southern California area that are mis-labeled on the unit's map. Typically, this happens when the ramp does not take you directly to the street that it is associated with on the freeway exit sign. Example: The c320 told me to take the "Enterprise" exit of the I-5 Freeway in Irvine, CA. That exit is actually called "Alton Pkwy" on the freeway exit signs. The unit gets you there fine, if you ignore the name of the exit. Also, I recently tried to route to an address in Vernon, CA. The unit said there were no matches for that address, which was odd, because it is a 30-year old fire station that is still in service. As an experiment, my wife put in the same street address, but used Los Angeles for the city instead of Vernon, and the unit found it right away.

7. Distance to turn can be deceiving. Many times I will be the first in line at an intersection, waiting to make my left turn, and the unit will show that I still have 200ft to the turn. Clearly, this cannot be correct. However, it appears to be deadly-accurate when making right turns. This must have something to do with how the unit calculates the distance... from the caddy-corner of the intersection maybe? This is especially troubling when there are two left turn pockets relatively close together.