Garmin StreetPilot C550
I've been married to my lovely wife for 11 years, and I love her more than anything else in the world. Having said that, she's the very first to admit that sometimes she has to check which hand her wedding ring is on to figure out her left from her right. Yes, it's true! And since I do love her so much, I wanted to make sure she would always find her way home again. So I decided to get her a GPS navigation system for her pickup truck.
But which one to get? There are many devices on the market, at a variety of prices and capabilities. And screen sizes! They range from the rather small to the nice and large, and there's even some "flat screen"-type models out there. And prices... whew! You can get 'em for not much over a hundred dollars (and get what you pay for), or easily clock into the four-figure range. I wanted something in-between: functional and feature-packed, but not necessarily a Rolls Royce. Not that I'd mind spending the money, but this is a device that's supposed to be in a vehicle, so I didn't want anything that would be too tempting to thieves.
I ended up getting the Garmin StreetPilot c550, and after both of us have used it, I doubt I could have made a choice we would be much happier with... this one is excellent!
THE SCOOP Garmin's been in the GPS business for about 17 years, starting with a marine version and soon after making a handheld system for the military, used in the desert during the first Gulf War. They are one of the better-known names out there for after-market systems in cars. The StreetPilot line is their most popular, and the c550 model claims "portable, affordable car navigation". It not only gets you where you're going, but it helps you avoid traffic getting there (more on that later), plays your MP3 music files, and has Bluetooth for hands-free cell phone usage if your mobile phone supports it. Maps are provided by NAVTEQ, the same highly-accurate source that is used by GoogleMaps, YahooMaps, MapQuest, XM, Sirius, and Microsoft's Flight Simulator software. Maps are updateable by download at Garmin's site.
THE DESIGN "Small and light, yet with a large screen" just about sums it up. It fits in the palm of your hand (4.4" x 3.2" x 2.2"), weights less than a standard loaf of rye bread (0.59 lbs), yet has a 3.5-inch screen (larger than one of the screens on a Nintendo DS). The casing feels sturdy, so I'm not worried if it gets dropped on the pavement (not that I'd recommend trying it), but the manual is careful to mention that it's not waterproof.
There is a mini-USB port, an SD card slot, stereo speakers, a power input, built-in microphone (for hands-free phone use), ports for optional external mic and audio out, and more. The device comes with an easy-to-use mounting system that lets you put it wherever you like in your vehicle. The system comes off the mount quick and easy, so you can bring it inside with you (to keep it from getting stolen, or to protect it on very hot or below-freezing days).
WORKING IT The anti-glare touchscreen is bright and colorful, with 16-bit graphics and a good 320x240 pixel resolution. When you turn it on the first time, setup is easy by following the on-screen prompts. Once that's done, going somewhere is as simple as starting your car, then starting the device and pressing the "Where to?" button on the screen (hint: it's the upper of only two choices that fill the screen). The indicator on the top left tells you if you've got a good satellite signal (bar-style, just like a cell phone). Top right has the current time (it figures out the correct time zone for you based on GPS position) and next to that is the battery charge indicator. Plug in the car lighter adapter that's included, and the charger also acts an FM "TMC" traffic antenna! That means your StreetPilot can find out local traffic obstacles in 68 major US metropolitan areas (Garmin's site lists them), and re-route you around slow-downs. This traffic service has a free 3-month trail period, then costs $60 for a 1-year subscription.
Now, let's click that "Where to?" button. From there we can type in an address that you know you need to get to. It's very smart about recognizing these; you'll be amazed. Or you can click on a button that provides lists of local Food, Hotels, Banks/ATMs, Fuel, Shopping, Entertainment, Attractions, Community, Hospitals, Auto Services and more! Note that my wife and I were astounded at the accuracy of these lists. True, a few restaurants were shown that had closed up a while back, but it wasn't bad. The Where To? menu also has a "Go Home" button that's easy to set up while you're parked in your customary spot, plus you can store "Favorites" and "Recently Found" locations. There's also a button for "Extras" that you can download from Garmin's site.
So pick your destination, and then hit the big green GO! button on the resulting screen. A nice voice (you pick the one you like from many language/dialect/gender choices in setup; we like "Australian English - Karen") tells you where to go. So put the car in gear and listen to the voice. It's a bit tricky at first to get used to "listening out of the corner of your ear" while paying attention to the road, but after one trip you'll get the hang of it. It's easy to glance at the nice, bright display and make sure you're on the right track. It doesn't chatter at you constantly, but rather gives you reminders as you're approaching key points to prepare for a turn or an exit ramp, and then tells you again exactly when you've reached that point. A checkered flag on the screen will mark your destination, and the voice will tell you "now arriving at such-and-such, on the right" (or left) when you get there. Sometimes it pronounces names a little bit wrong ("school" is pronounced "shule", for example), but it won't steer you wrong. If you aren't paying attention and make a wrong turn, then it automatically re-calculates the new route and gets you back on track.
While you're driving, it shows the map in either 3D or 2D (you pick during setup) and on the bottom right shows you the amount of distance before your next turn. Touching the distance-remaining screen button pulls up a temporary close-up of the next turning point, and the voice gives you a quick update ("continue straight for 5.4 miles," etc.). On the bottom left of the map it shows the approximate time you'll arrive at your destination. Touching that pulls up a dashboard showing your current compass direction, speed, distance from destination, your average speed, your average speed while moving, your maximum speed (parents can check later to see if the kids were speeding!), total time on the trip, and time moving vs. time stopped. There are also buttons to reset the trip info, and to reset the max speed amount (sorry, parents).
After sundown, the screen colors automatically change to a dark-appropriate color scheme, so that your device isn't blinding folks in the next lane over with a bright light in your vehicle's cab. Plus and Minus buttons are visible to let you zoom the map in or out, as needed to see further ahead in the route or get more detail about where you are. The unit defaults with a "safety" engaged, so that you can't use the touch-screen navigation while the car's in motion. You can disable that, but it's obviously less safe because your eyes need to be on the road, not navigating this device. Recommend you pull over to use it.
THE EXTRA FEATURES While you're driving, you can go back to the main menu and hit the music note button to pull up MP3s. You can load them on an SD memory card (the same kind of card used for digital cameras), or you can use a USB cable to hook up the StreetPilot to any PC (it's plug-and-play, and acts like any external drive) and transfer files onto the unit's internal memory. MP3 functions are standard skip ahead or back, fast forward or rewind, shuffle, repeat, etc. Sound output is nice via the stereo speakers on the unit, and sound can be routed to headphones or many advanced car stereo systems.
It's easy to tie a Bluetooth-capable cell phone to the unit for hands-free calling. Standard Bluetooth security is in place, unlike other car-based handsfree devices (meaning that noone can sneakily tie in and eavesdrop on your calls!). It's easy to place calls and answer calls with the device. If your cell service includes voice dialing, the StreetPilot supports it via the Bluetooth. Any stored numbers in your phone can be accessed via the GPS system. It's excellent, and provides a nice, clear connection to whoever you're talking to.
If the car is driving while you use the MP3s or you're on the phone, and the unit needs to give you direction, it interrupts briefly and cleanly, gives the info, then returns you to exactly where you were in the song or conversation. If you turn off the unit while MP3s are playing, it remembers where you were when it turns back on.
Other features include cool stuff like customizable vehicle icons (download more from Garmin's site) and a vital "Garmin-Lock" anti-theft feature, which basically forces the user to either enter a personally chosen code or else be at "Home" in order for the device to work. Neat. You can configure miles or kilometers, a large variety of written and spoken languages, time format (12HR, 24HR, UTC), screen colors, routes based on "faster time" vs. "shorter distance" and more.
BATTERY LIFE According to the manual, the unit takes four hours to charge and lasts for eight hours, according to how it's used. In my experience, it took between three and four hours to charge it up, which can be done by the included car lighter adapter or by hooking it up to a PC via the included USB cable. We haven't driven eight hours straight yet, but from what we can tell so far, the unit's charge lasts at least that long. But you're probably going to use it on the car lighter adapter in any case.
PAINS Not many. Sometimes after first turning the unit on, it seems to take a bit long to load the maps and then acquire a satellite signal (but once it acquires it, it rarely seems to lose it). Also, this is something you tend to want to keep in the car, and it fits in the glove box, but they warn you that it's not safe to leave it out in temperatures below freezing or above 140 degrees (60 degrees Celsius). You might think the latter is more rare, but many vehicles can indeed heat up like an oven in the summer heat and reach those temps in the car. The below-freezing temps are rather common, though, so be prepared to take it inside during wintertime. At least it comes with a nice zippered carrying case!
THE PRICE Like I said at the beginning, this isn't the most expensive GPS navigator on the market. On the other hand, it's not cheap with a list price of $857.13... at least according to Amazon. I'm not so sure that's accurate, though, because I've seen other material that says the SRP is currently $482.13. Maybe there was a recent markdown? Possibly, but still, what matters is that you can buy it from Amazon for $329.99 at the moment. Yes, that's a little bit pricier than the average unit at Wal-Mart or Costco, but...
BRINGING IT HOME ... the Garmin StreetPilot c550 is totally worth it, in my opinion. I've already said it: this one is excellent, and I doubt we could find something else that would leave us any happier. The system does a LOT for the money, functions very well, and is extremely accurate. I had originally intended to give this to my wife as a Christmas gift, but when we had a wedding to go to in an unknown area outside of town a few weeks ago, I broke it out early and we've been using it ever since. We had no problems getting to the wedding, then to the reception (equally far out), and then back home. We've had a couple of other occasions to use it so far, and it worked great. In our own neighborhood, it taught us a new shortcut through the back streets to get to a main boulevard with less traffic. We're super happy with it, and we can't recommend it enough. If you need an after-market GPS navigator for your vehicle, give this one a good look. It won't leave you lost!
— Dave L.
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