Garmin StreetPilot c330 Car GPS Receiver

A few years ago my husband came home with a Global Positioning System (GPS) device for his car, partially because he does need to travel to new areas on occasion, but I think it was mostly because if there is a gadget available, he wants to have it. That unit served us well for quite a while, but a few months ago it no longer worked as it should so we purchased this Garmin StreetPilot c330 GPS Receiver.

The box contained the actual GPS unit, dashboard and windshield mounts, cigarette lighter adapter, USB cable for connecting to your home computer, USB compact disc, and a quick reference guide. Additional information can be obtained in a 37-page instruction manual which is available on Garmin's website (www.garmin.com)

Installing the unit in our vehicle took less than ten minutes, and it would have probably taken less time if we were not trying to do it in the dark at about 10:00 pm, since the wires, cradle and unit itself are all black. After the unit is mounted either on your windshield with the suction cup or by using the dashboard mount, it is time to set up the system.

The suction cup windshield mount allows the GPS to be moved easily between my Ford Freestar and my husband's car. Since my minivan is a wide vehicle, it is not always possible for both the driver and the front passenger to see the screen, due to sun glare but on overcast days and at night, we were both always able to see the screen with no problem. My husband has no trouble glancing from the road to the screen and back to ensure he is taking the correct route, but for those who cannot do this, a pleasant female computer voice will tell you exactly where you need to go. For example, it might say "In 500 feet, turn left" or "Drive 23 miles and then take ramp right."

After turning the unit on, on-screen directions led us through putting in our home address, and we were ready to go since the unit is preloaded with street maps of North America. The touch screen measures approximately 2" by 3", shows the display in color, and has a backlight for nighttime use. To have the GPS give you directions, you can put in a street address or ask it for places nearby, such as restaurants. When putting in a street address, it firsts asks you for the state, then the city, and then the number and street.

We recently took a driving vacation beginning at our home in New York City, through parts of New England and ending up in upstate New York. We were away for a week, and stayed in a different hotel, in a different city (usually in a different state) each night and we relied primarily on this Garmin GPS unit to get us to each destination. On a few occasions, it took us on a shortcut off of main roads, and shaving a few minutes of travel time off of our trip.

Garmin StreetPilot c330 GPS Receiver has its street maps stored in its memory, but it must be able to communicate with satellites to determine where your car is located. As you drive down a road, you can watch the map move, showing you what street, attraction or landmark you will be coming to, and this is done by signals being sent back and forth from your unit to the satellites up above. If there is bad weather or your car is covered by a garage roof or overpass, the signal will be weak, or may not get through at all. During our recent trip, we heavily on our GPS, but it was good that we had old-fashioned paper maps with us as we traveled through a lengthy tunnel in the Boston area and we had no satellite reception. Immediately upon exiting the tunnel, we had to choose which highway to take before the satellite and the GPS re-made their connection.

Even when we strayed from our original itinerary on the spur of the moment, this GPS system got us to where we needed to go, and then back on track later on. If during your travels, you want to stop, just pause the Garmin StreetPilot c330 GPS Receiver, otherwise, the friendly voice will continually say "Off route...recalculating." This almost immediate recalculation of your trip is very helpful if you find yourself in a detour or miss a turn, but if you are simply going a few blocks out of the way to eat dinner, it can get annoying after a while. Of course, if we were simply turning into a gas station or something that is right on the road we were traveling on, we just listened to the nice lady in the machine since she would not be speaking for long, as she does not continue to repeat herself if the car is not moving.

If you have a choice of back-roads versus main highways, this preference can be programmed into the GPS unit and once you put in your destination your estimated time of arrival will be displayed in the lower left hand corner. This time takes into accounts the different types of roads you will be traveling on, and adjusts itself if you find yourself sitting in traffic.

The unit itself is fairly durable as it is encased in plastic, and the suction cup has kept it adhered to our windshield with no problems. There is a warning that since a lithuim-ion battery is used, the unit should be removed from the vehicle in hot weather and should be stored out of direct sunlight.

More than 5 million points of interest come pre-loaded into the unit so that even if you are in an unfamiliar area, you can find a restaurant, an ATM machine, a mall, a zoo, or just about any type of establishment you might need. When you are hundreds of miles away from home on vacation and you want to find a place to eat, this GPS system can assist you. When you first set up the system, you put in your home address, but during the course of your travels you will come across places that you might want to return to in the future such as a local eatery that you stumbled upon, or the hotel that you just checked into. Up to 500 of these additional places can be stored in a list so that you can return to them easily by touching the name on the screen.

Every point of interest that we wanted to see on our vacation was found by the Garmin StreetPilot c330 GPS Receiver. We were able to get to places like Fenway Park, The Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Howe's Cavern, and to six different hotels without getting lost once. On a more regular basis, my husband uses the unit to get to conferences and meetings and I use it when I need to find a new baseball field that my son has not played on yet.

We paid about $250 for our purchase of our Garmin StreetPilot c330 GPS Receiver and we are definitely getting our money's worth out of it. It would be a great purchase for anybody who drives often, especially those who tend to get lost or who drive in unfamiliar areas.