Garmin StreetPilot c330 Car GPS Receiver

Introduction
The Garmin c330, introduced in March 2005, is a compact GPS unit about the size of an average grapefruit, but lighter (4.4" W X 3.2" H X 2.8" D). The display itself is slightly bigger than a standard Palm PDA screen, and like a PDA screen, is touch sensitive (2.8" W X 2.1" H). It's sole purpose in life is to pinpoint your location on a map as well as to navigate you to a given location. It accomplishes this through the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) which is a satellite-based navigation using 24 satellites placed into orbit by the US government. In order for the unit to pinpoint your location, it requires to lock onto the signal of at least 3 satellites to calculate latitude and longitude. With 4 or more satellite in view, the unit can determine the altitude as well. For greater accuracy, the unit may also employ the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) which also incorporates 24 ground reference stations positioned throughout the US to further perfect one's location. Why is WAAS necessary? Believe it or not, the satellites are subject to Einstein's theory of relativity in which the faster an object moves (satellite) relative to a stationary reference point (you), the slower time moves for this object (satellite). As navigation is determined by a distance traveled over time, and time is affected, errors may be introduced into the GPS system. WAAS would correct any of these errors.

The unit comes with the following:
- Garmin c330 unit
- A/C power adapter cord (for indoor use)
- Vehicle suction cup mount with 12 volt cigarette lighter adapter built-in
- Dashboard coaster mount
- PC/USB (not serial) cable
- CD containing driver for use in Windows (not Macs...but one can use Virtual PC software)
- Quick reference guide and owner's manual

The Unit
The unit is very simply put together. There are physically only two buttons (the power and reset button), three ports (USB, MCX-type connector, car interface slot), and the volume dial. As one can imagine with so few buttons, one controls the unit entirely through the touchscreen (just like a PDA). The unit comes pre-installed with Garmin's Americas Recreational Basemap and MapSource City Select North American map data (no separate CD included containing these maps). Theoretically, one would never, ever have to download detailed maps for a given region as the unit contains the maps for everything already installed thanks to its internal hard drive as opposed to the cheaper Garmin c320 which does not come with maps pre-installed. Along with the maps, it already has installed a library of over 5 million-plus points of interest (hotels, gas stations, restaurants, ATMs, and attractions). The unit also has a lithium-ion battery for out-of-car route planning.

Ports and Buttons
The power button (along with the volume dial and USB port), are located on the left side of the unit. The power button also acts as a re-calibration button for the touchscreen if held down continuously for about 10 seconds. One needs to hold the power button down for about 1 full second (2 beeps) to turn the unit on and off manually.

The USB port doubles as both a USB port as well as A/C power adapter port. As a USB port, it is used to connect the unit to one's computer using the supplied cable in order to update the maps that are pre-installed. Of note, it is indeed a USB cable and not a serial cable which Garmin has traditionally used in past models. A CD is included with drivers one needs to install first to allow recognition on the computer. I have yet to test this out as I have not yet been required to update the pre-installed maps. Though the drivers are meant for Windows, I was able to easily install the drivers using Virtual PC on my Mac OS X.

The volume dial is pretty self-explanatory.

The reset button (used in times when the unit crashes or freezes), is located underneath the faceplate on the left side. In order to access, one has to first remove the faceplate.

The MCX-type connector is located in the back of the unit and used to connect a remote GPS antenna for better satellite reception (GA-27C).

Lastly, the car interface slot is located at the bottom of the unit and is the interface that allows the unit to detect and automatically turn itself on or off when the car is turned on or off as well as receive power (via 12-volt adapter). The unit's interface slot (female end) is well designed in that it becomes automatically engaged when one clicks it into place with the vehicle suction cup mount which has the male end. The 12 volt cigarette lighter adapter itself is attached to the vehicle suction cup mount. The caveat of this arrangement being that one MUST have the unit connected to the vehicle suction cup mount without alternatives when you want to use it in your car. However, it is very well-designed and I have absolutely no complaints regarding the vehicle suction cup mount. The mount has 2 articulated joints allowing adjustment to any horizontal or vertical angle whether mounted on the dashboard (using the supplied dashboard coaster) or windshield.

Screen
Before I first purchased this unit, I was concerned that the screen would be too small and weak to use effectively as a car navigation unit. There was no need for me to be concerned. It totally exceeded my expectations. The screen specs are as follows:

- 320 X 240 pixels
- QVGA transflective TFT with 16-bit color (64K colors)
- Touchscreen
- Bright white LED backlight

What this basically means when looking at the screen is that I feel like I'm looking at a high-definition TV screen. It basically looks like a very bright glossy photo with the same detail and contrast. It is similar (if not better) than a high quality computer LCD screen.

The roads, street names, points of interest are all easily seen. As with any GPS mapping unit as well as regular paper maps, the streets are of a different color and line thickness from highways, etc.

The brightness is adjusted by touching the sun symbol on the touchscreen in the menu section. Also, the unit has a daytime and night-time mode to allow better visualization. Though I can't prove it beyond doubt, I suspect that it contains sunrise and sunset data as the method it uses to switch between the two modes. I'm pretty sure it does not use a light-sensor as the modes (nor brightness) do not automatically adjust according to surrounding ambient light level. How did it appear on maximum brightness during the middle of a bright day? Unfortunately, the screen did appear somewhat washed out and dimmed, even at the maximum brightness setting.

Menu System
One navigates throughout the menu system by touchscreen. The Menu page is the first page that appears after turning on the unit. There is a "Where to?" and a "View map" along with 2 symbols. By touching one the main menu items, one is taken to a sub-menu. I have below the menu directory:

View map
Toolbar symbol (for customization...see Customization section)
Sun symbol (to adjust the brightness)
Where to?
- Near...
- Address
- Food
- Lodging
- My Locations
- - Go Home
- - Favorites
- - Recent selections
- - Set Home
- Fuel
- Spell Name
- Intersection
- Attractions
- Shopping
- Parking
- Entertainment
- Recreation
- Community
- Cities
- Browse Map
- Hospitals
- Transit
- Auto Services

The address sub-menu will take you to various prompts to pinpoint a location you would like to be navigated to. This is accomplished by answering the various questions it asks starting with state, city, street number, and lastly streetname. One enters the info using the touchscreen keyboard that pops up. While answering the questions, it attempts to anticipate the info you are trying to punch in so one doesn't have to enter the entire information. Once it has the full address, there is a big "Go!" green button that you press for it to map out a route from your current location. One can also save entered addresses which will than be located under "My Locations" for future easy access.

For most sub-menu items (Food, Lodging, Fuel, etc) it will bring up the closest points of interest from a given location and map out a route to get you there. By first selecting "Near...", one can first specify exactly what points of interest you would like to see whether it is relative to current location, in a different city, current route, or destination. For some submenus, like "Food" in particular, you are able to select the type of food you want before it will bring up a list of restaurants. For each point of interest, it will give you the distance to get there from your current location. After selecting a given point, it will give you the exact address as well as phone number if applicable. From this point, it will give you the option of creating a route from your current location or bringing up a map specifying the location of the point of interest. In this map view, you can manipulate the map by zooming in or out as well as move the map in any direction.

My Location is where you can specify your Home (either by address or by specifying current GPS location), instruct the unit to take you home from your current location, bring up a list of Favorite locations for easy access, and finally bring up a list of recent selections for easy access.

Hitting "View map" in the main menu (without specifying a route), will bring up a map of where you are located depicted by a triangle. As you drive, it will automatically update the map in a continuous fashion.

The Map and Navigation
When turning on the unit for the very first time, it takes about 10 minutes for GPS satellite acquisition. From than on, it takes less than 20 seconds for it to obtain GPS acquisition when turning it on (about 10 seconds on a clear day to 20 seconds on a cloudy rainy day). Boot-up itself after being turned off takes about 5 seconds. When quickly zooming in and out of the map, map redraws do occur and are usually complete in less than 2 seconds. With slow zooming, there is no redraw lapse time. I never considered the map redraws, when it occurs, to be "slow". Lastly, I have never seen the unit lose its satellite acquisition after acquiring it. I do want to note that I live in North Carolina where there aren't any tall buildings, tunnels, and such, but even on stormy days when there most definitely aren't any clear skies, I've never had a problem with the unit losing its satellite acquisition.

When selecting "View map" in the main menu, it brings up a map as well as basic information at the top and bottom of the screen.

If you are not on a route...
The unit will depict your current speed (Speed) and compass heading (Driving) at the bottom of the screen. At the top, it will either give you what road you are currently on and what your heading is, or it will give you what street is coming up in the next intersection as you get closer. Touching the speed icon will give you statistics regarding your trip information including speed, overall avg speed, moving average speed, maximum speed, total time, moving time, and stopped time information. This information can be reset as well. There are no voice prompts.

If you are on a route...
The unit will give you the estimated time of arrival (Arrival) and how many miles to go before one has to make a turn (Turn in) at the bottom of the screen. The top of the screen gives you the same info as when you are not on a route. However, by touching this text bar, the unit will bring up the driving directions for your entire route. By touching the "Turn in" button, it will give you information regarding the next turn including a small map, distance, and estimated time until you reach the turn. Touching the "Arrival" button will bring up a mini-dashboard containing your trip statistics including speed, overall avg speed, moving average speed, maximum speed, total time, moving time, and stopped time information. This information can be reset as well. Obviously, there are voice prompts in this setting (when to make an upcoming turn, when to turn, etc). The voice itself sounds like a middle-aged woman talking. No way to change the voice. However, it is plenty loud at max volume. A great feature is the fact that it will automatically recalculate a new route if you somehow get off the calculated route.

Another amazing feature while you are on a calculated route is a button called "Detour". Say you are driving along the calculated route and you see a HUGE traffic jam up ahead or accident or something that you know will cause you to get stuck for awhile. There is a button called "Detour" in the main menu that you can touch and it will automatically calculate a new, next best route to take off the current road you are on. You have no idea how many times this feature has saved me in terms of time and aggravation!!!

When in map view (regardless of whether you are on a route or not), one can manually zoom in and out. The maximum zoom-in is 80 feet/cm. The maximum zoom-out is 500 miles/cm. The cool thing is that the map will automatically zoom in and out depending on the road your are on as well as the speed at which you are driving at (and whether you have a turn coming up if you are on a route). Generally speaking, the faster you drive on a bigger road, the more automatically zoomed-out you will be (generally no greater than 0.5 miles/cm). The slower you go on a smaller road, the more automatically zoomed-in you will be (usually no closer than 200-500 feet/cm). When you are not moving, it will usually automatically zoom-in to around 200-500 feet/cm. This auto zooming makes sense as it assumes when you are going fast on a big road, you probably want a bigger visual area of where you are (and are are less likely to be making upcoming turns). The reverse is true when you are going slow on a smaller road (as in this situation, you are more likely to make upcoming turns/stops).

If for some reason, you go off a specified route, the unit will automatically create a new route from your current location. One can also touch "Detour" which will tell the unit to find an alternative route from the one you are currently on (which is useful if you see a big traffic jam coming up, etc).

Customization
There are lots of things you can customize. For each favorite location you save, you can select a custom map symbol from a library of icons that would appear on the map as a visual aid. The map itself can be seen as a 2D map or a Bird's eyeview. The map itself can always be oriented so that North is up or your heading is always up. Navigation itself can be customized. For optimization, the type vehicle can be specified (cars can go on roads that big trucks can't). Avoidances can be specified as well such as U-turns, toll roads, highways, and unpaved roads. Time and language can also be determined.

Overall Impression
This is the first GPS unit I have ever owned and so I cannot directly compare this unit to others on the market. I have done quite a bit of research before purchasing including comparisons with other Garmin units (StreetPilot 2600 series) as well as Magellan units. In the end, I felt that this unit was the best among them all for a variety of factors including size, ease of use (all touchscreen entry), pre-installed maps and POIs (so no downloads of any other maps would be necessary), and that undefined gestalt of the unit itself.

I must say, it FAR exceeded my expectations. It is VERY easy to use...much like the Palm PDA in terms of usability. The screen is fantastic and clear. It is a very compact unit, but solid in terms of feel.

Criticisms
There are a few criticisms, but all of which I consider VERY minor. I've noticed that some routes it maps out may not always be the preferred one I would take. It usually tries to map out a route that incorporates a big road when in some cases, it is better to take smaller roads to avoid traffic and streetlights. Also, it would be nice if it was able to adjust the brightness automatically as ambient light changes. The maximum brightness could benefit from being a lot brighter, esp during bright days, to prevent that washed out and dimmed appearance.

Another criticism is that the unit does not verbalize highway exit numbers. It just states that you need to take the next exit. Most of the times, this is not a problem, but there are times when there are 3 exits right next to each other and it becomes unclear which of the 3 exits you are supposed to take. However, exit numbers are stated in the textbox.

Another minor criticism I have with the unit is that there is no way to create a route with multiple stops... For example, on planning my cross-country road trip, I was not able to map a route from North Carolina to Washington state with stops along the way. Rather, I had to create individual routes from one to the other stop as a series of "My favorites" locations and select the appropriate next location as my trip progressed.

Finally, I wish it was totally compatible with the Mac OS X rather than with just Windows.

ADDENDUM 6/20/2005:
I was traveling across the Rocky Mountain National Park on my way to Alpine Peak Visitor Center with the c330 when somewhere around 10,000 feet, the unit just stopped working. When I tried to reset it and get it to work, I got an error message stating that there was a hard drive system error. Eventually, I figured out that the unit's hard drive doesn't seem to want to work above 10,000 feet above sea level. It works just fine when below this elevation. Though, I'm guessing, I think the unit's hard drive does not work due to inability to equalize pressure differences between sea and high altitudes.

Conclusion
The Garmin c330 is a fantastic GPS unit that exceeded my expectations. I would highly recommend this unit to anybody shopping for a GPS unit.

Factors I am unable to address (given my geographic location), is how the unit performs in tunnels (I assume the signal gets lost), how quickly it would re-acquire GPS localization after losing a signal, how it performs in big cities with lots of tall buildings, and how long the battery lasts without charging (I just keep it plugged in). These are issues for others to contribute to.