Friday, February 22, 2008

 

Dashboard GPS Map - Garmin StreetPilot c530 - Equipment Review

A great new 21st century tool for driving to your whitewater river trips and other travel adventures.


This portable GPS unit sits on the dashboard of your vehicle and shows your map position constantly updated as you drive to your destination. If you enter your destination (street addresses in cities or towns), then the StreetPilot can estimate the driving time and arrival time at your destination. The built-in map of North America has great coverage for paved roads, but only partial coverage for unpaved roads. Most importantly, at that critical moment when you need to exit or make a turn the StreetPilot gives you the information to confidently make the right decision that gets you directly to your destination. Or if you decide to take a side-trip or an alternate route the StreetPilot adjusts smoothly and continues guiding you. The tiny screen of the StreetPilot cannot give a good overview of a long journey, so we will continue to need paper maps and/or online maps as part of our trip planning process.

Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

Many new cars are now sold with GPS mapping units built into the dashboard and maybe in the future all cars will have GPS map units. Newer dashboard GPS models have even more features than the c530 model, but at twice the price. With the price of last year's model StreetPilot c530 units dropped down to $200 its a great opportunity to have an affordable GPS in your older vehicle. (My rating *** 3 stars out of 5)

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Reviews - Equipment and Supplies for Whitewater River Kayaking.

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Comments:
I have used a Garmin StreetPilot c530 for about 20 months, and love it. It shows many dirt roads, even some with locked gates. My only complaint is that it will not give me directions to many locations in remote areas. It is also difficult to look at an area other than the one where I am located. Some newer GPS units allow the user to zoom in on an area of the screen by touching that location on the screen. Some even allow the user to touch and drag a location to the center of the screen. The Garmin Street Pilot c530 does not allow me to do this. If I buy another GPS that is a feature I will look for. Last fall I used a Tom Tom one XL for a few weeks while working in an urban area. I liked it very much, but did not get to test it in a remote mountain area. If I recall correctly, it had the touch screen features I want, but I am sure Garmin now has a GPS with the same features.
 
Thanks for the review.

It might be worth bookmarking the Garmin Blog as we put up to date news and product info on there very regularly.
 
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