Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
The Garmin StreetPilot c530 is a good, solid GPS receiver at an excellent price! It’s loaded with features, too. Especially when you compare it to similarly priced models. The features I like are…
What I Like About The Garmin StreetPilot c530
- High-sensitivity receiver works under foliage or downtown around tall skyscrapers
- Easy to read touchscreen
- Built-in antenna
- Automatically calculates routes with turn-by-turn instructions
- Traffic alerts (with optional FM receiver and subscription to traffic alerts)
- Huge Points of Interest database
- Battery life up to 8 hours (according to Garmin)
- Weighs about half a pound
- small enough to carry in your pocket
- Preloaded with maps of North America
- Optional travel guides for North America and Europe
What Other People Are Saying About The Garmin StreetPilot c530
- Does not actually say the name of the street you’re to turn on
- Some reviewers thought the Points of Interest database lacked crucial points, like large movie theaters — Others thought the database was excellent — Probably depends on your location
- Finds satellite signal rapidly — also keeps it without getting disconnected
- Excellent customer service
- The c530 is being discontinued this year at Garmin — hence the low price at Amazon!
Summary
Although it’s being discontinued this year by Garmin, the c530 is a great basic GPS device at a phenomenal price. Check below to see what the current price is at Amazon. There’s no Bluetooth for hand-free calling, no FM transmitter so you can hear it through your car’s stereo, and it does not actually announce the street names for you, but if you’re interested in a basic GPS that can get you from point A to point B quickly and easily (and also show you where the Starbucks are in between), then the c530 will probably be a great option for you. My only worry is this is a discontinued product. I don’t know how long Garmin is planning on supporting it, or what they would do if your unit quit working and they didn’t have any replacement units. On the upside, GPS devices are like computers in that they’re changing so rapidly, it’s rare to keep one for more than a couple of three years.
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