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| Garmin Streetpilot c550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator | 
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| Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
List Price: $399.99
Buy New: $178.31
You Save: $221.68 (55%)
New (62) Refurbished (3)
Avg. Customer Rating:  273 reviews
Sales Rank: 108
Format: Cd
Color: Li-Io
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Native Resolution: 320 x 240
Display Size: 3.5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.5 x 6.5 x 6.5
Array:
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 010-00522-00
Model: 010-00522-00
UPC: 753759054489
EAN: 0753759054489
ASIN: B000EXU4YK
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 It was the best bang for the buck... January 3, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Please keep in mind that I am writing this review after using the unit for just over one week. I have researched and demoed several portable GPS units in preparation for an eventual purchase. This is the first unit I have purchased, though I have used others. For me it came down to this unit and one of the TomTom Go units. Ultimately I decided on the Garmin. This unit will do everything you expect it to, and even a little more.
The voice prompted turn by turn navigation works very well, and on screen display is very user friendly. The Garmin auto-update software and the USB connection make updating the unit fairly easy, but it can be a little slow depending on the traffic on their website at the time. It also includes the Garmin Lock security options. You can set a pin number to be entered each time the unit is turned on, or the unit is unusable. If you should happen to forget your security pin, you can set an unlock location that you can drive to, and the unit will unlock. However, should you forget both of these, you will have to send the unit to Garmin to have it unlocked.
The Bluetooth enabled speaker phone option is a great feature. Once setup, the C550 becomes an extension of your cellphone. You can make and receive calls by simply tapping the screen, and when you receive a phone call, the number appears on your screen. If the incoming number is listed in your phonebook, it will tell you who is calling. This hands free feature is incredibly handy, and works very well. If you phone uses voice activated dialing, this device allows you to use that feature as well.
Again, I have only used it for a week but so far the unit has held up to everything I have put it through, even dropping it from the dashboard a few of times with no ill effects.
Pros:
Compact Size
Non Glare Screen
Web Update Interface (USB cable included)
Bluetooth Cell Phone Interface
Built in 6 hour battery
Downloadable car icons and voices
Garmin Lock Security Code (widow stickers included)
Cons:
Maps are slightly out of date
Sometimes slow web update
I highly recommend this unit to anyone thinking of investing in a GPS unit. I have only given it four stars because I haven't used it long enough to rate a five.
 Great Product January 2, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is the second Garmin Streetpilot I've owned. The c550 is a lot easier to use than my old Streetpilot 3. It picks up satellites quickly and it's very accurate. The traffic receiver is a nice addition and the ability to update the unit via Garmin's web updater is a nice new feature. The only two issues keeping it from being perfect is the street maps are not up to date for Las Vegas and if you have large hands the touch screen can be a challenge at times.
Garmin c550 is easy, reliable and awesome December 28, 2006
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I got the c550 for Christmas this year 06. It came with the 3.1 version and reading other posts upgraded it manually to 4.1 and did not use the webupdate.exe app. It acquires the satelite very fast and it is really easy to use. Looking places up is great, the database will mostly not have places or streets that have popped up in the last 1-2 years as it takes time to get incorporated into the software, but garmin has a poiloader app and people on the web who have POI updated catagories that you can load into a customm POI database and your all set to have an udated POI database till Garmin's new City Navigator Version 9 comes out. Overall I love this unit and the map and the screen is so easy to see and read and the dash mount is great.
THIS UNIT ROCKS!!! December 27, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I purchased the Garmin C550 for my girlfriend for Christmas! Neither of us had ever owned a GPS System. And I was a bit nervous in finding the best one, for the best price! Well let me say that right out of the box this unit was worth every penny! Instructions? Who needs the instructions....Just plug it in and GO! The Traffic receiver that comes built in with this unit was a life saver! To use this unit is totally free, but if you want to use the traffic alerter you need to sign up for a subscription for $60 dollars a year! We used it with our 3 months Free Trial Period, and it worked like you would not believe! On approaching a split on the Highway we were travelling the traffic alerter warned us of a 5 mile back up on the Truck Route Side Of The Highway Instructing us to take The Car Only Lanes! And sure enough in about 1/2 mile the other side of the highway was dead stopped, while we cruised right through!!! AMAZING!!!
With the voice interaction and the Points Of Interests Built In...
I don't know how we ever lived without it!
I purchased this unit online for about $540...
Hundreds of dollars less than at many BIG retail stores...so do your homework!
At $500 and change this unit is worth every penny in my opinion!!!
Bought this for my bro-in-law, should have bought it for myself. December 19, 2006
250 out of 254 found this review helpful
This is the third Garmin GPS I've purchased, the first being a C320 for my mother and the second being a 2820 for myself. I've reviewed both of them here and I suggest you check those two reviews out first so that this one falls into better context.
Having purchased three Garmins I can say with no small amount of certainty that the c550 is the one I should have purchased for everyone. (As I write this I'm seriously considering selling my 2820 and buying the c550 for myself.) It is as close to a perfect GPS as Garmin makes. It really seems as if someone at Garmin took the best features of both the low-end and high-end units and put them together into this one unit.
As with other Garmin GPS's that I've used, the interface is very intuitive and easy to navigate. The LCD screen is touch-sensitive and all of the controls are laid out in a logical pattern with simple icons and bright (but not overwhelming) colors. It does everything you'd expect a GPS to do; it will create a route by speed ("fastest route") or distance ("shortest route"), allow you to save your favorite locations, etc. One of my favorite GPS features is the ability to make detours on-the-fly, and the Garmin makes this easy. Stuck in highway traffic? Touch DETOUR and it will plot a new course off the highway. I can't tell you how many times this has saved hours of potential sitting-in-traffic time. (The c550 is even better as it has the FM traffic receiver. If you drive through a supported area, the GPS will *AUTOMATICALLY* reroute you around traffic, construction detours, etc.)
The unit is slightly larger and bulkier than the smaller 300 series units owing largely to its additinal features. Improving on the low-end Garmin units, the c550's screen doesn't suffer the wash-out problem that exists in the 300 series. The screen remains bright and clear even in direct sunlight. The screen itself is the same size and resolution as the 300 series but a subtle change in the bezel makes it look a bit larger. Like the 300 series, the c550 has a built-in battery that's good for about 6-8 hours under normal use (letting you use it outside of the car, particularly useful in case you ever get stranded in the middle of nowhere), simple external controls (power button, volume wheel, USB port), and an SD memory card slot. Like the 2820, the c550 has hands-free Bluetooth, will speak street names and exit numbers, and has the same anti-glare monitor.
There's only one feature that the 2820 has which neither the 300 nor 500 series have which I've found particularly useful. On the 2820's display, there is an arrow in the upper-right corner that shows you what your next turn will be and, below that, how far ahead the turn is. The angle of the arrow tells you how sharp the turn will be; an exit off a highway will be at a slight angle while a turn onto a suburban side street will be at a more severe angle. While this may seem trivial it becomes EXTREMELY handy on the highway, as the arrow shows you which side of the road the exit will be on. (So if the exit's on the left, the arrow leans to the left. If to the right, then then arrow is to the right.) Both the 300 and 500 series will show you how far it is until the turn, neither of them tell you if it's on the left or right until you're about a half mile away. Personally I like having this information well in advance and the c550 doesn't provide this.
The c550 also has features that exceed both units. For example, the c320 offers a mono speaker, no mic, no Bluetooth, and no traffic receiver, while the 2820 requires an external speaker and mic, and the built-in traffic receiver requires an external antenna at extra cost. The c550 has built-in stereo speakers, a built-in microphone, and a built-in FM traffic receiver with a built-in antenna. And while both the c550 and 2820 offer MP3 playback, the 2820 lacks an SD memory card slot so you have to connect the unit to your computer if you ever want to upload new MP3 files.
The c550 uses the same WebUpdater application that Garmin supplies (free), to keep your GPS up-to-date with software updates and such. This is a no-brainer application; plug the GPS into your internet-connected Windows PC and run the app. It will poll your GPS to determine its model and software status, then compare that to Garmin's latest and greatest. It'll then download and install whatever updates it finds.
I'm giving the c550 four stars instead of five, but I would really like to give it three and a half -- but Amazon doesn't let me do halves so I'm rounding up to four. Things I DON'T like about the c550: First and foremost, Garmin's support flat-out sucks. They NEVER reply to emails, pre- or post-sale, and their telephone representatives are significantly less than helpful. For this alone I take off a full star.
If I could remove another half star from my rating, it would be for three minor shortcomings. The first is the "arrow display" as I explained above. With the addition of that one 'minor' feature I would drop my 2820 in a heartbeat and buy the c550 right now. Second, Garmin doesn't include the map CD with the unit. Although the c550 is preloaded, so is the 2820 -- but the map CD came with the 2820, so why not include it with the c550 too? And third, updating the Garmin takes a REALLY long time. The unit itself seems to operate on a USB 1 interface so you don't get USB 2 speeds, and the Garmin update site (which the WebUpdate application accesses) is often very busy. It took over two hours to update my brother-in-law's c550. Fortunately this isn't something you have to do very often but even so, a simple USB 2 interface would have sped things up immensely.
I would definitely recommend this unit to anyone.
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