Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
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The portable StreetPilot c530 comes ready-to-go right out of the box with preloaded maps and plenty of options.
Features
- A high-sensitivity GPS receiver maintains signals under heavy foliage and near city skyscrapers
- Features easy-to-read automotive-grade, sunlight-readable, anti-glare display
- Includes the Garmin Lock anti-theft feature
- Dimensions: 4.4 x 3.2 x 2.2 inches (WxHxD); battery life: up to 8 hours; supports FM TMC traffic alerting
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 2 x 4 x 3 inches
- Weight: 4 pounds
Great GPS for the money
After a lot of research I settled on the c530 for the price. I’m terrible with directions, and get lost a lot so this was beginning to be a necessary purchase. This GPS is great!
The screen is easy to see, and the auto-adjust mode is really helpful. This GPS has an amazingly long battery life – mine has been going strong for over 5 hours. I haven’t tried updating the maps, and since I bought a refurbished unit some maps were outdated, but in general I haven’t had any trouble with it.
I honestly can’t say anything negative about the c530. For what I paid I’ve been extremely pleased.
Garmin Street Pilot c530 review
This unit works great, it is easy for my wife to use and large enough for her to see the display in all light conditions. Great price and warrenty on the unit. I
Garmin c530 awesome
I have owned the garmin c530 for about a year now, and i have to say its quite nice and performs well. I use it nearly everyday as i drive for a living, it never gets me lost no matter how many wrong turns i make. It has a vast amount of points of interest stores in it allready with the ability to add more. It has an excellent battery life, and is also quite durable. i wil say though on the other hand its is bad when i tcomes to picking the best route. I can be on the interstate and it may want to send me down a small highway that would take 20 minutes longer than just staying on the freeway. also drive times are quite accurate also. people complain that they are “optimistic” which its supposed to be as the gps beleive or not doesnt know how many redlights u will hit. also u can program red light cameras into it so it will alert when ur comeing up on one.
GPS
well just can tell that i got what i have been expected for considerable money,Sergey
Great value for “just” a GPS
This is a very good value if you want just a mapping GPS. IT has none of the latest add-ons (I call them distractions!) but the GPS engine is the latest with WAS and the display is excellent. What more do you want from a GPS? I was a little concerned about all the reliability problems in reviews but so far this one is just fine. Excellent SAT acquisition – even in the house. I bought the lifetime North American map update card on Amazon for less than $100. It’s $120 on Garmin’s site and you really have to look for it to find it. Also a great value. The maps that came in the unit were out of date (they always will be out of date!!! See below. The subscription gets you map updates 4 times a year for as long as you own the unit. It gets Garmin’s MapInstall and MapSource software running with full maps on your PC. Excellent for planning trips and other things. Google Earth in integrated. Wow! You then have all of the maps and POIs on your PC. Also you can transfer new POIs and waypoints (favorites) back and forth. Unit has great screen, battery life and windshield mount. It’s not “shirt pocket” thin like the newer ones but it’s still pretty compact. For the price, I am not worried about leaving it in the car on the floor out of sight. It has 1G of memory which is mostly filled up when you get the No. American maps installed. It has an SD Card slot that takes high density (I tried a 4G) SD cards so it should be able to hold all the stuff you want to store in it. Garmin is the leader and is not taking any prisoners in their markets.
None of the Garmin or other mfg’s GPS Navigation units are not infallible so don’t expect them to just choose the route YOU would take every time without your help. The map data will always have minor problems so don’t expect it to be perfect and 100% up to date. It will NEVER be up to date. YOU are responsible for driving the car and IT is an aid but if you turn over ALL of your navigation decisions to it, YOU WILL NOT BE HAPPY. That’s what you bought and that is the state of the art for now. Work WITH it and it will be a faithful and valuable servant.
Try this: When you know you are going to use it, the night before your trip, pop a beer, take the GPS inside and get comfortable in your easy chair, fire it up and program your trip (before you are pulling out of the driveway as you try to remember if you packed your cell phone charger!). Review the route by stepping through it (touch top bar on display to advance). IF you don’t like the route, check to see that you have the map preferences set right. IF that’s OK, hit Menu and then “Detour”. The unit will pick a different route. If you don’t like that one, do it until you get the one you want. You can also force it to go by one additional waypoint so you can steer it that way. When you have what you want, turn it off. When you pull out of the driveway the next morning, turn it on and it will be ready to go – the way you two decide was best the night before.
GPS review
Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Purchased on 12/11/2008) by Garmin
I purchased this item as a gift for my son and his family. He used the product briefly one time. On his second attempt to use it, it would not power up. He charged it and tried again. When he went to register it online, he was informed this product was already registered. By whom one might ask? Even if the item was refurbished, Garmin should have wiped the registration clean prior to reselling it. I took the item home with me and after some research at various online feedback sites (not Garmin), I was able to find a recommended proceedure to get the GPS functional again. Again the Garmin website was of no use. Also the GPS is not up to date on structures in my area that have been in place for several years, and the Garmin website has no available updates to improve on the preloaded data in the unit.
I personally was somewhat humiliated by the lack of quality in the reburbishing of this unit. I would be hesitant to recommend another Garmin refurbished product based on this experience.
Sincerely,
Lee Sylvester
Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Excellent condition and new in the box. Arrived a few days later with no problems. Would recommend a refurbished unit to anyone that wants to save money. This was the third time I have purchased this unit (For myself, for a friend, and now for my father) and there has been no issues with any of them.
Not Impressed
I borrowed one of these from a friend for a trip to Myrtle Beach, and thankfully, I printed out directions as well because this thing tried to take us way off course on the way there, and lost us for a good 100 miles around the Charlotte turnpike in NC. The only saving grace about having it was knowing (or hoping?) that if we did get terribly lost, we could eventually get back on track with this thing. On the way home, we missed a turn via the printed directions due to confusion over the difference between what the gps said and what the printed directions said. So we went with the gps and it took us a good hour out of our way.
Unfortunately I had the same problems with a rented version on another trip down there that I was “assured” was updated. If it was, then Garmin needs some updating themselves. I wouldn’t recommend this for purchase, and when I start shopping for a gps soon, I won’t be looking at Garmin products period.
Garbage
Worked for about two weeks. Got a message saying “No maps found, can not work without them.” That’s it. I have been trying to solve this problem for a few hours now, and this seems to be a fairly common problem, with no solutions so far. You would be a fool to buy this, or any other Garmin product.
Works great with some caveats
This was a refurbished unit which made for a nice cost savings. I had assumed that it would have the current maps installed, which was not the case. My area (Phoenix) has had a fair amount of growth in recent years and I’ve found numerous instances where businesses and addresses that were put in two years ago are not in the database. It’s a little frustrating to be faced with having to buy an expensive update for what should be a new/current system.
Operation wise the unit works fairly well. Going through a complex freeway/overpass the system will may give an accurate instruction for an exit to take but too late to actually take it. It’s not readily easy to put in and label a current waypoint – one has to provide a street address which may not be readily available.
All in all it’s a decent system that would be improved by having a switchable ETA/miles to destination option, and an altitude readout.
For a basic GPS its perfect
If your looking for a basic GPS unit without a lot of bells and whistles this is perfect. Two other family members have bought this one and love it.
Does exactly what it needs to do!
I have mine for about a year now and it takes me whereever I need to be. I have added a SD memory card and loaded the maps of Europe and South Africa as well – everything works beautiful. Whenever I travel, I just preprogram my destination addresses into the GPS – when I pickup my rental car, I plug it in and it takes me straight to where I need to be – very nice after a long flight when you’re tired, in a foreign place and just want to head straight to the hotel to crash. This has worked every time from Honolulu to Amsterdam to Johannesburg.
There may be flashier models with more bells & whistles available, but the c530 is all that I need.
This thing is the best
If you need to go all over in your city to places that you have never been to before this thing is the best ever. I have been using for about 4 months to find addresses of homes for my job. I would have to say it payed for its self just in gas savings in 2 months. you figure if you waste 30 mins a day driving around lost at 15 mpg that could be 2 gal. of gas at 4.00 a gal that could be up to $160.00 a month in wasted gas. plus it is very easy to use. like any computer you put in bad info you get out bad info.
OK purchase
Initially had trouble, but was timely replaced by the seller, and since then have been using it very comfortably.
NEVER GET LOST
I’ve had the Garmin Street Pilot 530 for well over a year now and love it more each time I use it. I took it to Hawaii and used it there and never got misdirected once. The only thing I noted was when I had it look for the Polynesian Cultural Center it couldn’t find it BUT it did find the Pauli Nezian Cultural Center. We got a good laugh on that one. I would reccomend this model to anyone who is looking for a modestly priced, quality product.
I do have one complaint, however. Recently, the auto power cord fell apart and I had to buy an aftermarket replacement unit from Radio Shack. The part that goes into the power outlet in the car, fell apart and we lost the center pin that makes contact with the power outlet. Other than that, no problems.
StreetPilot is great out of the box
This is the second (or third if you count my Husband’s) Garmin I’ve bought, all three were through Amazon. I bought this one to replace my old one that had recently died. I have yet to look at the manual that came with it. Everything is very user-friendly and pretty intuitive. Straight out of the box it was working great. The touch screen is a great improvement (my old one had a scroll wheel and made searching for addresses very difficult). The maps are a little out of date, but I live in a fast developing area, so there is a decent reason. Overall, I would recomend this to a first time or occasional user. I’m not sure if a real technophile or someone who depends on their GPS daily would be as happy, but it’s fine for me.
love my new Toy!!!
This is wonderful – “Gizmo” got confused in Atlanta – but so do I. Love it!!!
LOVE IT!!!
I have never owned a GPS before and when I received it I was apprehensive about assembly. There was almost no assembly required other than plugging it into the cigarette lighter and attaching the windshield suction cup. I never had to read the instructions for how to operate it for the touch screen gave all the instructions once the power was turned on. I am never lost in any part of the city and feel more adventurous in finding new locations to visit. It is so small and light that I also travel with it. There is a protective case to prevent damage as well.
Street Pilot
This GPS works great! I’m having a lot of fun getting my directions in German, one of many languages available. I have had some minor problems with the suction cup that attaches the device to the wind shield, but otherwise, I am very satisfied.
Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
I have been a fan of the Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator since both my and my father and mother in-law bought them when they 1st came to the market. I was disapointed that the one I bought in July 2008 had not been updated with the new roads etc. I know you can do this on line for an additional fee and this was refurbished, but I expected the updated maps.