Garmin c330 review

[arcteryx]

We just took a trip from Austin to Disney World in Orlando. Had a great time. My mother loaned me her Garmin C330 GPS for this trip. Here is my review on it:

Good-
1) When you are driving down the road, and need to find someplace, it does a great job telling you what is around you. Foe instance, more than a couple of time we wanted some food. In this case we want Chic-Fil-A. Typed in Chic-Fil and it returned the location we wanted. Then, hit go and away we detoured to CFA. Once we arrived at CFA, it knew we wanted to continue to our original destination.
2) Great trip data
3) Nice map presentation and zoom in/out were easy

Bad-
In Houston, we came upon a sign that said I-10 was closed in 200 miles. No big deal I thought, just an accident and should be cleared in 3 hours when we get there. Well, we arrive and sure enough, it's closed- (later we found out a natural gas tank exploded- still closed on the way back too). Ok, no big deal. I have the GPS, I can just take the back roads. I was not going to go the detour they had specified, which was way out of the way.

The GPS has a setting on it where you can change routing info, such as Fastest Route, No U-Turns, No Toll Roads, and No Highways. I drive down the road, using my general sense of direction, affirmed by the GPS compass showing E. Every time I would follow the directions, it would take me to I-10. I double checked that No-Highways were selected. Yep, sure enough it was. Hmm, no good. Recalculate damn-it! I turned it off, unplugged it, no luck. By now, I am starting to get a little upset. Have you ever driven in the backwoods of Louisiana at midnight? There is NOTHING out there. So, I continued onwards, going by the compass and my intuition. After an hour+ of this, I give up. I follow the GPS' directions and take the original detour. Total time/diesel wasted- 2 hours and 120 miles :(

Conclusion- I always thought Garmin to be THE best GPS, along with Lowrance, since I see them on marine craft. I seriously doubt I will buy a Garmin now because of this episode. It does do some great things, but, for me, being able to navigate on demand is crucial for me. I will keep looking.

[mobi-arc]

GPS devices are like mapquest maps.....not always completely accurate.

[Brindleboxer]

Arcteryx,

I run a C330 and never really have any issue, like you decribed, but when I use the wifes' car and unit (C530) I would like to throw it out the window (for the same reason) at times. I have determined that some units either have inherent flaws or a hidden gremlin that like to S#%^w with you when it is least convenient.

I have run many different units but am partial to Garmin. I would say do not exile the whole lineup for one unit/instance.

Glen