Garmin StreetPilot C310, C320, C330 and C340 Review

Garmin StreetPilot C300 Series: C310, C320, C330 and C340 Review

The C300 series Garmin StreetPilot is a suitable choice if you’re are new to using GPS (yes, a newbie) or attracted to a simple to use automotive GPS system without too much detail. The C300 units have less gadgetry and less likelihood of inflicting techno frustration. If you have geek tendencies and love more detail and more functionalities, then The C300 series is probably going to be a bit light on for you.

Functionality

The first thing noticeable about the C300 series portable automotive GPS systems is that there are no buttons. All functions are available through the touch screen activated user interface.

There are only two choices on the top level of the interface software being; View Map and Where do you want to go?. The where to software button brings up an icon rich sub-menu for various services and points of interest (POI) which can be sorted by distance from your current location. The interface simplicity might try the patience of those more proficient or experienced users who wish to access detailed information quickly.

Additional customized points of interest (POI) such as school zones or safety cameras can be uploaded using Garmin’s free POI Loader software. You can even set a proximity alarm for custom POI’s or have a warning when vehicle speed exceeds the designated limit.

Different C300 Series Models

The differences between the C310, C320, C330 and C340 are minimal. The C310 has European regional map coverage preloaded. Whereas, the C330 comes fully loaded with all US maps. The C320 coms loaded with City Navigator NT DVD and a blank 128MB SD card on top of the base C310’s specification. The C340 will speak street names (TTS or Text-To-Speech) and has the option for FM TMC traffic alerts using an optional GTM 10 antenna.

The GTM 20 is an integrated FM TMC (Traffic Message Channel) traffic receiver for TMC traffic broadcasts which are continuous in most serviced areas. TMC traffic data is available in a fast growing number of cities throughout Europe and North America. It warns of numerous delaying traffic conditions including accidents, road construction or traffic jams. The Garmin C300 unit can alert you of problems and propose an alternate route.

The C300 series features a reasonable size 3.5 inch (diagonal), 320×240 pixels touch screen and a map loaded hard drive. Unfortunately a commonly mentioned detraction is the highly reflective screen being difficult to view in bright sunlight. One can only hope that full color e-ink displays which are readable even in full sunlight will become available in smaller mobile consumer products very soon.

With GPS navigation accuracy is always important and the C300 series are WAAS enabled improving accuracies of 15m for normal GPS down to something like 3 metres.

All C300 series models have an internal lithium-ion battery which as well as enabling the compact size, provides and 8 hour battery life.

Apart from the direct light viewing problems with the screen, another detraction for the Garmin C300 series might be the omitted multi-segment trip support â€“ they only support single-leg trips.

StreetPilot C300 Series Features:

Receiver: WAAS-enabled 12 parallel channel GPS
Touchscreen Display: 3.5 inch diagonal, 320 x 240 pixels; transflective TFT, 64K colors and LED backlight
2D and 3D map perspective views available
Search for addresses and points of interest (POI)
Upload custom POIs, including alerts for speed zones and safety cameras
SD memory card expansion slot
Waypoints: 500 with name and graphic symbol
Trip computer: Resettable odometer, timers, average and maximum speeds
Acquisition times: Warm: Approx 15 seconds; Cold: Approx 45 seconds
Update rate: 1/second, continuous
Unit dimensions: 4.4 W x 3.2 H x 2.8 D inches
Weight: 9.45 ounces
Battery life: up to 8 hours