» Garmin StreetPilot c550 Car Navigation GPS Review

Garmin has been designing GPS equipment since 1990 - which is a considerable timeframe for the relatively new GPS consumer market. Still seeking to expand their product line, Garmin is planning to move into marine GPS systems with their recent purchase of Nautamatic Marine Systems Inc. Garmin’s products are well worth considering if you’re looking for the best car gps system for your money.

Although priced higher than the popular c300 series, the Garmin c500 series has added value with Garmin including numerous premium equipment and functionality improvements such as; SiRf GPS receivers, brighter displays and an integrated traffic receiver. All the c500 series come with maps preloaded in the some 700Mb of internal storage, so that they are conveniently ready for use right out to the box.

SiRF Star III GPS Receiver Chipset

The c550 Garmin StreetPilot’s GPS functionality is provided by a SiRF Star III chipset. The SiRF Star III family has proved a watershed innovation GPS chip architecture by offering impressive performance improvements to the GPS receiver manufacturing industry. They have also been adopted by other major GPS manufacturers including TomTom and Magellan. The SiRF Star III offers faster fix times, higher signal locking, higher tracking sensitivity and lower power requirements.

The SiRF Star III chipset is a WAAS enabled (which improves accuracy) GPS receiver. In 2003 Garmin was actually first with a WAAS/GPS navigation certified integrated avionics unit. The SiRF has position accuracy down to 2.0m, velocity accuracy of less than 0.01 m/s and hot and warm autonomous times to first fix (TTFF) of less than 1s and less than 35s respectively. The c550 has an internal GPS antenna however, it also has an MCX-type connector for hooking up an optional external GPS antenna.

Some good news for GPS consumers is that there is plenty of competition pushing for lower cost and higher performance GPS chips. Texas Instruments have just released the smallest GPS single chip, the NaviLink 5.0, which has a footprint of only 25mm2 and is expected to make GPS available in even more mobile phones. Texas Instruments news release states that the chip will provide performance similar to SiRf with fast “time to first fix” (TTFF) in weak signal conditions typical in metropolitan areas and deep indoor environments.

Transreflective TFT Touchscreen Display

The c550 has a 3.5” transflective TFT touchscreen display with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. It displays 64K colors and has an LED backlight. Transflective LCDs are used for displays to be used in direct sunlight - as a GPS automotive displays are at times. In low light (indoors) transflective displays use backlighting. In bright light (sunlight) they absorb the sun’s rays and utilize them to boost backlighting making the display legible and reducing power consumption. Only the area of the display exposed to sunlight increases its light output making the difference in brightness between the shaded and lit areas far less than would be the case for a transmissive display. Transflective screens are a more expensive option for manufacturers and they also lack some of the sharpness and resolution of transmissive displays can produce but, if you can see the display it’s a moot point.

2D and 3D perspective views are available for viewing maps. The touchscreen is used exclusively for GPS operation with an on/off switch and rotary volume control knob being the only other controls. Now that Apple’s boss, Steve Jobs, recently announced the iPhone with its “finger touch” operated touchscreen. Expect to see more rapid adoption of this very flexible technology in other consumer electronics products. The c550 can be color customized with separately purchased color faceplates. For clear voice prompts the StreetPilot c550 has dual integrated speakers.

If you want to plan your route while out of the car, the c550 has an internal lithium-ion battery with a very respectable 8 hour life. A 12-volt power adapter is included for in-car recharging.

Users can search for addresses and points of interest (POI) and can also upload their own POIs. A useful selectable feature is a proximity alert which notifies the driver of upcoming custom POIs. Up to 500 waypoints with name and graphic symbol can be entered. Software features include a trip computer, resettable odometer, timers, average and maximum speed outputs.

c550’s MP3 Player

Garmin have included music player functionality into the c550 with a built-in MP3 player. It has some useful menus with users able to see album art and able to browse music by the artist, album, song or genre. Music is loaded on the SD card and can be dragged-and-dropped. For better sound it’s possible to wire the Garmin StreetPilot into your car sound system using an audio output jack.

Bluetooth Wireless Technology

Bluetooth wireless technology enabled cellular phones can be combined with the StreetPilot c550 for safer hands-free mobile phone operation. Incoming phone calls are displayed on the c550 and a tap of the display accepts the call. There are both internal and external microphones (included). As with other systems, any other audio is automatically muted during phone calls. A handy convenience is being able to access phone numbers associated with the POI making it simple to call ahead.

Operation and GPS Maps

Getting started with the c550 is easy as it comes preprogrammed with highly detailed City Navigator® NT street data of the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The detailed maps contain information on highways, interstates, business and residential roads with attributes such as turn restrictions, speed categories and other navigation features There is an SD expansion slot for adding other maps. The map database features some six million points of interest including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, attractions, entertainment, shopping, emergency services, post offices, camp grounds, movie theaters and ATMs.

One way to navigate is to select a POI by touching its icon on the display screen. To make life even simpler Garmin has provide their free POI Loader software (which can be downloaded from their website) for you to import customized POI. It provides the ability to upload POIs created by others from your PC to your Garmin unit.

Having selected a destination from the touch screen interface, one is directed by Garmin’s text-to-speech functionality which tells users the name of the street, when to turn, and in what direction. Missing a turn is not a major problem as the c550 automatically calculates a new route to the selected destination.

The Garmin StreetPilot c550 comes with Garmin Lock which is an anti -theft feature that disables the unit from performing any functions until enter a specific 4-digit PIN or take the unit to a predetermined location.

Integrated Traffic Receiver

An FM TMC traffic receiver (GTM20 North America or GTM21 Europe) is included with the c550. Users see congested areas color coded on the map displayed. Avoiding a traffic delay is as simple as pushing a button to calculate a new route around problem spots.

The traffic receiver is a small, FM-band traffic receiver which is connected to the car radio/antenna system to provide real-time Traffic Message Channel (TMC) data. TMC data provides swift, accurate notification of situations impacting traffic such as accidents, road construction, police and emergency services. Digital traffic data is available from specific FM broadcast stations in a fast growing number of major metro areas throughout the United States and Europe. Traffic alert service subscription costs vary with different locations.

Optional Software

Optional software is available on SD cards allowing extra features to be added to the c550 without reqiring connection to a computer. Software applications include:

• Travel Guide — includes reviews and recommendations for restaurants, hotels, shopping, nightlife, sporting events and tourist attractions. A Travel Guide for Europe is available and one for the United States is coming soon.
• Savers Guide - a “geo-coded” coupon book that notifies you of nearby discounts on restaurants, hotels, shopping, and more at thousands of participating entertainment businesses throughout North America.

Video - Backpacker Magazine GearCast

Comparison of Garmin StreetPilot c550 v

Other models in the Garmin StreetPilot c500 series include the StreetPilot c510, c530 and c580. As mentioned, all the c500 series have higher brightness displays, a high sensitivity SiRF GPS chipset, configurable vehicle icons and Garmin lock.

In comparison to the c550, the Garmin StreetPilot c580:

• has an MSN Direct receiver providing traffic conditions, weather forecasts, gas prices and movie times.

In comparison to the c550, the Garmin StreetPilot c530:

• has a SD card rather than internal memory,
• does not have an MP3 player,
• can have a traffic receiver as an option,
• does not have text-to-speech capability.

In comparison to the c550, the Garmin StreetPilot c510:

• can have a traffic receiver as an option
• does not have text-to-speech capability
• does not have Bluetooth connectivity

Garmin StreetPilot c550 Package Includes

• StreetPilot c550
• Preloaded City Navigator® NT North America or Europe (full coverage)
• GTM20 integrated FM TMC traffic receiver with free 3- month trial subscription (U.S.); GTM21 integrated traffic receiver with free lifetime subscription (Europe)
• SD memory card slot
• Dual internal speaker system
• Suction cup mount
• Dashboard disk
• USB interface cable
• Quick-reference guide

Further Reading

Our review of Pioneer’s AVIC-S1 Portable GPS Navigation System

Lorrance iWay’s 350c GPS Automotive Navigator Review.

Tom Tom’s GO 510 GPS Car Navigation Unit Review.

GPS For Dummies

Outdoor Navigation with GPS

Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 with GPS Locator [DVD]

Price Comparisons and Customer Reviews

Visit Amazon for a competitive price and to read the user reviews for the Garmin Streetpilot c550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

Buy.com stock the GARMIN StreetPilot c550 Portable Navigator also.

As do TheNerds.net GPS, STREETPILOT C550 NORTH AMERICA

Newegg.com also have prices and customer reviews for the GARMIN StreetPilot c550 3.5″ Automotive GPS Receiver

Resources

StreetPilot c340 Owner’s Manual

Garmin’s product FAQ page.

Garmin Comparison Tool

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Garmin StreetPilot c550 Specifications