Simplify your laptop buying
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 64 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
9 out of 9 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"pretty good device"
Pros: voice with street names, great screen, simple
Cons: too heavy for optional dash mount (required glue), traffic alert useless
Summary: Very nice machine.
I got it for my wife who learned to drive very late in life and is scared to drive places because she is afraid of getting lost. Recalculates trip on the fly and has really good directions.
Basically about the same as having someone sit beside you and reading a mapquest map while you are driving and telling you when to turn at the right time. That and you get a nice map the entire time.
This is a very refined device. Knows when the car is turned off (lighter power) and will auto shut-off unless directed otherwise.
The mounting needs to be re-thought out. No directions in the optional dash mount (I live in California and windshield mounts are illegal) kit. Even still, the device is too heavy for the dash mount sticky system. I had to use both sticky mounts (it comes with a permanent and a non-permanent sticky in the box, no directs to say which is which) and some contact cement to get the device to keep from falling over.
Still pretty nice. I got it at GPSNow. No plug for them, they just sold it to me at a good price and sent it promptly via overnight delivery.Updated
I figured out which sticky was the temporary one. After about 30 minutes in the heat, the temporary sticky turned to puddy.
I fixd the mount to the dash using the permanent sticky and crazy glue. It seems to be OK. Now however, the machine wiggles a great deal in the mount. The mount has a locking mechanism, however it still wiggles.
The whole thing reminds me of what my music teacher told me when he saw my $2500 guitar leaning up against the wall: Why pay the big bucks for the guitar and be too cheap to buy yourself a good guitar stand?
Same thing applies to the c550. A great device that is ruined by an incredibly poor dash mount design.
My opinion of the device is getting lower. Maybe a 7 bordering on a 6. A 9 or 10 for the GPS, and a 1 or 2 for the dash mount.Updated
Garmin claims that this service is free for 15 months. However, the website does not allow this option. So I had to pay for the traffic service even though Garmin claims it is free. Again, a great device made very bad by a company that seems to want to stick it to its customers (bad dash mount, misleading information about traffic service etc).Updated
After 5 weeks my C550 could not pick up any sats.
Trying to contact Garmin is the worse experience I have ever had. I have been put on hold by the worst of companies (ATT, PGE etc.), but this one takes the cake. I am presently on hold and have been all day. Cool "on hold" music, but after about 3 hours of being on hold, the cool music gets uncool.
So there you have it. I can no longer recommend this product as the Garmin company has no concern for their customers. I wrote a support email and the responce said to expect 5 to 7 business days for a response. It is the most glaring example of poor customer relations.
Too bad. It was a nice machine when it worked.
- 2 replies to this review
-
Yep, I have a slightly older gps from Garmin and I emailed and called simply to get my map unlock code which I either never had or misplaced. No response from the email I sent (despite the claim that they would respond in 5-7 days). And I was on hold for quite a long time before giving up.
Of course I could purchase a new map system! But the one I have is fine...too bad I will be unable to change maps even though the map software I have is mine, I paid for it.
Wouldn't recommend Garmin simply because of NO customer service.
Would love to hear about gps companies that have decent customer service. -
I wonder if my machine is going the same route as yours. It started out getting satellite in a heart beat, but now after 2 weeks it seems it's getting longer and longer each time to get satellite. Sounds familiar?
Where to buy
Garmin StreetPilot c550:
$462.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Amazon.com Marketplace
|
$462.99 | See Site |
|
