Strengths:Very user friendly, Display readable in bright daylight, multiple advance voice warnings of next turn and speaking of actual street name.
Weaknesses:Haven't found anything significant although I did find an error in MSN gas data.
Posted Sep 14, 2007 - Several weeks ago I drove with a friend who had a Garmin 550 and I just had to have one! I found a good price on the internet and ordered one. The day after it arrived, I had a meeting at a hotel in Buckhead (Atlanta, GA) It was invaluable in getting me through the rush hour traffic. When about three blocks from my destination on Lenox Rd, I was on a six lane road and when about two blocks from the hotel, I found myself in a 'left turn only' lane! No problem, the 550 said "Recalculating" and by voice had me make two right turns and a LEFT turn to get back on track. The LEFT turn was unexpected because my instincts told me that I had gone beyond the hotel and I would have normally turned right!
When I left the hotel, I had planned on returning to the freeway to get to my next destination. Instead I decided to let the 550 tell me how to go, and although I have lived in Atlanta for many years, I discovered excellent streets I had never driven on before and the short cuts greatly reduced my travel time!
The next week I was visited by a friend who got lost trying to find my house. After giving him directions via cell phone, he finally arrived, and I told him that he wouldn't have had a problem if he had had a GPS unit like my 550. Of course, after I demonstrated it to him, he fell in love with it and I ended up giving him my unit and ordering another for myself.
This time, after reviewing the differences between the 550 and 580 models I decided to pay the difference for the 580 model. The only difference is access to some data on the MSN site. The annual membership for the MSN data is about $50/year and the 580 includes one year free subscription. I found a price for the 580 which was less than $50 more than I had paid for the 550 so went for it.
The MSN option (which works ONLY in areas where MSN collects data) provides four functions: 1) A listing of gasoline prices, ranked according to distance from your current location. Numbers in red are higher than the average and green, below. Touching the item on the screen will direct you to the selected station. I am not sure how MSN gets its data but I assume it depends upon people supplying the data. Two days ago, I needed gas, and was surprised to find a station listed less than a mile from my location that had a price about twenty cents below the lowest price listed at any station. I was not really to surprised to find that no station existed at that location! Since I was headed home at the time, I easily located a station on my way that was just a few cents above the lowest price.
2) A listing of movies is available. You can select titles or theater. If you select title and scroll down to the title you want to see--touching the title will present a list of theaters ranked according to distance from your current location. Touching the theater will give you the address, phone number and starting times for the movie.
3) This provides the current weather and can give the forecast for the next three days.
4) This provides traffic advisories. I really haven't experienced this yet. Details shows a map showing unfavorable conditions and I understand that this can affect the routing.
In conclusion, I love the unit. I have always felt it somewhat nerveracking, driving in unfamiliar territory looking for street names and addresses. It is very comforting to know that I will have plenty of advance warning of upcoming turns.
Atlanta has a number of transition roads between freeways and some surface streets. The call these "Connectors" and abbreviate them with "Conn.". As I approached the turnoff for the "Glenridge Conn.", it was a shock the first time I heard a voice say, "Turn right on Glenridge Connecticut!".
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The must have GPS!
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Garmin C580
