Strengths:Ease of use, display, size, easy (no) set-up, sensitivity of the GPS. The C330 is pre-loaded with US maps. The display is excellent, easy to read, and the touch screen interface is very simple.
Weaknesses:Very few. In very bright sun, the screen fades a bit. Garmin does NOT provide a CD for the map on this unit--so maps cannot be loaded onto a PC. The manual that comes with the unit is minimal.
Posted Dec 24, 2005 - I bought this without doing my usual research about 3 weeks ago, and am very happy with it. This is an excellent GPS for getting from point A to point B easily.
I have a sophisticated GPS on my boat, where I can enter multiple way-points either graphically or by latitude/longitude co-ordinates. It is complicated to use, but serves the needs of nautical navigation very well.
The C330 is NOT that kind of unit, nor should it be. The C330 very simply lets you enter (or store) an address, and then tells you how to get there! You can't enter multiple points in a single trip, but its user interface is totally intuitive--and the touch screen is easy to use--especially in a car.
I am also totally impressed with the sensitivity of the GPS. I can usually "play" with the unit inside my house--far from any windows, and it locks onto the satellite signal within a minute. In the car, where it has a view of the sky, it locks on in seconds--and always shows 4 or 5 bars of signal strength.
The layout of the maps make following a route extremely easy. I typically use the two-dimensional view--and find it easy to follow while driving. The supplemental information (estimated time to destination, next turn, etc) are conveniently available on the main screen, or one touch away.
Entering destinations is easy, but does take three steps. First, the unit asks for a city, then a house number, finally a street name. All entry is done on the touch screen, with a key-board or number pad displayed as appropriate. During the entry of the city or street, as soon as enough letters are entered for the unit to recognize choices, a screen of possible alternatives is displayed for selection. It is much easier to do than to explain!
The internal data base of gas stations, places to eat, services, etc. is pretty good--but as has been noted in other reviews, isn't perfect. Unless you tell it to look elsewhere, it searches for places near your current location. One side benefit of the data base--it's a great phone book. If you want to call ahead to a restaurant to see if there is a wait, the phone number pops up with the name and address.
I've found the display very easy to read in all but the brightest of sun. The unit automatically changes it's color scheme for day and night (or you can manually control it)-- and I've found it's format and colors to be very good. While maps can be manually zoomed in or out, the software uses some sort of algorithm based on your speed, and it is very good. The display nearly always seems to show the right amount of detail at the right zoom. So if you're driving 30 on a city street, the map is zoomed in pretty tightly and always displays the name of the next intersection you'll come to. If you're going 60 (or more) on a freeway, the map is zoomed out, and cross streets are less frequently displayed. Someone put a lot of time into engineering this interface, and they did a good job.
The voice directions on the C330 don't include the name of the street (as it does on the more expensive models). So the voice prompt is typically "Turn left in .7 miles", instead of "Turn left on Main Street". I suspect this is a matter of personal preference, and for me, it's fine. (if you look at the screen, it does show the name of the road for the next turn--of course this means taking your eyes off the road).
The routing is generally good, but the unit does not give you a way to designate your preferences--such as avoiding freeways. It has a "detour" mode, but as far as I can tell, that just blocks the current leg of the trip, causing the unit to recalculate a route. Near my home, the unit gets confused on one turn, but looking at Mapquest, I see that one of the streets is shown as divided, where in reality it is not. The C330 thinks it cannot use a left turn when it can. Interstingly, the data is correct on Yahoo mapping. I'm not sure where Garmin gets its map data, but it must be the same source as Mapquest. And the Garmin web site gives a form to report map errors!
Earlier packages of the C330 included an AC adapter. The unit no longer ships with that, so if you want to use it inside, you need to rely on it's internal battery (they say it will run 4 hours, I haven't tried it that long), or hook it up to a USB port on a computer, which keeps the battery charged. (Or buy an optional AC adapter).
The suction cup mount that comes with the unit works very well. I originally had some difficulties with it staying mounted, but I have a foil radio antenna on the inside of my windshield. Once I moved the cup off that, it has held like glue.
Bottom line: I am very pleased with the unit, and would highly recommend it.
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