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I received this unit yesterday and have played with it for a few hours. Prior to this unit I have archaic a Magellan Sportrack for Geocaching and for my car I have weak my Dell Axim pocket PC with Ostia mapping software which is bad, and more recently I have been using Microsoft Streets and Trips 2005 on my laptop. Streets and Trips is estimable however it does not have command prompts for turn-by-turn directions and viewing a laptop while you are trying to drive can be tough.
This Garmin I3 has great routing capability, very similar to MS Streets and Trips and has plenty of points of interests( POI) . The camouflage is runt but it is readable in both daylight and night. The suction mount holds very well on the windshield.
The advise prompts are loud and sure.
There is not distinguished detail shown on the cover because of it's size, such as some street names and no POI's. The blueprint will zoom in more as you are nearing your turn and the utter prompt's will shriek you you need to turn in .5 to .3 miles and 400 to 500 ft before the turn.
On the expose is also shown the distance to your next turn and an estimated arrival time to your destination. The unit will automatically re-route if you choose a execrable turn.
Satellite acquisition time is attractive posthaste, and the manual states that you should support batteries in it so that it will secure satellites faster. The unit also comes with a cigarette lighter adapter. I do not judge that the unit will recharge batteries though, and the battery level indicator is located on the "where to" camouflage only.
The only controls are a scroll wheel that doubles as a button and a relieve button and a power button. It is fairly simple to exhaust and easy to figure out.
The included 128mb transflash card is more than adequate for my needs, I fit all of NJ, NY and PA and calm had plenty of room.
You can store places in your favorites by adding them in your address hide, or you can store your novel state simply by pressing and holding the scroll wheel button in.
Some cons to this unit is that it does not prove the total distance of your trips, it impartial shows distance to the next turn.
If you want to add a close on your destination it only allows 1 via point, after you visit that point you have to add your next via point. As I mentioned before there isn't too remarkable detail on the mask but it does exhibit you where you need to go.
I would highly recommend this unit above a pocket pc navigation, at least with Ostia software anyway.
For the brand of this unit you really can't complain about the cons. This is a simple GPS unit that does what it is supposed to do, catch you from point A to point B.
********update 6/15/06***********
Nearly a year and I quiet care for this thing - navigation works broad. Now that I am an experienced user I want a fancier touch hide, the scroll wheel is a harm in the neck. I also want a unit that you can save in multi-routes, like if you want to go to garage sales you can keep in all the addresses and let the unit settle the best route. However, I will support this unit longer before I thrown down a few hundred more for an advanced model.
I tranquil haven't found the need to gain a larger memory card, I've driven in Unusual Jersey, Modern York region, Pennsylvania and Washington DC, and Connecticut.
[...]
I have to edit this review, having stale the product a bit more. I bought this having never owned a GPS before and level-headed can't compare it to others, but can give a suited first-time-owner's perspective.
- Size. You can throw this GPS into a carryon on a flight and exhaust it in a rental car when you advance. It's totally unobtrusive, you can do it up next to the rear-view-mirror and it blocks none of your notion. You can mask it in a car compartment when you're not in a friendly spot. It does not have a touchscreen - this isn't really a tremendous pickle, but this and the size develop it slower to enter addresses. It's a tradeoff, but I absorb I remove the size of this unit.
- Satellite tracking. Sometimes it'll remove up to 30 seconds or so to obtain satellites when you power on. That's not too abominable, but a minute annoying. A bigger pickle is that occasionally tracking seems to be lost. The GPS seems to deem the car is pointed diagonally, or the method stops updating. Had these problems both in downtown Boston and coming from Virginia into DC on the GW Bridge. WAAS seems useless, by the diagram.
- Route recalculation. Sparkling hasty - usually happens in < 10 s when you miss a turn. Recalculations are stunning noble - and the whole route is recalculated, not a path to the previous route. Once in a while it thinks you're off your route when you're not at all - it has the route coordinates obnoxious. It readjusts swiftly.
- Routing/directions. Generally I consider the calculated directions are very valid. The program takes you on luminous routes that are not always the absolute fastest but are blooming halt. They could pick up annoying if you're living reach an set in which they're inefficient or unprejudiced noxious. In Harrisburg, PA it told me repeatedly to turn left on an expressway/bridge that you can't turn left on. If I were living conclude by (as I once was) this would be enough to return the unit. However, around my spot they're stunning.
- Prompts/info: I suspect Garmin is getting all its routing info including prompts from Navteq, so these are really Navteq problems current to many GPS devices. Often neither the verbalize prompt or the camouflage gives adequate info on which lane you should be in or which particular exit/street you should be taking. This is the most frustrating quandary with this unit. When you're downtown, or going past a complicated station of highway entrances and exits, the combination of the reveal prompt ("Acquire proper in 0.5 miles" - there are no voiced road names), the mask text ("Proper on Dobbs Highway"), and the design is inadequate to resolve where you should be turning. I've heard the StreetPilot i5 has a somewhat better Navteq route info system than this unit does.
Some very, very well-liked situations:
- Road curves just and also exits both left and just. You're told to "Contain apt". Which is it, follow the road or exit to the good?
- Two exits both to the honest for the same highway, one North and the other South. You're told to "Turn good in 0.5 miles". The cover says "Upright on Dobbs Highway". Which is it, exit North or exit South?
- Method Storage: Loading the software and maps was a bit buggy and stupid for me the first time. If you intend to bring this on long trips or on air proceed it might develop sense to pay the extra money for the i5, which has maps preloaded - otherwise you have to load original maps for where you're going.
- Points of interest. Some of the points of interest are out of date or honest improper. This seems to be a accepted plight with GPS's, but it's really aggravating to drive someplace and get it doesn't exist, or that the GPS hasn't provided kindly enough directions to locate it.
Also, I have no conception if any competing product offers this, but if I'm driving on a route and I want to rep a gas place, I obviously would steal one that is ahead of me along my route. I probably don't want one that is unhurried me, and one that's off to the side somewhere isn't particularly convenient. But all I gather is "Shell 3.5 miles". Could be unhurried me, ahead of me, anywhere. As far as I know that's 3.5 miles as the crow flies, too. It could be 3.5 miles away but across a river for which there's no bridge end by. This is a commonly veteran feature that gets annoying - you have to gawk at where each POI is in relation to your route rather than fair picking the first one.
All in all I'm peaceful quite glad with it. I certainly wouldn't pay double the trace for a slightly improved one! The advantage at this impress is that you can trade it out when newer technology comes out. Can't do that easily with a $2500 in-dash manufacturer nav system.
Garmin StreetPilot I3
Software Version 2.70 (Updated from 2.30)
Audio Version 2.00
General Info:
I purchased the Garmin I3 from Amazon.com for $323.00. I have worn it to navigate around a itsy-bitsy town and it has worked almost perfectly. I have an Astro van and expend one of the coffec cup holders to occupy the I3. The cup holder is located about half arrangement down the front console and the Garmin seems to buy up the GPS signals with no dilemma. I have also taken three 2 ½ hour trips out-of-town and the navigation has been ample. The audio is worthy and can easily be heard over wind and road noise. I mature the garmin Webupdater [...] to update my unit from Version 2.30 to 2.70. The update is completely automatic and takes about 10 - 15 minutes to download and install the updated operating system software.
The I3 has a simulation mode. You can simulate a bolt by going to the System->GPS Mode and turning off the GPS. Return to the diagram mode and the unit will then simulate the jog. Makes for a useful teaching tool or a demo for your friends.
The bad:
I have had only two instances of the unit providing improper information. One was at my local post office. The unit directed me to turn left (incorrectly) on a one-way street and did not "know" about a modern (about 2 years) off ramp on Interstate 15.
The Via Points (Waypoints) are lovely worthy useless and you can only have one waypoint active at a time. I have not been able to pick up any instructions for setting them up in the on-line manuals or anywhere else
The one bug I have found is that the unit will emit two unsuitable turn instructions "go left, then go left" when it is first turned on and unprejudiced after it finds the satellites.
Wish list
The camouflage is slight but useable. If Garmin would update the operating software so that the unit issued statements like "turn legal on main street " instead of "turn factual in .1 miles" there would be itsy-bitsy or no need to watch at the shroud at all. The more expensive StreetPilot Garmin units have this feature now.
The provided suction cup mount will only work to a degree on windows. You can only consume the mount in other places by first PERMANENTLY applying a round mount to your console. I chose not to do this so I don't know if this works. There should be a better solution.
The description of the updates on the Garmin place is inadequate. They do not give a user any clue about what is in the update. I can detect no dissimilarity in the operation of the unit after the updates. It would be nice if Garmin would supply some info about the teach of the updates.
Despite the nit picks, I am very gay with the Garmin I3 and highly recommend it.
Update:
I have extinct my Garmin I3 for several more trips and I am elated with its performance. Ironically it works well every where except for my home town. In my home town, two major chain stores (Wal Mart and Staples) are mis-located to the north of town and one of two Albertsons is not listed at all. I extinct the GPS twice for yard sales and all the residential addresses were suitable. All in all the unit has performed exceptionally well. The audio directions have been trustworthy.
Just for info, you can win a stunning obliging characterize of which maps are loaded by zooming all the diagram out (this works best if you turn off the GPS navigation first. ) In my case I had first loaded California and Texas, then had to sever abet to Southern California and Northern Texas to design room for Arizona and Novel Mexico. The device on my unit shows pudgy coverage for California, Arizona, Current Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. Actually I have only partial coverage of Texas and California. I sent a mail message to Garmin and asked them how remarkable memory I would need to load all the States in the U.S. Their retort was 2GB. At this time MicroSD cards only have a maximum of 512MB, so we will have to wait a while to procure pudgy coverage.
