Granted, this one isn’t quite as fancy as the Nuvi deal I posted yesterday, but if even that was beyond what you feel comfortable spending, consider the Garmin StreetPilot c340 for $144.99, instead.
I’m not sure why Buy.com has this one listed so low; it’s a model up from the unit I own (which is a pretty nice entry-level model), and a good $15 or so cheaper than I’ve seen it elsewhere.
I’m going to start a new club, by the way. The Society for the Prevention of Lost People. Our bylaws stipulate that everyone should own a GPS. I know it’s changed my life, and I’d love to share the joy with others. Heh.
OH BOY!! I can join your club!! Where’s the sign up sheet!
And, on buy.com, if you are a new customer, you can look up and apply the promotional code of get $5 off a $100 order. Hey, every little bit helps!
Concerning the c340, the reason it’s so cheap (and not really THAT cheap) is that it’s now thoroughly obsolete. Howzzat?
1. The Garmin nuvi models (and most newer models from competitors) use a better chipset. (The SiRFStar III, or whatever capitalization they use, is much, much more sensitive than the one in the c-series.) This means better GPS reception, particularly in cities (with tall buildings that block satellite reception) and in vehicles like my Honda Odyssey that seem to make good reception a problem.
2. The nuvi line is faster. So are the newer Magellan and Tom Tom units.
3. The nuvi and competitors are much smaller overall but with the same size screen. Whereas the c-series from Garmin is about the size of a coffee cup, with all the portability of that cup, the nuvi and competitors are thin and flat, just a wee bit larger than my BlackBerry Curve. How much better does THAT fit in your purse or pocket?! (And none of the pretty and handsome readers of this site would leave their GPS unit in the car for a thief to steal, would they?)
4. Several of the lower-end models from Garmin, Magellan, and Tom Tom sell for $120 or so. Why pay $145 for a unit that’s been outdated for at least 2 years now?
The Garmin c330 was a fine GPS, but it really has been supplanted by newer, hotter models that sell for far less.