[22 of 36 customers found this review helpful]

Garmin StreetPilot C550 Portable GPS Review

Awesome multifunctional GPS

"There are lots of cool things about this GPS unit! A few of my favorites are that you can remove all of the languages and accents that you don't want, which will free up disk space for MP3s. I actually freed up about 300MB of space by removing (backed them up on my computer) all non-English languages and the male voices for American, Australian, and British English. (Karen from Australia is my favorite text to speech (TTS) voice. Though I do switch between Karen and Jill(American English)) So, I play MP3 music files through my car stereo, via the 3.5mm (stereo headphone) audio out jack on the GPS unit. The built in speakers work well, but playing through the cars audio system is better. When it's time to turn or even when the road forks or if the exit is on the right or left, the music stops, the instructions are given, then the music resumes. The same is true when using the phone via Bluetooth. Note: phone calls take priority over navigation prompting. So, if you are talking, you will need to monitor the display for the directions. When the phone call ends then the music resumes (if you were playing music when the call started, either by you or the call was received) and navigation prompts pipe in when necessary.

The text to speech settings are great, as the GPS pronounces the street names and also the name of the destination, if it is stored as a favorite. The non text to speech (TTS) voices do not tell you the street names, however.

When you pass a turn it quickly recalculates the route and tells how to get back on track. If you set it to avoid U-Turns, it will not tell you to turn around, but will add the turns into the recalculated route to get you back on track.

The text to speech voice will speak text messages to you (or you can read/send them via the GPS).

I used this GPS as a make-shift speaker phone, which worked out very well. I also use it to access my cell phone when in my apartment, as there are dead spots. So, I can place the phone by the window and take the GPS with me to my desk. It works great!!!

When in hotels, I use the unit to play music. The speakers are plenty loud enough. Even when rental cars don't have an MP3/Auxiliary input, the built-in speakers are adequate, when mounted next to (on the right side of) the rearview mirror. It's out of the way, and highly functional. In my car, I put it under the stereo, in front of the gear shifter, mounted on a locker mirror.

This is the same unit used by a popular rental car company, though the retail software (StreetPilot) is better, in my opinion.

When used indoors, for entertainment purposes or trip planning, if the satellite signal is lost, it will ask you if you are indoors, if so it will turn the GPS signaling off. When this happens, the unit "forgets" the current time. When the satellite signal is restored, the current time it displayed accurately. I can say that time issue is the only thing that I have found that I don't like about this GPS.

I let my wife use it once and now I will have to get her one, as mine was a birthday gift.

Oh yeah, when using the phone via Bluetooth, if the GPS is connected to you car system, then the phone call plays through your car speakers. It's nice when you are alone in the car or want to share the call with all of the passengers in the car. If you want to make the call private, you can disconnect from the phone via the GPS or the phone. Cool!

When searching for a place you can enter just part of the name and it will return a list of all options with the search name as part of the name. The results are listed according to distance from your current location. It even displays an arrow showing the general direction of the place. (e.g. 3.6mi NW). Also you can search for a place that near you current location, a different city, your current route, or your destination."