i3 or c320 for me?

[homeslice]

Hello,

I did the search but just couldn't find a good comment on this anywhere. I am trying to decide on a new in-car unit and I have basically narrowed it down to the i3/i5 or the c320.

Pros for the i3:
- $100 cheaper
- a little smaller so it will take up less room on my windshield

Pros for c320
- a little bigger screen
- touch screen input might be easier than the scroll wheel
- the $100 isn't that important
- 8 hour battery life for the c320!

So I have a couple of questions. Is the touch screen that much easier for putting in addresses? I have a local Fry's and there is a 320 there but no i series to mess with. Is the screen better on the 320 or the i3/5.

I travel about 3-4 states. Lots of highway from city to city. I fly to 2 or 3 other states a year. That is most of my travel. I would use the address input 5-10 times per week. Space is a little tight.

What should I buy?

[homeslice]

Also,

It seems that the i5 is actually $200 more than the i3 in the states right now. It is $100 more than the c320.

[zogman]

welcome to the uk gps forum homeslice....the i3 is a basic 'plug and play' gps whereas the 320 has more bells and whistles..you can compare the features on the garmin site and decide from that...
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[PeeBee]

The 320 seems functionally similar to the i3/i5 with screen size and touch screen input being the main diferences. I haven't used the 320 but have an i3 and it seems perfectly suitable - the screen size isn't a problem for me. Inputting using the scroll screen isn't a problem. You shouldn't input either on the move.

Personally I think I would find the large screen too much of a distraction.

One of my favourite approaches is to go to a retailer who sells both and ask him/her why you should spend $100 on the dearer item (they often can't give a reason!).

Battery life isn't really an issue if you use the car power adapter.

I'd go for an i3 and a good night out!

PB

[payam81]

I was in the same boat as you are. But I fly more often so I picked i3 because I can easily throw it in to any of my bags, from the laptop bag to my 22" carryon, and be perfectly happy with it.

The touchscreen is definitely easier than the wheel but to me it wasn't a huge difference so at the end the size and the fact that it uses AA batteries won me over. I travel often and frequently and I really don't have time to fiddle around with chargers, seeing I already have a hard time handling my cell phone, Canon digicam and the Sony PSP I really didn't want another one to add to the bunch.

Whenever I'm ready to go a fresh pair of Energizer E2 will keep this little guy going for a good 5-6 hours. You can get the AAs from Ebay which is way cheaper than in stores.

Also, if you look around you can find the i3 from buydig.com for 305 shipped.

[homeslice]

Thanks for the responses!!

One question, can the i3 recharge rechargable AA batteries if you put them in it?

What features does the c320 have that would be of use to a typical road traveller like me? Do the POI's work the same? Can I store customer locations in the memory somewhere?

Size-wise, I might prefer the smaller i3. I definately do not see $200 worth of additional features in the i5! That is nuts. I did see the $305 from buydig.com. That looks like a steal. They also have the c320 for only $418 shipped.

Is the screen better in practice on either? My only real concern with the i3 is still inputing addresses.

Thanks again for all your advice folks! I tend to find a good on-line community for my stuff and eventually learn enough to be a decent contributor.

Treo 650...Infiniti G35 Sedan...other gadgets...

You guys are invaluable.

[PeeBee]

homeslice, the i3 doesn't recharge the bateries. I don't find the address inputting of the i3 a problem. It takes, say 20 seconds for a journey, you can input post codes in the Uk and I presume zip codes in the US.

As I said previously I haven't used a 320 so can't say more about that but the size of the i3 can be an advantage if you want to take the unit with you or hide it in the car when you leave the car.

PB

[homeslice]

Thank you all again for your help.

So the general concensus seems to be that there is no advantage to getting the c320 anymore. Basically, the scrolling wheel input is not a big negative and the brighter screen combined with the smaller size outwieghts the $100 cost uplift and the touch screen.

Is that correct?

[payam81]

I tend to agree with PeeBee on the scrolling wheel and inputing of addresses. It won't make that huge a difference. Certainly the touch screen is nice but I take the smaller size over that.

To answer you questions:

You can save your customer addresses in the favorites for later use.

The screens between C3xx and i3/i5 are identical as far as I can tell with the only difference being the slightly larger size and touchscreen on C3xx. Nither has a anti-reflective coating so direct sunlight will make them a little washed out.

i5 is really a good solution if you absolutely need an out of the box GPS unit.

If you really feel like you need to try the i3 before you decide on it there is one solution. Go to www.crutchfield.com and order it from them. It will come to 399 with free shipping. They offer a 30 day risk free trial! You can easily call and get an RMA number to return it. They even provide free return shipping labels in every box they ship so it's very easy.

Good luck,

[Mr_Gonzales]

The scroll wheel is very easy to use when the unit is in the palm of your hand, less so when stuck on the windscreen. I always put the info in before I stick it on the windshield so it's not much of a problem. I like the scroll and select method. Touch screens never work (at least for me) as well as they ought to, and over time they lose consistency and you can find yourself having to muck around with where and how hard you press to get it to respond.

[dougconran]

You can also operate the whole device with one hand, very useful if you have to stroke the dog (or anything else) with the other.

Also useful if you've only got one hand, I guess

[BaLrOg]

Well I must admit I seem to be in a minority here but I personaly went for the c320 after um'ing and ah'ing about the i3 I eventualy went down to a couple of stores and showed the missus both units, as she will be the one operating the device when we are in transit and explaining how to do stuff is a little distracting when you are driving it seemed a good idea to get the opinion of the 'navigator/co-pilot'.

Her reaction to the i3 was 'its smaller than the 320 isnt it?' and the touch screen was a big bonus, I dont think she liked the colour either.

With regard to the touch screen I find people (read other passengers) adapt much more quickly to 'poke and go' than 'twiddle and click' and that is definatley the bracket my missus falls into ;).

I myself find it very easy to use and I suspect the only hinderance with the touch screen could be if you have 'VERY' big hands, although some kind of pointing stick could overcome this if it realy is an issue. The only other thing would be you would not want to use the unit whilst tucking into a bargin bucket on the layby so some kind of screen cleaning cloth might be handy for greasey fingers.

Price didn't realy come into it as the missus had intended to get me a TomTom for christmas but I (having used garmin a lot) have a preference for garmin products for no real reason other than they were the first gps unit I ever owned and seem to have been in the business longer than any one else.

Also on the point of price and as your in the states I suspect this may be less of an issue for you (do you get all the US with the i3 in America?) , but the main decider for me was a requirement for european navigation outta the box (mostly Norway) and as I would have to spend more money at a later stage to get coverage for the area I required the price difference between the i3 and the 320 was less relevant.

So I guess as others have said you get more bang for your buck with the c320 and it does have a more polished appearance interms of interface and build. But it will only realy serve you if you plan to roam outside of your normal borders.

If you are looking for a cheap and effective means of navigating around your home country and are happy to update maps for a price at a later stage then go for the i3 it does exactley what it says on the tin.

[payam81]

In North America you get full unlocked detailed US/Canada/Puerto Rico maps with either the i3 or C320 so the coverage difference inssue that you guys have in Europe between the two units is irrelevant here.

On both units you get a basemap of United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America right out of the box but for detailed maps you need to load areas you want on to the included TransFlash card. I have the Whole Cali, Nevada, Georgia and Ontario with space left.

This actually brings me to my biggest complaint about i3 which is the use of the releatively new and expensive TransFlash (Micro SD) instead of much cheaper and higher capcity SD card. C3xx has a SD card slot. I understand they needed to keep the size down but I've seen the mainboard inside and it isn't really as crowded. I suspect maybe SanDisk offered Garmin some sort of concession to make TransFlash more popular.

[BaLrOg]

Yes I was 'unkeen' on the trans flash cards myself which was another reason I was not completely sold on the i3.

It is interesting that both i3 and c320 get the same map coverage for the states and if that is the case I would say go for the c320 if you want a bit more bang for your buck and the established technology of SD cards as apposed to trans flash.

But if your just looking for cheap and cheerful go for the i3, its smaller too I guess.

Maybe another difference between the two units is the 320 has a built in battery which charges from your car ciggarette lighter and is integrated with the screen mount bracket, which I suppose could be considerd as a down side if you dont like a cable trailing down your cars dash to the socket, but I dont find it a hinderance.?

All in all if you live in the states I think the choice realy is down to ergonomics and cosmetics as without any difference in map coverage there is little on the face of it other than that and price to diferentiate between them.

My c320 (purchased in UK) came boxed with city select europe v7 what does the 320 come with in the states ?

[payam81]

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