i3 or c320 for me?

[homeslice]

That is an interesting point. I have several 128 SD cards just sitting here doing nothing. No mini SD cards though.

My main concern with the c320 is space. It seems the i3 is noticably smaller and the spot I'm looking at to the right of my steering wheel is pretty small.

So the screens are the same brightness? I read that the c320 is still pretty bright at night. Is that true? Is the i3 better at night? I do a lot of driving home at night and I don't need a bright light in my eyes.

Thanks to you all for all your help.

[payam81]

Brightness is the same but the fact that C320 has a larger screen will make it appear brighter at night. Although you can have it switch to the night mode automatically and that will reduce the eye strain.

Also you can adjust the brightness for both of them so that shouldn't really be a problem.

As I said the main selling point for me was the size and the AA batteries.

Good luck and regardless which one you choose I'm sure you will be happy with either one

[homeslice]

So on the c320 there is a night mode that automatically comes on to change the screen brightness?

Does the i3/i5 have that feature? I don't see it in the manual.

How effective is that? Night mode would be a big selling point I think.

[payam81]

Sorry I think I was a little vague there. Yes both the i3/i5 and the C3xx come with the Auto Night Mode.

What it does, basically at dusk it will invert the screen so instead of a white background you will get an inverted dark background to keep the eye strain to a minimum. You can turn this to ON/OFF/AUTO from the Settings menu.

I have it set at AUTO and I think it's actually pretty effective.

[rossb]

homeslice

you say $100 is not a lot of money to you. In that case, I suggest you buy a C320. You get the bigger screen, touch interface. What is the sound like on a i3. The C320 stereo speakers are excellent. Plus you have the benefit of built in rechargeable battery. Does the i3 support map browsing of a route, I wouldnt want to do route planning on a screen smaller than the C320 personally. Size/weight of the C320 has never been a problem for me. I frequently put the unit in my bag and forget about it.

[macnoodle]

If the extra money is not an issue, definitely go for the C320! There is a reason why you pay extra - you really do get what you pay for!

Rechargeable battery, long battery life, nice large touch screen, excellent sound, easier interface (the touch screen is one of the best I've used). Yes, it's larger, but I see that as an advantage once it's mounted on the windshield (the windshield is usually a fair way away, way out there in front in today's cars).

If it was my money, I'd buy the C320 (and I did! ).

[homeslice]

Well,

I think I am going to need to find both units in a store and play with them for a bit as well as see if I can put the c320 in the space I want it in my car. Being in the US, my car has the steering wheel on the left side and to the left of the wheel seems to be the best spot in my Infiniti G35 sedan.

As the i5 and the c320 are similar in cost for me it seems like the main points are size and full maps out of the box for the i5 vs. touch screen and built in battery for the c320.

I'll have to play with them both and let you all know what I decide.

Thanks again for all your help. This discussion has really helped me identify my decision points. You guys are great! Thanks

[payam81]

You know, I was just thinking you can easily fit the i3 and possibly the C320 under the empty lid above your G's HVAC controls.

It's been a while since I sat in a G but I think there is just enough space to mount it and get a good reception. Obviously you will have to come up with some sort of a modified mounting solution but it shouldn't be hard.

[homeslice]

"you can easily fit the i3 and possibly the C320 under the empty lid above your G's HVAC controls"

Actually, I use that storage space quite a bit so it is full of stuff like headsets, gum, my Treo... And I have a SkiFi2 mounted on the right side of the stack in front of the vent and left of the glove compartment.

The nav will need to be on the windshield somewhere. That was why I was thinking of the left side of the steering wheel. Although the storage bin would be perfect. I just hate to lose it. I would have bought the car with built-in nav but I wasn't travelling this much then and I didn't want to lose all that storage space.

I just need to try it in a few spots and figure it out.

[payam81]

The onboard navi in G35 would have not only killed your storage space above HVAC, but also one of the glove compartments would have been occupied with the stupid DVD drive! For almost $1500 they charge, you would think they could at least give you a system with solid state memory without the balky and unreliable DVD drive. Not to mention everytime you turn it on you have to put up with the legal mumbo jumbo for a couple of sec. before you can actually use the darn thing.

[homeslice]

Well,

I stopped by my local CompUSA today and played with both (and a Nuvi as well!) Here are my thoughts.

I really liked the touch screen. It was just MUCH faster than scrolling through the numbers and letters. Also, it seemed more intuitive.

They let me take out the GPS's to my car (amazingly) once I drove around to the install shop. Both fit in my space very well. Either will work fine.

So I think I am going to go with the c320. Why you say?

- Touch screen makes input much quicker and easier
- I can buy a black face plate and make the thing less noticable
- I hate the blue facepate on the i3 and you can't change it
- I prefer the built in battery

If I chose an i series it would probably be the i5 anyway due to that blue screen. I still prefer the size of the i5 but for exactly the same money and the easier input, I think c320.

Yesterday, they recieved their demo Nuvi. It is awesome. If I had $899 US in the budget for a GPS I would buy that puppy. Small, pretty thin, nice screen, decent speaker, it played sample audio books and MP3's, the screen and software seemed to be a step up from the c330 sitting next to it. All-in-all, it was a really cool little unit. Just double what I want to spend.

Thanks again for all the help!

We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
Have you considered making a donation towards website running costs?.
Or you could disable your ad-blocker for this site. We think you’ll find our adverts are not overbearing!