Review: Garmin StreetPilot i3 GPS Review from GPS Lodge

We have been using the Garmin StreetPilot i3 for this review over the last couple of weeks here at the GPS Lodge, and it has worked very well, never letting us down for getting us from here to there. The StreetPilot i3 is a compact entry level car GPS that is a trusted rock solid performer on the road, with a nice set of features that can be bought for not a lot of money. If that someone special is a gadget hound, it would really make a nice addition to their wish list. Keep in mind that this is a basic car GPS, designed to get you from here to there, and as a result, is lean on the advanced features that come in units that can cost a lot more. (See our Preview Article preparing for this GPS Review on the StreetPilot i3)

The unit is easy to use, and comes with a 128 MB transflash chip to load your maps onto. (Transflash chips are tiny, and at this writing can be found on the web in sizes up to 512MB.) The included North America NT DVD has detailed maps for the US and Canada, as well as Puerto Rico. The NAVTEQ maps are easily downloaded via USB cable (included) to the unit from your computer. I fit most of New England onto the 128MB card.

I need to mention that the StreetPilot i3 has excellent Point of Interest support. Garmin claims nearly six million points of interest, including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and attractions are available on the MapSource City Select North America NT DVD that is included with the StreetPilot i3. I looked for specific stores, numerous times, and the StreetPilot always had it: The Gap, Lowes, a local supermarket, Home Depot..... on and on. Dead on directions; impressive. This is why I want a GPS. Of course you can enter an address, but I don't always know the address of the Lowes, I do know the StreetPilot i3 can get me there.

Once the maps are loaded, you are ready to go. The included suction cup mount fits securely to the windshield, with a ball joint attachment to the back of the Streetpilot i3; while the 12V power adapter plugs into the car's power outlet. Some reviews of the Streetpilot i2 and i3 have complained about the time to satellite acquisition, but in my use, I had no trouble, usually getting reception as I pulled out of my driveway. The StreetPilot i-series takes 2 AA batteries, and the quick-start card tells you to keep fresh ones in there for faster satellite acquisition times. This is because with the batteries the unit keeps in its memory where you last were, and it makes for this faster satellite acquisition when turned on. It also means that the unit can be used for about 6 hours without 12 volt power if you need to take it out of the car.

Your navigation starts with the question, "Where To?" or simply "View Map". The screen is small, but bright, and navigation is via a click wheel mounted on the front of the unit. It takes no getting used to, but can be a bit of a bear when entering a lot of text. Text entry is via a string of letters that you scroll up and down on clicking as you go. This is not a show stopper.

Where to?
You can navigate to any number of places: Addresses, Points of Interest (POI), Recent Finds, My Favorites, Intersections and Cities. The first on the list is "Home", which is nicely convenient and should be one of your most used destinations.

When navigating, both the 2-D and the 3-D views are clear, and the screen is bright, and even in the sunlight, it can be read without all that much trouble. The screen shows you your arrival time and the distance to your next turn. A minor annoyance with this and so far many other GPS units: These "Arrival Times" are off, in fact way off. They are calculated by looking at your distance from your destination and the speed limits on the roads. So, if you are sitting in a traffic jam on the highway, it may just piss you off when the GPS tells you that you should be there in 10 minutes when you know that you still have 10 miles to go and you are hardly moving. Not a StreetPilot i3 only phenomena, most GPS units I have used have this issue.

The StreetPilot announces your turns well ahead of time, and then repeats shortly before the turn. The announcements are general, and don't call out the specific road name. They are accurate, make sense and DO NOT go overboard with the warnings that make you think "Shut up already!"

"Recalculating"
When navigating along a route, you may just miss a turn, despite all the warning, and the StreetPilot i3 recalculates and then spits out a new route. You can stipulate in the settings that you want to rule out U-turns, which I did, and the unit finds the next suitable route. I commute along a highway and then turn off onto secondary roads that avoid a huge daily traffic jam further down the highway. You didn't read this to read about my commute, but the point is that when I turned off the highway, the StreetPilot i3 kept trying to get me back on the highway; that's what it's supposed to do. This helps get wayward travelers back to where they were supposed to go. If you really wanted to break from the recommended route, you have the "Detour" option. This option calculates a new route from that point to your destination, essentially throwing your old route out the window.

Favorites
The Garmin StreetPilot i3 is able to drop waypoints and remember favorite locations. This makes them easy to navigate to when you want to quickly get back to those places. After using the StreetPilot i3 for a few weeks, I found myself wanting to store routes or itineraries. This is the idea of traveling from here to there via somewhere else in between.

Summary
The Garmin StreetPilot i3 is a great little GPS receive for the car. It's small enough to take with you on a trip and fit right in a briefcase, a purse or a carry-on bag. Its feature set is not extensive, but that's OK for an entry level GPS. I did find myself wanting for that ability to store routes, or have speed sensitive volume. But this compact GPS gives you accurate directions so that you trust it to take you where you need to get to. I think it's a great GPS receiver that I'd take anywhere with the confidence to jump in the car, and head off on my trip, with the StreetPilot i3 leading the way.

More
The StreetPilot i2 gets a Black and White screen, for about $50 less. The StreetPilot i5 is a higher end product that has maps pre-loaded on the unit and still includes the Transflash slot for other regions. The StreetPilot i5 is about $100 more than the StreetPilot i3. If you travel a lot and need to get to lots of areas of the country, you may get sick of uploading new regions every time you travel if you have the StreetPilot i3, so the upgrade to the StreetPilot i5 may be worth it.

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Posted by Scott Martin at November 4, 2005 1:13 AM

I've been using this unit for a couple of months now. The 128MB card fits all of florida georgia tenn. and south carolina. It's a real gem of a unit, it lacks advanced features (nema out, alternate map projections, display of current lat/lon, a satellite status screen) but it has everything you need to navigate in the city or on a road trip. The routing is accurate. Voice prompts are clear and loud enough to be heard over music. The screen is super bright and colorful even in direct sunlight, best screen i've seen in any device in this class. I should note that the battery life is not very good, but if you run off the included car adapter, the screen is actually brighter and the audio is very loud. I have had no problems with the gps signal strength either. Always fixes within a few seconds. It's POI database is excellent. Loading maps on the card is easy. The scroll wheel for input i don't feel is restrictive, even my mother had no problem using it without the manual. I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a basic navigation system for their car.

Posted by: Kevin Cossio at November 7, 2005 10:20 AM

I've been using the UK version of the i3 which is VERY cheap (£169) for a sat nav system in the UK. Well impressed with it but a mionor annoyance is that it doesn't come with any cd/dvd - just the maps pre-installed on the transflash card (however, it means we got 256MB cards with ours!). Great little system and have been more than pleased with it this last month when we've been on holiday using it!

MaFt

Posted by: MaFt at November 9, 2005 6:41 AM