Great GPS unit, real user friendly and Costco.com carries for $599!

I'm writing a review here at the C330 location because I feel I can shed some light for you whether you end up buying the C330 or the C320. I actually own the Garmin Street Pilot C320 but please note these two units operate identically; they contain the same features and functionality. My review of the Garmin Street Pilot C320 contains more in depth discussion about the features and functionality of the GPS unit which again operates identically to the C330. It is important to note that there are some differences in what comes with a C330 versus the C320 accounting for the C330's higher price point.

The C330 is the same unit as my C320 except for a few items. The first difference is that the C330 contains a hard drive (while the C320 comes with a 128M SD Card). Garmin includes the full mapping data for North America preloaded onto the hard drive of the C330. The 128M card that comes with the C320 only allows for about 3 to 4 states of data, depending on the state's data size of course, although you can purchase a larger capacity card. I can fit all of CA and that maxes out a 128M SD card. Alternatively I could fit the southern half of CA and all of NV and AZ on the 128M SD card if I chose. This gives you an idea of how much data the C320 can hold with the included 128M card. Keep in mind you can upgrade that SD card in the C320 if you wish. Also keep in mind how much $ you will spend to upgrade the card relative to the extra cost of the C330...the C330 starts looking a bit more attractive as the price difference between the two units begins to diminish when you talk about upgrading memory capacity of the C320.

The next difference is in battery life. The C330's lithium ion battery lasts 4 hours while the C320 will last about 8 hours.

WHO SHOULD BUY THE C330?

If you do not want to deal with loading your map data onto your GPS system via USB cable with CDs provided by Garmin, get the C330.

If you drive across many states or travel around the country via plane and want to drop your GPS into your rental car and don't want to continuously change the data on the SD card that comes with the C320, then buy the C330, it has the full North American mapping data installed on the C330's hard drive.

If you aren't concerned with the $150 to $200 extra dollars you'll spend on the C330, go for it.

If you plan on using the unit as a handheld occassionally, or if you for any reason plan on relying on the unit's internal battery for lengthy periods of time, you may want to consider the C320 and NOT the C330 because of the extra 4 hours (double) the battery life the C320 has compared to the C330.

Again, the features and functionality are the same between the C330 and C320. I've noted the differences above in the hopes of helping you make a more informed decision.

Check out my review of the C320 at the link above for a detailed review of how the C320/C330 works on the road.