Garmin StreetPilot i3 Car GPS Receiver

The StreetPilot i3 is an excellent in-car GPS. About the size of a tennis ball it has some excellent functions, which even the more expensive units don't have.

The reception without any addition of an external aerial is always exceptional and it is alway quick to acquire satellites, much quicker than my friend's TOM TOM ONE and the mapping also seems more up-to-date; Mine came with MapSource City Navigator Europe NT Version 7 (UK & Ireland), however I was entitled to a free upgrade to Version 8 as I purchased it after Version 8 was released.

It will automatically tell you when the mapping software needs updating and don't worry if your brand new unit says this, as all you need to do is register the unit on the Garmin website and you should be entitled to the free update.

http://www.garmin.com/unlock/update.jsp

Also if you load the Garmin Webupdater on you PC/Laptop, then it will automatically let you know if there are any other unit software updates available and will automatically install them for you. This can include things like bug fixes and additional voice files, etc.


Some nice functions include:

1. It can run on 2 standard AA batteries, which make it easy to swap between vehicles or even walk with it.

2. It is really easy to load a 'Speed Camera' database using the POI (Points of Interest) uploader. This will give you both visual and audio early warning of known speed camera sites. It is also clever enough not to warn you if you are under the maximum speed limit!

3. Automatic switching to 'night' mode at sunset. There's no chance of being dazzled by an over-bright GPS screen in the dark! The StreetPilot i3 will automatically switch to 'night' mode, which darkens the background, making it more easy to read at night as soon as sunset falls. At sunrise, it will automatically switch back to 'day' mode giving a bright and easily readable display, even in bright sunlight.

On the whole, this is an excellent GPS, which I personally think performs much better than the TOM TOM ONE. I tested it side by side with my friends and a lot of the time, if it was a short journey, the TOM TOM ONE was still acquiring satellites when the Garmin had already, acquired the satellites, calculated the route and told me how to get there!

Finally the support from Garmin UK is second to none!

I can highly recommend this product.

excellent value
keep it powered on to combat having to select country everytime
and just press 0 instead of house number

Pros:
*Loads your destination in seconds
*Small
*Bargain Price
*Colour Screen
Cons:
*Not touch Screen
*You have to say you are going somewhere in England everytime you turn it on which gets annoying

Ive been addicted to ebay now since my partner Tom decided to open an account, but my main problem was that collecting larger items was such a hassle as I only had the use of the free online AA route mapper. My main problem was that Tom had to drive while I called out the directions but 9 out of 10 times we would end up going the wrong way and to be honest the 20 - 25 minutes estimated traveling always ended up being 1 - 2 hours! Anyway getting back to the point...... I decided to buy a sat nav device but as there are about a million on the market! (slight exageration :P ) I had no idea which to get so like a good little ebayer I set the page to 'lowest price first' and up popped the Garmin StreetPilot.

Well I can honestly say ive never looked back! The GArmin has a female voice which guides you every step of the way and gives you just enough warning for when to turn etc.
One thing ou do have to do is update it as soon as you get it with your PC as the software is out of date, I didnt do this straight away and couldnt understand why she was telling me to drive through a bricked up tunnel??? Silly me :)
A slightly anoying thing is that you have to choose 'England' as the country that you are navigating in everytime you switch it on but to be honest if I was a long distance driver then this would be a good thing.
It loads your destination literally in seconds which is more than I can say for my friends GPS which cost 4 times as much as mine!
Its realy easy to program your destination in however you have to have a house number everytime, you cant just put in a road name.
It comes complete with everything you need including PC disks and power supply which plugs into the cigarette lighter.
The best thing about this unit though has to be that it can be used via batterys! You can even get out of the car and walk with it which is great when you cant drive to the actual door of the address your looking for and and your a bit lost in a concrete jungle of homes!

All in all I would have to say BUY ONE TODAY!

It has a color screen and everything so what else could you possibly need?

I hope this little review helps :)

Hayley Deakin

Going to new places and having to consult maps and directions was not a safe way of driving. So I decided to get technological and buy a Sat Nav system, but had a tight budget to work to. This Garmin Street Pilot is so easy to use and covers the basics that any Sat Nav system needs - plus you can create 'Favourites' for the places that you visit on a regular basis. The system is very simple with only 3 buttons so it doesn't take ages to learn how to use it - you can basically plug it in and go. I would recommend this model for anyone who either hasn't had a Sat Nav before, has a tight budget, or doesn't have much patience with technology.
I'm not sure how this compares to other models on the market at the moment, as I've not used them, but this is definitely value for money. The other models look very complicated to use with possibly too many buttons and functionality.

I have had the I3 for about three years and it has never let me down.
The size of it is amazing and is better then a lot of larger more expensive systems.
The thing I like which a lot of systems don't have is a set up for navigating in different types of vehicle IE Car/Motorcycle, Truck, Bus, Emergency or Taxi.
Also you can download Speed Camera alerts and Points of interest.
And Garmin offer free updates via their website regularly.
Hope this short review helps anybody thinking of buying one it is well worth the money.

I would like to write that I am very pleased with the product. It is all the I expected. One thing I would like to point out is I am having difficulty in registering the product in my name as it can only be registered in one name.(the original owner can contact Garmin(UK) and inform them of change of ownership) You can see the problems this could cause if for any reason you were stopped by the police. I must look into this and contact the seller. Generally I am very pleased and impressed with everything I have bought and received on e-bay. Carry on the good work.
R B Gault

The Garmin StreetPilot i3 is a tennis-ball sized, fully functional GPS satellite navigation system with colour screen, clear loudspeaker and detailed UK roadmap software on a removable transflash card, powered from a 12v socket adapter-lead, or 2xAA batteries for up to 6hrs.

I'll explain it's shortcomings first. The compactness of it's design precludes the use of a traditional keypad or touchscreen, instead a roller-button facilitates menu-navigation and data-input. This is fiddly and time-consuming by comparison: Imagine typing the word 'aquatic'; easy on a keyboard, but with the scroll wheel it's roll up to 'a', down to 'q', down a bit more to to 'u', back up a long way to 'a' again, - you get the idea. The screen is also not as big as the more modern units of today, in fact it's quite small. However, all information is presented to overcome this shortfall: The graphics are crisp and clear, your ETA/speed and general heading digits are easy to interpret and the colours are rendered in excellent contrast. That's all the gripes. No, really, that's it, there is nothing else I can say negative about the i3, except maybe it should have been painted silver or black - the blue is OK, but doesn't blend with most interiors! What ever you may miss on the screen, the loudspeaker makes up for in voicing timely information in absolute clarity. The unit comes into it's own when the voice is turned on, making it a joy to follow when on the move. If you are not following a calculated route to your destination, the unit shows your current position in either 3d or vertical-look-down views, your general heading and your current speed. Motorways, major roads, side roads and various landscape features all have their own colours (ie, motorways are red, main-roads are orange, etc). Across the top of the screen is the name of the road you are currently driving down. When you do search for a location and calculate a route, your route is mapped in red for you to follow, and the current-speed bar now shows your ETA as a function of distance, type of roads and associated speed limits. It does not take congestion or traffic-lights into account, so be sure to factor those in. The unit will recalculate your route should you stray. Points Of Interest (POI's) can be manually entered, or downloaded from a PC. UK speed-camera POI's are particularly useful as the unit can be set to warn you of an approaching camera if you are above the speed limit. The unit comes pre-loaded with a slew of POIs covering fuel stations to shops. I recently bought a 1gb trans-flash card and loaded up the maps of France, the unit proved invaluable when trying to get through Paris and having to find fuel stations. The i3 attaches to your windscreen, or any other flat, non-porous surface, using a heavy-duty rubber clip-sucker, with a ball on the end. The unit clips securely onto the ball. It's small enough to use on a motorbike, but you'll have to be ingenious about where and how you mount it! If you use rechargeable batteries, the unit will recharge them when running off the 12v supply. This is very handy if you have routed your cabling so it cannot be quickly removed, but still need to use the unit elsewhere. The software is easy to use and not really much to write home about. Other maps are available on eBay should you need to go abroad, mostly with full instructions - just ask the seller. Overall, a must-have device. I'd say 9/10. Get one today!

... I needed a Sat nav to get around for work and the garmin was recommended by a friend.

They all seemed to be selling at around the same price and this one had a buy it now option - so I did.

The seller said it came with maps... But somehow forgot to mention it didn't come with a SD card. Not so unusual you may think? Well, as the maps are stored on the card, the sat nav is useless without it. Seller claims he used the sat nav for 12 months without a SD card, Garmin say that's impossible.

So be warned... if you're buying a Sat Nav make sure it works!

It is an excellent device, with the only disadvantage being the roll ball rather than the touch screen but this is reflective in the price. It is a real bargain and does the job!!

I always wanted to get a sat nav as i lived in England for 27 years, i moved to Scotland 4 years ago & with my traveling job i spent to much time getting lost lol. So thats why i bought the sat nav, and i love it.

I bought one of these myself around a year and ago, my dad borrowed it for a trip and fell in love with it, despite him saying he never wanted to own one. So i bought him the same model from ebay.
Its easy to use, its small and in my experience doesnt send you down one lane country roads instead of motorways!
All round it is good product, simple to use and the software can be upgraded as can point of interests, this particularly useful if, like me, you are stuck in a massive traffic jam and about to run out of petrol, ask it to find the nearest petrol station and it will take you there!
Also you can put the speed camera updates on the device- very helpful!Hope this is useful.

I have been looking for an economically priced sat nav that performs effectively for some time now. This item fits the bill.

Nice and easy to use, although I found the screen a little to small for my liking. In all, a brilliant introductory gps system, which is compact, and great value for money .
My friend has a system which cost him £400 and he was well impressed with mine.

It may be a budget price, however its briliance is in its ease of use, accuracy and reliability

-very simple, and easy to use.- multi language download
-speeds cameras detectors
-atways you can find signal from satelite
-

very easy 2 use small and compact but has everything your regular sized sat nav will have and more,ive not had a problem using this garmin product its so straight forward,

I bought this as a valentines preasent for my girlfriend, (yes I know, but she likes gadgets)It was cheap compared to a tom tom and looked cute so I got it for £45 including the postage. When it came I thourght it was neat and although was a lot smaller than the tom tom, its screen was adequet. My girlfriend loved it as it was easy to program, no touch screen, but 2 buttons and a scroller button,she used it straight away and it seemed to work fine. It also has a place for 2 AA batterys - we havent used batterys yet, just the car power lead but it seems that it may be usable as a hand held gps if required. The only glitch we have had so far is one journey that it diddnt seem to want to pick up a signal, but for a cheap system it is pretty good.

I decided to buy this item for long distance journeys to visit family members as we were always getting lost. I found it a bit difficult to get used to at first, as it is operated by a small wheel wich is very sensitive. It has postcode support which is one of the reasons I got it although sometimes it can be a problem as for some reason my mother-in-law's postcode did not exist but I got around that by using her old postcode which was the same road. (this I am told happens with her tomtom)
It is a small device which is handy as it can fit in the dashboard or my wife's handbag. It fixes to the windscreen via a sucker and has a voice prompt telling you where to go. It tells you a couple of times which my wife thinks is handy but I find annoying. It will re-route you if you take a wrong turning but sometimes takes a while. It tells you the speed limits and also where all the speed cameras are even mobile ones which I like. If your turn the engine off you really have to have some batteries (2xAA) in the back of the sat nav otherwise you will lose your directions. you will then have to put the destination in again which is a pain as it takes a little while.
Aulthough I hate setting it up (I am a get in the car and go man) I usually let my wife do it (she likes it anyway) It is really useful , its small size is an advantage I would reccommend it.

This Satnav is so dinky you don't think it can possibly get you out of any situation, let alone being big enough to see the maps clearly!
However, what a surprise! It is brilliant little gadget.No bigger than a tennis ball, you can attach it to your windscreen and doesn't get in the way.
This one is actually used by an LGV1 driver who travels all around the country and prefers maps. It has made him realise they are good little machines.
The only thing he isn't happy with is the fact it doesn't point out where low bridges are, but i'm sure that can be rectified by visiting the website.
All in all I'd say it was a damned good investment.

Bought this for a gift for my son as my husband has one and has been really pleased with it. The only downside is that you often have to drive for about 5 minutes before it picks up the Satellite signal to get directions. Dont know if this is a problem with all Sat Navs. Otherwise a good item.

I already had a MIO sat. nav., which cost just under £700. This little Garmin, for just over £100, is a better proposition!! It is compact, accurate, easy to update, and quick to set up. Not only that, it takes post codes, which the expensive MIO did not. The only drawback that I have found with the Garmin, is the lack of re-chargeable batteries. The ordinary batteries do not last long at all!!! I decided to buy the Garmin because I am a taxi-driver, and sat. nav. is an absolute essential, especially with the speed cameras. Anyone want to buy a MIO sat. nav.???

Don't ever be fooled by the size of the i3 it is as accurate as the larger sat navs and compact so it can fit in a handbag or a coat pocket updating is a bit complexed at first but once you get the hang of it's not too bad we now use 3 i3's in our work vehicals without any fault at all.

The inability to set a point to travel to without knowing its name, tomtom you can pick a point on the map and go