Buy Nextar C3 3.5-Inch Portable GPS NavigatorNextar C3 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Product Description:
- Preloaded with US Map
- 3.5" Color Display with Touch Screen
- Turn by Turn Voice Prompts with Street Names
- SD Card Slot for MP3 Play
- Built in Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery
Product Description
The Nextar C3 GPS mobile navigation system assures that your days of getting lost are OVER! Finding an address or any one of 1.6 million points of interest, such as the nearest gas station or restaurant, is a snap anywhere in the U.S. Just enter information in the C3's 3.5" touch screen and let the voice prompt and detailed map guide you to the destination. The C3's built in MP3 player will entertain you with your favorite tunes while en route. Just copy your favorite play list onto an SD card and insert into the slot. The C3 moves easily from car to car using the supplied windshield or dash mount. A rechargeable lithium ion battery assures that the unit stays active. The Nextar C3 will provide you with worry free navigation on even the most complex routes! This product comes with 1GB built- in Flash memory, SD card slot for MP3 play, MP3 Song Playing mode (Requires SD Card, not included), 2D or 3D Map viewing mode, day and night mode, turn by turn voice prompts, built in front speaker, Intel Processor, built in GPS receiver SIRFIII. The system includes mounting cradle, suction cup mounting bracket, dashboard mounting disk, remote control, DC adapter, AC adapter, USB Cable, and convenient carrying pouch.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
73 of 76 people found the following review helpful.
Very Impressive!
By Chad
I'm not sure you could do much better than this for the price. I bought it on sale, more than a little anxious about the quality of the resolution, the touch-screen interface, the accuracy of the GPS, etc. I have been VERY impressed with this unit.One of the things I like best is its built-in rechargeable battery. This precludes the necessity of having cords hanging all over your dashboard, and is a very nice touch. The battery lasts well over 3 hours on a single charge (I drove for 3.5 hours once on a charge and 25% still remained), and both AC and DC/cigarette lighter adapters are included for charging at home or on the go.The 3.5" screen is large enough -- and resolution clear enough -- to allow easy reading as well as a good bit of detailed information to be displayed at any one time. The touch screen is easily calibrated and remains quite accurate. Even when typing in letters for a street name, I seldom "fat finger" a virtual button. The display is bright and crisp, and easily readable, even in bright (indirect) sunshine. I use this in a SUV with a sunroof, and also in a car with t-tops and even with the tops out on a sunny day, it's easy to read the display -- and that's not even at its fullest brightness! There is an "auto" setting that will dim the display automatically at night... nice touch. Colors on the display are good and saturated and contrasted appropriately (you can change the overall background or color scheme between four different colors). Viewing can be toggled between a regular view and a "3D" angled-type view in one of three different angles. You can also select whether you want the orientation of the map to be "north" (where north is always up) or "heading" (where the map turns as you drive so you're always moving towards the top of the screen). At any point in map mode, you can "pan" by touching and dragging the map. Very cool.The flexible holding arm attaches to a cradle and terminates in a rock-solid clampable suction cup. Not once -- even going over rough railroad tracks or off-roading in the Jeep -- has this suction ever broken off my windshield in days and days of continuous attachment. An adhesive-backed disc is also included for dash mounting (you would then suction the arm to the disc). One nice touch is that the GPS unit itself is very easily removed from the cradle... good for security when you're out of your car.The excellent Navteq software is Windows CE-based.The GPS signal acquisition takes a couple of minutes from a cold start, less from a warm start (if the unit has been turned off, then turned back on in a short while). I'd call the acquisition time slightly better than average of the GPS units I've used. Once acquired, however, this unit is VERY accurate, typically even locking in signals from 5 or more satellites while indoors. Both the maps and the displayed speed are right on the money, and the turn-by-turn navigation instructions (delivered audibly and visually) are accurate as well. The voice used is smooth and reasonably clear (female voice). You can set the unit to provide all kinds of routes... quickest route, shortest route, routes using or avoiding major roads when possible, routes including ferries or toll roads, routes using or excluding HOV lanes... goodness. When navigating, if you miss a turn, the route is recalculated within a few seconds. You can also look at a route list and avoid a specific road on the list, after which the route will be recalculated.Points of interest are numerous (1.6 million) and highly usable. There are shortcuts to the more common POIs such as restaurants, ATMs, gas stations, etc. By touching any of these buttons, the display will show you the nearest POIs sorted by distance from your current location. You can also store favorite locations and a "home" location for easy retrieval. Navigation to any of these points, once selected, is as easy as touching one button.There are some pretty neat ancillary features as well. Of course you can display everything in standard or metric measurements. The GPS info screen shows you the signal strength of each satellite from which a signal is being received as well as your exact latitude and longitude (with a minimum of 3 satellites' signals locked in), altitude (minimum of 4), and speed. I wish you could display the altitude on the main mapping screen, but that's not an option. I'd rather see the altitude there than the time. Perhaps that could be addressed in a firmware update? :) You can set a "speed alert" as well, to warn you if you exceed a preselected speed. You can even choose "auto speed," which uses the type of road you're on to determine the most likely speed limit. Not sure how useful this is, but it's a neat option.Included in the box are the GPS unit itself (mine came ready-to-go with about a 30% charge), an AC power adapter, a DC car adapter, the windshield suction-mount bracket, a mounting cradle, the dashboard mounting disc, a touch-screen stylus (slides into the upper rear of the GPS unit; I doubt I'll use it much, but there it is), a USB cable, a nice storage pouch, and two owner's guides -- one for the software and one for the hardware. To my surprise (since I didn't read the original description carefully enough), there is also a very nice remote control (with battery) included that duplicates virtually every function of the menu and touch screen on the main unit. It has seven buttons and a four-way circular rocker switch with the typical "OK" button in the middle. I virtually never use the remote, but I suppose it's nice to have, all the same.A stereo headphone jack is on the right side and allows connection to anything with a 1/8" input jack. I plan on testing this out with my car stereo as it has an auxiliary input jack on the face. I can store hundreds of MP3s on an SD card and away I go! Any navigation audio prompts are played through the car stereo in this set-up, as well.The user interface is very, very good. The printed user guide isn't necessary at all for basic operation and navigation; however, for some of the more advanced features, the guide is helpful. The MP3 player's interface is wonderful... very intuitive. Loading songs into the playlist is a bit cumbersome, but not overly so, and I didn't buy this to be used as an MP3 player anyway.The GPS antenna on the rear of the unit swings back and forth, so you can adjust it to improve reception. It also has a jack for an optional external GPS antenna. They thought of everything! Future firmware and mapping updates can be done via either the USB connection (and a computer) or maybe even downloaded onto an SD card.I can't recommend this unit highly enough. Even at full price ($200) it would be worth it. When it's on sale, though, it becomes an astounding bargain. No buyer's remorse on this product whatsoever!
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful.Nice unit, nice price
By Mike K
Three cheers for Nextar C3! I bought this unit not expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. The unit doesn't give information on the GPS chipset or speed of the CPU. However, I will say that it acquires satellites quickly and it is very quick on plotting a trip and coming up with POIs.The display is bright and colorful and easy to read. Some of the info on the bottom of the page is a bit small for my aging eyes, but that is only a minor inconvenience. It is very easy to put in an address, city or intersection and the Nextar C3 then takes you there. If you deviate from the route, the Nextar will recalculate a new route for you (if possible). I put in a bunch of "difficult" addresses in the Nextar including my in-laws isolated cabin and my friend's isolated farm. No Problem for the Nextar, it came up the correct route in no time.The Nextar C3 will give you clear voice prompts "Turn right in .5 miles" Prepare to turn right," etc. It also gives you a number of visual cues on the screen including telling you the name of the street to turn on, a graphic bar that shows you how soon you need to turn and a visual arrow that tells you the direction to turn.The Nextar has 1.6 million points of interest (POIs), but what does that mean? It means that you can ask the Nextar to locate for you important places like gas stations or hotels either from you current location or "another city" which could be your destination. A phone number is included in the data base so you can call ahead and make your reservation. GPS devices can have from 750 thousand to over 6 million POIs, so what is the difference? It is in the categories. A 6 million POI GPS won't include more gas stations (for instance) but it may include things like beauty shops and veterinarians. The Nextar includes all of the important POI categories like: gas, ATMs, hotels and rest areas (plus many more). In the shopping category it lists shopping malls but not many Walmarts or Targets (great stores when traveling). I was happy with the POIs on the Nextar and I think that it would serve most individual's needs.A general word about ALL GPS POI databases:1. Stores open and close and move so the databases are never 100% accurate.2. For some reason, even established stores and facilities are occasionally missed (even in the 6 million POI databases).3. Most stores tend to cluster (gas stations, hotels) so there are usually alternatives available.4. Despite their limitations, POIs work the vast majority of time and really make traveling a pleasure.The Nextar also has a built in MP3 player but it will only work if navigation is turned off. It plays via the small speaker on the Nextar but you could connect the headphone jack to iPod style mini transmitter and play it via your car's radio. It does not play restricted formats (like downloads). I have not used this feature, but some may find it useful.I am very pleased with the overall performance of the Nextar and found that the level of performance is on par with the more expensive brand name GPS devices.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.Awesome and easy to use!
By D. Truong
Now that GPS In-car navigation systems are finally affordable, I decided it was time for me to buy one of these. My brother had bought the Mio C220 Portable Car Navigation System and we used it on a road trip together. It worked quite well but sometimes it had a few minor glitches... like thinking we were on a particular road while we were in fact in a parking lot. And sometimes it thought we were off the map when we were on a small highway. So those few annoyances made me want to find a comparable or superior product that was within the same price range. (The Mio C220 is one of the least expensive, full featured, and best rated in it's price range). My research led me to the Nextar C3. It had rave reviews and seemed to have everything I needed: 1.6 million POI, 1GB built in map memory, SD expandable slot with mp3 capabilities, voice prompt...etc. So when I finally got to play around with it, I found that it was even better than what I had expected... and even a bit cheaper than the MIO C220. Here is the list of my pros and cons.Pros:- Easy to use interface ( I didn't need to open manual to figure it out)- Sturdy Build ( I dropped it a few times already with no damage at all)- Voice prompt is clear and easy to understand, volume is loud enough and adjustable.- Mp3 player is a nice added feature- Very accurate indication of speed and location. (more accurate than MIO C220)- Adjustable fold down antenna designed well and still works when folded down.- Very portable (about the size of a small point & shoot camera) and included zippered case helps protect it.- Lots of nice included accessories like remote, car charger, car cradle.- Recalculates route very quickly when you make a wrong turn.- Map has 2D and 3D modes.- Touch screen works very well and stylus hides stows nicely in the back of unit. You can use the tip of your finger-nail too.Cons:- A bit slow at acquiring satellite signals at initial startup... about 5 minutes.- Does not seem to verbally tell you that you've arrived at the destination, but it's indicated on the map by a big X.- Screen is a bit small, but still readable.Conclusion: For the price, this GPS unit exceeds my expectations. Especially impressive are all the features it includes and it's sturdy build quality. For this price, I was expecting something a bit more 'flimsy' in design, but this thing feels very solid... yet compact. It's also very easy to use and attractive. I'm very happy with this unit so far and it seems like all the rave reviews about it were right on the money.Other products you may consider in this price range:Mio C220 Portable Car Navigation System
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