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Garmin StreetPilot i2 GPS (Vehicle, 2.1" LCD - MPN: 0100043300)
Description: The StreetPilot i2 is the monochrome version in the i-series StreetPilots—a line of small, inexpensive automotive GPS navigators that make driving fun.No larger than a baseball and priced affordably, the StreetPilot i-series is destined to .... Read More Description: The StreetPilot i2 is the monochrome version in the i-series StreetPilots—a line of small, inexpensive automotive GPS navigators that make driving fun.No larger than a baseball and priced affordably, the StreetPilot i-series is destined to be a hit for commuters, college students, and corporate travelers who are looking to experience the ease and enjoyment of GPS satellite navigation for the first time.Don’t let the size fool you: The StreetPilot i-series has many of the same powerful capabilities as our other premium automotive GPS navigators.The i-series features a unique and convenient click-to-enter scroll wheel and a “back” button which makes it easy to select a destination from the unit’s menu-driven interface. The i2 and i3 provide voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions through a built-in speaker, and the unit easily moves from vehicle to vehicle with an integrated suction cup mount. The i-series will also automatically put drivers back on course if they miss a turn.The StreetPilot i2 and i3 come with a MapSource City Select North America NT v7 DVD, which contains mapping detail of the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico—featuring nearly six million points of interest, including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and attractions. Users load the City Select data onto an included 128MB Transflash™ data card via a fast USB connection.Garmin has also added the ability for customers to augment the pre-loaded maps with Custom POI’s from third parties, such as school zones and safety cameras. In addition, a proximity-alert feature is included to optionally notify the driver of upcoming Custom POI’s.The i2 features a high-contrast backlit FSTN monochrome display. Motorists can choose from either a three-dimensional mapping perspective, or overhead “bird’s eye” view. For added convenience, drivers can power the unit with either unit with two AA batteries (six hours, typical use) or the included 12-volt adapter cable. Minimize |
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| Date Reviewed: 12/03/2005 |
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Strengths: Cute size; Intuitive button design; Easy operation; Good accuracy; Clear voice prompt; Unbeatable price.
Weaknesses: The only thing really annoying me (or just I wasn't able to figure out how to do it?) is that I CANNOT move the map around under the "View Maps" section except zooming in/out.
Summary: 2005-12-30 21:41:01 Generally speaking, I like this cute GPS unit. Not only the compact size, but the accurate positioning and easy operation at most of the time as well as its cool price. From my experience, the included 128M TransFlash memory card is pretty sufficient for our general use. Actually I put 7 states in it!
The relatively small screen is not that bad as I thought before, and it is unavoidable if you think about its cute size. The other con may be its non-color display. But think about it, how much you paid? That's kind of deal for my understanding to save 100 bucks at the expense of color. And to tell you the truth, not that bad. Two AA baterries give this small unit more flexibility. But I'd say, it'll be much better if the unit could charge the NiMH batteris when external power is supplied! The only thing really annoying me (or just I wasn't able to figure out how to do it?) is that I CANNOT move the map around under the "View Maps" section except zooming in/out, and I CANNOT control the navigation speed when I turn off the GPS mode and simulate the route indoor!
So totally, I give it 4 stars out of 5 with my 95% satisfaction.
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| Date Reviewed: 11/21/2005 |
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Strengths: Small & compact size, "bird's eye" view, good voice commands.
Weaknesses: AA battery, MicroSD (Transflash) card is definitely not as flexible as the regular SD card. More expensive.
Summary: I fully endorse this product. It's a viable GPS solution for those who don't want to spend a small fortune to get their car into the 21st century. One of the biggest benefits is the ability to program it in your hand then snap it into place on it's holder. The screen is a bit small, it is very bright with good detail, so the small screen size is not a major drawback. The biggest drawback is the use of AA battery instead of the lithium ion battery. But for $200? Hey, you get what you paid for!
100% of People (17/17) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/22/2006 |
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Strengths: Price, accuracy, voice prompts, graphics, ponts of interest features, and on and on.
Weaknesses: Size and a little bit awkward scroll button, but at this price, who cares?
Summary: Okay, I got this puppy on a secret Christmas sale from Walmart for $200. Best $200 I ever spent! I travel on business a lot, so the dimunitive size serves me well, and frankly, is more than adequate, especially with the incredibly clear voice prompts. The non color screen is not a problem at all, unless you want the flash of the color screen of the i3 (NOTE - do not get the i5!!!!! You can buy a 1 gig trans flash card now that will pretty much take the entire U.S.!). This thing is amazingly accurate - I have tried to fool it and take back roads that I would not think anyone knew anything about and it put me right on the road and told me exactly where to go. In fact, I tried to fool it on a road trip to the north of Knoxville, and I took some back roads that I knew, but I was convinced no one else knew about. Not only did it send me on the correct route (once it figured out I was not going the way it wanted me to go), but sent me on a better way on a route I was not aware of after roaming these mountains for years! Now, get this: My golfing buddy has an Acura with a $2,000 on board GPS. We went to the Masters this year, and hooked up this unit to compare it with his on board. When we left Augusta, we found the interstate was gridlocked and decided to just point it north (towards home)on the first road that appeared to head in that direction. The Acura unit kept trying to get us to turn around to get back to the interstate for sixty miles! As I said, we were headed north towards home, and it kept wanting us to do a one eighty and go the opposite direction so it could get us to an interstate. The Garmin realized about only six miles into the journey that we wanted to head north, and started guiding us to the back roads that would get us there. Sixty miles later, the Acura unit finally figured it out, but wanted us to take a long route to the east to get to the interstate. Both units were set to the same preferences (quickest route with a preference for freeways), but the Garmin was kicking the Acura's butt for the route, including the ETA, which, by the way, the Garmin is incredibly accurate. The other great feature is the Point of Interest (POI). You can be anywhere and hit the go to feature, and it will ask you what you want. Briefly, if you want to eat, you hit restaurants, it will ask you what kind (fast food, American, Chinese etc) and you take your pick. It will first ask you to spell the restaurant's name, and below that, in order of proximity, it lists the closest restaurants, which you have to option to scroll down to. Say you want American, you do the thing, and you note a Cracker Barrel is only three miles away. You highlight it and then hit navigate, and it will take you right to it. The same for hotels, night clubs, even parks and golf courses!!!!! I have only hit the high points. The features are way to many to mention. Can you tell I am incredibly impressed? And, trust me, I have been dabbling in GPS for years...,
100% of People (11/11) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 11/30/2005 |
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Strengths: accurate directions, clear voice prompts, low price
Weaknesses: no color screen, no touch screen
Summary: I bought a Tomtom Go for my wife last year. It was nearly $700 on sale and has become a invaluable tool for her (and for me on those rare occasions when I get to use it). The i2 was closer to $200 which is why I decided to give it a try. I knew that I was giving up screen size, touch screen, color, and a few features, for a lower price but all I really needed was accurate navigation. The i2 really delivers. I'd recommend it to anyone who just needs nav without the glitz. You don't buy an economy car and then look for the leather seats! If you want nav at the lowest price this is it.
100% of People (6/6) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/14/2006 |
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Strengths: Price
Weaknesses: Small dispaly, but with voice this is a minor drawback.
Summary: The only faults I have found is
1. A few times when first starting it may take 30 seconds or so to accurately figure out which direction I am headed. It might give a wrong turn until I have traveled a tenth of a mile or so. This has happened 3X or so.
2. If the destination is .2 miles or less from my last turn sometimes it doesn't give a warning that you are aproaching, it just tells you you have arrived. This has happened 2X or so.
Color is over rated. This dispaly looks fine. For the price it's one of the best electronic purchases I have ever made. It makes my work so much easier.
100% of People (4/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/03/2006 |
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Strengths: Compact, very intuative interface, huge POI database, great voice instructions, input "wheel" is great.
Weaknesses: Small screen, cannot pan the map, cannot easily display the calculated route, will not recharge NiMH AA batteries when on 12V power.
Summary: For the price point, this is an awesome basic GPS navigation system. I got this for less than $200 and it will do just about everything a $400-$700 system will do. The unit is so small, it can be placed right next to the rear view mirror and not block the driver's view out the winshield.
The biggest sacrifice is the tiny monochrome screen, which is just too small for the map to be easily seen while driving. However, the voice prompts are so good that its really not necessary to look at the map anyways.
I have found the I2 to take only about 30 seconds to aquire satellites once I pull out of the garage. Routes also take only a few seconds to be calculated. Routing with waypoints is awkward to input, but can be done and the I2 quickly recalculates a new route when you deviate from the current one.
One of the best features is the large Points-of-Interest (POI) database. The I2 will quickly find food, lodging and fuel by either selecting the category desired or entering just the first couple of letters of the name. Locations are displayed in order of the distance from your current location. Finally, the I2 can be programmed with your own custom POI using the same software as the more expensive Garmin GPS systems. For example, you can load the locations of school zones or traffic cameras in your area and the I2 will give you a verbal warning whenever you approach these areas.
If price is the most important criteria, this is the best GPS out there. However, if you want all the "bells and whistles" and a readable color screen then you'll have to spend at least twice as much.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/01/2006 |
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Strengths: Elegant software, simple interface, tiny size makes it easy to put in a suitcase, loud speaker for directions, color screen not missed.
Weaknesses: No GPS unit will give you an overview of a city. You still need paper maps to learn how things are laid out.
Summary: I'd been waiting for GPS navigator prices to come down out of the sky and jumped on this when I heard about it.
I've had this for two days now and I just love it! It's so tiny. They say it's the size of a baseball, but it's truly not that big. When I park my truck I put it in a cup holder screen-down and no one looking could tell what it is, so I don't even have to put it in the glove compartment. It's going to be super easy to throw it in a suitcase and take it when I fly somewhere.
In spite of its tiny size I find the screen (not being color is no big deal at all) plenty big when mounted next to my rearview mirror. It blocks no view that way and screen detail is easy to see. The mount is sturdy and very easy to install and remove. The mount's ball snaps into a hole in the back of the unit. This ballmount is tight enough that you do not have to hold the back of the device to keep it from moving when you push buttons on the front.
It comes with a 128MB transflash flash memory card which is about the size and thickness of a fingernail (and not your biggest one either)! Garmin sells higher capacity cards, but you can use any Transflash card, now officially called a microSD card. I bought a 512MB online for $38 shipped (2/2006) and it included an SD adapter so you can also use it in any device that uses SD cards. The original card had room for TX, AR, NM, and OK (TX is a BIG file). The 512MB card had room for about 2/3 of the US and half of Canada. I then overwrote my original card and loaded much of the remainding states on the 128 card and will now normally never have to reload data in spite of much traveling. There is no way to add one state or delete one. You upload everything fresh each time you change anything. Garmin's copy protection software works invisibly. I never knew it was there.
Loading the cards takes a LONG time, perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes for the 512 card. There was no difference in speed between USB 1.1 and 2.0 so the unit may not have 2.0. About half of this time is PC time spent creating the files to upload.
Volume on the i2 is great. The default level is loud enough to startle me occasionally when it's quiet, but loud enough to hear clearly with the windows down at 60 mph. You can change volume and everything else about it in the menu system.
Garmin's software is simply elegant! You won't care that there's not a touch screen. That little wheel works fine and the menus are very well thought out. The automatic recalculation of the route works great and only takes three or four seconds. Miss a turn... no problem. It'll get you back on track with no muss, no fuss (I took a wrong turn on purpose to see it work).
The unit turns on by itself when you turn on the ignition and powers down 30 seconds after to shut off the engine (to give you a chance to abort shutdown and use it without external power, perhaps to load an address while in your hand rather than on the windshield), so you normally do not have to do anything to get it going.
It has a simulation mode so you can load a route and see how it works indoors when you first get it. The Quick Start manual will get you going, but you'll need to read the full pdf manual on disk or online to be able to do everything. The full manual is very clear and well-written. Note that the data are on a DVD, not on a CD. A CD drive will NOT read this disk!
No wonder everyone says Garmin is the best. This little thing is beautifully designed and works great. I haven't been this happy with an electronic product since I bought a TiVo (if you don't have a TiVo, get one. It'll change your life, no kidding). If you can't tell by now, I heartily recommend the Garmin i2. You'll have a blast!
89% of People (8/9) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 11/15/2006 |
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 Nice, as long as you don't EVER move it Strengths: Like everyone else says, it does what most others at a cheaper price
Weaknesses: If you ever take the suction cup off, you will never get it to stay back on. NEVER.
Summary: I used this between two cars, but after a month or so, the suction was done. It just drops off the windshield. I even cleaned it and the windshield thoroughly with glass cleaner, but that only worked once. I'll now have to keep it in one car, and I'll have to do some kind of adhesive to the suction cup and the windshield.
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| Date Reviewed: 05/03/2006 |
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Strengths: voice instructions, easy to operate, and very portable
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: It talks you step by step to your destination. It will
say for example "Turn left in 100 ft" and the arrows
on the screen also show you the way to go. If it could
say the street name, it would be great. But that's not
a big deal. It is not the color one but it is not bad
at all. I would not pay one hundred bucks more for the
colorful i3. If you miss your turn, it'll recalculate
your route and guide you back on course so you can't
really get lost. I personally think this unit is the
best I've seen for this price. It's so small that you
can stick it right to your windshield somewhere where
you can just flick your eyes over to see it, and it
doesn't distract you or block your view at all. I can
take it with me when I leave my car, which keeps my
car windows safe. It sometimes loses satellite signals, which happened to me in downtown San Francisco and part of hilly highway 101. It has never lost a signal in Texas so far.
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| Date Reviewed: 05/02/2006 |
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Strengths: Price, size, software & ease of use
Weaknesses: None really, standard memory should be 256, better battery life & at same price.
Summary: This is a great first GPS I live in Chicago area & have a 11 state sales area, I was able to load 10 of 11 states. even without a touch screen it's easy to enter a address. Placed it next to rearview mirror & even with the small display I have no trouble seeing it. you can't find a better GPS near this price.
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| Date Reviewed: 04/01/2006 |
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Strengths: Compact, loud speaker, can hold about 128MB worth of data, good mount, cheapest price, good screen
Weaknesses: no color, routing is circular sometimes, screen could be bigger
Summary: I got this little gizmo because I always got lost while driving. For 200, you literally have a guide that can get you anymore. The screen is very visible during the day time, but and very clear at night. Although not color, it's acceptable. The prompts are very clear, and loud, I usually keep it at level 3 out of 5, however I wish it would say the street names. Looking at the screen for a couple of seconds is good enough to see the general direction I'm going. The voice will tell you to turn left or right when you get close enough to the intersection. You'll need to do a route navigation first, because the addresses aren't too exact. As always, it doesn't take into account any new construction. Overall, a very good product.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/17/2006 |
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Strengths: small size, voice commands, transflash card, clear display even in sun,removeable batteries
Weaknesses: B&W display,software(maps) could be more accurate, small size display
Summary: Garmin Street Pilot i2 is the least expensive of the GPS(s). It has all the functionality of a more expensive units. It doesn't have the features of top end gps(s) (color, touch screen) but it does what it supposed to do.
The screen is on small size, but it is clear and visible. The software is easy to understand that you don't need to read a manual to start using the unit. I was up and running in less than 10 minutes and this included updating the on-board firmware and storing some maps have uploaded about 6 states and still have approx. half of the memory left.
Voice commands are clear and a volume adjustment is included.
The map information is somewhat accurate.
The reception is good.
I purchased mine at Walmart for less than 170 dollars.
Highly Recommended
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| Date Reviewed: 02/27/2006 |
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Strengths: Compact size with great features.
Weaknesses: The memory card is the Transflash card, not commonly used in other devices.
Summary: The screen is very readable. The voice, which is more important than the screen, is loud and easy to understand. The screen is not color, but the voice prompts are more useful when navigating; keeping your eyes on the road. Very intuitive interface that can be utilized right out of the box, with little or no reading of the documentation.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/02/2006 |
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Strengths: Accurate map and positioning, Strong signal in cities, Clear voice navigation, Small, Low cost.
Weaknesses: Very difficult to pan the map, Inputting destination address is slow, Route with several waypoints is not supported, Micro SD card(TransFlash memory) rather than regular SD card
Summary: This little GPS is great for travelling in cities. I could easily mount it to windshield and then know I won't get lost again. I strongly recommend Garmin i2 if you need accurate navigation from A to B among cities with limited budget.
You can load maps of several states to the included 128 MB memory. I hope Garmin i2 uses SD then I may use a 1 GB card to load maybe all North America maps into the GPS----the MicroSD card is more expensive than regular SD card.
i2 is great but before buying it, keep in mind that it is not good to be used for hiking or boating purpose (though the small size makes it handy all the time) because no track log is provided and i2 is not water proof. The most annoying thing is you cannot easily pan the map (though you may get around this by searching for POI or cities around your current position, this is painful).
Anyway, Garmin puts this product as a economical car navigation system. At its price range, i2 does everything it is supposed to do. i2 definitely will guide you through treets in North America.
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