My Review of The C50

A few wanted to know how I liked my new Cheetah C50 Intelligent GPS. Here is my total unbiased review for what it’s worth.

What I Like…
1) Reasonably priced
2) Of course the fact that you can constantly update your red light and speed camera database with a paid subscription. Plus many other warnings and alerts.
3) You can personally mark up to 100 “marked locations” (bad intersections, speed traps, etc).
4) You can mark up to 5 speed reminders (use this feature with discretion or it can be annoying).
5) Shows a small compass & your true speed, unlike your cars manufacturer odometer speed which shows 3-4 miles faster than you are really going.
6) Turns into a clock when you’re at a stand still.
7) Small footprint. Fits in the palm of your hand.
8) Products are well supported at their website & via email.
9) Fits in my V1 carry case along with my V1 and remote.
10) They sell accessories for the C50 as well as other devices to interface.
11) A lot more to like. See more features in Veil Guy’s review here…
http://veilguy.blogspot.com/2009/08/...-of-breed.html


What I dislike…
1) The biggest flaw in this unit is that there is no self or manual dimming display. I find the display to be bright at night. Other owners claim they don’t have an issue. But really, the Vizalert has auto dimming. Every RD and GPS has this auto or manual feature. Why not the C50? An engineering oversight in my opinion. A tint screen emulsion is a good band aid as suggested in another post. I will post pictures on how easy it is.
2) The connecter on the power cord is a bit bulky and sticks out a good inch from the unit. You wouldn’t think this was a big deal but considering its size, it looks a little awkward looking when plugged in as do many radar detectors.
3) Unless you build yourself a small 5 VDC supply with a female USB outlet, even the hardwire kit relies on the special cigarette plug to drop the voltage.

Conclusion:
All & all I would recommend this device to compliment your RD & or jammer. The driver must trust the well supported Trinity 2 software and get down-loadable updates routinely. For the price, I believe they have one of the best products of its kind.

Good review, and I tend to agree on most of the points. I added my comments below to address some of the dislikes you listed.

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Originally Posted by Techhead

What I dislike…
1) The biggest flaw in this unit is that there is no self or manual dimming display. I find the display to be bright at night. Other owners claim they don’t have an issue. But really, the Vizalert has auto dimming. Every RD and GPS has this auto or manual feature. Why not the C50? An engineering oversight in my opinion. A tint screen emulsion is a good band aid as suggested in another post. I will post pictures on how easy it is.

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I've never really noticed it before until you mentioned it, so I guess you can put me in the "it doesn't bother me" group.

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Originally Posted by Techhead

2) The connecter on the power cord is a bit bulky and sticks out a good inch from the unit. You wouldn’t think this was a big deal but considering its size, it looks a little awkward looking when plugged in as do many radar detectors.

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You can run the C50 using any mini-USB cable. Meritline has many different ones to chose from - different length, gauge, angled connectors, etc. - so you can find the one that fits your particular install better.

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Originally Posted by Techhead

3) Unless you build yourself a small 5 VDC supply with a female USB outlet, even the hardwire kit relies on the special cigarette plug to drop the voltage.

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I just hardwired a 12V socket under my dash and bought one of those low-profile dual-USB plugs for it. Now I can use any standard USB cable(s) to run 2 5V devices off the same plug. Works well for the C50 and a GPS for example.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61HiczIiRsL.jpg

The only other thing I don't like about mine is I wish I could set the distance or how many seconds of warning I want to speedtraps I mark. You are stuck with the default 1000ft warning.

thx for the information man. I've been kinda on the fence. But I think I'm going to buy one from Blinder-Guy now.

-The lack of a dimming feature does bother me a bit since I like to run in stealth mode at night.
-The lack of ability to change the alert distance is a bit annoying. But I'm never driving that fast when approaching a RLC. so 1000' should be ok.

I would like the ability to disable the compass until an alert event. I don't really need a 3rd compass. But if the compass function works in conjunction with the RLC alert I can live with that. I do like the fact it has an external antenna jack and audio jack so I can plug it into my car mixer.

From what's I've seen in YouTube videos the Speedometer function seems to be pretty quick to react (as compared to my old Nuvi 680).

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Originally Posted by fatchick1o9

I would like the ability to disable some features like the Clock at a standstill. I have like 4 clocks in my car form multiple devices.

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The great thing about it's clock is that it works off of the atomic clock. I set my car's clocks and my watch by the C50.

Yeah I guess I could change my stereo clock to show track title/time left. The I could rip out my OEM Mustang clock and install a hidden display for countermeasures or battle switches.

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Originally Posted by switch626

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Originally Posted by fatchick1o9

I would like the ability to disable some features like the Clock at a standstill. I have like 4 clocks in my car form multiple devices.

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The great thing about it's clock is that it works off of the atomic clock. I set my car's clocks and my watch by the C50.

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Except it's been an hour behind ever since we went to DST.

I should revise my statement about the clock. apparently you can disable the clock if you are a Member. My apologies to Cheetah for my misinformed statement. I edited my original post to reflect the correct information.

Good review.It is definitely worth the money.Only thing i don't like is like you have to pay trinity for updates.

but they put the work into having an accurate database. Unlike Trapster which is fed info by the ignorant public that cant tell the differance between a traffic monitoring camera and a true redlight camera. So I would gladly pay a fee (which is pretty cheap really) for an accurate database that actually tells you if you are traveling towards a RLC on a direction that is enforced by the RLC.

Trapster falses so damn much on the RLC function that it's super annoying. I know the people at Trapster try to clean up the sloppy public submissions but it's still annoying.

I'll pay for accuracy instead or getting free slop.

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Originally Posted by DUI Elite

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Originally Posted by rocky2

The only other thing I don't like about mine is I wish I could set the distance or how many seconds of warning I want to speedtraps I mark. You are stuck with the default 1000ft warning.

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x2. Being in the city, I'll get alerts about a red light camera 2 blocks away. :(

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If your personal marked locations are fixed camera speed traps send in the locations to cheetah and they'll add them to the next database release, then you can adjust the alert distance down by seconds of warning via the user interface.

I use the Google earth pin to get the coordinates spot on then use the vector tool to get the direction the camera targets traffic. I then send that in with the street names and posted speed limit.

With my C50's set to speed and red-light cameras only now they are very quiet and a pleasure to use in my city.

I tell you, the biggest thing I like about the C50 is having an accurate digital read out of your precise speed your traveling. I have mine mounted in the instrument panel and it still picks up the satellite fine.

Also their database is dead nuts on top of everything as long as you get the updates routinely. They just put up a new red light camera in the city of Rochester and sure enough, it warned me as I approached it.