Garmin nuvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
|
Our Price: $25.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin nuvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: My Likes and Dislikes
Summary: 3 Stars
Unfortunately, I live in the sticks and have no close access to playing with any gps units before I purchase one...so I have to rely on mail order. Thank goodness for Amazon.
Likes:
- Quick Satellite retrieval
- Shows Lat, Long, and altitude (you have to find this menu)
- Many points of interests available
- Small and easy to carry around, but big enough to see while driving.
- Easy to Navigate the menu system
- Decent battery life
- It has been reported that topographic maps can be uploaded to this machine using the ExpertGPS software by a third party company. I have not tried this yet, but I like the idea as I hike a lot.
Dislikes:
- Garmin is a nickel and dime you to death company. I understand having to make a profit, but older units came with pc software this unit does not...
... No Software for pc included to plot trips and later upload to the unit. For $100 more you can buy this software.
- You can only save one route at a time. You can save up to 500 waypoints, but only one route.
- You have to pop the antenna up in order for it to acquire satellites. So it does not fit nicely in your hand if you decide to use it hiking. (yes - I know that it is made for automotive usage, but it can be converted easily as a hand held unit with of course purchasing software for it).
- No easy battery change out without breaking into the unit. These modified cell phone lithium type batteries typically last a year and I"m sure Garmin has made the battery proprietary and it will cost the price of a new unit to change out. Only conjecture here (When that time comes I'll hack into it as it will be out of warranty - I'm a do it yourself kind of guy)
- MS Vista file transfers are painfully slow acts like a usb 1.1 compliant unit. I backed up the files from my Nuvi to Vista. 1.36 GB took 1 hour and after it timed out a couple of times. On the other hand Ubuntu Linux transfers were extremely quick - 1.36 GB took 5 minutes. I'm not sure if this is a Garmin issue or a Windows vista issue since it is snappy on my Ubuntu machine. Most likley vista driver issues.
- Map is outdated. I work in my county court house which is 8 years old and it is not on the map. The road to my house is 8 years old and it is not on the map. So I will have to update the map software ad cross my fingers that I can locate myself :) I'm sure this will cost money for an update? The interesting thing is that businesses appear updated. Hmm... county municipalities are not showing, but a business that is 1-2 years old is. I wonder if Garmin makes money from putting private businesses on their maps first and roads come secondary?
I called Garmin to see if the unit was supposed to come with the pc software. They state that the unit contains internal software and I can program it by using the unit. I jokingly stated do you know how long it will take my fat fingers to program this small unit? I was then told I could purchase the software for my pc. I said for the price of the unit I just assumed it came with software. Again I was told that it is built in, but I can purchase the same software for $100 to run on my pc.
Garmin has not fully won me over unless I can find some nice cheap shareware/freeware to hack into this unit and make it functional to link up to my pc for mapping sequences.
I'll play with this unit a few days and see if it grows on me if not it goes back and I will buy something cheaper that will do the same thing.
Don't get me wrong....I like the unit and it is sturdy, its just lacking updated maps and no pc software to plot your course to upload to the unit which I believe a unit this expensive should have.
Customer Review: A very good unit at a great price
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently purchased this GPS unit for a trip to Northern California's wine country and a trip down the coast to San Diego. After doing my homework, I settled on the 350 because I wanted something small and portable enough to fit easily in my carry-on bag for the flight out there, and I wanted something that navigated as well as the big boys but I was not particularly interested in bells and whistles like blue tooth, built in traffic antennae and FM transmission that come with the more expensive models.
It turned out to be a pretty good choice and I'm pleased with my purchase. My previous real-life GPS experience was limited to outdated models that came with rental cars, and I found the Nuvi 350 to be light years ahead of those in terms of ease of use and the map software. We punched in addresses of some fairly obscure, out of the way wineries and we were delivered to the doorstep of each with no drama. In fact we ended up taking some extremely scenic routes which we probably would never have undertaken on our own for fear of getting lost or turned around. The text to voice feature was one that I wasn't sure was worth paying for, but I've changed my thinking on that one. It's a tremendous help to hear the names of the streets you're turning on, and I wouldn't want to do without this.
I found the screen very easy to read except in very bright, very direct sunlight. Even then it's acceptable. Having seen that many newer units come with the wide screen, I was a bit concerned that the screen might not be big enough to be easily readable. Not so . . . it's fine.
My Nuvi came with the 2007 map software and I didn't notice a single error in terms of roads that didn't exist, had been changed to one ways, etc. I did notice a few quirks regarding the interface. When trying to program in the street address for a certain winery it didn't recognize the existence of the street. But when I selected from the library of pre-programmed destinations a winery immediately adjacent to the one I wanted, the address popped right up with the precise street name I was trying to enter. Once home in Ohio, I noted that it would not recognize the existence of a nearby suburb when I tried to search for a restaurant in that pre-programmed destination list, but directly typing in the address worked just fine. Weird. The number of pre-programmed destinations is impressive, and proved extremely useful when I arrived at the San Diego airport only to find to my dismay that the airport rental car turn in was not actually at the airport (we had picked up the car in San Francisco). While my wife was trying to get someone on the phone from the rental company to find out where they were, I was able to find them listed in the Nuvi's database and it took us right there.
The controls are fairly intuitive and it took only a few minutes of fiddling with it to gain a good working knowledge. This is a good thing, because the documentation that comes with it is pretty thin, and even the on-line manual (I hate when they do that) is not all that comprehensive. Like another poster, I too would have preferred a qwerty keyboard to the alphabetical one provided.
I'm a bit perplexed by a review or two on this site that complains about satellite acquisition time. I don't think my unit ever took as long as a minute to acquire a satellite lock, and once acquired it never lost it despite having been in several sheltered areas where my satellite radio gave up the ghost. I find myself agreeing with its choice of routes the vast majority of the time, but not always.
Overall, if you're looking for a reliable unit with solid tracking ability and competent mapping in a compact package at a very reasonable price, the 350 is a great value.
Customer Review: Great GPS system, except for one BIG flaw
Summary: 5 Stars
I've used several top of the line GPS systems, including expensive in-car systems in recent cars, and have found this comparable or better to the in-car ones, with a few exceptions. I bought this system to use on trips, and so far I'm very happy with it.
First, the one BIG flaw, then I list the many pluses and a few negatives.
After using the unit for two weeks, I started up the car, and immediately I received an on-screen message that the Blue Tooth firmware was updating. I don't use the Blue Tooth feature so I tried to cancel out of it, and turn off the device, which didn't work. Even holding down the on switch, it refuses to turn off. Unfortunately, this rendered the device useless for the next hour and a half, until the battery went dead and it turned off. After plugging in the cable, the device booted normally and I could navigate again. I looked and there doesn't appear to be a cold boot swith for a paper clip or anything like that as in the case of Palm Pilots or Pocket PCs. So all you can do is unplug the power cable and wait for the battery to go dead.***
I went into the menu and disabled Blue Tooth, and hopefully this won't happen again, but this is a very serious flaw with this system. If you were in the middle of an important navigation you'd be without nagivation for 90 minutes, or however long it took the battery to run down, and mine was fully charged. So beware. Since this morning, when it happened, it hasn't tried to update the firmware again, but who knows, these firmware updates could happen periodically.
That problem aside, here are the pluses:
1. Locates satellites very fast compared to my older Garmin from 3 years ago.
2. Only loses the satellite signal in very dense tree covered streets, unlike the older model (which was still top of the line).
3. Nice, 3-dimensional display of the road map.
4. Very detailed trip computer, as well as useful utilities such as a calculator, but no schedule or calendar, oddly enough, like the in-car systems I've used.
5. Has some intriguing options such as downloadable audio books, an SD slot for international maps that allow you to nagivate outside the US, and a battery mode for operation without the power cable.
6. Brighter and more detailed display, better than many in-car systems I've seen, although smaller in terms of the diagonal.
7. Very small and compact (about the size of an old Sony Walkman, if you remember that far back :-)).
8. The touch display is very convenient, and some in-car systems don't provide that capability.
Overall, the system has many more pluses than shorcomings. However, compared to the even more expensive in-car systems, I would include:
1. Screen display is smaller so that forks and branches in freeways and larger streets aren't shown on screen, so you have to guess looking at the display which lane you should be in. However, the audio instructions will tell you that, so if you listen carefully that shouldn't be a problem.
2. Sometimes it will instruct you to turn west, east, etc., instead of left or right. Unless you have a car compass, you won't necessarily know which direction that is. My in-car system will tell you either left, right, or continue straight.
All in all, though, this is a great product and I'm very satisfied with the features and performance despite its not being cheap.
***Note: Since writing this review, I've discovered the unit has a little plastic tab that is easily overlooked on the back of the unit that can be pressed to cold boot the system and stop the firmware from updating. After that, I was able to use the system normally again.
Customer Review: Inept Little Machine: Garmin NUVI 350
Summary: 1 Stars
Review of the GARMIN NUVI 350
When I first unwrapped the NUVI 350 I looked for the Directions and Owner's Manual. I found a slim little pamphlet with the most abbreviated directions I've ever seen. It was a preamble of things to come.
I turned it on, opened the antenna and the banner across the top of the screen declared it was "Acquiring Satellites". This banner remained there for the next ten minutes while the poor thing was supposed to be searching the heavens for information. It never did acquire anything, but just sat there flashing a red question mark at me. So I carried it in my car up to the top of our mountain, where there was an unobstructed view all around for 360 degrees. I turned it back on and waited and waited and waited until after almost another ten minutes, it finally acquired an image.
I began driving around with it and it seemed to have a 3 MPH lag on my speedometer speed. At 50 MPH it said 47 MPH and so on. Next, I tried to measure the distance from my house to an ice cream store about 12 miles away. I did this by putting in my home address and then driving to the ice cream store and putting in that address. Then I told it to take me home after carefully noting my speedometer's odometer reading. As my wife drove the car, I watched how it first stated a given distance and then generated a pink highlight overlay and white arrows indicating turns. The voice is an irritating "woman's" voice that sounds suspiciously like a former mother in law of mine. I recorded the turns and the distances shown and they were accurate, but upon arriving home and asking the NUVI to take me back to the ice cream store, it stated a different total that I subsequently found to be the line of sight distance rather than the actual miles I would have to travel.
Over this past week or so, I have entered a dozen or more destinations by first driving there and then asking the NUVI 350 to take me home. I could have entered the address for some of the locations, but I wanted to have the best accuracy the machine could provide. Indeed, when entering addresses, it knows which side of the street the destinations are on and approximately where in the block they should be. To test its ability, I entered my home address by selecting the state, town and road and address. Low and behold, It could not find my house even though it had been there many times by then. I asked it to take me several places that I know the shortest route to. The NUVI insisted on taking me by a roundabout route every time. In these times of ever-higher gasoline prices, it is important to go by the simplest and shortest route.
A case in point is a trip to a nearby lake. I drove from my house to the lake by the shortest route and then asked it to take me home. The route it generated was seven miles longer than the one I had just used! I find the NUVI to be a stupid and narrow-minded device that has little or no back up in the form of technical assistance. Several times I called Garmin for help and was told that the wait would be over 35 minutes! Not once was I ever connected to technical support!
This machine costs a lot of money and fails miserably in a rural or mountainous setting. It insists on taking the longest route possible and the mother-in-law voice has a certain grating quality that is very nasty sounding. When I have insisted on driving what I know to be the shorter route several times the voice says "recalculating" with a very impatient, almost grating sound to it as though it it somehow angry that I am not obeying its directives.
All in all, I have found the NUVI 350 to be an inept little machine that is definitely not worth the money I've spent on it.
Customer Review: Great, but here are some comments, suggestions, requests, and hints.
Summary: 4 Stars
I've used the Nuvi to navigate around Boston, Washington and Miami...(and Rome....but more about that later).
Generally, the nav results are great, TTS guidance is very good, except in a couple of very complicated multi-highway intersections. In those situations...I found the advice confusing or unclear or wrong.
I wish that Garmin would add a Lat/Long display screen. I'm hoping this might come in a software upgrade. (hint, hint....)
Package size is awesome.....fits in my shirt or coat pocket, when I need it to. Fit and finish on the product is really first rate.....the Nuvi just feels good in the hand.
Signal acquistion is generally very good, but I just can't replicate the same performance as other reviewers who get signals in their basements. If I'm in the house, near (within 3 ft of) a large (4'x6') window, I get nothing. Zero. Then, after a few minutes, it asks me if I'm indoors and an affirmative response turns off the GPS.
This next is trivial, but I really like being able to pick a British english accent for my voice guidance. A fun enhancement would be to add other accents and even male voices. How about a George C Scott voice in his best Gen Patton role telling you where to go??
Now...for Europe: I bought the NavTeq Europe software. Used it in Italy and Switzerland. Worked really well. First, the small size of the Nuvi meant that walking around Rome with it in hand was easy....and pedestrian mode (Navigation > Vehicle>Pedestrian) worked well. And, signal lock in the narrow cobble-stoned streets of old Rome was excellent.
A suggestion from this pedestrian experience. It's not much fun walking around Rome if all you see is the screen of your Nuvi. It's also desirable to keep it out and 'on' so that you don't need to wait for signal acquisition every time you want to check position. Bottom line: I felt very insecure walking through crowded streets holding the unit in my hand. What I wanted was one of those little wrist straps that come with most small digital cameras. It would only require adding a small eyelet to the Nuvi body. It would help a lot!
Picking locations was sometimes a challenge. For example, I wanted to get from where I was staying to the airport in Rome. How would you do that? You can't enter "Rome Airport"....and you're unlikely to know an exact street address. So, I needed to know that the airport was called 'Leonardo Da Vinci' or search based on the Italian spelling of 'airport'. This could probably use a little work by the good folks over at NavTeq.
Another point about Europe maps. It was not necessary for me to buy an extra SD card for the unit in order to store tha map info for Europe. In my unit today, I have most of Tuscany, most of NW Switzerland, and all of the US.....and the base unit stilll has a few hundred Mbs of empty storage. So, it seems to me , that the 2Gb card is only needed if you want 100% of the Europe data plus 100% of the North America data on the unit at all times. I don't need that and you probably don't either.
POI data for Rome seemed pretty good, but not up to the latest Zagat or Michelin guide. Looking for places to eat and seeing little pizza symbols dot the map was a hoot!
All in all, I find this to be a great unit, easily improved with some small tweaks, but: it's too expensive, and I don't find the "Travel Kit" features useful. You need to pay more for the travel guide, pay more for the language guide, I prefer my iPod to the MP3 player, and I get my audiobooks through iTunes store for my iPod as well. Other than that, I love it and recommend it highly, and would give it 5 stars, if it were priced at ~$400-500.