Garmin Nuvi 350 - 3.5 in. Car GPS Receiver
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- Form Factor: Handheld, Fixed
- Map capabilities: Internal, Map cartridges / Data cards
- Enhanced accuracy: WAAS enabled
- Screen Size: 3.5 in.
- GPS Type: Automobile
- Input Method: Touch Screen
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Fantastic product, now lets see how great their support is.
Pros
Unequalled portability. Speaks the name of the street to turn onto (most dont), More...
Cons
Sometimes has trouble acquiring sattelite. In my case, windshield suction cup melted to windshield.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
So far after 2 weeks, Excellent product with some caveats.
For me a GPS is virtually a necessity, not a toy. I have ridden with several friends who had other brands that had "issues" such as taking a long time to acquire a sattelite or losing the signal periodically. Another problem I had noticed with others was an annoying habbit of constantly telling you to make a u-turn if you missed a designated turn. This may not sound like a big deal, but if you intentionally "miss" a turn due to a detour, closed road, etc you would want the GPS to immediately come up with an alternate route instead of just telling you to turn around. These were problems that made me leery of purchasing my own. Having said that, the 350 is excellent at instantly rerouting you in the event of a "missed" turn.
As far as sattelite acquisition, most of the time it is very quick. However, I have had difficulties only at first power up in the morning and not every time. For example, yesterday I was headed for a long trip into an unknown area of Pennsylvania. I powered up the unit in the morning and waited more than 30 seconds to acquire a sattelite. At this point, from my experience, the best thing to do is hit the hidden reset button on the back of the unit. After doing this about 5 times I was ready to give up when I decided to give the unit as much time as it needed to "acquire". After about 2 minutes it came up with a message saying it had timed out and started asking me questions like "have you travelled a substantial distance since last using the unit?" (no) Weather was clear, etc.
Finally after several resets the unit was able to get a signal and was fine for the remaining 5 hour round trip.
I'm not sure what causes this bug but will be talking to Garmin about it.
Another Major problem for me was after only owning the device for two weeks, all of that time the windshield mount suction cup was attached to one vehicle. I went to move the mount to another car. Alas , it wasn't to be, the rubber of the suction cup had apparently softened and become stuck like glue to my windshield. when I finally was able to pry it off, using only my fingers, no knives,etc. Pieces of rubber remained stuck to my windshield leaving the mounting device totally inoperative. Defective rubber? Am I the only one who's had this problem? I will contact Garmin and advise as to their handling of the situation.
I still love my Nuvi, it is generally very fast, accurate and has many nifty features. The TTS feature is a must for anyone who's used one without it. This is where the unit will speak out " turn right on River Road" instead of just saying "turn right". This may not sound like much, but if you are at a five or six way intersection, having the street name spoken aloud makes a big difference.
Arguably the best feature is it's outstanding portability,. Just slip it into it's carry pouch and put in pocket or purse, it's about the size of a deck of cards.
Riding in a friend's car? Take the 350 with you, the on- board battery and self contained antenna means you can hold it in your hand and give the driver perfect directions.
Additonally, the 350 has a huge library of businesses, restaraunts airports,hospitals, etc. It also plays MP3 audio and stores and displays jpeg photos. The Mp3 audio can only be played through your car stereo via an optional adaptor.
As far as sattelite acquisition, most of the time it is very quick. However, I have had difficulties only at first power up in the morning and not every time. For example, yesterday I was headed for a long trip into an unknown area of Pennsylvania. I powered up the unit in the morning and waited more than 30 seconds to acquire a sattelite. At this point, from my experience, the best thing to do is hit the hidden reset button on the back of the unit. After doing this about 5 times I was ready to give up when I decided to give the unit as much time as it needed to "acquire". After about 2 minutes it came up with a message saying it had timed out and started asking me questions like "have you travelled a substantial distance since last using the unit?" (no) Weather was clear, etc.
Finally after several resets the unit was able to get a signal and was fine for the remaining 5 hour round trip.
I'm not sure what causes this bug but will be talking to Garmin about it.
Another Major problem for me was after only owning the device for two weeks, all of that time the windshield mount suction cup was attached to one vehicle. I went to move the mount to another car. Alas , it wasn't to be, the rubber of the suction cup had apparently softened and become stuck like glue to my windshield. when I finally was able to pry it off, using only my fingers, no knives,etc. Pieces of rubber remained stuck to my windshield leaving the mounting device totally inoperative. Defective rubber? Am I the only one who's had this problem? I will contact Garmin and advise as to their handling of the situation.
I still love my Nuvi, it is generally very fast, accurate and has many nifty features. The TTS feature is a must for anyone who's used one without it. This is where the unit will speak out " turn right on River Road" instead of just saying "turn right". This may not sound like much, but if you are at a five or six way intersection, having the street name spoken aloud makes a big difference.
Arguably the best feature is it's outstanding portability,. Just slip it into it's carry pouch and put in pocket or purse, it's about the size of a deck of cards.
Riding in a friend's car? Take the 350 with you, the on- board battery and self contained antenna means you can hold it in your hand and give the driver perfect directions.
Additonally, the 350 has a huge library of businesses, restaraunts airports,hospitals, etc. It also plays MP3 audio and stores and displays jpeg photos. The Mp3 audio can only be played through your car stereo via an optional adaptor.
