Garmin nuvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)After trying other Garmin units, this is the one I kept. Simply wonderful. I bought it when it was more than triple its current price and thought it was good deal then.It's a great deal now.

It has all the characteristics that I was looking for:

1) VERY compact -- easily able to fit in a breast pocket
2) Text-to-Speech -- announces proper street names, not just "turn left in 500 feet"; radically reduces how much you need to look at the screen to figure out the real instructions; wouldn't own a GPS unit wihtout this
3) Bright Screen -- readable in virtually every situation

AND

Faster location of the GPS satellites.This turns out to be quite important in day-to-day use.In the other systems, it wasn't unusual that we could be driving for a couple minutes before it located the satellites and could give us directions.With this unit, the satellites are located almost as quickly as the unit fully starts up.

One comment on how we use this:We don't mount it on the dash board or on the window (which is technically illegal here in California).Instead we just lay this on the center console in our van or car.The antenna system is plenty sensitive to work just like this and we've never lost the satellite signals except in tunnels.

We also like all the potential of the traveling features (clock, calculator, etc.), but this is the one to own even if you just use it for the basic GPS features.

Very impressed.

[July 2006 Update]
How Its Ease-of-Use Enhanced Our Vacation:We were recently on a vacation combined with a business conference.While I was at the conference, my family had the confidence to explore the city without ever getting lost.Even our kids were able to help enter addreses and find locations.

Factoring In Added Cost:Just a warning about upgrade costs.Although Garmin does a good job of releasing updates to their system software that either fixes bugs or adds enhancements, the cost to update the built-in maps is extra. And they issue updates about once a year.

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Product Description:
What if one device could help you navigate anywhere in the U.S. andCanada, while offering travel tips, storing your favorite tunes and photos, providing translation assistance, and more? That device is here, and it's not much bigger than a deck of cards. The Garmin nuvi 350 is set to revolutionize what we expect from a GPS navigation device, or from any device for that matter.
Which nuvi is Best for You?: Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators



The nuvi 350 is a portable GPS navigator, traveler's reference, and digital entertainment system, all in one. View product demo (requires Flash).


A simple touchscreen interface and voice guidance allow you to keep your eyes on the road. View larger.

Listen to an audio book or an MP3 while you're on the road. View larger. Design
With a total weight of 5.1 ounces and slim measurements of 3.87 x 2.91 x 0.87 inches (WxHxD), the nuvi 350 is just right for the pocket or purse. A bright, 64,000-color display dominates the front of the device and a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels means that there's plenty of room for displaying map data and other elements of the device's interface. An SD memory card slot is provided for expansion software, such as a points of interest database, media files and electronic guides (see below). The flip-up antenna includes an MCX-type connector for connecting the unit to an external GPS antenna. Meanwhile, a powerful built-in speaker resides on the back of device. A built-in lithium ion battery will give you for to eight hours of battery life, depending on use. In addition to an AC charger, the unit also ships with a 12-volt power adapter for vehicle charging, as well as a windshield suction cup mount.
Fortunately, Garmin has made it easy to interface with the nuvi 350's 700 megabytes of onboard memory, thanks to "plug-and-play" USB mass storage support. Just plug the device into your computer's USB port and you've got instantaneous access to all the audio books, music, photos, supplemental maps and other data on the nuvi 350's internal and SD card memory.


Navigation
The nuvi 350 is first and foremost a personal GPS device. Wherever you go -- in your car or on foot-- the device offers extremely accurate position data, thanks to a high-sensitivity integrated GPS receiver by SiRF and WAAS-enabled, 12-satellite reception. Combined with detailed maps of the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico the nuvi 350 provides automatic routing, turn-by-turn voice directions, and touchscreen control-- making it easy to find your way anywhere. Plus, the unique "text-to-speech" feature calls out turns by street name, and you can choose from either 2D or 3D mapping perspectives when you're viewing your route on the display. Additionally, the nuvi 350 is compatible with Garmin's GTM 10 FM TMC traffic receiver*, which allows users to avoid traffic tie-ups by simply pushing a button that will calculate a new route.


As mentioned, the nuvi 350 comes packed with mapping data for North America, but you can can also load up your custom points of interest. Set up proximity alerts for school zones, safety cameras, and more using Garmin's free POI (points of interest) loader program (available from garmin.com).



Important note about map updates: Due to our high volume of sales, almost every Garmin portable GPS navigator sold by Amazon.com will come with the most recent map version. If you ever do need a map update, you can purchase one from Amazon.com at our Garmin Store.




The device automatically calculates the fastest route and provides voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions along the way. Tools for the Journey
Navigation is just part of the journey, and the nuvi 350 is one of the first devices to recognize that. The built-in "Travel Kit" offers an MP3 player, an audio book player from Audible.com, a jpeg-format picture viewer, a world travel clock with time zones, a currency converter, a measurement converter, and a calculator.


In addition to the included travel tools, additional software add-ons are available, such as the Garmin Language Guide, with data provided by Oxford University Press. This software suite contains a multilingual word bank, phrase bank, and five bilingual dictionaries. The multilingual word bank and phrase bank supports nine languages and dialects, including American English, British English, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, European Spanish, and Latin American Spanish. Now you can look up and translate more than 17,000 words or 20,000 phrases per language -- right in the palm of your hand. Through the unit's text-to-speech interface, users can get a spoken pronunciation of each entry in the word bank, along with gender and part of speech information.


Another useful add-on software package, the Garmin Travel Guide, is loaded with information provided by Marco Polo. These guides put in-depth travel information such as reviews and recommendations for restaurants, tourist attractions, and more at your fingertips. The software allows you to navigate to an address or search points of interest-- places like hotels, restaurants, shopping, and tourist attractions. The nuvi 350 automatically calculates the fastest route and provides voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions along the way. The unit also audibly announces the name of upcoming streets-- letting you keep your eyes on the road while navigating through busy traffic and tricky roadways. And if you stray off course, the nuvi 350 automatically calculates the quickest way to get back on track.

*Traffic services available only in select cities where RDS-TMC coverage exists. Requires the GTM 10 FM TMC traffic receiver and subscription fee to enable traffic capability.

What's in the Box
nuvi 350, Preloaded City Navigator NT for North America and Puerto Rico, Vehicle suction cup mount, AC charger, Vehicle power cable, Dashboard disc, USB cable, Carrying case, Quick reference guide

Which nuvi is Best for You?

Note: All nuvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.
Device

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