I've never used a GPS before this. I bought this as a gift for my boyfriend b/c he always gets lost and (as cliche as it sounds!) does not like asking for directions! I was surprised at how easy to use and self-explanatory it is. This model has the features we need (TTS and a map of Canada as well). It gave us warning about upcoming turns at about .6 miles before the turn. When you touch the current direction, it will show you the future turns as well. We took the wrong exit once and it automatically recalculated and told us how to get back on course. The voice was loud enough to hear once we turned the radio down. The other feature I loved is that it will tell you where the nearest gas stations and restaurants are! The windshield mount was strong enough too. The battery lasted about 2 hours on its own, but it comes with a car charger so we just unplugged the radar detector ;) The only thing that makes me cautious is that the route it chose completely avoided the thruway (which is the way mapquest told us to go) even though I did not set it to avoid highways. However, both routes were the same amount of time. I would definitely recommend this GPS to anyone.Read full review
The Garmin Nüvi™ 350 GPS Receiver is one of the best electronic gadgets this I have ever bought. Along with it optional antenna, I would say that I have saved the money that I spend on them in gas (I own two, one for me and one for my wife), wear and tear on my cars, and time. I've never owned any other GPS to compare the Nüvi to, but I am quite happy with my units. With the optional antenna and service, I very rarely get stuck in traffic as the Nüvi reroutes me around traffic jams and road construction. I have three vehicles and having the ability to switch the Nüvi from one vehicle to another is great. Also, I take the Nüvi with me on out of town trips and can use it in the rental cars. The unit will plug in cars with 1/8" jacks on the radio and the unit will automatically turn down the radio the directions will come over the radio speakers and then return the radio back to it's normal volume. You can also upload MP3 songs to it and play them on your car radio, if your car is equipped with the 1/8" jack or right through the Nüvi, although the sound won't be very good. Other features that I've never used are that you can upload audio books and listen while you drive, and you can upload a translation program for foreign languages. Now, I did not rate the Nüvi as excellent. That is because I do feel that the Nüvi itself is a excellent device, there are three downfalls with it. One, on a cloudy day the unit has a problem getting a signal from the satellites. This may be a problem with most GPS's. I'm not sure. Two, the window mount that comes with the unit goes bad after a few months of use and won’t stay stuck to the windshield. To buy a new one from Garmin, you will spend about 40 dollars. I find them on ebay for a lot less. Three, after a year the unit starts bugging you to download a new map to the unit that very expensive. I never downloaded a new map and after three years, I had no problems with the map that came with the unit. All that being said, I believe Garmin has came out with newer models on the Nüvi that have replaced this oneRead full review
I have a larger Garmin Nuvi and this is the baby version but only baby in size. It has all of the features of my larger more expesnive Garmin. I bought it for my daughter and she doesn't need the larger screen due to youthful eyes :O) Some small cons... It was missing one of the most popular resturants in my area. I was looking for Route 94 and it couldn't find it...after much frustration I found it under Highway 94. No one calls it Hwy 94 and as all the street signs say Rt 94 Voice commands could be louder Tried to send have me make a left on s street where the sign at the exit said NO LEFT TURNS and this sign has been there for years and years Even though I downloaded the newest maps it was missing some roads that were recently opened in my area (recently mean that they were at least 2 years old!!!) All in all I still like it better than the Magellin I use at work.Read full review
A lot has been said about this unit already so I will just review other people's reviews. First I will never need a GPS, and my technology knowledge comes close to building one. I only got this for my wife but tested it for a month to see if it can get her to work, shopping, daycare and back home successfully. Bottomline: It will but with tank always full of gas and mileage like a rental car. A very bad feature is that it does not let you select a routing option for each route. It always use the option you select at setup, which means if you select 'avoid tollway', or 'fastest route', it will find you a route two seconds faster or take you to the end of the world and back just to avoid a tollway even when these are apparent nonsense. I searched for 'Walmart' from home, there's one 5 miles away, 5 years old but it gave me one 13 miles away (I searched under 'shopping') but when I searched using just 'Walmart' it gave me the right one but put it at the wrong side of the freeway-go figure. It's satellites are always elusive, so power it on about 10 minutes before you get in the car. One good thing-when it finally finds satellites, it hardly lose them. I even drove in a little tunnel one day and the bad boy didnt lose reception! It looks like Garmin didn't pay the 'lady' whose voice they used enough money so she is never friendly at all. She makes me love my wife more all the time. Her 'Gessner Rd' sounds like 'Jersey Rd', Texas 288S is spoken too fast. You have to always take a quick glance at the screen if you hate missing your exit. If you don't you will be saying 'what the hell' a lot. It works right out of the box +++, no detailed manual that you will expect of an electronic ---, compact, nice screen. I used a friend's cheap Magellan and one with an easily forgettable name, liked them more. I rated it below average because it doesn't do it's primary job well.Read full review
Likes - it's a great way to locate addresses quickly, even when you know the general area, frequently it'll save time. Issues - Since roads are constantly being built to new areas, and development is an ongoing occurance, the most-recent version of the mapping needs to be "in" the unit, otherwise you'll looking for an address that the unit doesn't recognize. Dislikes - Since I'm an appraiser, I have to find, view and photograph real properties in all situations - when I'm in rural areas, the limited options of the unit indicate as a selection of "routes" either fastest or off-road as being enabled to get "to" the property. The fastest has routed me through or I should say, "to" closed-off roads, dirt-roads, and in general has some very specific limitations in that nature. It would be BEST to Garmin to add an option that "routes via more-established roadways. The current routing can actually end up taking you miles out of your way in certain circumstances which it did to me recently. (Cost me 1 1/2 hours of time before I gave-up and drove into the nearest town to obtain direction/s.)Read full review
I work for a natural gas utility company, and cover several towns. After researching several brands and models of GPS units, I chose the Garmin brand. I liked the NUVI series because of the size, and purchased the NUVI 350. Garmin must be discontinuing this model, because several stores have marked this unit down. I would have given it an excellent rating, but found it to be rather poor in the rural areas. If I had followed its directions to my house in the country one time, it would have taken me on quite the scenic route. From what I discovered in my research, ALL the GPS brands are weak in the rural areas. I found it to be accurate, as far as the fastest route to go, about 95% of the time. I tested its directions several times to addresses I was familiar with. It would have taken me there, but not the shortest way. However, if I had no idea where I was going, I could care less if the route was the fastest, as long as it got me there!! All-in-all, I am VERY pleased, and have recommended it to several friends, who are planning on purchasing one.Read full review
very easy to use, straight out of the box which is good because the company does not include a manual. the manual is available for download online. several inaccuracies with the maps showing locations sometimes over a block away. when doing a search for a specifice type of company, i drove past several that weren't listed even though this was the 2008 maps and they had been in business for 10 years. this could just be a problem with how garmin collects data. if you turn a corner too fast(10mph+), the garmin gets confused and has to recalculate the trip. same thing with a cloverleaf off ramp. this spoken direction model and larger screen are well worth the upgrage price. i would not recommend one without those features. overall i am happy, but i would investigate other models further.Read full review
I looked over all the reviews before I buy it. Almost everyone love it and said it has basic everything you need. After I got it, I feel it is great. It can change to night mode automatically once it turns dark. It's sound and words are very clear to me. The only weakness is that it won't tell me or show me on the map that I should stay in the left lane or right lane until 0.3 mile left to turn (local, not Hwy). Also, it always try to make me go to HWy,I can not choose to go local only (maybe I haven't found that function yet). It is my first GPS and I feel very happy to have it.
This may be one of the slickest little gadgets I've ever owned. It is not without some relatively minor deficiencies however, and one must bear them in mind when considering this product. First the good news. This is the smallest, most elegant and compact AIO GPS navigation solution I've come across. The mapping details are excellent. The voice prompts loud, clear and timely. The ease of use is just fantastic and the visibility and quality of the display are very good. POI access is excellent and can be navigated to much more simply than the Tom Tom unit which requires many additional cumbersome steps. The attachment system for the Nuvi is superb and very secure. The bad news is relatively minor. The screen display, unfortunately is not as good as than in the Tom Tom 910. The automatic panning is not as good as the Tom Tom either. And bright light visibility is not as good. Despite these minor deficiencies, all the other advantages of the Nuvi more than outweigh them when the Nuvi is compared to the Tom Tom 910 (their top of the line). My work around for the screen display visibility was to place the Nuvi next to the headliner just to the left of the rear view mirror. That keeps it mostly out of the sun reducing the impact of the sun's glare. This device is intended as an extremely simple point to point navigating AIO GPS navigation solution and is not intended to enable the use of way points or easily changing the course selected by the unit. You have essentially two options: the shortest route and the fastest route. Fortunately, the mapping program selects routs that are very acceptable. Personally, I like to look at the overall route and fiddle with it. This unit is not designed for such use. Microsoft Streets and Trips is ideal for this kind of tinkering, but terrible for point to point navigation while on the go at which the Nuvi has no peer. Make sure and get the most recent firmware updates on the Garmin website which will fix the known bugs and further improve the functionality. This unit is so easy to use that my 85 year old father purchased one for himself and he loves it to. He is, to put it kindly, technologically challenged but this unit is so intuitive and easy to use that he's had no problems whatsoever. He doesn't like to be distracted while driving so he plans his trip before leaving and simply listens to the voice prompts. I give this unit a 5 star on form and a 5 star on the functionality for which it was designed. You will not be disappointed.Read full review
I was looking for a GPS after using one in late November on a trip to Orlando, Florida. I Thought this looked pretty good. The reviews were reasonable. It actually works pretty good. However, while following directions, it told me to keep straight to "U.S. #1", I was on a dead end street. This was never a thru street, there is a canal there. Next was turn left (north) on "N. 16th Court". It is a one way street and you can only go south on that street. It has always been that way. Thank you God, I was in my home town so I know these things. On yeah, I was looking for Domino's Pizza, it said the closest one was 40 miles away. Not true, I even typed it in, it could not find the Domino's or Papa John's. They have been in this city for years and years and years. The GPS instructions I mentioned above would have eventually taken me to the proper spot, just not the way the GPS was telling me to. Are all the GPS maps the same? Perhaps they work better on the open highway.Read full review
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