Amazon.com Product Description What if one device could help you navigate anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, 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 nuevi 350 is set to revolutionize what we expect from a GPS navigation device, or from any device for that matter.
Which nuevi is Best for You?: Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators
The nuevi 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 nuevi 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 nuevi 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 nuevi 350's internal and SD card memory.
Navigation The nuevi 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 nuevi 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 nuevi 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 nuevi 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 nuevi 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 nuevi 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 nuevi 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 nuevi 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
Great Unit at Great PriceJuly 3, 2008 Have used it now for a couple of weeks and tested it many ways. No problems experienced. The only criticizm is that it takes a long time to acquire satelites in the morning after sitting over night. Easy to see and read. Easy to follow directions. This unit was for use in my convertible. My other car is a Lexus LS 430 with built in NAV. This works every bit as well, just a little smaller screen and nothing that is not liveable.
Good..Great...FantasticJuly 3, 2008 Just used it a few times and seems like a fantastic product, very reliable on the road...
Garmin Nuvi 350. -Bill Dubovsky, S.I. Business Trends, "Bits & Bytes," July, 2006July 3, 2008 Lost When It Comes to Buying a GPS? -Bill Dubovsky, S.I. Business Trends, "Bits & Bytes," July, 2006.
Did You Know? GPS (Global Positioning System) devices that help you find out where you are on the earth can be a help or a curse. In this article, I review the Garmin Nuvi 350 portable navigation system, (about $800 in 2006, about $200 in 2008!) at most electronics stores.
What is it? GPS devices are basically small satellite receivers with computers that pick up satellite signals and calculate and plot your position on the earth to within a few meters. They show your position on a small map in a device about the size of a wallet or small mobile phone.
How it works: The map is software that comes loaded on your GPS device, and in most cases can be upgraded, at extra charge, via a computer. There are basically two major types of automobile GPS: built in to your vehicle or portable. There are also GPS receivers for hikers, boaters and aviators. I picked a portable model so we could move it from car to car or carry it with us as we walked. My Nuvi has maps for the US and some parts of Canada, and you can purchase and download maps (software) for other countries at extra charge.
What you need: First, you need to decide what you want to use a GPS for, and how you will be using it (in your vehicle only, all family cars, boat, walking, hiking, in this country only or in other countries?) Next is pricing - prices vary from about $350 to over $1,200.
How to get it: Any electronic store can be useful if they have knowledgeable sales and technical people. I was pleased with a helpful sales person at Best Buy. There is also a useful article in the August, 2006 issue of Consumer Reports.
How hard is it to use? Pretty simple. You can figure out how to use it just by playing with it, though the device came with an easy to use instruction sheet. The Nuvi, is small, has its own built in battery (or you can plug it into your cigarette lighter), fits nicely on your windshield, and speaks the directions to you, "turn right on to Hylan Blvd in three tenths of a mile..." The Nuvi's map also includes restaurants, gas stations, lodging, and you can save your own favorite places. No matter where you travel, you can just press "Go Home" and it will calculate your route home. (I just wished it would have listed parking garages for NYC!) You can also "zoom in" or "zoom out" depending on how close to your destination you are in order to get a higher level of detail. It also calculates your approximate arrival times and has a host of other cool factors, like choice of language, male/female voice, American or British English (circle vs. round about) and can even store and play mp3 files and audible books. It also has a travel kit which contains other fun items like a currency converter, world clock, measurement converter and language guide. You can purchase full versions of some of these features for extra cost.
Findings: We found our Garmin Nuvi a little frustrating on Staten Island, since we know all the shortcuts and have other local knowledge. When you didn't turn where the Nuvi told you to turn, it gave you a "recalculating" message with a swarmy attitude as to say, "You're not listening to me!"
We had some problems in New York City as it was harder for it to find the satellites due to the tall buildings. When I asked it to find a certain restaurant in the South Street Seaport, it wanted to take me out to Long Island. Again, it is not a substitute for local knowledge.
However, it worked very well on a trip to upstate New York. It was far more accurate than roadside signage and more reliable than verbal directions. When we went past a Native American reservation that we wanted to visit (Turning Stone Resort), while it had no information in its map on the inside of the reservation, it was able to get close enough to find the entrance.
It did work surprisingly well on Staten Island when I used it while walking. It pointed out parkland and even some private streets.
In all, I feel it is a good tool to have when traveling and will be more attractive, if not a necessity, over time as pricing decreases. It is a good investment for people who travel frequently and for business people making sales calls.
For more information: Click on www.google.com for some good sites and to get a quick education. You can contact Bill Dubovsky at billdubovsky@gmail.com with your feedback, experiences and questions.
Good for the priceJuly 3, 2008 The only complaint I have is that most of the time the directions that are given have too many unnecessary turns but it isn't too bad if the person is not familiar with the destination at all.
Garmin Nuvi 350July 3, 2008 Absolutely delivers what any direction-challenged person would ever need! Great database of restaurants, bars, hotels, etc. and has saved me time on many road trips.
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