- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 255 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
30 out of 33 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Great, but still some quirks"
Pros: Simple, Great screen, fast, easy to use, trip monitering functions are superior.
Cons: Map Needs upgrading, Takes too long to find sattelites sometimes, could do without mp3 and picture viewer.
Summary: I purchased my Nüvi about 2-3 weeks ago. I feel in love with it out of the box. Ill talk about the problems ive realized since nobody usually writes about them. Most People just say how awesome it is and etc. I agree to it being awesome, but I feel I should
also talk about the problems most people leave out.
First of all, if i turn it off while driving and turn it back on in a different location, it takes forever to acquire the sattelites. Sometined you need to restart it a few times. Another problem is its guidance system, I mean, the path it selects for you. you have the option for chosing the fastest time, or shortest distance, however, sometimes it will chose a long way in fastest time mode, and I will have to switch over to shortest distance.
Another Issue I have is that the search function takes a while if you are searching for something by its name. I figure that it has to search the entire map of the USA, however its a bit frustrating when you are sitting in your car waiting for a listing for about 5 minutes.
Third, Garmin needs to update its maps. I Find that many street names, are wrong, many businesses arent showing up, and many addresses i look for arent there. Alsofor instance, if you are going to a location, like when I go to my school, it will guide you to the intersection and tell you which side it is on (very helpful), however, it wont tell you where exactly where it is, it just shows the waypoints on the street.
Next, i feel some of the features are useless, perhaps because i have a Ipod Video 60G, but I feel the picture viewer and the mp3 player are useless. The audio quality is just plain horrible. It is great in theory though, but I would rather have improved speed and tracking versus a picture viewer, mp3 player, coupon book, etc...
And Ultimately, I feel it is a bit high on the price scale. The size and simplicity are impressive, but Im not sure if they are worth the $700-900 price tag.
- 3 replies to this review
-
My Nuvi350 is dangerous. It has you turn off roads just to get back on, has you cross traffic to go left when all along it tells you to keep right, tells you to turn when there are no turns, etc. I've brought this to the folks at Garmin and received the following answer "Map updates will be issued in a year". My C330 and my son's Magellin unit work rings around this unit.
-
Why would you ever turn it off while useing it just to turn it back on? Thats like jumping off a train and running to try and get back on it...
-
I agree on your comment about an extremely long time to re-acquire satellites in a new location. I think this might be a typical GPS problem and not specific to the NUVI, but I'm not sure. It is frustrating when you are in a new area and need directions quick and it takes several minutes to log on to its location.
I also agree that maps need to be updated. I was on a major road (State toll), and it kept re-calculating my route, even though I was just driving straight on the road. My nuvi kept saying I was somewhere different. It did this for several minutes and I assumed the satellite position drifted off, but what I think happened is the road path hadn't been updated so it got confused as to where I was.
As for searching, you can greatly increase the speed of searching by clicking on the "near" button on the bottom of the category menu (before you hit search, in the menu with all the categories) then select either "current location" or "different city" (and you can also select "along my current route" or "destination" if you have selected a destination already). Then go to the search mode and that will fix your search time. So if you are in L.A. and looking for something in Buffalo, NY...it'll take forever if you don't select the "near" option. But if you select "near" then, "A different city" and type in Buffalo. It should only take seconds.
Where to buy
Garmin Nuvi 350:
$313.72 - $375.00
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Amazon.com Marketplace
|
$375.00 | Yes |
|
|
Flash-Memory-Store.com
|
$313.72 | No |
|
