Garmin nüvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

gps-navigation

Garmin nüvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
From Garmin

Editorial Reviews

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 nüvi 350 is set to revolutionize what we expect from a GPS navigation device, or from any device for that matter.

Which nüvi is Best for You?: Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators



The nüvi 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 nüvi 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 nüvi 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 nüvi 350's internal and SD card memory.

Navigation
The nüvi 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 nüvi 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 nüvi 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 nüvi 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 nüvi 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 nüvi 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 nüvi 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
nüvi 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 nüvi is Best for You?
For a slightly higher pricepoint, Garmin's nüvi 600 and 700 series devices have richer feature sets including: MP3 players, JPEG photo viewers, the ability to receive traffic and weather information, bluetooth for hands-free calling, FM transmitters that deliver audio through your cars own stereo system, and multi-destination routing that will tell you the best way to make a trip that involves several destinations.




Screen
Size
inches
(w x h)
 Included Maps
 Text-to-Speech
(Directions in
Real Street
Names)
 Traffic
 Bluetooth
 Media

 FM Transmitter
(audio through
car stereo
system)		 Multi-
Point
Routing
 Battery
life
(hours)
Cont. U.S.,
Hawaii, and
Puerto Rico
 AK and
Canada
 Europe
nüvi 200 2.8 x 2.1
 check




Photos

up to 5
nüvi 200w 3.81 x 2.25
 check




Photos

up to 5
nüvi 250 2.8 x 2.1
 check check



Photos

up to 5
nüvi 250w 3.81 x 2.25
 check check



Photos

up to 5
nüvi 260 2.8 x 2.1
 check check
check

Photos

up to 5
nüvi 260w 3.81 x 2.25 check check
check

Photos

up to 5
nüvi 270 2.8 x 2.1
 check check check


Photos

up to 5
nüvi 350 2.8 x 2.1
 check check
check FM (with opt.
receiver)
Photos, MP3s

up to 8
nüvi 360 2.8 x 2.1
 check check
check FM (with opt.
receiver)		 check Photos, MP3s

up to 8
nüvi 370 2.8 x 2.1 check check check check FM (receiver
included)
 check Photos, MP3s

up to 8
nüvi 650 3.81 x 2.25
 check check
check FM (with opt.
receiver)
Photos, MP3s

up to 7
nüvi 660
 3.81 x 2.25
 check check
check FM (receiver
included)
 check Photos, MP3s check
up to 7
nüvi 670
 3.81 x 2.25
 check check check check FM (receiver
included)		 check Photos, MP3s check
up to 7
nüvi 680 3.81 x 2.25
 check check
check MSN (receiver
included;
1-year free);
FM (with opt.
receiver)
 check Photos, MP3s check
up to 7
nüvi 750
 3.81 x 2.25
 check check
check MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)
Photos, MP3s check check up to 5
nüvi 760 3.81 x 2.25
 check check
check MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)		 check Photos, MP3s check check up to 5
nüvi 770 3.81 x 2.25
 check check check check MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)		 check Photos, MP3s check check up to 5
nüvi 780 3.81 x 2.25 check check

MSN-enhanced
(receiver inc.;
3 months free)
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)		 check Photos, MP3s check check up to 5
nüvi 850
 3.81 x 2.25 check check

MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)
Photos, MP3s check check up to 4
nüvi 880
 3.81 x 2.25 check check check
MSN-enhanced
(receiver inc.;
3 months free);
FM (with opt.
receiver)		 check Photos, MP3s check check up to 4
nüvi 5000
 4.5 x 2.7 check check
check MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)

check check external
battery
only

Customer Reviews

Does an excellent job5
When my son and wife each decided that they wanted a basic GPS unit without a lot of extra bells and whistles, such as blue tooth, traffic receiver, a choice of lots of different "voices", etc. I purchased this unit for each of them without hestitation.

I myself use the Garmin Nuvi 660, which does have extra bells and whistles, but if you are looking for just a basic GPS unit, you will not go wrong with the Garmin Nuvi 350. It performs just as well as the 660, and while the screen is smaller, that really has no impact on performance, but is more a question of aesthetics. The smaller size also makes it easier to carry it around if you want to use it in pedestrian mode.

I have reviewed the 660, and offer some of the same following comments for the 350:


The screen on this unit is very bright, and can easily be seen with sunglasses on in direct sunlight. The speech directions are very clear and easy to understand.

I particularly like the ability to spell the name of a drugstore or supermarket chain, etc. when I am in a strange town to see if there are nearby locations.

Keep in mind that no GPS unit is a substitute for common sense or advance planning on a long trip. Don't expect to travel your favorite backroads or shortcuts, but also know that you can explore a strange area in confidence without constantly worrying about how to backtrack onto your original route.

Here are some specific tips when you first buy the unit:

Register at [....]. This is important because as part of the registration process you will also get the latest software update.

Download the WebUpdater. [...] Use it to check for updates periodically.

Download POI Loader. [....]This will enable you to download custom points of interest.

POI Factory has over a million free points of interest. [....]For example, you can download rest areas for various highways so that on a long trip you know exactly where they are.

I substituted the default splash screen with a splash screen containing a cell phone number, e-mail address, and office address in case the unit is lost. Type the text into Word, cut and paste to Paint, and save as jpeg file. Copy this file into the jpeg folder on the Nuvi, go to System, display, change splash screen.

Back up the files on the Nuvi onto an external hard drive on a regular basis. That's a lot simpler that having to re-input all of your different custom points of interest in case something goes wrong.

If you go to a mall or somewhere else where there is a large parking lot, when you arrive touch the screen once, then press save, and name the location. You can then use the Nuvi to find your car easily since it has a pedestrian mode.

I like that on any trip the Nuvi shows not only the total distance, but also the distance already traveled, average speed, maximum speed, and time of arrival, which is not static, but changes depending on whether you get stuck in traffic or really start moving.

I do wish that this unit could save particular routes (such as a favorite backway home from the office), but for basic purposes that does not matter.

The 350 comes with a travel case that is convenient to use when transporting it. You can easily put it in a pocket or purse.

If your main goal is to stop getting lost, then this unit will do the trick. For the money, it is a great buy on Amazon.

Easy Easy Easy & Cheap5
This was recommended to me by a friend as a great replacement for the in dash $2000 model that came built in to my old car. This product is largely intuitive and easy to learn and use. For less than $200 you will never be lost again.

Nice upgrade from older version4
For me this was an upgrade from an old but dependable black and white Garmin GPS device. The nuvi 350 seems to be an improvement. Many more features, nice screen, nice size.

I only give it 4 stars because the software and map update (which you do by connecting your nuvi to your PC) in my opinion took way too long and required downloading and installing 2 different applications, one of which stalled and required a second installation.

Overall, a recommended device. Garmin definitely makes the best GPS devices for the money.

List Price: $329.99
Price: $157.49 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Garmin nüvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

Posted by password.com Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 5:10 PM  

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