More out of your GPS, Less out of your wallet

Procrastination had pushed off the idea of a GPS unit for years, mostly because of the skyrocketing prices when they first showed up. However, in the late 2006, I was rather surprised to find that many high quality units could be had for fractions of what they emerged at. That so, I set out to find one that would fit my needs perfectly.

Just as with all my electronics I pick up, I was doing some deep digging to get all the details on what's good and what's not in the GPS. Of the brands that quickly dwindled down, I was left with Garmin, TomTom, and maybe Lawrence. Quickly thereafter, I decided that I didn't really care for a lot of the issues that came with the Lawrence, so it came down to 2. Of the TomTom's, they just didn't quite appeal to me as much more than a "kiddish" appeal. Maybe it was partially the name itself, or just the way that they seemed to navigate, but I didn't find them as impressive as I was initially hoping. Lastly, I found Garmin to fit a lot of what I was looking for, but quickly found out that they offer a HUGE line of products under the GPS category. I narrowed my final decisions down to the StreetPilot C330 and the Nuvi 350/360. Both had dropped from initial prices in the $900's down to low $500's in a span of only a little more than a year. Despite the c330's temping price tag of almost $150 less than the Nuvi, I found the travel kit and flat-screen design to be worth it. Between the 350 and 360, I really didn't see much of a difference than Bluetooth capabilities, of which I definitely didn't see the need for an extra $100. The decision was final and simple...the Nuvi 350 was for me.



Appearance


Initial thought when I first received my Nuvi...unbelievably small, with an amazingly large screen. The screen pretty much filled the whole front the unit, with a flush panel and only 1 button to the whole unit. The power button is located at the top right corner of the unit, and functions as both a power button, and a quick-link button to unit volume and brightness. Even with the rear-flipping antennae up, the unit still seemed balanced and fit easily in the palm of your hand. With the external appeal of the unit being so simple and clear, there just simply isn't much you can say about it...it's simple.

Dimensionally speaking, the unit is amazingly light, tipping the scales at an astonishing 5.1 ounces, just shy of a 1/3 of a pound. The name 350 doesn't apparently stand for anything in specific, except for a model number. The whole unit measures in at 3.87" W x 2.91" H x 0.87" D, while the screen itself occupies 2.8" W x 2.1" H (3.5" diag.) of that space, with a resolution comprised of 320 x 240 pixels. In the box you'll find an AC power cable, Car adaptor power cable, USB/computer cable, Suction cup, and adhesive disc. I use the suction cup, and have yet to have any problems with it. Statistically speaking, the Nuvi is already an impressive marvel of its own. Oddly enough, we haven't even begun to tap the potential it had to offer!



Instruction Manual


Moving forward with the current "fad" of saving money on little details, the manual for the Nuvi is included ON the Nuvi's internal memory via PDF file...not on paper. It is also available on their website. Even at the cost of almost 80 pieces of paper, I still found it to be worth the while. However, in all honesty, only little details required the manual's use, as most of it remained very user friendly and easily self-learned. The box does however come with a quick-start guide that runs through the general steps to using the Nuvi. All in all, the actual manual itself is still somewhat shallow on the instructions, although it does seem to cover all the details.



Features


The Nuvi 350 is just absolutely JAM PACKED with features, most of which I’m still finding one by one! In this section, I’ll try to mention most of them, and briefly cover each:

Travel Kit - Setting the Nuvi apart from its Street Pilot siblings, this kit includes a huge array of useful options in almost every situation. Those options include: Language translator (requires add-on SD cards), MP3 player, audio book player from Audible.com, JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, and calculator. In addition, the kit also included the option to use something called the Garmin Travel Guide, which can be purchased separately to add a certain touch to sightseeing in larger cities.

3D capable - Not so much exclusive anymore, the Nuvi features a 3D map (birds eyes view) after acquiring 4 satellites, making the image look much more realistic and eye appealing.

Traffic Receiver - Using the optional GTM-10 or GTM-12 traffic receiver, the Nuvi is able to work smoothly in transition with the receiver to provide live results on traffic/accident posting. Although it requires an annual fee, most people seem to find it more than useful in larger cites. Since I personally haven't found a need for it, I can't really comment on its usefulness.

Fingertip Touch-screen - Another feature that's becoming less exclusive is the use of a 100% touch-screen operation. The only option not attainable by touching the screen would be the power. Sensitivity seems extremely light and takes little effort to register. The screen doesn't require a stylus, which makes use very simple when driving. Such features as dragging the map around with your finger are simply attainable by doing so, with little to no lag from the system.

SD Memory Card Expansion Slot - Just as it sounds, this slot creates up to an additional 2GB of storage. Also, the slot can be used to load Garmin Tour Guide programs, Additional country maps, and optional language translators. Clearly, a valuable addition to the unit. When initially receiving the unit, it comes with approximately 700MB of free space.

Street Name Pronunciation - Despite the somewhat botched pronunciations of many streets, this option makes for an invaluable asset when comparing so to the market standard "in 500 meters, turn left". This happens to be one of my favorite options of the Nuvi, allowing you to keep your eyes on the road.

Garmin-Lock - Unique to their name, this little nifty option sets 2 awesome standards in security. When activated, the unit requires a pass code every time it starts up. In the event of forgetting the password, you simply return to a geographical point, which you designate as your safe zone, and the unit will unlock. Unprecedented security feature, in my opinion.

Battery Power - The Nuvi comes equipped with a lithium ion rechargeable battery, which means 2 things. First of all, it's very portable, and it's limited to a car. Second, it's rechargeable, meaning that you won't need to spend tons of money on throw-aways. The battery life itself is stated to be 4-8 hours, and my personal findings have been about the same, if not better. Turning the brightness down substantially ups battery life, deeming it very useful.



GPS specs/accuracy


I've found the GPS to be surprisingly accurate, according to my own standards. It comes equipped with the SiRF chipset, which brags some of the most accurate GPS results possible. As if that weren't enough, the Nuvi is also WAAS enabled, making it possible to get accuracy down to 5 feet. In my own findings, I’ve found my results to get as low as 10 feet on one occasion, although averages seem to be around 13-15 feet.

The map provided City Navigator NT (version 8) is rather accurate, all things considered. However, I’ve found there to be some mixed results in accuracy of dated additions. Certain additions that were added on 10 years ago don't appear, however other roads added as early as 4 year ago do. Restaurant/POI accuracy seems to follow suit as well, deeming a 7-year-old Applebee’s as non-existent whilst across town, the 3-year-old Steak-n-Shake is clearly graphed. However in most occasions, all minor gripes aside, the overall mapping accuracy is very impressively right on mark. Aside from the occasional POI located on the wrong side of the road or roads not existing, this GPS will most definitely get you to where you're going.



Operation


I couldn't believe exactly how easy the manners of this unit were learned. Everything is easily labeled by vividly colored buttons, and menus are easily followed. I found the menus to be so easily navigated around that it's hard to even elaborate on them. When the unit turns on, the initial menu includes "Where to?" "View Map" and "Travel Kit". Other options include Settings and Volume/Brightness. Everything through the whole unit is navigated simply by following these simple instructions.

Any location can be saved under the "Favorites" category, and with the help of a few free programs available through Garmin.com. A custom POI loader makes it easy to add endless points of interest to your database. Web-Updater software makes it a snap to check for software upgrades.

When simply using the GPS without a specified destination, it displays the direction of travel in the bottom right hand corner and your current speed in the bottom left corner. Because you’re not going anywhere predetermined, the unit remains quiet and doesn’t make any audible comments. As you move down the road, the next upcoming road is displayed on the “status bar” above the map. It’s pretty quick to continually list the next upcoming road as you move along.

On the other hand, when a destination’s entered, the bottom right hand corner lists how far your next turn is, and the left corner shows the estimated time of arrival (which is constantly updating in accordance to distance and speed). As you move along, the bottom right corner is continually updating the distance to the next turn. Depending on your speed of travel, the voice will chime-in within a mile of the next turn and announce the upcoming turn, the name of the street and how far you’ve got left to go. Once you finally reach the turn, the voice prompts you when to turn and which way to go. Immediately following the turn-in, the distance to the next turn is announced, as well as the name of the street and distance. From there, it’s a repeating process up until the destination is reached.

During a destination-bound trip, you can push the button on the bottom right corner to bring up the “next turn” screen, which jumps over to a close-up view of the next turn which will be made, as well as the distance and amount of time until the next turn arrives. At this point also, the voice prompt comes on and verbally announces the distance to the next turn as well as its name. This menu will stay up for about 10 seconds or so, then switch back to the map.

At any point, destination-bound or simply viewing the map, you can push the button on the bottom left corner of the map. This will bring up a rather intriguing and accurate trip computer. Among the listed details includes: moving average (speed), overall average (speed), max speed, total time, moving time, and stopped time. There are 2 controlling buttons that can “reset max” or “reset trip”. Also listed on this screen is your current speed, direction, total miles odometer (for the unit – permanent), and if following a destination, total miles till destination.



Problems and Disadvantages


I found general problems and disadvantages to be few and far between and really had to rack my brain when writing this review. While the unit is near perfect in my opinion, nothing in life is ever perfect...and that so, this PGS unit is no exception.

Unit Freeze-ups - My first unit I had, which was brand new mind you, had a problem with software freezing up. For no apparent rhyme or reason, the unit would, on occasion, just stop working, and freeze. Only way to pull it out of it was to turn the power off then back on. Not really a huge problem that seemed to affect the unit in-depth, but annoying none-the-less. My new unit, which is ironically NOH (newly overhauled) from Garmin, has yet to have this problem. Could have been an individual unit-specific flaw.

Map Inconsistency - As stated above, the POI's and certain roads seem to be inconsistent with their existence on the 350's memory database. Certain newer roads show up while older ones don’t. Same goes for many of the POI's that are listed. Obviously, this isn't so much a problem with the 350, but the City Navigator NT program.

Hardwire Complications - While this isn't a Garmin issue, I figured I would toss it in here to save anyone the chance of doing as I did. Upon trying to hardwire this unit to the car (meaning I tried to splice the car adaptor straight to a 12V wire in the car's roofline) I found out the hard way that the car adaptor has a built-in regulator that drops the power down from 12V to 5V. Failure to include this regulator (or a substituted one) will immediately fry the unit for good. I’m experienced in hard-wiring, and have wired at least 3 different radar detectors successfully, and still didn’t get this right. Unless you know COMPLETELY what you are doing, DO NOT try this for any reason. I wish I hadn't, else I’d still have the $225 in my pocket to repair the unit.



Overview


I don't know as though I’ve ever spent another $500 that's been more worth the money. The funny thing is, I’ve yet to even take it on vacation, or use it for any long trips where it is really needed. It comes with options galore, and you can literally spend hours just exploring all the options and map features that it includes. I purchased an additional 3-year warranty for the unit, and seeing as to how durable this unit seems, I doubt I’ll even need it. With prices dropping on GPS, this unit is more affordable then ever. Starting at $979 back in mid 2005, it can be had for as low as $480 on Amazon.com today. Lastly, you should really ask yourself...what reason do you have to still be holding out? Passing the affordable barrier put it in my hands, what’s left to put it in yours?