Wonderful gadget--Why didn't I buy one sooner?

This is my first GPS unit, so I can't compare its use with others. I did read a lot of reviews and did some research before I purchased it, however. After using it on a recent driving vacation to several new destinations, I think it was an excellent choice.

The Garmin Nuvi 350 is one of the lowest priced units that call out the street names, not just the distances, before turns. Personally, I would not want a unit without this feature and think it is worth the extra dollars to get it. Especially when intersections are close together, estimating distances is difficult. I like it speaking the street names. It has several choices of "voices" that will do this, but not all do--the ones marked "TTS" will speak the street names. It can speak American English, British English, and several other languages.

This unit is very compact and easy to carry, and can be used in Pedestrian mode for walking. The screen is large enough and bright enough to be easily viewed while driving.

It also comes with the needed accessories--internal battery, leather case, car charger, AC charger, windshield and dash mounts (the literature warns that the dash mount adhesive will be difficult to remove), and the cord for connecting it to a computer.

The only additional accessory I wanted was a friction mount (beanbag type that just sits on the dash--works great, is stable and easy to reposition and put away when you leave your car. If you want that, be sure to buy the one that says "for Nuvis"; it uses the bracket that comes with the Nuvi unit. The one that says "for Garmin GPS" requires another purchased part.) A full manual would be nice, although most people probably don't need one because the unit is very easy to use. Garmin will send you one if you ask.

I'm a klutz with any kind of machine and do not intuitively know how to operate tech stuff, but even I can use this GPS unit. It uses a touch screen. It locks onto the satellites almost instantly if you turn it on before you start driving, and finds them quickly if you're already moving. It has very good accuracy even with WAAS not enabled (whatever that is), which is the default for that.

My only two concerns before I bought it were that it only allows one Via point in a route, and you can't load routes from your computer or supposedly do them ahead of time. These have not proved to be any problem in use for us, however. Just enter your destinations and save them to Favorites before you leave, and you are ready to go (and get back) with just a few screen taps. You can go from one Favorite to another, and back to wherever, very easily.

If you want to take a route to a destination and go through another city, for example, you can set it as a Via point, or just start driving toward that city, and the GPS will "recalculate" the new route to your destination (unless it's totally out of the way) without even setting it as a Via.

If you need to make multiple sales stops and want to plan the most efficient route to hit all of them, this might be a problem for you. For most people, I don't think it will be a problem. We went many places on our vacation, and it was a breeze, using Favorites.

The unit has many points of interest stored, such as restaurants, attractions, gasoline, hospitals, etc., etc. It includes addresses and phone numbers for these, which is very convenient. It will bring up a list of seafood restaurants nearby, for example, and even if you don't see the one you want, you can enter its name, and it will likely be in the database.

One of its most impressive features is the "Recalculating" one. If you miss your turn, it immediately recalculates to get you back on track easily, or if you continue on your way, it will recalculate a new route. It rarely gives the endless "make a U-turn" messages that reviews of some other brands complain of. It will only say "U-turn" once, if at all, or if there really is no other good way.

So, it's easy to change the route it gives you, if you know a better route. Just start driving the route you want, and it will pick it up very quickly. So there's really not much need for planning different routes ahead of time. There is also a "Detour" feature that I've not used yet. You can also set it to avoid toll roads, etc.

It may not always know the best local shortcuts, but it will get you where you are going and back again. If you get lost, no problem--just tell it where you want to go. It even tells you which lane to get in sometimes. It's really an amazing gadget, way more useful than you might think.

No map database is totally current, but we had no problems getting to our destinations. The latest version of maps is the v. 2008. You can probably talk Garmin into sending you these maps at no charge if you happen to purchase a unit that still has the older v. 8 maps on them after the newer ones were being shipped on some units. (I received my map update DVD today, just as promised. Garmin tech and customer support have both gone out of their way to help me with a couple of things I needed.)

You can touch the green bar at the top of the screen while you're going, and it will list the next turns. It will also let you "view map" for your route. It gives you lots of trip info, too, such as max speed, avg. speed, etc. It gives coordinates and altitude. It gives the estimated time of arrival--maybe a little optimistic on that, but it adjusts as you go, and turns out to be pretty accurate near the end. It does lots of stuff.

It also has an MP3 player and some other features, but I haven't used those. I just want good navigation, and so far have gotten it.

I now have the confidence to drive to some places that I just wouldn't before. I do not like congested city driving and avoided it unless absolutely necessary, and then would usually get lost at some point no matter how explicit the directions. Using this GPS unit makes a HUGE difference! I wouldn't be without one now and wish I'd gotten one long ago.

It was much less expensive than I'd imagined such units were--$370 total from amazon.com, and money very well spent. A great invention for people like me!