Garmin nüvi 350 Car GPS Receiver

I decided I wanted a navigation system after driving a rental car in Germany with a built in system. I was debating between the TomTom, which I saw work in Germany, and the Garmin Nuvi. After reading reviews of the TomTom, I was lead to believe that the tomtom works better in Europe, while the Garmin is better for the United States. I do not know if this is true, but that was my reason for going with Garmin. Garmin was also slightly cheaper than the TomTom models I was considering. I looked at the Garmin street pilots also, but I really wanted a system I could take in my purse with me, so it would not sit out in the open with a chance of being stolen. Second, I worried about leaving a system in a car with exposure to extreme heat (living in the south). The Garmin Nuvi 350 is labeled as a personal travel assistant, rather than just a navigation system.
The Garmin Nuvi was ready to go as soon as I opened the box. I did have to charge the unit, then turned it on, entered the information and was voice prompted to my desired location. The Garmin is quite sensitive when it comes to navigation and voice prompts. I did notice that the pre-loaded map was out of date by at least 1 year, but otherwise was fairly accurate. The only mistake it has made, thus far, was telling me to turn one half mile before the actual turn. This was along a very new stretch of road, and it is possible they re-numbered it after the Garmin was released. It recalculates within seconds if you miss your turn. When you first turn the unit on it can take anywhere from 30 seconds to acquire the satellite that it needs to function to as much as 10 minutes.
The product details:
Dimensions are: 3.9 x 0.9 x 2.9 inches
weight= 1 pound
Included features:
Pre-loaded maps of the U.S and Canada
The maps were preloaded and available straight out of the box with no problems.
Software updates are available from the website, and they update the Garmin software. I was not charged for the updated version update online. I linked it to my computer with the included USB cable.
Travel kit
A kit that allows you to charge using home electrical plug or you can charge it in the car with your cigarette lighter. Also has a suction mounting system for use in your vehichle, it can mount to a windshield or dashboard.
MP3 player
It touts having a Mp3 player and it comes equipped with one that plays through the garmin speakers. However, I would suggest an Ipod or similar device if you really want to listen to many Mp3's. The sound quality is OK, but not nearly as good as the typical car stereo.
JPEG viewer
this is a neat feature, you can put your camera's SD card in the machine and view a slide show of your photos. The screen size is not very large though, and high resolution photos take a few seconds to load. I still like this feature. I was able to put a photo I really enjoyed as the "splash screen" to personalize the device.
Audio book player
It comes pre-loaded with a few sample clips from audio books, but if you want to load it you will have to purchase audio books separately to play through the machine.
Travel guide
You can load travel books and guides, but it costs extra. Examples would include Fodors city guides and such.
Language guide/translation
This language guide comes with a few sample sentences you can translate from English to German or Spanish and then it reads the translated sentences aloud. The pre-loaded example sentences are not useful ones for travel, so if you plan on using this feature, you will have to buy the language that you are interested in translating separately.
It is a neat concept for travel- but again costs extra.
currency converter this was somewhat out of date (in regards to euros versus US dollars),and I have not figured out how to update it.
Local searches
My favorite feature is the restaurant and shopping guide (preloaded). It does not have new shopping centers & restaurants built within the last two years, but otherwise lists all local shopping and restaurants. You can also search for the nearest gas station, airports, parking lots (only public parking lots), border crossings, hospitals, stores, restaurants, lodging/hotels, and intersections. Furthermore, if you are searching restaurants you can search them by type (ex: Mexican, American, Seafood). The same holds true for shopping, you can search by grocery, hardware, clothing, ect..
Customize it
You can switch between 2D and 3D map views, turn by turn instruction pages, fastest, shortest or off road routes, you can switch what type of car, truck or arrow you want to show up on the map view. You can zoom in and out. You can add photos and music to the system or use the SD card all to make it more personal to you.
In Summary
I am still learning about the system. Prior to having it I would get lost frequently and call my husband on the cell phone. This has helped my confidence and not to mention it is less dangerous than talking on the cell phone to get directions.