| Brand: | Garmin | ||
| Average Rating |
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What if one device could help you navigate anywhere in the U.S. andCanada, 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
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Device
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Screen Size inches (W x H)
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Included Maps
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Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names)
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Traffic
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Bluetooth
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Media
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FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system)
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Multi-Point Routing
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Battery life (hours)
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Cont. U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico
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AK and Canada
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Europe
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| nüvi 350 | 2.8 x 2.1 |
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FM (with optional receiver) | Photos, MP3s | up to 8 | ||||
| nüvi 205 | 2.8 x 2.1 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||||
| nüvi 205w | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||||
| nüvi 255 | 2.8 x 2.1 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||
| nüvi 255w | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||
| nüvi 260w | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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Photos | up to 5 | |||||
| nüvi 265T | 2.8 x 2.1 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
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Photos | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 265WT | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
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Photos | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 275T | 2.8 x 2.1 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
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Photos | up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 285WT | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); |
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Photos | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 465T | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
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Photos |
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up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 755T | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | Photos, MP3s |
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up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 760 | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
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Photos, MP3s |
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up to 5 | |
| nüvi 765T | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
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Photos, MP3s |
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up to 4 | |
| nüvi 775T | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
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Photos, MP3s |
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up to 4 |
| nüvi 780 | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver) |
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Photos, MP3s |
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up to 5 | |
| nüvi 785T | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver) |
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Photos, MP3s |
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up to 4 | |
| nüvi 850 | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos, MP3s |
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up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 855 | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos, MP3s |
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up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 885T | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver) |
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Photos, MP3s |
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up to 4 | |
| nüvi 1200 | 2.8 x 2.1 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | |||||
| nüvi 1250 | 2.8 x 2.1 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||
| nüvi 1260T | 2.8 x 2.1 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
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Photos | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 1300 | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | |||||
| nüvi 1350 | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||
| nüvi 1350T | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||
| nüvi 1370T | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
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Photos | up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 1390T | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
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Photos | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 1490T | 4.4 x 2.5 |
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MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
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Photos |
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up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 1690 | 3.81 x 2.25 |
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NAVTEQ Traffic, 2 years free (Garmin nüLink! service) |
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Photos |
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up to 4 | ||
Popularity: 1% [?]
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Somewhat disappointing
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Everyone recommended it so I got it and it’s okay. It will get me to the final destination which is good. Unless I can change the default setting (which I haven’t figured out yet if it’s possible), I can’t select my route preference. I had a spare tire on and couldn’t take the freeway, and it kept trying to guide me back to the freeway. So it wasn’t very helpful then- I had to figure out how to get home on my own. And it takes forever to load. I don’t always have it plugged in and set up just because I generally don’t need it and don’t want someone breaking my window to steal a GPS that costs less than the window. Anyhow, it takes a while to search for satellites before it figures out where I am.
Died after a year…
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Great little gizmo…but it died after only a little more than a year. Not what I expected for the investment.
Garmin Nuvi 350
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this unit as a Christmas gift for myself for Christmas 2008, and I absolutely love it!! I started using it at work too a few months ago and it just comes in handy in so many situations! The only thing that bugs me from time to time is the antenna flap that you have to lift which turns on the satellite scanner in the unit, that flap can and does affect how and where you place the unit when attaching it to your windshield. If you get a ‘sandbag’ GPS base for the dash board everything is fine till you take a decent turn and the whole thing flies off the dash! So I started attaching it to my windshield…
I love the speech part of this unit that will actually call out street names, you get your choice of several versions of english too. For example, the unit will pronounce a name differently if you choose the British version of English or American version.
I recommend this unit.
Great Until It. Broke
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I was enchanted by the GPS functionality of my new Garmin Nuvi 350 when I first started using it.
The ability to pinpoint my location anywhere in the USA down to the nearest intersection was a wonderful thing and I found it to be over 95 percent accurate in navigating from one location to another.
The user interface is quite friendly after a short period of learning how to navigate the menus.
The problems started after about a year of use when the ON/OFF switch started getting harder and harder to activate. Finally the only way I could turn the unit on or off was by plugging in the power cord. Looked up the problem on the web and found that lots of other owners had the same problems and followed the instructions for replacing the on/off switch, not a job for the casual user but it worked. I was thrilled.
Then the speaker died which makes the device much less useful since it is dangerous to try to read a small screen for directions while navigating through heavy traffic. After that I started to get warnings that I should update my maps which would cost me $100.
At that point I gave up and bought a Tom Tom GPS in hopes of smoother sailing.
Easy John
2 Years and still working
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I got this for my wife as a graduation present but I ended up using it most of the time in my Maxima but I also wanted it to be in the car if she needed it. The suction cup mount was always falling off on hot days and we would find the mount and the unit on the floor which is a pain and most of the reason that I gave it 4 stars. My other gripe is that some of the maps are not accurate and or current and I have been driving down a road and the GPS shows that we are in the middle of nothing.
It’s lived for 2 years with being dropped on the floor, left in the car for days on 100+ degree days, being stuffed in the glovebox for a few months, and being handled by a teenager who’s ‘bored’ so I’ll have to say that it does what it says it’s going to do and is still is being used.
GARMIN
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I USE THIS FOR GARAGE SALES MOSTLY. LOVE IT. I HAD PROBLEMS WITH MY EYE AND HAD TO SEE SEVERAL DIFFERENT DOCTORS THAT I WAS NOT FAMILAR WITH. IT HELPED ME AS I JUST PUT IN THE ADDRESS AND IT DELIVERED ME TO THE DOOR. COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT NOW.
Pricing an issue
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is a decent GPS. However, the battery isn’t holding up (and there’s no way to replace it), the retail price has gone up 40% since 2008, and the maps are incredibly expensive to update ($60 to 70 per update). Streets don’t change that fast to be worth it more than once every 4 years. (If it were $25, I’d do it every year.)
The bad points are that it takes forever to sync with satellites. I’m often two miles down the road before the Nuvi starts to recommend a route. Also, it makes errors, telling me to turn when I shouldn’t. Lastly, it waits until the last minute to warn me a turn is coming up. By then, it’s too late to change lanes.
If they made the maps less expensive and the batteries user-replaceable, it would help a great deal. Also, they need to do something about the price. It won’t be long before you can do this on your Iphone (or other phones), so they had better stay competitive.
Nuvi 350 – After 1 Year Review
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought my Nuvi 350 in May 2008. I used it extensively and for the first year it was great. Even when it took a long time getting satellite reception I would keep the flip antenna down and it would calculate my route without first getting the satellites. This is a great feature which (by following the trip route) at least gave me a head start on my trip.
However in June 2009 I started having problems with the unit. The GPS unit was not getting satellite reception. This was very frustrating to me. I tried several fixes including updating the maps and resetting the unit. Nothing worked.
Finally I contacted Garmin directly. I explained my situation and they asked me to ship the unit to their offices in Kansas. Two weeks later I received a replacement unit and it has been working ever since.
I believe in giving credit where credit is due so kudos to Garmin for standing by their product and replacing it for me.
Garmin nuvi 350 GPS Navigator
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Excellent product. However, it would not always stay in place on my windshield. I recommend purchasing the bean bag holder.
Works for about a year
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
My unit worked all the time for the first year I had it. Now it never gets satellite reception and is useless. disappointing.
unit can’t acquire a satellite
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This product worked great until about six months after I bought it. Now, it won’t acquire a satellite despite all of the suggestions in online sites — hard resets, pressing various areas on the screen during start-up, inserting a small wire in the side of the antenna, etc. It’s now just a very small atlas that has great maps in it. Too bad I can’t use them to get anywhere.
I like this product, but it fails me sometimes.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
When I purchased this product, I did not know you had to buy map updates. I downloaded all items that were free from[...]. However, the GPS often makes mistakes and I do not understand this. In certain areas, it does not work. It boggles my mind when I put in a Hospital for instance and it takes me to an empty field. Or, it takes me past the address I want. I am confused and perplexed. Am I supposed to buy map updates? There was no manual, so I do not know. Can anyone help me understand? [...] Thanks, Sam
GOOD DEVICE
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a good device. I just use it for basic GPS usage finding directions. Like the go home feature which allows you to set your home location and then just make a few clicks before it sends you on your way home. I know there are some nice features (audio books, mp3 but have not done too much with them).
on the negative side however, it does take some time to acquire satellites (from 2 to 15 minutes). Need to work with tech support on this one. Very frustrating at times.
Garmin
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this Garmin for my husband’s birthday on my two daughter’s recommendation…we never go anywhere without it! We love it! We did put the “Male British” voice on for receiving directions and get a tickle out of hearing how some things are pronounced! The Garmin has replaced “Mapquest” for us.
This particular one can have books downloaded on it, pictures, etc. It’s also great when traveling to want a particular type of food restaurant, and you just put that in, and it gives you all you could ever need! GREAT help when you’re in a strange place.
This is a wonderful addition to any travels..wouldn’t do without it! I don’t know how the other Garmins compare; I just know this is wonderful.
Compact and Intuitive
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It was a gift and now I wish I had kept it. More compact that my older model which still works great. Now she doesn’t get lost any more. Very intuitive and easy to operate. I recommend going online to Garmin to purchase the lifetime updates. It is expensive but for my much older Garmin GPS, it is now up to date and doesn’t indicate I am in the “pasture” zone when I’m on a newly constructed road.