Garmin nüvi 350 Car GPS Receiver

Where do I start?

The interface is just stupid good. I've never owned a GPS and I was able to use it for a trip to the market within minutes of opening the box for the first time. It would have taken less time, but I had to look up my local market's address and find the "on" button.

My primary car has titanium coated glass all around, the stuff that causes windshield mounted automated toll paying boxes to fail to see the toll booth sensors 4' away, even when fully stopped. I had to exchange that box for one that mounts on the front bumper. I had read so many reviewers here compliment this unit's sensitivity to finding satellites I thought *maybe* this would work without an body mounted external antenna. It not only works mounted on my windshield, it gets full strength signal.

The Nuvi 350 allows the user to select different female voices to speak turn directions. My first pick was Australian English by "Lisa" (I think that was her name). What can I say, I'm a sucker for Australian accents. This choice lasted precisely the amount of time it took for me to approach Harry Bird Highway, here in Northern Virginia. "Lisa" said, in flawless Aussie English, Turn Left in .2 miles on Airy Bayed Highway. That was reason enough for me to suspend my usual standard of preferring automated voices that have been assigned first names. The American English spokes model suffers from a greater identity crisis than Kafka's "Story of K", NO name at all. I miss Lisa's enchanting inflections, but not enough to be occasionally pressed to study how "plaza" is pronounced in Australia by focusing on a street sign to learn what the hell Lisa was saying.

The importance of the Nuvi 350 shirt pocket size can not be understated. Rechargeable batteries used in GPS's have their life seriously shortened, if not completely ruined by high temperatures. The glove box is a bad idea for concealment from thieves. Summer heat will render rechargeable batteries about as effective as batteries stolen out of it. In your pocket or purse is much more secure than a glove compartment anyway. Good thing is fits pockets easily.

Any concerns about screen size and thinking that car GPS's are like personal DVD/monitor players (the bigger screen, the better)is completely offset by the spoken directions being so clearly stated, the only reason to look at this screen is for the entertainment value of watching a map move underneath the arrow on the screen that represents your car.

Using the 350 in any car you wish, could not be simpler. It's sensitivity is so great, you don't need it mount it anywhere, you can just place it on the center console, or even tos it on the back seat. Looking at the screen really IS optional but the entertainment of watching your progress is hard to live without.

Screen brightness is excellent, but as I mention above, it wouldn't really matter if it weren't, since there's no navigational reason to look. As an illustration of how far you have to look to find something not to like, I could raise some hell that the screen doesn't like my polarized sunglasses anymore than my cell phone.

The Nuvi 350 is so stupid good, the only complaint I have is *magnified* by how likeable every other aspect of this GPS is … it only has one way point. From what I've read from other reviewers there's a way to use a PC to enter more, then download them onto the Nuvi. Compared to how silly simple everything else is about this unit, using a PC glares as a serious inc

Pros: This Garmin nüvi 360 is an absolutely amazing
product and there is nothing else quite like it in the world. It
packs a ton of features into a very small package.

Cons: Unfortunately, unscrupulous manufacturers in the Far East (China and
Indonesia) have begun offering counterfeit items for a fraction of their real
cost. They sell to dishonest and fraudulent sellers who peddle their fake
products on eBay. They are easily recognized by the following:

- Buy it Now and starting auction prices are in the $100-250 range
- Auctions with only a one day duration
- Sellers are registered in either China or Hong Kong
- Sellers have either a private account or a feedback rating of 10
- Feedback comments are from bogus buyer accounts that have been discontinued or
each have a feedback rating of zero

Again, these are NOT Garmin-manufactured products. I learned early on that you
get what you pay for. Please ensure that you do not learn this lesson the hard
way and purchase a genuine Garmin product instead. It will be worth every penny.
Don’t take my word for it, but check with other sellers to confirm what I have
said.

The Garmin nüvi 350 GPS Receiver is a portable GPS navigator, traveler’s reference, and digital entertainment system, all in one. Combined with detailed maps, the nüvi provides automatic routing, turn-by-turn voice directions, and finger-touchscreen control—making it easy...when we made our trip North it was working excellent.....gave directions before the turn off.....great !!

The Nuvi 350 is exceptionally good. It’s probably the the best piece of consumer electronics made in the past several years.
It’s small. Does not get in your way while driving. Really bright, surprisingly clear touch screen.
Plug it in and it works. Zero learning curve. You can change some stuf if you want to, but there is no need to.
Speaks to you in the way you can keep your yes on the road, describing when and where you need to turn including the name of the street etc.
Has a battery! Now you can actually take it with you anywhere you want and never get lost! Walk in a park, bike ride, anything you can think of - made easier and more entertaining with this unit
Plays MP3 too!
Very sensitive >reception< just great!
Comes with everything you need to install and run it, us maps preloaded, stand etc.
I could not think of a reason not to get one, therefore if you have a need for GPS this is the best that Garmin made so far. 12/19/2006