I once was lost, but now am found, my GPS, how sweet.

Back in the good ole’ days, out of college, no mortgage, no family, when 100% of my post-bar tab take-home pay was disposable, I would have gladly plunked down the dough for a GPS device. But then one day I realized how much money I’d been wasting on these unnecessary gadgetary-type purchases. I considered whether the thing I wanted actually helped me in some way, or if it was just another thing to show off to friends. At the time, had I lost my job and my landlord not taken old digital cameras or used PDA’s for rent, I’d have been in big trouble. So somehow or another, I saw the error of my ways and I came to my senses. I held off on rabid consumer electronics purchases, and I turned over a new leaf....... oh yeah, I also got married. Goodbye cool gadgets, hello another new shoe rack in the closet.

So basically, I had been putting off buying a portable GPS system. I mean, it’s not that I needed one; I’m a guy – and guys don’t get lost. But just in case I ever were lost, hypothetically speaking, I thought a GPS might be a nice thing to have… for the wife’s peace of mind.

But given my ‘leaf turning’ experience, and other buying ‘restrictions’, I waited. I was looking for JUST the right combination of price, features, function, and need (and permission). Everything I looked at was too expensive, unintuitive, or too bulky. The good ones were outrageously overpriced. The bad ones were made only for professional land surveyors, because unless you could see map coordinates in your head, they weren’t exactly user friendly.


Impetus

Then a funny thing happened: we moved to beautiful Northern Virginia/Washington DC. If you’ve never been to the Virginia/DC area, you should visit. It’s very scenic and very historic. But if you weren’t born here, and you tried to drive a vehicle (or bike, or walk) here without a local tour guide present, chances are you wouldn’t be reading this because you would still be lost (or stuck in traffic).

To describe the roads here, on most weekends we would go out for the day on Saturday, and we’d be lucky to make it back in time for work on Monday. We kept extra clothes and a tent in the trunk. (Ok, I exaggerated the tent – we’ve got ‘rewards’ at a few hotel chains). So we resorted to printing maps to and from every destination we visited beyond a two square mile radius from the house. I kid you not. We printed point-to-point directions from Google, both ways, for every trip. Tedious, but better than nothing. And certainly better than figuring out how to re-fold that old Rand McNally.

But soon we found that being reliant on printed Google directions in certain parts of DC and Virginia is like parachuting with no reserve. Streets have three or four names each. State, county, city, number, common name, local slang etc… Google may know what it’s called 10 miles away, but where you ARE, the signs say nothing similar. Then, with all the one-way streets, highways and byways, once you’re off the map, you are off the map. And if you miss an exit… see you next Thursday. (I think the founding fathers never got the whole ‘city grid’ concept down.)


Miracle of Miracles

Then one day some friends from back home came to visit. They introduced us to what I can only refer to now as a gift from God. The God of Garmin. And this great Garmin God had bestowed upon our friends a gift. A gift of amazing knowledge and wisdom. A gift of geography, restaurants, and shopping! It was the Nuvi 350, and Garmin saw that it was good.

After 2 days of riding with our friends as they easily navigated our area (reminder: DC) with their Nuvi 350, we were sold. And I mean sold. My wife actually asked me when we were going to get one. Woo hoo! (When the wife suggests that you buy an electronic gadget, knowing full well it isn’t exactly cheap…that my friends, is truly divine intervention.)


A Little Research

I set to work immediately re-researching these GPS’s. To ‘aid’ in my search, by coincidence, the following week I was out of state in a rental car for business. The car had a GPS in it from Alpine. I can’t remember which model it was, probably the low end, but simply put: it was a stinker. It lost signal, it confused streets, it was hard to understand (we turned off the voice prompts for sanity, then we gave up and turned it off).

So Alpine was out. Then I saw the television add for the cutesy one, the Tomtom, but it just seemed too… cutesy. And sports stars don’t persuade me on anything but sports products. I couldn’t get my mind off the Nuvi. It did everything we needed, and we got to see it in action. The Epinons reviews of it were good, and it was highly rated by a major rating organization. (I think we can’t divulge which one because they don’t allow references in anything I’ve ever read, but here’s a hint: they’re non-profit).

So it was decided, the Nuvi 350 it would be. It’s not exactly the newest device on the market, but the price is now finally, almost, reasonable. I watched prices online, and it hit my price point. (There’s a newer Nuvi 360 with Bluetooth which integrates to your phone, but I didn’t see a need for the extra bucks.)


The Form

The dimensions of the Nuvi 350 by Garmin, according to the manual are:
*3.87” wide
*2.91” high
*0.87” deep
(or 98.3 x 73.9 x 22.1 cm)

That actually makes it about a hair or two narrower than the length of my iPod 4g (a.k.a. so last year), and about a shade wider and slightly thicker than said iPod. Also it’s a very light 5.1 oz (or 144.6 g), which feels slightly lighter than the iPod as well. The screen is much bigger than the iPod, almost the size of the unit itself, which makes it big enough to be easily readable.

Following the ‘simplicity is best’ model, the unit is clean on the outside, with nothing protruding when the antenna is tucked away. On the side of the unit, it has a slot for a Secure Digital card, as well as a plug for the USB/charger, and a headphone jack. On top it has an inset power button. Behind, are a speaker, and a clever antenna design. The antenna folds back when the GPS function is not needed. But it swivels up at various lock points to 180 degrees. This allows it to be facing directly skywards when in use, whether mounted on the windshield or held horizontally when walking.


In Use: Navigating

The primary function of the Nuvi 350, the one for which I bought it: getting me from point A to point B, is exactly what I was hoping it would be. It does this quickly, accurately, and without a lot of fuss. Plus, it can take you from A to B by way of C, D, E, F and G etc… (allows detours).

The learning curve is incredibly small. In normal operation, there are only 3 main menu options which are easily visible so that you can keep your attention on the road. The options are: ‘Where to?’, ‘View Map’, and ‘Travel Kit’. There are also two small icons for ‘Settings’ and ‘Adjust’ on the side, but they are out of the way.

To go somewhere, you simply turn it on, open the antenna so it can get your position, and hit the ‘Where to?’ option. It then gives you 6 colorful, large, labeled icons representing places you might want to go. It also gives you more options on the next screen. You select the item you want, hit ‘Go’, and you’re off!

The menu turns into a 3D map with a car in the middle (can be changed to truck, or other cars. You can download other vehicles as well from garmin.com). The default point of view is from that of a camera that might be following you from behind. As you’re driving, the map moves with you. You can zoom in and out to get a better picture of the surrounding area. You can get a birds eye view as well, or a constant north view, where the car moves and the map is static. Regardless of the display preference however, your route is clearly highlighted. If you tap the screen while en-route, it switches to a condensed mode, showing the entire route from start to finish if you’re zoomed out. If you tap the top area of the screen, it gives you a list of all your next upcoming turns.

On the lower left of the screen is a current speed reading. If you tap on the speed indicator, the screen turns into a little cartoon dashboard. The dashboard contains a visual speedometer, a compass point, and more trip counters than you could possibly need.

There’s a counter for:

-Overall Average speed
-Moving average speed
-Max speed
-Total time
-Moving time
-Stopped time

Also while you’re driving the Nuvi 350 gives you voice prompts that clearly alert you about turns that are coming up. The voice is realistic and easily understood (depending on which voice you select). Not only does it alert you about a turn when you arrive, it gives you ample warning that the turn is approaching up to two or three times before you get to the turn. Once you’ve made the turn, it tells you what the next thing you’ll be looking for is, even if it’s still far off. Then the consecutive warnings will alert you again once you’re closer.

It’s almost as if the Garmin people listened in to my wife directing me from our Google maps. It mimics precisely how she gives me directions when I ask for them. Also if we’re on a long stretch of road, I may ask my wife about how far it is until the next turn. With the Nuvi, always present is a note about your next turn. It shows how far the turn is, and which direction. If you need more detail, you press that area on the lower right, and it switches to a detailed map view of the next turn such as an intersection or exit ramp, and it tells you what the instructions will be.


Accuracy

There is a small bar graph signal strength indicator in the top left portion of the display, much like a cell phone signal indicator. It tells you the overall signal strength from the satellites. If you press it, a simple reference map of the sky appears. In it, each GPS satellite is shown. The satellite is green if the device has locked onto the signal, and grey if it hasn’t. On the right side, it shows a list of those satellites and the signal strength of each one. Also in this view, on the top of the screen, it gives you the current accuracy level in feet (more satellites locked = more accurate). This view also gives your current altitude from sea level.

When you first open the antenna to activate the receiver, it takes about a minute or so for it to lock on to enough signals to have a high accuracy. In the satellite view, as each one comes online, you can watch the accuracy increase by watching the feet decrease.

In the open, without a lot of surrounding obstructions, the best accuracy I’ve seen so far has been about 10 feet. This apparently is about as good as it gets for civilian GPS systems with WAAS enabled which is built in (more on WAAS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Area_Augmentation_System).


Location, Location

Forget the technology wizardry of the GPS system, forget the voice prompts, the maps, etc… The Nuvi 350 is really a portable phone book. It contains many, many, points of interest pre-loaded for our area. I can only assume this is the case for most parts of the United States, as I doubt they quickly loaded maps for us before they shipped it. (If I take a cross-country trip to California, I’ll test it and update the review.)

There seems to be no business or establishment that this little device doesn’t have. The points are interest are categorized by type of establishment. There are so many types it’s amazing. Here’s the built in categories: Food, Lodging, Fuel, Attractions, Shopping, Parking, Entertainment, Intersections, Recreation, Transit, Community, Cities, Hospitals and Auto Services. Then there are categories you can search on: Address, Name, or Coordinates. Plus you have a quick link to your favorites under ‘My locations’. Under these, you can set your ‘home’ location which is nice. To get back, you just go to Favorites, home, and it takes you.


Additional Features

As if that wasn’t enough, there are many other features available. One being the Garmin Lock. This is a security function where you type in a secret code and set a location. The device can only be unlocked with that code. If you forget that code, you can unlock the device by taking it to your secret location. Useless if you’re out of town, but better than having to send it back to them if you forget your code (their recommended solution).

Also under the ‘Travel Kit’ option there are:

Language Guide: (Sample included) Translates from English to many other languages. Choose the phrase, it will say it, and say the translation.

Travel Guide: (Sample included) Gives interesting points of reference with detail for specific cities. But instead of just location and direction, it gives a description as well as Fodors reviews for each item.

Saver Guide: (not included). Not sure what this does. Coupons or something possibly. It’s not included, and I haven’t been motivated to buy it yet. There’s a reference to (http://www.garmin.com/products/nuvi click on Accessories)

MP3 Player: Fully functioning MP3 player with nice sound quality. Can hold many songs internally, or on a SD card you can insert.

Audible Book Player: You can buy books from Audible.com and have the read to you. Has a book marking feature.

Picture viewer: Can view digital pictures on the screen. The quality isn’t too bad, but it’s not the best quality I’ve seen in an LCD. The screen serves it’s purpose very well for maps and navigation, but it’s nice to use to show people your pictures.

World Clock: View of world current times. Tokyo, Sydney, Moscow, and Cairo. Can’t see an option for other cities. Also gives you the current time where you are, and the option to switch time format and zones. It also has a world map view which is interesting to look at. It shows which parts of the world are in day or night, with a red dot on your location.

Currency Converter: Convert many currencies to many currencies. You can manually update the current exchange rate. It tells you when the last time the rate was updated.

Measurement Converter: Convert units of type: Area, Distance, Speed, Temperature, Volume, or Weight to another unit of the same type.

Calculator: Basic calculator functions.

Traffic Reciever: (Not included, haven’t tried it). Apparently you can purchase a receiver that listens to local traffic signals if there are available in your area. It can use these signals to route you around traffic hotspots. (Note: I may get this considering the traffic here is also a nightmare, but we already know which roads are blocked during rush hour: all of them).


Drawbacks

Last but not least, these are the items I wish were improved or which I have a gripe about. Obviously these were not at the top of the review, so you probably have my general impression of how I feel overall. But some of these things may indeed bother you.

-The non-navigating menu options are not quite intuitive initially. Basically, all non-navigational options are under ‘Travel Kit’, so if you’re not thinking ‘Travel’ and you just want to listen to your MP3’s, you have to think about it.

-Finding how to set the home location. You may find yourself fumbling around trying to find how to set your home location. You have to remember to go to where to, my locations, when initially I was trying to go under settings.

-It takes a little while to lock on to satellites initially. You need up to 3 satellites to get a position, and it may take up to a minute depending on your surroundings.

-The processor/CPU isn’t quite as fast as it could be. I’m guessing this is related to CPU, but it still takes a little while to calculate your route. It also takes a while for pictures in the view to come up, and for translations, or detours, or anything else it has to ‘think’ about. It’s not that it’s slow, but it’s not as instantaneous as I think it should be.

-Battery life isn’t amazing, but it’s sufficient. We only let it discharge all the way one time, but it lasted about 4 hours total use. When it’s down to that last battery bar, you really only have about 10 minutes until it dies.

-Garmin does not let you update maps continuously for free. Supposedly you’re allowed 1 map update after your purchase if one is available, but I haven't tried yet. The rest you have to buy.


Additional Information

Garmin allows you to update your software for free as new versions are available. The downloadable update wizard is very quick and easy.

There was a new software update to version 4.10 which is a big improvement. The device seems to load and calculate much faster. The new software upgrade is a must.


Additional Accessories in the box
-Leather case, car charger, a/c wall charger, windshield mount with heavy duty suction pad (The basic mount works VERY well. Very good design, simple use, solid mounting), detailed instructions, a registration card containing your web number on it, and some related material for the services featured.