December 11, 2005

Garmin nuvi 350 review

Garmin_nuvi_350

UPDATE: Though still available and supported, Garmin has discontinued the nuvi 350. For newer models, check out my Garmin nuvi comparison chart.

The Garmin nuvi 350 has proven to be an incredibly popular touch-screen GPS navigator. Garmin bills the nuvi as a "a Personal Travel Assistant™ that combines a GPS navigator, language translator and travel guide capability, an MP3 player, an audio book player, a currency and measurement converter, a world clock, and a digital photo organizer." The nuvi has the newest generation of GPS chipsets, the SiRFSTAR III, resulting in fast satellite lock and improved reception. It also speaks street names, so you'll get "turn left on Highway 128" instead of "turn left in 200 feet."

Stepping up to the nuvi 360 adds Bluetooth for hands free cell phone use.

Compare prices on the Garmin nuvi 350

To see how the nuvi 350 compares to other models, check out my Garmin nuvi comparison chart.

Before we hear from other reviewers, here's a brief excerpt from Amazon's Garmin nuvi 350 page:

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.

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From the official Garmin nuvi 350 web page:

The sleek, portable nüvi 350 is a GPS navigator, traveler’s reference and digital entertainment system, all in one. It is your pocket-sized personal travel assistant ready for adventure. Like the rest of the nüvi 300-series, you’re just a few screen taps away from anywhere.

Navigate With Ease

nüvi 350 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator® NT street maps, including a hefty points of interest (POIs) database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with 2-D or 3-D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. It even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. In addition, nüvi 350 accepts custom points of interest (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs. The European version even includes a preloaded safety camera database containing the location of safety cameras for parts of Europe.

Add Traffic Alerts

Avoid traffic jams with the addition of an optional FM TMC traffic receiver and traffic services. By adding these to your nüvi, you are notified of accidents or road construction ahead on your route. Simply touch the screen to view traffic details or recalculate your route to avoid traffic.

Take It With You

Like the rest of the nüvi series, nüvi 350 sports a sleek, slim design and fits comfortably in your pocket or purse. Its rechargeable lithium-ion battery makes it convenient for navigation by car or foot.

Go Beyond Navigation

Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi 350 includes many “must have” entertainment and travel tools including MP3 player, audio book player (subscription to Audible.com required), JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. It also comes with Garmin Lock™, an anti-theft feature, and is compatible with our free Garmin Garage where you can download custom vehicles that show your location on the map. Optional plug-in SD cards let you add additional features to enhance your travel experience including language translation and detailed travel guides. Our SaversGuide® provides information on nearby merchants offering discounts to customize your nüvi whether you’re traveling or close to home.

nüvi 350: It's a whole nü way to travel.

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Dec 11, 2005 7:15:00 PM | Garmin, GPS Reviews, Hardware

53 Comments

Rich Owings

Yes, I'm pretty sure this is built into the 350. Try Settings > Display > Screenshot. It should bring up a camera icon on the screen. Tap it to take a screenshot. You can then retrieve them via USB under the folder Screenshot.

Posted by: Rich Owings | November 28, 2008 at 06:29 PM

Madhu Sudan Tyagi

Hi,

I have nuvi350 which has north american map on it. I would like to add Europe map on it. Garmin website says that i can add(?) europe map by SD card if i buy one. However, i guess the european map is something like more than 1GB so how i can add it as I see only 500MB available on my nuvi? Thanks a lot. Madhu

Posted by: Madhu Sudan Tyagi | January 10, 2009 at 12:51 PM

Rich Owings

You're looking at internal memory. Just slide the SD card in and leave it there.

Posted by: Rich Owings | January 10, 2009 at 12:59 PM

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