Garmin nüvi 350 Car GPS Receiver

Background
I am a business traveler and having to print out maps in preparation for each trip is always a hassle. I decided to purchase a GPS navigation/mapping unit to cut down on my trip preparation time, and to hopefully avoid having to make any more U-turns in unfamiliar cities.

I came up with the following requirements:
1. Portable something small enough to keep in the briefcase and can sit on the dash
2. Touch screen user interface
3. Voice direction
4. Supports Text-to-Speech
5. Intuitive and easy to use user interface

All the requirements combined ruled out a laptop- or PocketPC-based solution. I then did some research and came down to two choices, TomTom and Garmin Nuvi 350. I chose the Nuvi after playing with both units.

First Impression and Setup
The unit was ready for use almost immediately after coming out of the box. I went through a few set-up questions (a one-time set-up chore) and the unit was up and running! I was in-door at the time but the 350 was able to acquire satellite signals and determine its position within 2 minutes. This was a far cry from my old Magellan GPS unit which could not acquire signals unless it was stationary. I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of use and responsiveness of the unit.

Construction
I was a little disappointed with the unit s overall construction. The 350 is rather plain and not as sturdy as it could be. Given its status as a high-tech gadget, it lacks the slickness and flash; as a workhorse tool exposed to the elements (well, at least the harsh environ of a dashboard) it lacks ruggedness. The 350 is literally the size of a deck of cards and weighs just a little more than that. It is compact enough to slip into a jacket pocket when you exit the vehicle.

Screen
Though it may appear small at first glance, the 3.5 screen is surprisingly clear, crisp and adequate for its intended purposes. The 350 has an auto color mode and it is capable of automatically adjusting its brightness according to ambient light intensity. The only time I find the display difficult to discern is when it is blanched by direct sun light. However, since the antenna works well anywhere along the dash and in the passenger seat, one could just simply move the unit to a different spot to avoid the intense sun light.

The 350 can display the moving map in either 2D or 3D. I find the 3D mode easier to interpret and it gives you a better sense of proportion and distance. One can also select different vehicle icons, from monster trucks to sport cars, to represent the unit s present location on screen.

The User Interface
I have used quite a few in-car navigation systems both in North America and Europe (though I must say I am much more impressed with the navigation systems in Europe, particularly those integrated into Audi and Mercedes vehicles, but that s for another review) and I can safely declare not all navigation units are created equal. Some are particularly cumbersome to use due to their poorly designed interfaces. The 350 is more intuitive than most I have seen. Most navigation tasks can be performed in a few keystrokes - from entering an address (you can type out the street address or just simply the ZIP/postal code), to looking for nearby businesses, it is all in one screen with no more than a couple of sub menus.

The initial boot-up takes about 30 seconds, including initial map loading. Once initialized, the unit presents the top menu with three main functions:
Where to?
View Map
Travel Kit

This menu can be accessed from the map screen while driving so it is easy to change destination, add detour points, or look for businesses along the way. The on/off button also serves as a shortcut to brightness and volume adjustment as well.

Navigation
Navigation is why I bought the unit and I will not judge its performance based on whether it could take a shortcut or avoid well-known traffic bottlenecks. Let s face it, the 350 is neither a tour guide nor a taxi driver. I just want my navigation to get me to a destination accurately and without a lot of unnecessary detours/delays in a city that I am not familiar with. To that end, the 350 performs quite flawlessly. Route calculation may not be the fastest (it displays a progress bar across the screen, counting up 10%, 15%... just to keep the driver amused and occupied) but it is reasonable.

The routes calculated by the unit have been very accurate so far. It may not take advantage of well-known local shortcuts, but it gets me there. This is more than I can say about the navigation system on a certain Mercedes E class rental car, which, in the time it took me to say security breach , somehow detoured me PASS the service entrance of the Frankfurt Am Main airport. Needless to say, the ensuing explanation to the authority involved a lot of finger-pointing on my part at the navigation unit.

When one factors into the equation the accuracy of the digital maps and the government-imposed Selective Availability (which artificially degrades GPS accuracy for civilian use), it is a small miracle the navigation unit even knows which side of the street the vehicle is on. So it may direct you to 1006 Main Street instead of 1000, but the unit will get you to your destination or at least within sight of it, on the right side of the road.

The 350 is also very responsive. When the vehicle departs from the calculated route, the unit will usually automatically recalculate a route within 50 to 100 metres (or yards) from the deviation point, well within the expected accuracy of a civilian GPS antenna. It takes no more than 2 to 3 seconds at the most to recalculate a route.

When approaching an interaction, the unit will warn you ahead of time, give you an estimated distance to the impending turn, and inform you of the direction you need to turn. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to test the 350 against the much dreaded turn-abouts often found in Europe. In my experience, the turn-abouts can truly test the intelligence and nimbleness of any GPS navigation systems.

Signal Acquisition
The SiRF antenna is highly sensitive and it is WAAS compatible. The length of time the unit takes to acquire satellite signals is directly proportional to the distance the unit has traveled since it was powered down. Across town, the unit can re-establish its location within a minute. From one coast of the country to the other, or from North to South (e.g. Toronto to San Francisco), the unit was able to start navigating within 2 minutes of power-up, even with the vehicle on the move.

Voice Prompt and Text-to-Speech
The Voice Prompt and Text-to-Speech features on the 350 are invaluable. The unit can be configured to generate an alert tone before an upcoming event (turn, lane change, etc.) and to follow with voice directions with street names. It does not always pronounce the street names correctly, but it does a credible job of it so that you can figure out which street or exit to take next. It offers the user a variety of languages as well as many local accents for the voice. This one feature sets the 350 apart from others such as the Sony GPS unit, even though the Sony offering has a better look and feel.

Updates
Updating the unit could not be easier. All one has to do is to download an update utility from Garmin and the tool will do all the work. I was able to upload a new patch to the unit as well as new car icons in no time.

Other Features
The 350 comes with a number of notable travel features:
Garmin Lock antitheft feature
Plays MP3
Displays JPEG pics
Plays audio books
Built-in world clock, currency and measurement converters and calculator
Find local interests
Compatible with Garmin Points of Interest (POI) Loader
SD slot for expansion
Compatible with GTM 10 FM TMC traffic antenna for traffic update subscription service

Loading music, pictures and audio books to the unit is accomplished via a USB connection. It is rather slow so unless one lacks a CD player in the vehicle, the playback features are best left alone. One cannot just load a SD card with music from a PC and plug it into the 350. The 350 imposes a proprietary data format on the SD card and it can only be accessed for upload when it is inserted into the SD slot while the unit is connected to the PC via USB.

One major difference between the 350 and 360 is Bluetooth broadcast capability. The 360 can send music to a Bluetooth-enabled receiver. Not exactly a must-have feature for me.

The Package
The 350 is rather well equipped with the following items out of the box:
Wall charger
Car charger
Windshield suction cup holder
Dash mount it is really a metal plate to be attached to the windshield suction cup to form a dash holder
Carrying case
Quick Start Guide


Peeves
Other than the slightly less than sturdy construction, the 350 has one major shortfall: Battery life. The web site claims 8 hours but at the most I got 4 hours out of the unit between recharging.

Update: March 22, 2007
I discovered that the unit can actually do Text-to-Speech with text labels assigned to saved locations! For example, if you save a location and nameit "Wilderness Lodge" in the unit, the unit will actually announce "Arriving at 'Wilderness Lodge'!" when you get there! A really cool feature!