Garmin nüvi (nuvi) 350 GPS Review
Garmin nüvi 350 GPS Receiver
System Specifications
Size: 3.87″W x 2.91″H x .87″D (9.83 x 7.39 x 2.21 cm)
Display Size: 2.8″W x 2.1″H (7.2 x 5.4 cm); 3.5″ diag (8.9 cm)
Display Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels
Display Type: QVGA Color with white backlight
Weight: 5.1 oz
Battery Life: Up to 8 hours
Maps: Street Maps included, additional maps available for purchase
500 waypoint storage
Accepts SD cards
Some Additional Features
Voice Prompts and Directions
Auto re-route
Flexible routing
FM Traffic (optional)
Entertainment Package (MP3/Audio/Picture viewer/Book Player)
The sleek, portable nuvi 350 is a GPS navigator, traveler’s reference and digital entertainment technique, all in a single. It is your pocket-sized personal travel assistant prepared for adventure. Like the rest of the nuvi 300-series, you’re just a couple of screen taps away from anywhere.
What We Liked
Size – This unit is nice and small, good for those compact cars or crowded situations. Despite the small size, the screen is bright and easy to read.
Screen – Bright, easy to read, and backlit, for 24 hour any light condition use.
Satellite Pickup – Fast and efficient. Our vehicle was located and routes plotted as quick as I have seen on any GPS system.
Voice – The voice directions are easy to understand, at least in English, I cannot comment on other languages.
What Needs Improvement- Garmin nüvi (nuvi) 350 GPS Review
The battery. Ok, great they squeezed out 8 hours of power. Only problem, if there is a problem with the battery, I cant replace it, it needs to go back to Garmin. I am not wild about that feature, but since I really only recommend this for auto use, not a huge issue.
Detour Feature – I found this a little flaky. It gave me routes I knew would not really work well, and one route through a road that has been closed some time.
Our Garmin nüvi (nuvi) 350 GPS Review Conclusion
This really is a great GPS unit. Fast, easy to use (not withstanding the lack of a manual), and mostly effective. The price is pretty good for a mid/high range GPS device, and it has plenty of features. The FM traffic is optional, and I did not part of the test.
4.5/5
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Magellan Roadmate 1470 Review
Magellan Roadmate 1470
Magellan Roadmate 1470
Product Description
The Magellan RoadMate 1470 GPS device boasts a unique 4.7-inch color touchscreen and ultra-thin design, delivering powerful navigation in a compact package. This easy-to-use device gives you confidence while on the road with premium features, including AAA TourBook, highway lane assist, spoken street names, multi-destination routing, and pre-loaded maps of North America.
Key Features:
- Ability to personalize OneTouch search icons with your favorite places
- Announces street names and directions at each turn
- Ultra-wide 4.7-inch touchscreen display
- AAA TourBook and Roadside Assistance menu
- Permits multi-destination routing
- Maps of United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico
- 4.7″ Touchscreen
- 6 Million Points of Interest
- Text to Speach
- Live Traffic Info (Optional Upgrade, requires traffic receiver)
- Multi Destination Routing
- Auto Nightview
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Our Magellan Roadmate 1470 Review
The Magellan Roadmate 1470 is definitely a feature packed GPS system, without the extra entertainment features of more expensive models. The first think you notice on power up us the screen. It is unusually large and bright, it looks great. When powering up the first time, make sure you are outside, the sky is clear and your karma is good! It took nearly an hour for our test model to find a satellite and get connected. Luckily, this is a first time thing, as the unit was fairly quick to re-establish connections on further use.
The touch screen is easy to navigate. There are tons of points of interest (6 million) so you will never miss a Starbucks or KFC with this GPS. Trip routing was pretty good. It missed one shortcut on our test trips, but so do most GPS units. The traffic receiver worked sporadically. Sometimes it was great, sometimes it refused to perform correctly, very unreliable. Lane guidance was good, but not perfect. Better then we have seen before in a Magellan, so its moving in the right direction.
Magellan Roadmate 1470 Review: What needs work
Auto zoom- this was horrible. This feature was quickly turned off. It seems that when you are flying down the highway, the Roadmate 1470 zooms in to about 1/4 mile, when you really need a much larger distance. In cities, the auto zoom would zoom so tight, only 2 blocks were showing at a time.
The initial boot was slow, over an hour to find a satellite.
Magellan Roadmate 1470 Review: Overall Recomendation
We really like this GPS. The screen is great, easy to see and use (although it is rather large for a really small car). Maps are great. Lane and traffic guidance were ok, but still some room to improve. If you want a full featured GPS without paying for lots of entertainment toys, I have no problem recommending the Magellan Roadmate 1470.
Rating: 4/5
Suunto X9i Wrist-Top GPS Computer Watc
Suunto X9i Watch GPS
Suunto X9i Wrist-Top GPS Computer Watch with Altimeter, Barometer, Compass, and GPS
Suunto X9i Watch GPS
Description:
Equipped with GPS capabilities, a compass, chronograph, altimeter, and barometer, the Suunto X9i Wrist-top GPS has everything you need for a successful journey and serious work-out. Regardless of whether you’re hiking, climbing, skiing or heading off for a fishing trip, the Suunto X9i will not only take you through even the toughest situations, but it will also help to analyze your performance along the way. The route functions of Suunto X9i, together with its advanced GPS system, allow you to create accurate routes, and they ensure that you always know where you are and how to continue from there.
Our Opinion
Size: 3″x2″ This is a watch, about as compact as it gets in GPS systems. Weight is acceptable for almost all situations. 5/5
Battery Life: Great if not using the GPS. 4-5 hours of constant GPS usage. 3/5
Maps: Not really applicable for a watch GPS, the watch comes with software for the PC which can track your travel. Downloadable maps are available. 3/5
Features and Price:
Noteable features -
- Equipped with GPS capabilities, a compass, chronograph, altimeter, and barometer
- “Track back” and “find home” functions help you find your way back home
- Windows-based software helps you analyze your performance
- Features advanced timing functions that record lap and split times of your runs and other activities
- Water resistant to 10 bars, and designed with a user-friendly menu-based user interface
Hiking GPS Review
Hiking GPS
This week we will be reviewing Hiking GPS systems. These are incredibly useful for the camper, hiker, or anyone tired of being lost in the wilderness and eaten by bears.
Some things to keep in mind when reading the review:
1. Size – Smaller is better in hiking GPS systems
2. Battery Life – Like the energizer bunny, we like a hiking GPS that keeps going and going
3. Maps – Maps are good. Less paper to carry, save trees, all that stuff
4. Features and Price. We like fluff, we like cheap, we want it all.
Anyway, check back this week for the next hiking gps review.
