Whether you're in the market for a portable GPS device or are just looking for that perfect electronic travel companion for your next trip to Europe, the nüvi 350 from Garmin may well have you prying the plastic out of your wallet.
The nüvi 350 is a slim, portable GPS receiver that provides voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions and has many additional features that make it an indispensable travel companion. And its combination of stellar features and impressive performance earn it our Edtiors' Choice nod.
Measuring 3.9 by 2.9 by 0.9 inches and weighing in at just over 5 ounces, the nüvi 350 easily fits into a shirt pocket. It has a 3.5-inch diagonal (320- by 240-pixel) touch screen and a lithium ion battery that can run for up to eight hours. Its GPS feature set builds on those found in the Garmin "C" series, such as the C330, with the addition of text-to-speech (TTS) directional prompting. With TTS enabled, the nüvi 350 will prompt you with complete street names. For example, it would say, "in 0.7 miles, turn right onto Meadowlands Parkway." Without TTS, these instructions would say simply, "turn right in 0.7 miles."
Another perk to be found in the nüvi is compatibility with Garmin's optional GTM10 traffic receiver. We used this device when we tested the Garmin 2720 a short while ago; it provides live traffic updates in selected U.S. cities.
In addition, the nüvi 350 is also the first GPS unit we've seen or reviewed that uses the new SiRFstar III GPS module. This module is the latest generation of GPS receiver chipsets from the manufacturer SiRF. It appears to indeed be extremely sensitive, with a fast time to first fix (TTFF). We were very impressed with the performance of this new module. Our first fix, called a cold start because the unit has to figure out where it is, took less than 90 seconds. Considering that the last known location for this unit was over 1,100 miles, away, at Garmin's facility in Kansas, we found that admirably fast. Subsequent fix times (known as warm fixes, because the unit has a general idea where it is) were even more impressive—in some cases less than two seconds. The SiRFstar III's reception sensitivity was also impressive. From within this reviewer's home office, about 10 feet from the nearest window, the nüvi 350 quickly achieved a lock on six to seven satellites. We observed similar results testing it on an aisle seat on a bus. Even while standing in the aisle on a New Jersey Transit commuter train, we had a good enough lock (until we entered a tunnel under the Hudson River) to determine the train's speed and direction.
We also tested the pedestrian navigation profile in one of the world's most challenging environments—Manhattan. Most GPS units fail miserably when you try to use them in Manhattan's "canyons." Not the nüvi; it kept a lock on five or more satellites throughout our walk between Penn Station and our offices on East 28th Street and Park Avenue. One truly inspiring feat: The device maintained satellite lock even while we were walking under construction scaffolding.
Like all of Garmin's recently released automotive GPS products, the nüvi 350 is extremely easy to use. The only button on it is the power on/off button; all features and functions are accessed via the touch screen. Like other Garmin products, the main screen has selections for "Where to?" and "View Map," but the nüvi 350 adds a third top-level entry, "Travel Kit." Since most of the GPS features mirror the C330/C340 closely, we'll focus on the new features found in the Travel Kit.
From http://www.pcmag.com/
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