Anyone Use a Garmin Nuvi GPS for Their Car?

[sidekick]

I'm thinking about getting a GPS for my wife for her birthday so she can use it in her car. The Garmin Nuvi 350 was suggested to me by the Garmin dealer. Has anyone used this device or can you recommend another device that works well? Thanks!!!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

My wife had a Garmin Nuvi 350 and she loved it...

I said HAD because someone swiped it from her. Now she has another model which is ok.

We got it from Sams Club who at that time had the best pricing on GPS units.

 

[hancox]

I have the streetpilot 550, which is a bigger nuvi 360, basically. it's wonderful. I personally wouldn't pay the premium for the nuvi, unless you're going to be moving it around a lot (you'll notice the similar streetpilot models are cheaper for the same feature set).

Then again, if it's going to be moved a lot, the size of the nuvi is a plus.

Either way, garmin makes great products, you can't really go wrong either way.

 

[sidekick]

Thanks for the input guys. My wife's going to be doing a bit of driving in her new job and I'm sure it will save both her "and" me headaches if she doesn't get lost.

 

[sonic2000]

My wife and I have the Nuvi 350 for the past 18 months and love it. We do swap it from car to car for various adventures. I bought a extra windshield bracket on e-bay for $20 so I wouldn't have to always move it. One piece of advice, do not affix the windshield mount after cleaning the window. My wife did just that and the rubber suction cup adhered to the window

 

[sidekick]

I couldn't use it attached to the window anyways in California. They have a law against anything attached to the window but the mirror. btw, about 1/2 hour ago, I just picked a NUVI 350 up at Circuit City for $339.00. They honored Fry's online price of 349.00 and threw in another 10.00. Seems like a good deal at that price.

 

[SatinKzo]

I have a TomTom One and a Garmin SP 340. Both work exceptionally well for what I need (no need for traffic or weather stuff, but they do support it). Biggest difference is the chip in the TomTom is better in cities and such were sight to the sats gets obstructed at times. 340 also has text to speech.

That being said, I've never had the 340 lose signal.

I like the customizations and edits for the TomTom and I use that one, but the garmin seems easier to use interface at times and a bit more logical menu system IMO. Wife has that one in her car.

I paid $250 for the TomTom and $220 for the SP 340 (yes, both were brand new)

Other than the size of the nuvi, I don't see any advantages of it for my needs.

 

[thiggin2]

I just bought a Garmin 276C for my boat and so far I like it. It has alot of detail (for marine anyways). The one thing I have found out about Garmin is its VERY expensive. I paid $450 for the 276C, then $100 for the Americas v9 program which came with 1 unlock code for just 1 "region". It unlocks from about the panhandle of Florida down and around to the Bahamas. But if I want to unlock another region say Lake Michigan only it will cost another $100.
Also the memory card was $75 (128mb). The unlock code are also only for 1 GPS unit, so if you buy a new one you need to buy another unlock code for that new unit.
Like I said this is all for Marine so I'm not sure about land. I had a Lowrance before and it was cheaper then the Garmin so that might be another one to look at.

 

[sidekick]

Well, I gave the Nuvi 350 to my wife for her birthday on Wednesday. She loves it. I bought a vent attachment off ebay and it works perfect. This is an amazing unit!!!!

 

[gasman882001]

My wife and I fight over "our" nuvi 350 that we have had over a year and love it. Now I get more adventurous when we travel because I know I can always get back on track.

 

[Bob Haller]

I have owned a garmin 330C for near a year.

BEST purchase I ever made!!

I recommend against any mounts!! The mounts are a dead giveawy your vehicle has a navigator marking it for attack

I keep my garmin nestled between my van seats in some debris, covered with trash. I go into inner city areas servicing machines. in use I just lay it on dash, rarely look at screen driving has enough distractions as is.... it works just as good laying face down, in fact i think its sat aquisition is a bit better this way

Been fixing office machines since 1975 if these were available from day one I would probably have back several years of my life wasted being lost.

my latest use will be cold calling perspective customers schools which have their own catergory.

pick a area and just let my garmin take me to buildings in area. frequently schools are real hard to find. tried this one day works like a champ.

also found i know mostly one path tp even long term customers. garmin finds new paths saving lots of time.

although there are some paper streets in pittsburgh garmin tried taking me over a couple cliffs......

Check you garmin mine has a couple imbedded names for the voices, jill and emily. they sond a bit different.

A buddy found the jill name and thinks its a howl, she is a good friend, who started out back in high school as my first girl friend. we are buddies today.

so i tell folks i travel with jill everywhere

my wife laughs too. jill is a good friend she cares for our dogs when we are out of town, decorated the hall for our wedding and stuff like that. jill my age has a son 3 years old. were 50 man is she a busy lady

 

[LER]

I've had a StreetPilot 2720 since my summer in Charlotte (2005). Absolutely love it. It's been a great help since I moved from Dallas to Austin, and have no idea where lots of things are.

I also recently added the GTM-12 Traffic antenna, and that's ok, but around here, there is one route I take, and ClearChannel is still getting their act together.

Having a GPS makes life so much easier to find out where some address is, as well as finding my way back home when I go "exploring".

I like the Garmin stuff.

LER

 

[riffjim4069]

Ok, after my wife spent a great deal of time getting lost down in the Dallas area this past weekend (she was looking at housing), she told me that I can get "one of those GPS gadgets". She isn't one for gadgets, but she loves the Dish 622 and was impressed with the GPS in my mothers Mercury SUV.

Anyway, our offer on a home was accepted by the seller and we'll be moving down to Dallas in the coming months. .Should I get a Garmin or are some of the cheaper brands just as good? Offhand, I am leaning towards a Garmin. I have no idea what brand was installed in my mothers Mercury Mountaineer, but that damn thing was accurate and easy to use.

 

[LER]

I like the Garmins (see the post above yours).

LER

 

[mdonnelly]

Ok, after my wife spent a great deal of time getting lost down in the Dallas area this past weekend (she was looking at housing), she told me that I can get "one of those GPS gadgets". She isn't one for gadgets, but she loves the Dish 622 and was impressed with the GPS in my mothers Mercury SUV.

Anyway, our offer on a home was accepted by the seller and we'll be moving down to Dallas in the coming months. .Should I get a Garmin or are some of the cheaper brands just as good? Offhand, I am leaning towards a Garmin. I have no idea what brand was installed in my mothers Mercury Mountaineer, but that damn thing was accurate and easy to use.

OT, but I think you'll like Dallas a lot, after you get over the culture shock between Texas and Northern Virginia. About the only thing they have in common is unbearable rush hour traffic.

And I've used a Garmin StreetPilot on my motorcycle for four years now, and it's been great. A couple of weeks ago the power supply died, so I'll have to replace it, probably with a Nuvi or similar.

 

[riffjim4069]

OT, but I think you'll like Dallas a lot, after you get over the culture shock between Texas and Northern Virginia. About the only thing they have in common is unbearable rush hour traffic.

And I've used a Garmin StreetPilot on my motorcycle for four years now, and it's been great. A couple of weeks ago the power supply died, so I'll have to replace it, probably with a Nuvi or similar.

Thanks...I am leaning towards the Garmin, but I am all for saving a buck if another brand offers similar performance and features. My wife and I have been down 2-3 times to visit the Dallas area. We have traveled extensively in the past and look forward to the change. While it is not our ideal location, we really enjoy the area and it offers us the best choice when we factored in employment, schools, affordable housing and quality of life issues. We currently live 50+ miles south of DC and I am up at 4am M-F battling traffic. I have seen Dallas traffic and is nothing like the the all too routine hell of my 3 hour drive home from work every Friday afternoon. My wife left her teaching career last year (long hours, poor pay, no bonuses even though her students consistently score in the top 1% in the state) and will soon be returning to the workforce with a MBA. Besides the fact we no longer like the area, there really aren't many good paying jobs in our bedroom community outside of real estate and retail. With out daughter preparing to start kindergarden, we just don't need both of us stuck in traffic each day. We looked at housing 35+ miles closer to the District, but a similar house will cost an 300-400k. This is just insane!

Anyway, we are both looking forward to making the move...we can't say enough good things about the area. I will have a short 8 miles commute into Garland, and I am sure my wife will land a good job. Suprisingly, about the only thing we don't like is the Texas Barbeque...I guess we're just not used to the dry rub. However, the Thai and Vietnamese resturants we tried were excellent. Go figure!

 

[Bob Haller]

just recently I was in charlotte and decided at a moments notice to drive to charleston for the day. 460 milesround trip by myself. honestly i didnt know whatr roads i took or really care. it got me where i wanted to go.

having loaned mine to a variety of friends to help them out i may buy a backup one, its my most valuable tool.

 

[Zoomie 1]

I recently purchased a Nuvi 670, with all the bells and whistles. Priced over $1000.00 Euro maps, POI, Hotels world wide......language translator , I.E. everything , for our trip to Europe. For this price I should think (since it's advertised as portable), Garmin would have provided a port for an external power source ( since the battery ISN'T accessable), that wouldn't place the Nuvi 670 in SYNC MODE, rendering it totally useless. OR provide access to the battery so you could replace it, like a digital camera.

Problem:

The best usage time I can get out of the Nuvi without having it hooked up to a power source is about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
Garmin says adjust the illumination source and on time shut off option , this will give me more time. YEA about 3/4 hours.

We plan on walking and touring while in various cities in Europe, that's why I bought this GPS with street level maps.

2nd Problem. No way to external power this without using the dash-mount adaptor. If I try to power from my laptop with the USB, the Nuvi goes into SYNC mode and will not operate. If I use the cigarette lighter adaptor with the USB end for power ,....... again it goes into SYNC mode. The only way to operate this Nuvi while power is provided is with the bulky Dash Mount adaptor.

I considered buying an external power supply that will give me additional power, but I'll have to adapt Garmin's Dash Mount w/ cord to the power supply's plug, (cut and solder), in order for this to be of use to us in Europe........

Other then that It's a GREAT GPS, entering street names can be a challange, if it's not entered E X A C T L Y as Garmin entered it in the data base. Route numbers also the same, sometimes have to be entered as 70 vs Route 70 , or Hwy 70.

IF I HAD IT TO DO OVER .......I'D MAKE SURE THE BATTERY COULD BE OT SWAPPED OR REPLACEABLE !!!





Lost in the Argon Forrest.

 

[Joec2]

I have had the Nuvi 660 for over and year and wouldn't go without it. I get about 4 hours of usage, 6.5 with the brightness at 20. You can charge the nuvi 6XX line with the ac charger that they come with plugs right into the usb port. I also purchased a second one for my other vehicle which is the nuvi 750, only 458.95 at Sams Club. I wouldn't buy anything other then a garmin nuvi. I think I would be lost without one. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Neutron]

My wife and I just purchased for her a Tomtom ONE Limited Edition.

So far it works like a charm!! Our street is only 2 years old, and isn't on any online map, yet it shows up, and our house number (only a year and 4 months old) show up just fine.