What if one device could help you navigate anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, while offering travel tips, storing your favorite tunes and photos, providing translation assistance, and more? That device is here, and it's not much bigger than a deck of cards. The Garmin nüvi 350 is set to revolutionize what we expect from a GPS navigation device, or from any device for that matter.
Design
With a total weight of 5.1 ounces and slim measurements of 3.87 x 2.91 x 0.87 inches (WxHxD), the nüvi 350 is just right for the pocket or purse. A bright, 64,000-color display dominates the front of the device and a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels means that there's plenty of room for displaying map data and other elements of the device's interface. An SD memory card slot is provided for expansion software, such as a points of interest database, media files and electronic guides (see below). The flip-up antenna includes an MCX-type connector for connecting the unit to an external GPS antenna. Meanwhile, a powerful built-in speaker resides on the back of device. A built-in lithium ion battery will give you for to eight hours of battery life, depending on use. In addition to an AC charger, the unit also ships with a 12-volt power adapter for vehicle charging, as well as a windshield suction cup mount.
Fortunately, Garmin has made it easy to interface with the nüvi 350's 700 megabytes of onboard memory, thanks to "plug-and-play" USB mass storage support. Just plug the device into your computer's USB port and you've got instantaneous access to all the audio books, music, photos, supplemental maps and other data on the nüvi 350's internal and SD card memory.
Navigation
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. Additionally, the nüvi 350 is compatible with Garmin's GTM 10 FM TMC traffic receiver*, which allows users to avoid traffic tie-ups by simply pushing a button that will calculate a new route.
As mentioned, the nüvi 350 comes packed with mapping data for North America, but you can can also load up your custom points of interest. Set up proximity alerts for school zones, safety cameras, and more using Garmin's free POI (points of interest) loader program (available from garmin.com).
Important note about map updates: Due to our high volume of sales, almost every Garmin portable GPS navigator sold by Amazon.com will come with the most recent map version.
The device automatically calculates the fastest route and provides voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions along the way. Tools for the Journey
Navigation is just part of the journey, and the nüvi 350 is one of the first devices to recognize that. The built-in "Travel Kit" offers an MP3 player, an audio book player from Audible.com, a jpeg-format picture viewer, a world travel clock with time zones, a currency converter, a measurement converter, and a calculator.
In addition to the included travel tools, additional software add-ons are available, such as the Garmin Language Guide, with data provided by Oxford University Press. This software suite contains a multilingual word bank, phrase bank, and five bilingual dictionaries. The multilingual word bank and phrase bank supports nine languages and dialects, including American English, British English, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, European Spanish, and Latin American Spanish. Now you can look up and translate more than 17,000 words or 20,000 phrases per language -- right in the palm of your hand. Through the unit's text-to-speech interface, users can get a spoken pronunciation of each entry in the word bank, along with gender and part of speech information.
Another useful add-on software package, the Garmin Travel Guide, is loaded with information provided by Marco Polo. These guides put in-depth travel information such as reviews and recommendations for restaurants, tourist attractions, and more at your fingertips. The software allows you to navigate to an address or search points of interest-- places like hotels, restaurants, shopping, and tourist attractions. The nüvi 350 automatically calculates the fastest route and provides voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions along the way. The unit also audibly announces the name of upcoming streets-- letting you keep your eyes on the road while navigating through busy traffic and tricky roadways. And if you stray off course, the nüvi 350 automatically calculates the quickest way to get back on track.
*Traffic services available only in select cities where RDS-TMC coverage exists. Requires the GTM 10 FM TMC traffic receiver and subscription fee to enable traffic capability.
What's in the Box
nüvi 350, Preloaded City Navigator NT for North America and Puerto Rico, Vehicle suction cup mount, AC charger, Vehicle power cable, Dashboard disc, USB cable, Carrying case, Quick reference guide
Which nüvi is Best for You?
For a slightly higher pricepoint, Garmin's nüvi 600 and 700 series devices have richer feature sets including: MP3 players, JPEG photo viewers, the ability to receive traffic and weather information, bluetooth for hands-free calling, FM transmitters that deliver audio through your cars own stereo system, and multi-destination routing that will tell you the best way to make a trip that involves several destinations.
Product Features
- Compact 700 MB GPS navigator with bundled MP3/audiobook player, photo viewer, and world travel clock
- Small enough to fit in a pocket or purse; mounts on vehicle windshield with included suction cup
- Preloaded with City Navigator NT V.9 with maps of U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico
- Turn-by-turn directions, automatic routing, and 320 x 240 color touchscreen display
- Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot; measures 3.87 x 2.91 x 0.87 inches (W x H x D); 1-year warranty
Technical Details
- Model number: 010-00455-00
- Display: TFT, 64K colors, with touch screen
- Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels
- Backlighting: White backlight
- Antenna: Flip-up antenna; includes MCX-type connector for optional external GPS antenna connection
- Receiver: High-sensitivity SiRF receiver/WAAS-enabled
- Built-in mapping database: City Navigator NT v.8 (includes detailed maps of U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico)
- Travel kit: Language guide, MP3 player, audible book player, picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters, and calculator functions
- Memory: 700 MB internal; SD memory expansion slot
- Speakers: Built-in
- Traffic alerts: Optional GTM 10 FM TMC traffic receiver
- Navigation prompts: Audio (text-to-speech) and visual (on-screen)
- Viewing perspectives: Three-dimensional or two-dimensional (overhead)
- Dimensions: 3.87 x 2.91 x 0.87 inches / 98.3 x 73.9 x 22.1 millimeters (WxHxD)
- Weight: 5.1 ounces / 144.6 grams
- Battery: Built-in 800 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- Battery life: 4 to 8 hours
- Other power supply: 12-volt power adapter cable
- Usage: 15 W max at 13.8 VDC
- Headphone jack: Standard 3.5 millimeter
- PC connectivity: USB mass storage (SD card slot or internal memory)
- Warranty: Limited one-year parts and labor
- In the Box: Nuvi 350, travel kit, vehicle suction cup mount, carrying case, 12-24 volt adapter cable, dashboard disk, USB interface cable, sample language guide content, sample MP3s, and quick reference guide
