Garmin nuvi Car GPS Device Review

Garmin nuvi GPS systems are very handy and usable with their advanced features for navigation purposes.

Specs:

* rechargeable lithium-ion batteries with up to 8 hours life,
* SD card adapter for storing and loading new maps, music and image files,
* text to speech (nuvi 350, 360 and 370),
* 3D map view,
* auto re-route,
* Bluetooth hands free calling (nuvi 310, 360 and 370),
* mp3 player,
* audio book player,
* picture viewer,
* FM Traffic compatible,
* world travel clock, currency & measurement converter, calculator,
* Garmin Lock (anti-theft),
* Maps preloaded into solid state internal memory.

Navigating with the Garmin Nuvi 300 Series

There are optionally pre-defined destinations. Entering a destination can be achieved by typing in the address or selecting a POI (point of interest). The map database features some six million points of interest including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, attractions, entertainment, shopping, emergency services, post offices, camp grounds, movie theatres and ATMs. European versions can come with a preloaded safety camera database containing the location of safety cameras for parts of Europe.

To assist in finding an address there is also a search facility allowing users to search for addresses and points of interest (POI).

Garmin presents a free preloader application (which can be downloaded from their official website) for you to import customized POI. It provides the ability to upload POIs created by others from your PC to your Garmin unit.

Another useful selectable feature is a proximity alert which notifies the driver of upcoming custom POIs. Up to 500 waypoints with name and graphic symbol can be entered and defined.

The Garmin nuvi 350, 360 and 370 models have text-to-speech capability for reading out street names rather than just announcing the turn direction. It provides confirmation that you are on route without looking at the navigation display. Of course it is an important and nice feature making your trip less boring.

Garmin Nuvi 300 Series GPS Maps

Garmin Nuvi 300 models come with City Navigator NT maps (NAVTEQ) pre-loaded into internal solid state memory

Series 300 and 310 Preloaded City Navigator NT data for one European region or country

Series 350 and 360 Preloaded City Navigator NT for North America or Europe (full coverage)

Series 370 Preloaded City Navigator NT for North America and Europe (full coverage)

The City Navigator maps contain information on highways, interstates, business and residential roads with attributes such as turn restrictions, speed categories and other navigation features. There is also an SD expansion slot for adding other maps.

SiRF Star III GPS Receiver Chip

A SiRF Star III receiver chipset, a winner of PC Magazine’s Award for Technical Excellence, provides the GPS capability for all Garmin Nuvi 300 models. The SiRF Star III chipset is a WAAS enabled for improved accuracy however, its inherent accuracy makes the WAAS enabling less important. Accuracy for the SiRF Star III is 2.0m for position and with 0.01m/s for velocity accuracy. Hot and warm autonomous times to first fix (TTFF) are less than 1s and less than 35s respectively. Increased accuracy may be important in some technical enviroments.

Multimedia Capabilities
All of the Garmin Nuvi 300 models have multimedia entertainment features including an MP3 player, Audible Book Player and Picture Viewer. The MP3 player has some useful menus enabling users to see album art and browse music by the artist, album, song or genre. Music can be dragged-and-dropped from the SD card. It is possible to wire your Garmin Nuvi into your car sound system using an audio output jack and enjoy larger speakers and surround sound. The Audible book player comes with a subscription to Audible.com from where you can download from their library of some 35,000 books.

Bluetooth Wireless Technology
Bluetooth wireless technology enabled cellular phones can be combined with the Garmin Nuvi for safe hands-free mobile phone use while keeping ones eyes fixed on the road. Incoming phone calls pop up on the display and a tap of the touch screen accepts the call. As with other systems, any other audio is automatically muted during phone calls. Calls can be made using the nuvi’s touchscreen keypad. A handy convenience is being able to access phone numbers associated with the POI making it simple to call ahead.

The Garmin Nuvi 300 series models all come with Garmin Lock which is an anti-theft feature that disables the unit from performing any functions until enter a specific 4-digit PIN or take the unit to a predetermined location.

Live traffic for automatic re-routing around traffic problems is available with an optional receiver and activation by subscription. This is a useful feature if you are stuck in big cities.