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Comment on Garmin nüvi 1350/1350T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Traffic Reviews by mark goresky

mark goresky — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 05:08:11 +0000

1,312 of 1,330 people found the following review helpful:

charging issues, July 25, 2009

mark goresky (New Jersey) -

This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1350 Series 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

I've used this GPS for several weeks now and when it is fully charged it is absolutely great. The voice is loud and clear, the maps are accurate and detailed. It acquires satellites quickly, even in less than optimal circumstances with trees overhead or tall buildings nearby. It is easy to program and the onscreen menus are convenient. It is thin and reasonably light and portable and the screen is big. But it has one major problem: the cigarette-lighter charging system does not supply enough current to charge the GPS while it is turned on. It is unbelievable that Garmin would allow their unit to be sold under these conditions.

When I received the unit I completely charged the battery (by connecting it to my computer using a USB cable which Garmin does not supply, but I happened to have one anyway). Then I used it in my car, always plugged into the cigarette lighter. It turns on automatically whenever you start the car, and it turns off automatically when the ignition switch is turned off. However, over this two week period the battery slowly discharged (without my knowledge) until it reached a point where the unit would no longer turn on, even when plugged in to the car charger. Assuming the unit was defective, I called Garmin and (after 20 minutes on hold) learned that the car charger is not up to the task, and that the GPS will slowly lose its charge when it is turned on, even if you have it connected to the cigarette lighter adapter. I believe this means that if you have a long drive, perhaps 8 hours or more, then the unit may not even remain operational throughout the full trip. Other people have made similar complaints about some of the other Garmin GPS units.

The tech support people explained how to recover from the low battery situation: you do a "soft reset" which simply involves holding down the on/off button for 10 seconds. Then the unit will turn on, but the battery will need recharging. I was told to do this by connecting it to my computer using a USB cable, which Garmin does not supply with the GPS (fortunately I already had one), but I assume you could do the same by connecting it to the car charger and making certain that the unit is turned off while it is charging.

What a shame that Garmin has produced a superior product with a fatal defect. I will keep mine for now, but I'm going to investigate other charging solutions. Perhaps after reading this review, the wizards at Garmin will redesign the charging system for this GPS.

Update (Aug 1/09): I discovered the reason for these charging issues: In the User's Manual, under "Troubleshooting", Garmin states that the Nuvi will not charge if it is in direct sunlight or if the temperature is more than 113 degrees F (45 deg C). Since I had my unit attached to the windshield, and since I only drive during midday, it is always in sunlight. This charging rule applies to many other models as well; for any given model you can download the manual from Garmin, turn to the Troubleshooting section, and see whether or not they describe a similar charging rule. (The rule is meant to avoid overheating the battery: lithium batteries can occasionally catch fire if they are severely overcharged or overheated.) I think this explains why some people have encountered charging problems and others have not: it depends on whether or not the unit is always in direct sunlight while you are driving. Some people use the friction mount and their Garmin sits on the console. Others drive later in the day or at night.

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Comment on Garmin nüvi 1350/1350T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Traffic Reviews by mitch53

mitch53 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 05:03:09 +0000

1,382 of 1,401 people found the following review helpful:

Very good but . . . ., October 16, 2009

mitch53 (Bridgewater, NJ) -

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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1350/1350T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Traffic (Electronics)

I have this unit for 10 days now and overall I am very happy with it. For its mainstream feature, navigation, it is excellent. I had a Garmin 350 before this which I loved but it was stolen from my car. I had a Magellan after that which was crap. The price on this unit was great ($247 - Amazon).

I chose it over the 1390T because I opted to not get bluetooth. It is the only difference between the units. I felt the bluetooth quality would be poor based on other reviews of bluetooth in general on GPS units. The main reason was in the way most people use bluetooth. In a typical day I am in and out of my car often. I always need my bluetooth immediately in case I get a call. I don't always need my GPS. And since my previous unit was stolen, and theft of these units is a big problem everywhere, I keep the unit hidden or sometimes remove it from the car. So if you are like me but you get this unit for bluetooth, you will need to stop and mount your gps everytime you get in the car whether you need it or not, just to have blue tooth capability. If you forget and the cell phone rings, you have no bluetooth. So I purchased a separate bluetooth speaker phone from Jabra (very good unit# which is always attached to my visor, pretty good quality, and always there when I need it. I saved about $75 by opting for the 1350T over the 1390T.

A few minor disappointments. The Lane Assist feature works great but is not available everywhere. I used it around NYC and it was helpful. I drove through Pennsylvania and upstate NY and it was not available. Marketing material hypes this feature but they neglect to tell you this one point. But when it is available, it is a great feature. That brings me to traffic. Same story here. I was driving through PA and hit a 1 hour traffic jam. No warnings from the traffic feature because it was not available in that area. When I got to the Scranton, PA area the traffic alerts started working. It alerted me of a major traffic jam ahead and it even rerouted my trip automatically. The reroute would have been a significant addition in miles but would be worth it to avoid the traffic, right? I decided to ignore the re-route just to test the unit to see if the alert was accurate and I was willing to endure the traffic. As I drove my original route, no traffic anywhere. So had I listened to the traffic alert, I would have driven 50 miles out of my way for nothing. Bottom line is, don't let the traffic feature be a deal breaker for the unit you choose. But then again, I got the 1350T for about the same price as the 1350 #same unit without traffic). Updating the map was more difficult than it should have been. I consider myself a very technical person with computers and gadgets but the map update did not go smoothly and took me several tries. I could see where many people will have difficulty with this if they attempt to update the map.

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Comment on 4.3″ EVA Case for Garmin Nuvi 265wt 1300 1350 1370t GPS Reviews by Avid Reviewer "A Music Fan"

Avid Reviewer "A Music Fan" — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:00:55 +0000

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

Compact and Sturdy Case for Your Garmin nüvi, June 17, 2010

Avid Reviewer "A Music Fan" (San Jose, CA) -

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This review is from: 4.3" EVA Case for Garmin Nuvi 265wt 1300 1350 1370t GPS (Electronics)

The EVA case is a perfect fit for my nüvi 765T even though the product title says it's for the nüvi 265WT, 1300, 1350, and 1370T. The hard exterior provides very good protection for my nüvi. Its interior is lined with a velvety fabric that won't scratch the nüvi.

I love that it's so compact -- it's not very much bigger than my nüvi (which measures 4.8 x 0.8 x 3 inches). It is a sturdy, well-made, and high quality case. I couldn't be more happy with it. Recommended.

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Comment on 4.3″ EVA Case for Garmin Nuvi 265wt 1300 1350 1370t GPS Reviews by t00nz

t00nz — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:54:34 +0000

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

Nice little zipper case for my Garmin., April 16, 2010

t00nz (Ridgecrest, CA USA) -

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This review is from: 4.3" EVA Case for Garmin Nuvi 265wt 1300 1350 1370t GPS (Electronics)

Nice little case for the price. It holds my Garmin 265WT very nicely with its snap-on swivel adapter still attached. The exterior vinyl case is very stiff to mitigate the potential of crushing damage to the GPS. The interior of the case is lined with fabric to minimize scratching damage. The case zipper works fine. And it comes with a little carry strap too. Again, very nice for the price.

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Comment on Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Reviews by EmbeddedFlyer

EmbeddedFlyer — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 02:54:34 +0000

509 of 517 people found the following review helpful:

Best In Its Class - Great For Traveling, August 7, 2008

EmbeddedFlyer (Seattle, WA United States) -

This review is from: Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

If you spend much time driving in unfamiliar territory, especially if you rent cars in big cities, a good portable GPS makes an amazing difference. And the Garmin 255W is the best one I could find in the $250 - $350 range.

First this thing just plain works. I haven't had any issues with mine. It was easy to set up and figure out right out of the box, and it's easy to use. It never has had trouble getting sufficient signal unlike earlier and cheaper models.

I chose the 255W for several reasons: It uses some of the newest and best maps available. It has one of the more usable touch screens for entering destinations. It's fast to acquire satellites. And Garmin almost always comes out on top in reviews--especially in routing.

Ultimately, you buy a car GPS to get you from Point A to Point B as easily and efficiently as possible. And that's what the 255W does best. If you've ever had a "Brand X" GPS take you on some strange route that adds 20 minutes to your trip, has you turn the wrong way down a one way road, tell you to turn AFTER you've passed the street, frequently loses the satellite signal, or has old maps missing streets, you know how important this stuff is.

The 255W has a really clear display that's easy to see in any light. It's small enough to use on foot. The windshield mount works great and it's easy to toss in the glovebox when you park. It even tells you the speed limit on most roads. The "points of interest" feature works very well to find places to eat by type of cuisine, gas stations, etc.

The difference between the 255W and 205W is the 255 speaks street names and includes Alaska and Canada. The 205 and 205W will tell you to "turn right in 500 feet" which isn't as helpful or obvious as "turn right on Ivy Street in 500 feet". The "W" models are widescreen which makes entering destinations easier due to having a bigger "keyboard" and also lets you see more map area while driving.

All in all this isn't the cheapest GPS in its class but it's one of the best. My only gripe is you need an expensive add-on to get live traffic data--something that's included with the Magellan Roadmate 1430 which is close to the same price. But the Garmin 255W is a better GPS in every other way.

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Comment on Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Reviews by Schultzie

Schultzie — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 02:33:36 +0000

3,002 of 3,017 people found the following review helpful:

Garmin Nuvi 255w, June 30, 2008

Schultzie (Northeast PA) -

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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

I actually could not decide between the Garmin Nuvi 255w or the 750 model, so I decided to buy them both for comparison. I mounted them both to my car windshield and gave them various addresses to find together. I found that both models took the same routes and announced upcoming turns and street names at practically the same time. One thing I noticed about the 255w was that it was updating my position on the road more often, I'd say about 3 times as often as the 750. This made for smoother graphics on the 255w of the vehicle moving along displayed roads, where the 750's display was more of a "jerky" movement. I also found that the display on the 255w was a bit brighter, clearer, and more vivid than on the 750 in both daylight and at night. Another feature I like on the 255w is the graphic turn indicator in the upper left corner, which the 750 lacks. This is a small arrow which shows upcoming turns and the distance to that turn. It also show things like a fork in the road, (ie: a Y intersection), and which fork you will be taking. The 750 just displays text on the top line for upcoming turns without the arrow. It's just a little extra feature on the 255w which I happened to really like. The 255 also automatically adjusts the font size of displayed text so that even lengthy text will fit.
Another feature on the 255w is a display of the posted speed limit on the road which you are currently on right above your current displayed speed. I found myself not even looking at my car speedometer as I could easily see my current speed and the speed limit of my route at a glance. The 750 doesn't have this feature. I also like how they moved the zoom in (+) and zoom out (-) buttons on the 255w to the same side of the screen which makes it a bit easier. On the 750 the zoom buttons are on opposite sides of the screen.
Now there are some features on the 750 that the 255w does not have. The 750 can broadcast it's sound over your FM radio with the supplied cigarette lighter cable, and it has a headphone jack, which I found to be nice features. The 750 also has an MP3 player and an Audio-book player, which the 255w does not. Another really nice feature of the 750 is the car locater. This is a great feature if you are parking in a really big lot, such as at an amusement park or a fair. The 750 marks your location when you remove it from the car, then you take it with you and it remembers where you parked and takes you right back to your car. The 255w doesn't have the car locater.
I also thought the the voice prompts of the 750 where more pleasant sounding than the 255w's. The 750 sounds more like a real female voice, where the 255w sounds more robotic.
Another thing to consider was that I paid $50 less for the 750 and it came with the FM transmitter cable and a USB cord to connect it to your computer for updates and downloads.
My final decision was to keep the 255w and return the 750 because I really liked the graphic turn indicator and the posted speed limit and current speed indicators. I didn't find a need for the 750's MP3 player and Audio book player, but that is up to personal preference. Since the USB cable was not included with the 255w, I purchased it on this site for $10. I also intend to purchase the MSN direct cable when it is available in August 2008.

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Comment on Garmin Portable Friction Mount – Frustration Free Packaging Reviews by Richard Buck

Richard Buck — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:15:04 +0000

426 of 435 people found the following review helpful:

Finally, the right mounting solution, June 16, 2007

Richard Buck (Seattle, Washington) -

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This review is from: Garmin Portable Friction Mount (Electronics)

I have become addicted to my Garmin Nuvi 660 and used it for six months with a successful windshield mount. But now I have bought a new car. I discovered that the windshield suction mount left an ugly black ring on the window of my old car. (I assume I can get this cleaned up when I detail the car for selling.)

So no way was I going to put one of those on my beautiful new car. I tried the Garmin dashboard mount but shied away from the "permanent" disc. I found the "temporary" disc was just not up to the job of holding this device in place -- at least on my vehicle. I found this very frustrating. I read about the Portable Friction Mount, found a Best Buy store that had it in stock and ran out to buy it.

Though it is not terribly good looking, it does the job very well. I tried whipping around a few tight turns in parking lots and the whole thing stayed put. As another reviewer said, this lets you easily remove the thing and put it on the floor so it's not obvious. That may be more valuable than you would think. I know somebody who removed his Garmin Nuvi (and took it with him) but left the window mount in place. The car was broken into and the window mount alone was stolen. (Probably that was a pretty frustrated thief.)

Also, this will be easy to transfer to a rental car. And it will make it easy for my wife to borrow my Nuvi. Hmmm!

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Comment on Garmin Portable Friction Mount – Frustration Free Packaging Reviews by Dylan Ginsburg

Dylan Ginsburg — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:32:02 +0000

729 of 739 people found the following review helpful:

Well designed, May 19, 2007

Dylan Ginsburg -

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This review is from: Garmin Portable Friction Mount (Electronics)

This mount works great. The selection of Garmin mounts is confusing as some are two parts and some are one. If you have a Nuvi with the included windshield mount, then this is the only part you need to buy. The included mount disassembles at the ball and socket joint and attaches to this one. I can't say it will never come off the dash if I do some really high speed maneuver, but so far it's held steady for all regular driving.

I like that it's easy to move the mount and gps unit down to the floor when I park. Yeah a thief could still see it if they came right up to my car but at least it's not obvious from halfway across the parking lot like a windshield mount is. A thief that sees an empty windshield mount is probably going to assume (correctly) that I've just put the unit in the glove compartment.

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Comment on Garmin Portable Friction Mount – Frustration Free Packaging Reviews by A. Stagg

A. Stagg — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:21:03 +0000

1,361 of 1,369 people found the following review helpful:

Best Solution for NUVI in my Prius and my Ford: Theft Protection As Well!!, June 1, 2007

A. Stagg (Virginia, USA) -

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This review is from: Garmin Portable Friction Mount (Electronics)

My Prius has a rough dashboard and a windshield that slopes very sharply. Thus, the suction cup mounts are not good solutions. Fortunately, the friction mount is a great solution. It works much better than I expected. Very stable, does not slide, and lets me adjust my Nuvi to a variety of different angles. I can place the GPS anywhere on the dash or even on the center console. Also works great when transferred to my wife's Ford.

Only downside to the device is that it has a rather large footprint, but not prohibitively large. I like the fact that I can easily use this in both of our family vehicles depending on where we need the GPS.

UPDATE: Now that I have used this mount regularly since May, I have to say this is the best mounting solution I've found for a GPS or any other device for my car. It hasn't slid out of place once!! Given the rise in GPS units being stolen from cars, this mount allows you to easily stash your GPS Unit and mount out of sight and then put it back into position with ease.

2009 Update: Still using this in my Prius and my wife has one too. It's held up quite well. It IS a bit bulky to store out of the way when not in use, but still a good solution. I usually remove my GPS from the mount (a simple process) and then place the mount as far under the seat as it will go. Not perfect, but the best solution I've found to date.

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Comment on Garmin nüvi 1300 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator Reviews by R. Anderson

R. Anderson — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:30:15 +0000

486 of 491 people found the following review helpful:

Mostly Impressive - But Some Quibbles, June 30, 2009

R. Anderson -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1350 Series 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

Overall, I am very satisfied with the Garmin nuvi 1350 but I do have a couple of minor complaints.

First of all, I do recommend that owners/potential buyers visit the Garmin web site to read through all of the product information and to review the FAQs. Some folks have made an issue of Garmin not including the USB cable with the device but this did not matter to me. The required cable is a standard type "A" to mini "B" USB cable. Many other devices use this same cable and I already own a couple of them. (I also heard that if you contact Garmin customer service, they may send you a cable at no charge.) Other reasons to visit the Garmin site: to register the product, to download the full PDF manual and to install the "my Garmin Agent Plugin" for web updates.

Next, my quibbles:
When the 1350 is plugged into a charging device (PC or vehicle), there is no way to determine when the unit is fully charged. This is very inconvenient. To view the charge level, you have to unplug the device and turn it on. Only then can you see the battery level. According to the Garmin FAQs, charge time is about 4 hours using the vehicle cable and 8 hours using the PC cable.
One of the features of the 1350 is the speed limit display. However, I find this to be of limited value. The speed display is frequently 5 to 10 mph too high compared with the actual posted speeds on the roads being traveled. As a result, this throws off the estimated destination arrival time.

Finally, why I am impressed:
When driving with the 1350, I never had any doubt where I was at any given time and I never had any doubt what my next maneuver would be (and isn't this the bottom line of any GPS?). The voice commands have plenty of volume, are easy to understand and they also give you adequate lead time for upcoming turns. The commands will also repeat but the voice is not annoying. Several times, I deliberately missed a turn to test how the 1350 would respond. It quickly calculated a revised route based on my current location.
I also found the screen to be clear and easy to see while driving (in bright sun, shade and at night).
The full manual states that a PDA type stylus can be used for the touch screen. I found this to be convenient (I'm actually using a stylus from a Nintendo DS.) While you can certainly use your finger on the screen, this will leave fingerprints and smudges on the screen.

Other notes:
I have the 1350 sitting on my dash with the Garmin "Portable Friction Mount" - highly recommended.
My 1350 came with a free case - the Caselogic MGPS-2. This case adequately protects the 1350 when it's not being used.

Overall, this has been a great purchase for my business travels and I would rate the unit as four and a half stars.

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