GPS Outlet & Clearance Review • Best Price

I would like to start my review by saying that I have been using GPS receivers before it was practical to use them for automobile navigation (prior to May 2000) and have owned and own more than my share of units, including 2 Tom Toms, 3 Magellans, a Dash Express, and about 10 Garmins (including 3 nuvis). Most I bought and some were given to me for evaluation. Plus, I have helped many family and friends with advice on which model of GPS to buy and I have purchased several for gifts. I am not an expert by any means but I am also not a novice. I bought the Garmin nuvi 1350 for a friend that was new to GPS navigation (except for the one on her cell phone) and here are some of the reasons that I selected this particular unit:

1. After loaning her my Tom Tom XL 340-S we decided that it’s operation was not intuitive enough for her experience or patience level. Magellan was out for similar reasons. In my experience the nuvi is by far the easiest to operate right out of the box. She told me that it was by far easier to use and she barely needed to refer to the instruction manual.

2. The screen is larger (4.3″ vs. 3.5″) than many other nuvis and since her eyesight not great this is a big plus. Also, it’s nice that it is thinner than the 700 and 800 series.

3. I wanted her to have certain features such as “Lane Assist”, “Where Am I” and “ecoRoute”.

4. Since she lives in an area where there is little traffic I chose the 1350 over the 1350T. I can always add that later if needed.

I added a friction mount (I did a video review of it own it’s own page. If you click on the product link below you will see it, it’s the first review) for her since she thought that the window mounted Tom Tom interfered with her forward vision.

No GPS is perfect and it takes a while to learn how to get the most out of any unit. I think that of all of the Garmin nuvis this one has (at least for me) that magic combination of features and value.

Well… I left my Garmin nuvi 750 e bought this new 1350. I already knew it has less functions as the mp3 player, multiple destinations, and others. But it has new features the 750 didn’t like eco rote, line assist, etc. Features I didn’t use yet. But I was not happy for what gamin says about this new line of GPS. They say it’s thinner than old models… well… it is. But you almost don’t notice the difference. It’s A LITTLE thinner than the old ones. But I like it anyway. It has new graphics interface and from a screen to another, the images “slide”… but it isn’t like iphone yet… I’m sad that the car charger is not connected to the dashboard dock. It is connected directly on the back of the GPS. If this model is “xx50″ and my old was “x50″ it should be the same … That was so better. And my last complain: it doesn’t come with USB cable (and I already knew that). But the cable you can buy for little money… that’s it.

I received my Nuvi a few weeks ago and have used it quite a few times on the weekends. I’m really enjoying it.

Pros: nice screen, slim, cute, acquires satelites quickly, speed limit for most roads, recalculates quickly, prompts me to stay in the right lane on highways.

Cons: no way of knowing when the battery is charged, does not come with a USB cable or wall charger, and a few more (in detail) below…

The only complaints I have is that it is off a few hundred feet or so before making turns on highways (I guess this could be because of slowing speed when approaching my exit), but I guess I should rely on myself sometimes and not wait for ‘Jack’ to tell me to keep right. On smaller roads, I sometimes find myself braking quickly because Jack’s too slow to tell me when to turn. This is only SOMETIMES, but I am getting used to it.

The map is sometimes (not always) a little less-than-accurate while I’m driving. For example, it will show my car icon approaching a side road when I already passed it (maybe 2 seconds behind). This doesn’t help when I’m driving at 40MPH and trying to keep track of upcoming roads. Again, this is only sometimes.

Lastly, I think Garmin should offer a ‘Congrats’ feature that your Nuvi Speaker should say when you do what he/she tells you. I’d like to hear a “Good job, you did it, Justin!” when I make right turns sometimes, haha.

I’d recommend the Nuvi 1350 for my family.