I did a bunch of research on a GPS Navigation system that we could take with us on vacation. I ended up with the Garmin Nuvi 350. This thing is nice and tiny with a crystal clear screen. It gave us very good directions and talked us through all the upcoming turns. We used it to find rest areas, restaurants, and lodging along the way. It never missed a beat. This thing has a ton of features I will never use though, like the MP3 player, Audible Book player, picture viewer, etc. You never know when the language translation program will come in handy, as well as the calculator, and a few other things.

But, with all the good there are a few things that could be better.

First is the navigation. On our trip we went from Pittsburgh, PA to Beaufort, SC. It correctly took us down I79 South to Route 19 to 77, etc. Exactly like we would have mapped it out ourselves. But on the way back it really fought against us going in the exact opposite direction of 77 to 19, to 79. It really wanted us to stay on 77 all the way to Charleston, WV and then up 79, which would have cost us at least 60 miles compared to going back up 19 like it had us take on the way down. We decided we knew best and took 19 home and it kept trying to get us to turn around and get back on 77. It wasn’t until we were more than half way up 19 that it finally gave in and started talking to us again. Everything else with the navigation was perfect.

When the volume is turned up it tends to break up and get a little fuzzy. It’s just not real clear at higher volumes. Probably a cheap speaker.

The next thing I would like to see is what direction the next turn is on the main screen. I like knowing if I will need to make a left or a right way before I need to. I can easily tap the screen at the very top that tells me what road is next and I will get the turn by turn display. I would still like to see that on the main screen though.

Battery life is supposed to be 4-8 hours I believe, but I think we saw closer to 2.5 hours with our Nuvi.

Cost. $799?! Ouch. That hurt a little but I at least feel I got a great toy for the price. Doing the research it looked like I was going to have to pay if I wanted the extreme portability.

Sometimes it takes too long to acquire satellite signals. Sometimes you turn it on and lock on to the satellites in seconds. Sometimes it is minutes. Minutes is way too long. This morning we left Beckley, WV and were miles down the road before the satellites finally locked in. Until that happens you see your map but don’t get directions, so acquiring satellites is a very big deal. We were on the wide open highway so it’s not like we were in a deep valley or snugged up against a building somewhere.

Tomorrow I will be taking mine back to BestBuy for an exchange due to the last issue I have. The LCD screen on mine developed a thin black like that runs vertically near the middle of the screen. How far it runs up and down the screen seems to vary depending on its mood; sometimes the line runs all the way from top to bottom, sometimes it is a few lines in different positions through the middle of the screen. Since I just bought it from BestBuy right before we left I am hoping I can get an exchange for a new one without much hassle. I’ll let you know tomorrow.

With all the needed improvements I listed you would think this is a negative review, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is a great navigation unit and we’re thrilled with it. My wife had to get somewhere on her own while in South Carolina and all she did was enter the address she wanted to go to and she made it to her destination with no problems. She likes it and found it very easy to use, so that is a huge deal for me. Hopefully my exchange happens easily tomorrow.