Garmin Nuvi 350
The Garmin Nuvi 350 has become one of best selling GPS devices in the world, and for good reason. It offers what most people are looking for in a first time GPS purchase; a pocketable device which is easy to operate and doesn’t have too many advanced features they will likely never use. But, one GPS device doesn’t fit all, the Nuvi 350 lacks many navigation functions found in other GPS devices you might be interested in. Is this Nuvi right for you?
Hardware
In terms of the physical design, Garmin just about nailed this one perfectly. Along the top of the device is the power button providing easy access when mounted on your dash. Along the right side is the SD card slot, USB/power connector, and an audio jack for headphones. Thankfully, no buttons were placed along the bottom since that area is out of reach when mounted in a vehicle.
The Nuvi 350 comes with a “flip-up” antenna. I’ve never really understood Garmin’s reasoning for doing this and I’m glad that the new 200 series dropped this antenna style. The GPS chipset inside the “flip-up” antenna is the legendary SiRFstarIII chipset. So you should have no trouble getting a quick signal, and one that will stay locked on even in areas where older GPS devices might have found challenging.
You will also find that the Nuvi 350 is very light and compact. It weighs just over five ounces making it one of the lightest GPS devices in its class and is less than one inch thick. Within this frame Garmin put in the fairly industry standard 3.5 inch display which can show 320×240 pixels. The screen is of very high quality and works well in bright sunlight and from a wide viewing angle. If you are extremely tough on devices, the frame on this Nuvi does flex a little bit more than other similar devices, however I’ve never heard of that actually becoming an issue for anyone.
The mount is hands down the best mount in the industry. It is not ridiculously large like some other mounts, it is easily adjustable, and there is a quick release button along the bottom of the mount. To top it off, the power connector connects to the mount itself which feeds power to the GPS, therefore you don’t have a power cable dangling loose when you take your GPS out of the car. I’ll say it again, this is the best mount in the industry.
Navigating to an Address
What makes this GPS a hot seller is largely due to how simple Garmin makes the initial presentation on the device. A simple menu saying “Where to?” is all you need to get started. This resonates with many people and makes it a device I recommend to people who are less technically savvy. After clicking Where to you can navigate to an address, any number of POI categories, your stored (favorite) locations, intersections, coordinates, or specific places on the map. Typically you might select an address.
After selecting address, you are asked what state your address is in. Here, you type in the name of the state you want to go to, or it will also display your current state as a “quick pick” option. Typing in the name of the state seems like a huge pain. You can’t even type in an official state abbreviation, instead you must type in the whole state name. This can be a pain when you want to go to somewhere like New York where you must type in N-E-W-space-Y before you can select New York. It should know what I mean if I type NY.
After typing in the State, you type in a city. Following the city is the house number. This has always seemed backwards to me. While at first the Nuvi 350 seems to be drilling down from the biggest target (states) to smaller targets (cities) the Nuvi asks you for the street number before typing in the street name. No biggie, but it did catch me off guard the first few times. After selecting the street number, then you select the street. You can then see what result it found from your search and then either click the Go button to be routed to that location, view the address on the map, or save it to your favorite locations.
Navigating to a Point of Interest
Navigating to a POI is equally simple. After clicking “Where to” you can select from a list of categories. The categories seem be sorted by how frequently you might use that category, but I’m not entirely sure. For example “Auto Services” is near the very bottom of the list. But up top center I found “food”. Then you can select from a list of types of food and the GPS will search for a list of restaurants in the category of food you are looking for. The list is sorted by how close each location is to you. Selecting one of the POIs will show the street address and phone number of the location. Just like after finding an address you can either click the Go button to be routed there, save the location to your favorites, or show the location on the map.
Driving
While navigating text will be displayed across the top of the screen telling you your current/next instruction like “Main Street to I-95″ if you are currently driving on main street and your next turn is onto I-95. What I don’t like is that in many cases there is no indication of which direction your next turn is directly on this screen if you forget what the voice said. Instead near the lower right is a field for “turn in” which tells you how far away your next turn is. Clicking on this will show a picture of the intersection along with an arrow indicating where you travel through the intersection. The information is available, but it is a click away.
Along the lower left side of the screen is a field for your estimated arrival time. I’ve found it to be very optimistic, even in areas of no traffic. Also missing is a field to tell you how long (in time) you have left to get your destination. You can take the arrival time and subtract that from the current time, but doing time based math while in traffic is more than I can handle. So when the kids are in the back of the car saying “Are we there yet?” you can tell them that you are 43 miles from your destination (if you click to go to another screen) or you can tell them you will arrive at 8:43 pm…. But neither of those answers may answer the question they are looking for. Again, this is a minor gripe, but I’ve had several people coming to me wondering where to find “time to turn” and “time to destination” information on their screen. Most people can estimate time better than distance.
Advanced Planning
The point of the Garmin Nuvi 350 is simplicity… and simplicity was delivered. However this leaves out many routing features that are available in other GPS devices of the same class. There is no “advanced planning” type feature. For example if you are going on a trip and want to know how long it will take you to get from your destination airport to the hotel, that information is difficult to get out of the Nuvi 350. There is a workaround involving turning the GPS antenna off, going to the map, zooming way out, finding your starting location on the map, zooming back in, clicking the set location button, then going to the menu, navigating to an address, clicking go, and then viewing the arrival time (doing the math yourself to see how long it will take you to get there based on the current time) and/or going to the trip information screen to view the distance to the destination…..but that workaround is probably more trouble than it is worth.
Detours
There is a detour feature on the Nuvi 350. While driving if you come across a blocked road you can click menu and then select the ‘Detour’ button. This will create a route around the next section of the road. But again, Garmin has gone for simplicity here. Other devices typically allow you to select either an estimated distance ahead of you that the road is blocked, or allow specific road or intersection to be avoided. Those customizations are not available on this GPS.
Multiple Destination Routing
Another feature many people ask us about is multiple destination routing. People who make deliveries or are sales reps and drive to several locations in one day typically ask this for. What these people are looking for is a way to build up one route with all of their destinations. Then they can see how long the entire route will take. The Nuvi 350 allows for one “via” point per route. In other words you can say “I want to go to destination A and to get there I want the GPS to take me via point B”. However you can only add one via point per route. Most people might not need this feature, but it can be really handy to have depending on the type of driving you do.
Voice Quality
The Nuvi 350 has text to speech, this means that it will speak the names of streets as part of the voice prompting when giving directions. It is also one of the fewer entry level GPS devices which incorporates this feature. The voice quality itself isn’t quite as good as other devices in its class which don’t use text-to-speech, but it is a very acceptable quality and I didn’t have too much trouble understanding what the voice was telling me to do. There are multiple voices to choose from. The volume is also acceptably loud. When cranked all of the way up, the volume is still an acceptable quality at highway speeds.
Extras
Speaking of sound, the Nuvi 350 will also play MP3 files and audio books. The external speaker won’t replace any of your other audio devices anytime soon, but if you occasionally want to plug in headphones you will find it an acceptable MP3 player. You will have about 700 MB of free space to work with.
It is also worth mentioning that there are a few other applications which come along with their “Travel Kit”. You get a picture viewer, world clock, calculator, as well as a currency and unit converter. Those features probably won’t tip the scales one way or another in your choice of a GPS device
Nuvi 350 Purchasing Advice
As mentioned at the top, the Garmin Nuvi 350 is one of the best selling GPS devices out there, mostly due to the simplicity of the design. If you are looking for your first GPS device and want something extremely simple to use, the Nuvi 350 should be on your list of devices to consider. If your navigation needs are a little more sophisticated, you might want to consider a device with more routing features such as a TomTom ONE or the Harman Kardon GPS 500. But if you are looking for a dead simple GPS device with text-to-speech and without all of the “extras”, take a hard look at the Nuvi 350.
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my new nuvi 350 is a lemon. i returned it for a replacement due to satellite acquisition problems. and it’s supposed to have a better chip than it’s predecessors having an SiRF chipset? you could have fooled me! you can hardly hear it when you roll the window down. turn up the speaker and the sound that comes out is distorts like an over-loaded speaker that can’t handle the wattage. i had a perfectly working garmin c330. i regret replacing it with this nuvi 350. besides pronouncing street names and the fact that you can put it in your pocket, it cannot hold a candle to my old plain-jane garmin c330’s reliability!!!
It sounds like you did receive one with a defect. The Nuvi 350 does come with a SiRF chipset so you shouldn’t have any trouble with signal acquisition unless you are getting some sort of interference from your vehicle (which isn’t common, but does happen occasionally.)
The Nuvi 350 is not alone in having trouble providing clear sound at high volumes. Was the speaker in your c330 better?
When you receive your replacement (or repaired) 350 let us know how well it performs for you.
I want to purchace the NUVI 350 for use on my touring motorcycle. Will I be able to plug into the aux. on my radio to hear the voice commands or possibly use an earbud/headset?
The 350 comes with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack so you should be able to interface with that.
I just received a Nuvi 350 and notice the screen seemed very much like a C340. I thought the Nuvi screen was supposed to be very good with respect to glare and the reason why I returned a C340 was because I had a hard time reading it in the car. I called Garmin tech support and they told me that due to supply proplems they had made a temporary change to the screen but he thought the original and current screens should have a matt finish. Mine is very shiny like the C340 and not very good with sunlight. Can anyone else confirm the proper appearence of the Nuvi 350 screen?
I’m not sure, Michael. Did Garmin tell you what is different between the temporary screen and the screen that should be in there? If it was a supply issue then I would assume that they might have received screens from a different vendor.
The screens for the c340 have very similar descriptions with the following exception:
c340: QVGA transflective TFT; bright white LED backlight
Nuvi 350: bright, TFT display; with white backlight
The Garmin rep didn’t say what was different with the new screen, however, he did say it was temporary and that the original screen should have a matt finish. I had experienced a lot of problems with the C340 screen which was very reflective. Does anyone have a Nuvi 340 with a matt screen? The comment below comes from the attached website. This is how I became aware of the issue and the reason why I called Garmin.
Do you mean Nuvi 360 or c340? I haven’t seen a Nuvi 340.
This is great information to share, thanks Michael. I’ll try to see if I can dig up any more information.
I spoke with Garmin again and got some additional information. I was told that they recently switch to a screen similar to the C-Series (C340) because of supply issues with the old screen vendor. The rep didn’t know if the screen would be changed back to the original Anti-glare screen that had such good reviews. While I was on the phone with him, the rep check the Garmin website and stated that it would need to be changed since the screen on the Nuvi 350 was not anti-glare. He also didn’t have any information on the Nuvi 360 but suspected that it would probably be the same screen as the Nuvi 350. Since the screen in now NOT anti-reflective, it makes the Nuvi much less attractive. There doesn’t appear to be any way to tell if the screen is old or new without inspecting the unit.
Hi, this is a very nice info site for the nuvi 350
I have a few questions, as follows:
1-Can a Route from MapSource City Nav 7 be loaded to nuvi?
2-How does one update to CN8 or Audible in the future?
Thank you.
Joe H
Joe -
1. I believe so. I have not done it personally with the this Nuvi, but this should work fine.
2. Garmin typically offers updates for about $75 when they are released.
Sam’s Club carries the matte finish ones here in Fla. possibly where you live too.
I just purchased a NUVI 350 and love it!!! The update site informed me that there was a 3.30 update availabe. One of the many changes would be adding a lock security. (Is this the same as the 360?) However, it notified me that updating would “clear the user memory.” My question: should I proceed with this update, what would be the advantages and what will I mess up? Thanks!
Walter - The “lock security” is the same as what comes with the Nuvi 360 known as Garmin Lock.
The update page shows what features have been added and what fixes have been implemented. If you experience any of the issues that have been fixed or feel you would take advantage of the new features then you should probably proceed with the update.
If you won’t use any of the new features and you have not found any of the issues mentioned then you can update if you want, or stay with the software version you have. If you don’t update and come across a problem, Garmin may request you upgrade to the latest software version anyway to see if it clears up the problem.
There is always a chance something can go wrong with a firmware update (make sure the batteries are charged and it is plugged into a power source) but most of the time firmware updates are smooth.
Obviously there is a problem with the Nuvi 360…that’s why it’s taking so long to be released in the US. I currently have a 350, and it works great! I was going to trade it in for the 360 and pay the difference, but I’ve since changed my mind.
The only complaint I have is that my mount somtimes falls onto the dashboard for no reason. Do I have a faulty mount or do yours do that too? If yours does stay on, I’d love to hear any tricks you might have for keeping it on the windshield. (I’m close to throwing in the towel and just sticking it on the dashboard instead of the windshield).
Todd
I just bought the nuvi 350 and it works great out of the box. Got it at Sam’s club for $694.95 + 7% tax. I don’t see any glares in direct sunlight. I got the 3.2 version and updated it to the 3.3 already and uploaded some vehicle pointer. Works awesome.
I am on hold with Garmin as I type this. Have a problem similar to the one pasted here from 37Signals:
—————————
Jon 03 Feb 06
Has any body had a problem with the mp3 player on their nuvi not playing some files? All the files I have tried are mp3’s, no DRM. For whatever reason they will not play. It pauses for a few seconds and then skips to a different song. About half the songs I tried were unplayable. I have tried loading both to the nuvi’s internal memory and to a SD card. Any thoughts or advice?
——————-
OK, I have the same problem. A series of recordings from the same source will NOT play on the nuvi mp3 player, although when I hook the nuvi up to the notebook, I can play all of the mp3 files (incl the problem ones) through the notebook WMP, it just won’t play on the nuvi. It displays the track, but the timer doesn’t advance, and after maybe 10 seconds or less, the nuvi just starts playing the next song stored. I just updated the software from 3.20 to 3.30, but it had the same problem before and after, except that with 3.20, instead of skipping to the next song, it just made a HUGE static hiss and pop (scared me and the dog!) and shut off (battery was fully charged and restarted fine).
I am still on hold, but would appreciate hearing back from anyone who has expereinced similar glitches. Other than that, I love the 350!
Dana, I have not heard of others with this issue. However there are lots of devices which play MP3 files that have trouble with MP3 files encoded with various settings. There are lots of different “types” of MP3 files which some devices can play better than others. This might be what you are experiencing. Keep us posted with what Garmin tells you.
Well, Garmin is not going to be any help, I am sure, beyond “..you have a corrupt mp3 file, we can’t tell anything over the phone but you can send it in…” Sorry, I will put my faith in the collective intelligence of the GROUP.
Actually, I found a workaround. In examining the properties of the files that played and those that didn’t (and which caused the static scratch and the crashes), I discovered (thank goodness for serendipity!) that the music files I had all showed they were MPEG-1 files, and LO AND BEHOLD, the problem children were MPEG-2 files. So I downloaded and installed the FREE MedianSoft Joiner-Converter (a snap even for a dweeb like me!), converted the -2’s to -1’s, and as the man in the orchestra said, “VIOLA!” No more problems playing those files, and the quality was just fine.
So I would encourage Jeff(Feb03) to see if his problem children have the same DNA as mine, in that they were MPEG-2 lineage. If so, then I have learned something which can be shared to help others.
btw, for those of you who play mp3s on your Nuvi 350’s, would you mind checking the properties and see if the music files are all MPEG-1’s? Just a little curious at this point.
Thanks for any and all who may have been trying to think me out of this mess, but it all seems fixed now.
Except that the nuvi will probably never have multiple waypoints as a capability. For that, Garmin wants us to buy a Street Pilot. My fix is to keep entering “waypoints” I want to pass through (or stop in) as soon as I pass a planned mid-point location on a longer route and answer NO to the Q about setting it as an intermediate point.
THANKS ALL!
Great info, Dana; thanks for passing it along. The MP3 files I would have loaded on the Nuvi the last time I used one would have been MPEG-1 files so your MPEG-2 issue with the Garmin Nuvi 360 makes sense.
Keep in mind too that even the StreetPilot c550 appears to only allow one “via” per route.
I just got the Garmin 350. I say got because it was a gift from my brother (nice guy, isn’t he). I cannot get the updates to work. I downloaded the software (tried both webupdate and manual. I can copy mp3’s and play them, so the device is being recognized. When I try to update, my 350 does not show up in the device list. When I click “Find Device”, I get a message that tells me to set the interface option to “Garmin” or “Host.” I cannot find any such settings on my 350. Has anyone else had this problem?
Does anyone know where you can buy the travel guide for the nuvi 350? I understand there is a tour guide available from a company called marco polo but I cannot find the product anywhere…even on the garmin website?
David - I haven’t heard of others with this problem. I’m not sure what to suggest other than making sure you got the correct update, etc.
Gary - Most of the retailers I’ve been speaking to only seem to have the European version of the Garmin Travel Guide in stock and are awaiting shipments on the North American version.
I purchased a Nuvi 350 over the weekend and have tried it several short trips. I am very disapppointed. I love everything about it except it’s routing ability, which is why I bought
it.
First, it tried to route me onto I-77 N near Cleveland by turning left onto the highway. Actually the ramp is on the right. After taking the ramp, it then said I was heading south and needed to make a u-turn. Once it figured I was actually going north it told me to take an exit that was three miles too early to get to my destination. When I bypassed that exit it recalculated to another exit that was still the wrong one. Once I got within a few blocks of my destination (in downtown Cleveland) , it kept telling me to
make several different incorrect turns, even when I was already on the actual street of my destination.
The next day I had it route me to work in Akron. If I had followed the directions it gave I would have been late by 20 minutes. Even when I was at work it kept telling me to go three blocks further.
This type of thing continued on several more trips. One time it routed me home perfectly. The next day coming from exactly the same way it told me to go two more exits and over several country roads and at least 8 miles out of my way.
I checked the Garmin website and the unit software at 3.2 and 3.3 is available. The traffic software is current.
This is my first venture into GPS. Is this typical of GPS or Garmin or Nuvi 350 or just a bad unit? I’m ready to return it and buy a
good map book.
Thanks and I rreally like your pages.
Why does it say patent pending on the bottom cover of my Nuvi 350?
Jim Bye - What you are experiencing is fairly typical of GPS navigation systems although most people don’t see that many routing issues. You probably don’t have a “bad unit” as the behavior you are describing is more indicative of bad map data and/or the GPS not having “local knowledge” of the area. It could be that the roads you were traveling have changed recently or were not mapped correctly by NAVTEQ.
You might also be interested in reading our article about inaccurate, outdated GPS maps.
Todd - I’m not really sure what kind of an answer you are looking for. They have filed for a patent for some aspect of the design of the Nuvi 350 …
I see that City Navigator NT v8 is available. If I buy a Nuvi 350 with v7, am I eligible for a free upgrade to v8? If so, how is that accomplished? Do I have to order a new SD card?
I have the same question Adam just wrote. I just bought the nuvi 350 from Amazon.com. It comes with v7 (full unlock).
Do I have to pay for the update to v8?
PS: Terrific site!
FYI it looks as though Garmin has released version 3.60 of the Garmin 350 software with the following updates.
• Added support for enterprise tracking
• Added support for MPC maps
• Added support for Safety Cameras
• Improved MP3 player: increase maximum number of MP3s to 1000
• Improved multiple map searching
• Changed to make GUPDATE.GCD file update procedure consistent with other GARMIN products
• Fixed Travel Guide warning text
• Updated some text translations
Adam & Maria - You can read Garmin’s map upgrade policy here.
Why did Garmin remove the 3.6 unit upgrade on the nuvi 350? The latest one posted is the 3.30 for June 30, 2006.
I updated my unit with the 3.6 version. Now, I can’t help but wonder if there was something wrong with the 3.6 upgrade.
Maria - I have not heard any official explanation from Garmin yet why the update was pulled. I have heard a few people say their Nuvi now has trouble staying powered on, however other people I’ve talked to have not reported any trouble with the update.
I emailed Garmin –even the technician doesn’t know why it was pulled. Here’s his response:
I’ll post any update here.
Thanks Maria. Here is the response we received.
It looks like an update has been posted for the this Nuvi again. Version 3.62 is available now, however wit a disclaimer that
There were only minor wording changes (no feature or bug changes) listed between when they released 3.60 and 3.62.
I used my Nuvi 350 while in Europe with the upgraded software. I was overall very pleased, except the “smart zoom” feature would frequently zoom me out when I wanted to be more zoomed in. Is there a way to turn off this feature or adjust it? Thanks.
Ken - I don’t believe you can change the auto zoom feature beyond manually adjusting the zoom as necessary.
This is unfortunate, as it would frequently zoom out immediately after I zoomed in, and I would be fighting it at very inopportune times. I think Garmin would to well to make this feature either adjustable or switchable in their next iteration.
Can I charge nuvi350 by connecting the USB connector end of the power adaptor (either car or AC) directly to the USB port on the unit itself instead of using the USB port on the mount? If I do, would it hurt the circuitry of the unit? Also, can you charge unvi350 by connecting it to a PC via a USB cable? Thanks in advance for your advice. -Jeff
Jeffrey - I never tried this, but according to the manual you can charge it from the USB cable.
Response to Todd June 21st #15-I had the same problem with the mount falling off. Simply clean the spot on your window and the back of the mount with windex. It works much better now.
Response to Jim Bye June 28th #24 - Jim, I also had the same problem with the crazy u-turns until I checked the box “avoid u-turns” on your permanent trip instuctions menu.
I am looking to buy either the garmin 350 or tom tom 910. which is overall better? Which has the fewest problems? thanks Dee
Dee - That largely depends on the features you are looking for. Depending on your needs, either one of them could be the better choice. The 910 does have some issues with the mount, but a new mount (TomTom is providing exchanges) is fixing the problem for most. You can contact us and let us know how you will be using the GPS, where you are located, and we can help you break down the differences between them.
CAN YOU USE A 2 GIG, OR 4 GIG SD CARD WITH A NUVI 350, AND CAN YOU USE ANY COMPANIES BRAND?
Hi John - Sorry for the delayed response however I wanted to get some clarification from Garmin on this issue. I’ve been told that they do not recommend using cards larger than 2 GB because they can cause performance issues on the device.
Hello - we just got our NUVI 350. IT worked really well for the first day, and when we attempted mounting the device to the windshield of the car, the display suddenly went extremely bright and it is very hard to read the display any longer.
Tried attempting changing the brightness and resetting the default settings, does not help! Any one any ideas?
V R - Do you see this all of the time now? In that case you might want to give Garmin a call regarding a possible hardware issue. I’ve heard of similar symptoms with a number of c550 owners, but I don’t recall hearing about it with the Nuvi 350.
Is it possible to use DeLorme Street Atlas with the Nuvi 350? I want to work out routes on the PC and transfer them. Does Mapsource have a good product for this use? Thanks.
Todd - No, you can’t use DeLorme Street Atlas USA to map on your Nuvi, but you can use the MapSource product to transfer information to the Nuvi.
Can you suggest a particular version of Mapsource that would work best with the NUVI 350 — I noticed several versions. Thanks
Todd, the Nuvi 350 comes with the City Navigator North America MapSource product.
Dear friend,
i recently bought a nuvi 350 and i love it,
the problem is that i travel a lot to taiwan and when i down load the taiwan map metro guide into the unit, with the english version, it does just fine but when i try to open it, the unit tells me, “unable to unlock map” i try searching in many places unsuccesfully, i input the map unlock code in the map source , and still get the same message.
In the end, how can i make my unit able to unlock any map”
regards
Juan - You might need to contact Garmin Support and get specific assistance from them.
I am going to Italy on Tuesday so I downloaded some Italy maps onto the SD card in my Nuvi350. When I try to use the new maps I get an “unable to unlock” message. I have registered my Nuvi and unlocked the Garmin European maps.Any suggestions how I can get this to work! I decided to upgrade when my Quest was stolen and now regret not replacing it as the map set had already been downloaded.
Thorsten - That depends where the Italy maps came from. Did you just purchase them for the Nuvi 350 or did you already have them? This FAQ might help.
Looks like there is a new software update for the Nuvi 350. Included:
OK, today I did the 4.10 upgrade to my nuvi 350 from ver. 3.20. All went nicely until I went to Settings/Map and tried to change the vehicle. The first screen told me to go to the Garmin site for a download, so I hit BACK and tried again, and now there was no “go to Garmin” mesasge, but the left side of the screen above the “Cancel” and “OK” softkeys was BLANK, the map was cut off on the left at about the point where those two softkeys on the bottom meet (draw a vertical line up and everything above the keys and to the left was blank.
I emailed Garmin support, am waiting for an answer, because their phone lines had a 30+ minute delay for tech support.
Any other problems for anyone who did this update???
Dana (Oct 2nd) - There has been three (3) prior updates for the Nuvi 350 since ver. 3.2. There was 3.3, 3.8, and 3.9. Perhaps (?) this affected your 4.10 update. You should subscribe to automatic E-mail notification of updates on their web-site.
[...] pcmag has reviewed the Garmin nuvi 350 GPS and have given it a Very Good rating. They liked that it was small and easy to use. They also liked that the maps were pre-installed and the GPS quickly acquired a signal, they also liked the battery life. They were not as impressed that the optional languages and travel guides were an additional price and that there wasn’t playlist support for the mp3 player. Whether you’re in the market for a portable GPS device or are just looking for that perfect electronic travel companion for your next trip to Europe, a new product from Garmin, expected to hit the U.S. market soon (probably early next year), may very well have you prying the plastic out of your wallet. [...]
[...] GPS Information has written an extensive review of the Garmin Nuvi 300 and the Garmin Nuvi 350, both very hot GPS systems this holiday season. Our overall impressions are that the NuVi (and QUEST) are a new generation of pocket sized, low cost Automobile Navigation System. While it is not the least expensive of the truly automatic self contained address-to-address car navigation systems … we consider the NuVi to be “very good” in its class of Car Navigators…. We think the NuVi is a great product for the money. [...]
The Garmin site is very confusing about map compatibility. I have a Nuvi 350. Perhaps you can help me with 3 questions:
1. How do I update the main North American maps that came with my 350? I have V8, which I *think* is the latest map package. But how do I find out when there are updates, and exactly how do I perform the update?
2. We plan to go to Europe. The Euro map seems to come on both SD and disc (for transfer to your own SD, I presume). The Euro travel guide and language guide come only on SD. Can I somehow combine the maps, travel guide and language guide on a single SD? Or do I have choose between using maps or, say, the guide? In which case, of course, the map always wins.
3. We also plan to go to Baja. Garmin’s description of what’s on is Mexico map is quite vague. How do I find out what towns are included and at what level of detail without spending $200 to buy the thing?
Many thanks!
Dick Brass
Seattle
1) If you have v8 maps then you have the latest available. New maps will not likely be released by Garmin until next Summer. You can watch for map updates at the following page:
http://www.garmin.com/unlock/update.jsp
They provide updates on CD/DVD which you can then purchase and install on your Nuvi.
2) There might not be enough room on the SD card to hold all of those items. You might need to put a few of them on the remaining internal memory of the Nuvi and leave a bunch on SD.
3) At the following page near the top right is a “MapSource Map Viewer” program which will allow you to pick from one of their products and show the details in that mapset.
http://www.garmin.com/cartography/ontheRoad/
Many thanks for the quick and helpful reply.
A follow up on question #2:
You say there might not be room on a (2gb max) SD for all three items (Europe maps, travel guide, language guide), and you suggest it might fit if I use some of the remaining internal memory.
But, in principal, can I put the maps and the guides on the same SD?
Should I therefore buy the Euro maps on disc, so I can transfer it? The guides seem to come only on SD, which I presume is locked, so how do I (can I) transfer it to another SD for combination with the maps? Can I perhaps download only one countries maps or guide items to a SD at a time, to save room? And much room is there in internal memory, with nothing added except what came in the device?
I guess the uber-question is how do you set up a North American Nuvi for Europe travel?
This is one of Garmin’s selling points. But what’s the best way to configure my NA Nuvi 350 so I can best use Euro maps, guide & translator together? If you have to remove the maps to use the guide, or if the guide can’t link to installed maps, it’s not much of a breakthrough.
Many thanks again.
Dick Brass
Yes, in principal you can put both types of things on the same SD. I’m not sure, but I don’t think the SD cards are locked in a manner that would prevent you from copying them to another SD card.
Yes, with the MapScource disc (purchasing maps on CD/DVD) you can transfer just certain segments of the maps to save space.
I haven’t tried to transfer all of that stuff onto the Nuvi so I’m not sure how much room is needed. But my guess is that you could keep the North American maps on the internal drive, use the free space there for the travel guide, and put the European maps on SD card.
I think I know a couple people who have done this, so I’ll try to contact them to get further details. Other people that read this might have also done this and might chime in as well. You might also want to try posting in the Discussion Forums where someone might have done what you are describing.
I purchased a Nuvi 350 a couple days ago after reading great reviews. I really like it. I find it ironic though, that a “navigation” company has such a confusing website. I can’t tell what updates I’m entitled to or even what current versions I have. I also wonder why a coffee shop that opened a year after mine comes up in the nuvi, but my shop doesn’t. There are many other businesses that are well established that don’t appear when I search for them.
It’s great toy… I mean tool!
Ed, if you go to ‘Settings’ –> ‘Map’ –> ‘Map Info’ you should see what version maps you are using. You can then go to Garmin’s map update page to see the current version, methods for upgrading, and terms for upgrading.
As to why a particular store doesn’t show in the database, each product contains a different amount of POIs. Some have more than others. Also it can take a very long time (unfortunately) for new data to be integrated into maps. You might want to read our article on outdated gps maps for more info. While directed at road classifications and new roads, the same information applies to stores and POIs.
How does the Nuvi 350 function off-road? Would like to use it with topo maps when hiking & kayaking. Haven’t really gotten a clear answer from Garmin.
Bill - It will really just display the tops and does not provide other typical functions a handheld GPS will offer. Also consider that the Nuvi isn’t water-resistant nor splashproof and has open unprotected slots and ports. I wouldn’t let a Nuvi near a kayak, even in a waterfroof case.
Also, I believe the battery is only good for 3 hours or so. I had a Nuvi for a few days and it was just plain inaccurate. The maps were incorrect and in downtown Cleveland it just worked poorly due to the buildings. That probably means it wouldn’t work well in forested areas either. I returned it and bought a TomTom 910.
Is it possible to download music from your P.C. via the usb cable to the sd card in the nuvi 350 without destroying information in the unit.
Brian - Yes.
Thankyou very much ” Tim ” (Brian)
Garmin offers Nuvi users 2 ways to add European maps & data. You can buy an SD card with (some or all) of the maps on it. Or you can buy one of several Garmin DVD products and download the maps yourself — either to a an SD card or directly into the Nuvi’s remaining main memory.
So here’s the question: Is there any difference between the v9 European Cities DVD and the NT SD European Cities, also v9. Garmin’s help desk says the SD data is “the newest.” But they do not say how, and both are v9. Does anyone know what the real story is?
I try to look how this best selling device work good before buy, much disappointment:
first I can’t find its CPU speed, I believe Garmin hiden this is shy for disadvantage. Then,I watch the real driving video at Youtube, the screen refresh is so slow, a slow right turn make only one 90 degree map turn, how can your guy put up with the jump? It is much worse than others. slower than 266MH CPU’s performance.
Can I download the route that I prepared with MapSource City Navigator North America 2008 to a Nuvi 350? How?
No, the Nuvi 350 doesn’t support saved routes.
I purchased my 350 in Feb 2007. I’m eligible for a free map update and got an unlock code from Garmin on Dec 4th but don’t know what to do with it! Am I supposed to download new maps from their site, or do they send me a DVD?
I am not sure if I should turn on the WAAS option? Somewhere on the web said that the chipset in the 350 is better than WAAS so there is no need to turn it on. What do you think?
The only big difference you will see with WAAS turned on is lower battery life. While the GPS will get a slightly more accurate reading on your location, it won’t make a difference for vehicle navigation where the margin of error of the maps are more significant than the margin of error of the GPS signal.
I recently updated the software on my Nuvi 350 from Ver 4.4 to 5.3. All went well until at the end of the install when I was instructed to unlug the usb cable and allow the Nuvi to restart and do whatever it was supposed to do with the installed files. Anyhow after trying to install the software, with lots of screen flahing and a couple of GREEN screens, the system locked up.
Now I get a “System software missing” message on the screen. I run web updater and am informed that the software is corrupted. I can’t access the Nuvi via USB although web updater does recognize the Nuvi as being present by it’s serial #. There is no drive letter associated with the GPS
Help please
Brian, sounds like a call to Garmin support is in your future.
Good advice Tim. I called them this A.M. did not have to wait to talk to a tech, she put me through hoops deleting .gcd and .bin files on the Nuvi and then run the webupdate again. It worked. I still don’t know how she got my computer to recognize the Nuvi though.
I was MOST impressed with the experience and will certainly recommend Garmin to anyone looking for a GPS.
Thanks again for your comments Tim
Brian
having problems with transfer of mp3 files… the file is there but when i hit the eject to finish the transfer and error comes up… not sure if its the garmin or the computer… any help out there…. there is a volume icon in the error and seems like that is the problem.
my garmin nuvi does not find any satellites and the following messages come up ‘updating gps firmware 1%’ and ‘gps firmware update complete’ how do i get rid of that?
Steve, if that happens every time at boot you might want to try running the WebUpdater again. Otherwise you might need to call Gamrin support on that one.
I have a NUVI 350 w/ software version 4.60 (gps software version: 2.90). I have a duo core MAC G5 and have tried unsuccessfully tried to upgrade in both the MAC and PC formats. No can do, please believe me. Does GARMIN (or anyone) sell a foolproof upgrade disc to get the job done? Thanx.
There isn’t an “upgrade disc”. If there was it would probably be the same software as the WebUpdater.
The PC links and reads the GPS 350, through the USB, but the mapping program keeps telling me to turn on the GPS, which it is, and i plugged and unplugged the unit. Used differnt plug without success. The DVD update ask questions and the states plug and turn on unit, then hit next and thas about all I get to.
Hi, i have a nuvi 360 it takes about 20 mins for it to give me a route after i have entered an address to where i want to go. is this a problem with my antenna or is it because of some updates?please help asap as i am travelling soon
Anyone: I just bought my Garmin 350 and the guy on the phone said I need to purhchase a 1MB memory Stick. All I want the unit for is for directions.
Muks - Does it say it is still trying to acquire satellites?
Billy - Check out our article “Do I Need an SD Card for my GPS?“
Hi Tim , Thx for your response, i sold that one for peanuts as i was going travelling thx anyways.
cheers
muks
Hi, I have a Nuvi 350 using it in the UK. Was wondering if this unit will accept Mapsource Topo maps (the combined road and topographical mapping)? Or…would it accept Memory Map (via an sd card). I’d like to tuen it into both a car satnav device and also a navigation aid for when out on the mountain bike off road. Any thoughts??
You can load topo maps, however none of the traditional off-road type navigation features will be available, you just follow along on the map. I personally wouldn’t use it mountain biking… a drop of water or dust inside the device (through the big hole for the SD slot) could ruin your investment.
I just bought a 350T here in Germany. My question is what to do when the lifetime of the battery expires? It is not user replacable, but I also could not find any comment from Garmin if they are able to replace a defective battery.
wolfgang - If it is defective and within the warranty period Garmin should replace it. Outside of the warranty period I’m not sure what they do in Germany but in the USA they will replace it for $100.
i drive a 18 wheeler will the 350 give me truck routes only?
No, while it has truck/commercial type options those features are designed to exclude things like parkways or HOV lanes and don’t take into account bridge heights, etc. The feedback I get from other truck drivers is that the truck/commercial feature doesn’t really help with what they need.
is there one on the market that has this feature
There is laptop software called CoPilot that people have said works pretty well, but I haven’t heard hardly any positive comments from any of the PND style GPS devices that try to offer that feature.
This may be a nieve question, but I have satelite radio in my car. Will that in any way interfere with use of a GPS system?
Hi Heather - No it will not.
I have recently bought a Nuvi 350T GPS system in South Africa.
I was told that it has the street name announcement. But unfortunately i could not get that working.It only announces to take Left/Right after certain kms. Is there any setting that has to be changed? Please help .
I’m trying to decide between buying the garmin 200 and the garmin 350. the price difference is about $112, with the latter being the more expensive. do you suggest one over the other? I don’t have any real need for the mp3 player, but I think the speech to text function might be useful. Any suggestions?
Laura, I’m not sure where you are looking to see price differences that big. Text to speech is helpful, as is having North America maps and not just the USA 48. You can compare those two models and see current prices (below the product image) on this page.
For charging the Nuvi 300, I have Motorola Razor cell phone car & home chargers.
They list 250 Watts - 300 Watts, 5.0 Volt 550mA outputs using the same mini_USB connector as Garmin.
I can’t find any info on Garmins website or the ‘net what their spec’s are.
Traveling, it would be very convenient and less chance of a mix-up using 1 charger.
** Are the chargers compatible??
I’m still trying to decide between the nuvi 260 and the nuvi 350. Text-to-Speech is the most important feature for me, and they both have it. Does anyone have any suggestions based on performance or other qualities? Thanks!
jade - I think the 260 is the better buy right now. It is slimmer, has a brighter screen, has the hold switch, etc.
I just took a lengthy trip using my 350 for the first time. I was quite impressed and am very happy with my purchase. Fore the price the features are great.
I wish it did have external volume controls, but the software volume control was only slightly irksome. I liked being able to change the voice to a different accent.
I was definitely recommend this unit to anyone who is looking for an first unit and wants more than the bare bones.
I purchased the Garmin Nuvi 350 in December. In March the screen began to wash out. The colors and borders are not as sharp and crisp as they used to be. Also, the volume level is not acceptable, even on max. Can you help?
Hi Tim,
I’m currently living in Germany and am looking to purchase my first Auto GPS. Thanks to your reviews and forums, and some hands on testing at the store I have narrowed it down to two units. One is the Garmin 350T which is loaded with extras such as home ac adapt., case, text to voice, and great battery life for use while bike touring. The other is the Tom Tom One 3rd. which has IMO a better display featuring easier to read map graphics as well as more usefull information at the bottom of the display (than the Garmin). Both feature a built in KMC? reciever (which is a neccessity in Europe) and both have full Europe map coverage (though the Garmin also includes Eastern Europe). The Tom Tom is 200 Euro and the Garmin 219 Euro. I could really benifit from your insight. Which way would you go? Thanks for your help.
I just noticed that Garmin will be releasing the Nuvi 255 in June ‘08. Now I’m trying to decide between the Garmin Nuvi 350 and the Garmin Nuvi 255. Do you know anything about the maps, and whether the Nuvi 255’s maps will be more updated than the 350’s maps? Practically speaking, how big of a difference does this make?
how do i download music from pc to garmin 350
Charles - p20-24 in the manual covers it.
Be aware buying a Nuvi 350 now.
Difficult decision. but decided to purchase a Nuvi 350 (over the Nuvi 260 for just a bit more $) a couple of days ago. I under the impression that units purchased after March 1/08 would get free 2009 map updates (released today).
Turns out that Garmin has deemed the Nuvi 350 to be an ‘end of life product’ and not eligible for the 2009 update.
Pretty stupid on their part. I will return the 350 and buy a 260 (which is eligible for the free update). Garmin will have to check the Nuvi over and unload it as a refurbed unit.
i’m just scared to update my Garmin Nuvi 350 i’m still using the original version ( 4.30 ) since 2005. How easy is it to update And is there any real reason to be concerned? dose it cost anything to have an update?
update is nothing to worry about. It was the best thing to happen. When mine rebooted it was like a bought a new GPS. It even saved my favorites. I recommend doing it and the changes that where made will help and are needed…
Mike….I would call tech support for update guidance.
I just purchased a Nuvi 350 a week ago and it came with version 5.0. The current version is 5.4, I used auto updater and all went smooth. However, I understand that versions prior to 5.0 may have issues using auto updater (hence you should call tech support). You will also waht to update the GPS firmware as well.
On another note, although Garmin is not providing Map 2009 updates to 350 units recently purchase via web down load (Nuvi 350 is not in the data base for the free upgrade), tech support will send out a CD with the free Map 2009 update.
Hi i just bought a second hand (almost unused) nuvi 350 europa , how do i know which countries of europe maps are preinstalled, whether it is updated or needs updates. Also how much more memory storage capacity does it have in case i want to load certain maps.In maps / map info it says City Navigator Europe NT 2008 . Do i need to get NT 9 or NT 10 to be up to date?
please help its my 1st gps
thx
muks
WE WILL BE GOING TO UK & IRELAND THIS SUMMER.WOULD LIKE ANY INFO ANYONE HAS IN ORDERING THE EUROPE MAPS AND HOW ACCURATE THEY ARE. ALSO HOW DO YOU LOAD THE INFO AND WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE NORTH AMERICA DATA??? I HAVE A NUVI 350 WITH V08 FOR NORTH AMERICA. IN ENGLAND CITIES THE STREETS DO NOT RUN EAST,WEST,NORTH, OR SOUTH. IS IT AS GOOD FINDING STREETS AND ADDRESSES???
ED
I just bought a nuvi 350.My problem is that when I occasionly type in a location name some other location will be displayed ie.if I want Bayside the location Bayfield will be displayed.The 350 will show Bayfield before I have the opportunity of typing in the letter “s” in Bayside. How can I overcome this problem?
Ken, can you give a specific example?
> On another note, although Garmin is not providing
> Map 2009 updates to 350 units recently purchase
> via web down load (Nuvi 350 is not in the data
> base for the free upgrade), tech support will send
> out a CD with the free Map 2009 update.
I think this has changed. I just bought a 350 and was able to update for free from the web to 2009.
I just purchased a nuvi 350 and the only music I can get on the mp3 player is what was preloaded from the factory, when I put the sd card in how am I supposed to get to it?
Rick when you say “music” are they actually MP3 files in MP3 format and not music from something like iTunes?
Tim,
I have all of my cd’s copied onto my computer (windows XP pro) and I don’t know what to do to get them transfered to the mp3 player, I suppose I need step by step instructions on how to do it.
I want to be 100% sure — if I buy a 350 now, it will definitely be eligible to get the new 2009 map update for free?
I was also going to ask about the latest map update being “compatible” with the older 350, but that’s probably a dumb question, right?
Peter, I can’t answer that with 100% certainty– but Garmin likely could.
Hi Tim,
I just bought nuvi 350 last month and used it out from the box. Recently I updated the software fr ver5.0 to ver5.50 and downloaded the map 2009 for free, the problem I noticed after the said upgrade is that I cannot locate the previous route, i.e using the spell name icon and typing “Kipling south” it won’t show up, and also I type the “munster ave” it won’t appear too. Now i am confused on their map 2009 or the ver5.50 is their any bugs?. Is their any way to revert the software and map? Thanks.
Jeff - I don’t know of any way to revert to the older map.
Can the nuvi 300 be used in sum way that the when the music is playing it can be connected to the car stereo so it can be heard through the car speakers
Only if you hard-wire it in some way with the audio out port connecting to your stereo, or similar system– it doesn’t have an FM transmitter.
Here’s a little more information about the mp3 playback problems mentioned earlier. The nuvi does not seem to be able to play MPEG-2 or MPEG-2.5 encoded audio files (even though they are real MP3s that can be played by other means). The -2 and -2.5 files are lower bit rate standards (spoken word audio, etc.). To fix, use Mediacoder to convert the files to MPEG-1. Do this by resampling the audio to 32000 Hz, 32 kbps. This is the minimum supported by MPEG-1. Mediacoder can do this easily as a batch job. Now I can keep my foreign language audio material in the car for practice on trips!
Just got new nuvi 350. Would not hold a fix. Kept going to Aquiring satellites but never would aquire them. Had to turn unit off and back on to get fix. Kept doing this everywhere I went. Sent it back. Anyone else have this problem and is this common. Possible reason anyone?
Bill, I’d checkout our Acquiring Satellites Tips.
Tim, I was given a brand new Garmin Nuvi 350 about a week ago, and when I turn it on now, the screen stays black but makes noises when I touch it to see if it is turned on. What do I do with this problem? I didn’t buy it myself, and I don’t know where the person got it [impossible to ask them now] to return it for another one.
Kelli - I’d call Garmin support.
The [snip, see comment policy] ad for a Garmin nuvi 350 GPS indicates “Bluetooth ready for hands free calling”. Is this true or is this false advertising? Thanks
Ted, the Nuvi 350 does have Bluetooth and can be used to place and receive calls from when paired with a compatible Bluetooth phone.
A 6/15/08 ad for a Garmin nuvi 359 GPS indicated “Bluetooth ready for hands free calling”. Ps this true or false advertising? If true, exactly what does this mean?
I have a Nuvi 350 with the North American Maps and I want to install City Navigator Europe v9. Do I install it on the internal memory or to a SD card? How do I transfer the data. The data is unlocked and on my PC,
I have been having difficulties with the MP3 player on the nuvi 350. We just purchased a 16 GB card and add on over 2000 songs. But when i put the card into the gps it only picks up a 1000 of the songs. they are all mp3 files and I dont understand why did does read them all. I have double checked that the songs are on the card and they are, but they just wont load up on the gps.
Does it load exactly 1,000 songs? Perhaps there is a limit, but I’m not aware of any.
It says nothing about a limit. it says the data can be stored
indefinitely. its is a separate SD card. when i search for the songs
directly on the card reader it finds them. but it doesnt show up on
the gps. any clue?
Well, just because it doesn’t say there is a limit doesn’t mean there isn’t a limit.
True, they never really tell you all the info you really need do they. I wonder if there is an update that will inevitably allow more songs to be uploaded to the GPS. Why would they put a limit? Is it like a governor in a lawn mower so you can not blow the engine out at 50 mph?
I’m not saying there is a limit– only that it is the only plausible explanation I can come up with for what you see.
I finally got all the updates downloaded and when I went to update the maps to 09 it tells me there is not enough memory and I need to make 2.7 gig avalable on my numi 350. But when I right click on the numi on the desktop it says the thing only has 1.8 gig total memory. So either my units bad or the map pack is to large. Tech support was useless. After holding 30 min the women told me I would have to hold another 50 min to talk to a software person that would remotely look at my computer a try to figure out the problem or I could call back and start over. There is no direct calling the software people. Can someone right click on there GPS while hooked up to the computer and tell me how much memory they have on theres
That message is misleading– you don’t really need that much free space. As part of the installation process the old map is deleted, and the 2.7 GB isn’t taking that into account.g
Did you install any extra voices or MP3 files on your device? If so remove those for now and run the installer again. Typically just removing a couple of items will allow it to be installed.
i was thinking about buying the nuvi 350 and i was wondering if you can have multiple destinations. i was also wondering if the same gps can work in Europe or Canada. Is it powered by satellite signal or will have to constantly update it? Lastly, i wanted to know if the FM traffic comes with the gps or do i have to get a separate cd or something for it.
The 350 doesn’t support Multi Destination Routing. It will work in Canada, and includes maps of Canada. It will also work in Europe, although you would need to purchase the maps extra. The maps do not come over satellite, they are installed on the device. This GPS doesn’t come with a Traffic Receiver, you need to purchase that separately.
Do I remember currectly that when my husband purchased the Nuvi 200 he was told that if the GPS was registered and someone steals it, Garmin would disable the unit and send the customer a new one?
I can’t tell you if he was told that or not.
But what I can tell you is that it is not true.
I have garmin nuvi 350.. Somehow, My Garmin took me off Highway and refer to street. When I travel, I prefer highway than freeway. Is there a way to set up my Garmin to take highway?
Provided you have your setup the Roure Preference for ‘Faster Time’, and you don’t have ‘Highways’ checked under ‘Avoidances’— The only other thing you can do is to Add a Via Point to try to force the route you would like.
I just bought a Garmin 350 and downloaded the new 2009 North America Update. When I tried to load it onto the unit, it would recognize the 350 and start the process, but when it tried to finalize, I kept getting an “I/O Connection Error” and it would abort. We left on vacation the next morning and now the unit has no map available at all! What do I need to do to fix this problem? (I have yet to hear anything from Garmin support)
Galen, I haven’t heard of that one. I’d try a different USB cable and/or a different USB port.
Does the Nuvi 350 have an anti glare screen or does it have a sort of shiny screen similar to my C340? Thank you
David, there were multiple screens used in various production runs of the 350.
I already updated my 350 to the new 2009 map, but it looks like the most recent Topo map is from 2008. Is there any possible conflict between those two maps, or are they completely independent from each other?
Completely independent.
Thanks Tim for the fast reply. One more thing — does the 350 have enough memory to handle both maps? I don’t have the device in front of me to check the available space, but all I have installed is the 2009 map, nothing else. Will the 2008 Topo map fit? Obviously I should find out for sure before I pay for it!
Peter, no, they will not all fit. But you should be able to just cut the sections of topo you need (rather than everything) and that should fit.
Hello,
I plan to buy Nuvi350, and as I understand it comes with US/Canada maps. Although my cousin says ha has European maps, so the question is: can I copy maps to my own SD card and use it or every copy of map is licensed to single user/device?
Thanks,
Aram
Maps are licensed and locked to the device they were designed for.
So this means I need to buy maps myself and cannot lend maps from anyone? Even if maps designed for my type of device?
Correct. Maps are expensive, proprietary information which is highly protected from illegal use.
Thank You!
This week I bought 2009 map update from Garmin on line for my 350 nuvi. After 6 - 7 hours the download was completed. Now, how do I enter the new maps into my GPS? I need help with this process. Thank you
If i buy a nuvi 350 V7 refurbished, will i be able to update to the 2009 maps free?
Joseph, just run the installer that you downloaded and follow the prompts.
Adam, That is up to Garmin, you will need to check with them.
I’m a little confused…have the 350…am going to Canada and was wondering how to use it. It only allows me to pull up “states” presently. Will this switch over when entering Canada?
Oops figured it out thanks anyway!
Tim
Thank you for helping me enter 2009 maps into my 350 nuvi. Now, can I use the same product key & update my wifes 350nuvi?
Joseph, no- you would need a new product key.
Is there any way at all to run my Nuvi 350 through my car’s speaker system. Could a car stereo shop rig something up?
The Nuvi 350 has a headphone jack that could be used to setup a patch cable between the Nuvi and a stereo if your car stereo has an AUX input somewhere.
I have had my nuvi 350 for about 1.5 years. It is now having great difficulty acquiring a satellite. It will try for a very long time, then ask me if I am indoors (no), if I have traveled a long distance (I am in the same location it was last successfully used), and if it knows the correct date (yes). I updated it about two weeks ago, cleared the user data, and it finally acquired after 20 minutes. Since then it has not been able to aquire. The past few times I’ve used it, it has also been extra-sensitive to touch and would respond to bumps in the road by zooming in to view each line of directions separately. When I would try to go back to the map screen, it would highlight my selection but not respond. I have consistently taken great care of my system. What is going on and what is my solution?
Danielle, you’ve already done part of it, but follow our Acquiring Satellites Tips and if that still doesn’t help, call Garmin support.
Purchased a nuvi 350 and although the pc picks it up as removable storage device when trying to update using wepupdater, I get a message to change the gps interface to garmin or host. When trying to register the device o garmin.com it also does not pick the device up.
Well, I got a ‘lemon’ too. Received my Nuvi 350 as a Mothers Day gift from my Husband. Have had nothing but problems ever since. Garmin has told me to send it back, but I don’t feel like this should be at my expense. It constantly loses all map information. Will work for a day or two and then nothing. It won’t let me update it at the site–it worked the first time, but now it won’t. It also now says at the beginning of the boot up ‘Nuvi 300′, instead of 350, even though the box and the unit says 350 and sometimes when it boots up and is working right, it says 350. Tried resetting, clearing out errors, everything Garmin has told me to. When it works, I love it. I hope they will send me a new one. Has anyone else had this problem?
What is the largest size SD card that the Nuvi 350 can take?
I’ve heard reports that most 4 GB cards will work– but depending what you are trying to put on the card performance tends to suffer at and above those storage sizes.
I live in Canada and just bought a nuvi 350. The Garmin website states there is a 2009 map update, but won’t let me buy it from Canada? Does any know how I can upgrade my maps…? Thanks…
Rudy, I’d give Garmin support a call regarding that.
Tim, thanks I did call the Canadian support number. After a 30 minute wait, the rep did give me 3 Canadian sites to buy the upgrade from. I think this should be listed on the website somewhere. Other than that I’m happy with the 350 so far. I liked my Mio in that each road visible on the screen showed the street names, but since Mio doesn’t update maps .. what does it matter anyway.. Thanks again…
I have a Garmon Nuvi 350 and when I try to drive with it it says GPS is Off do you want to simulate. I press no and nothing happens (GPS does not give me driving directions). I just purchased this unit and made an update by downloading the latest SW / Maps from the Garmin site. Is this a problem ? Should I just reset ? Do I have to return it ? Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
Do you have the antenna up? If the antenna is down it will go into simulation mode.
Hi - I never put it up and did not know it needed to be up in order to work. I will use it tomorrow and let you know if the issue has been resolved. Thanks so much !!!
I was wondering - do I have to purchase SW / HW of some kind to make the traffic feature work ?
Yes, you would need to purchase a traffic receiver and then a subscription when the trial period ends.
My 350 is less than 2 months old and the sound suddenly went. Got real loud and crackly, now no sound at all. Anyone else have this dilemma?
Deb, Sounds like you might need to call Garmin about a possible exchange unless you recently installed a software update to it.
Tim–The Garmin 350 still sounds like the best product for me based on its feature set/price. However, the main thing holding me back is that it seems the hardware is close to three years old. Should that be a concern? Thanks.
Michael, the Nuvi 350 has been discontinued, so at this point I’d hesitate to go that route.
I was thinking about buying the 350 too, but was worried b/c its old. I can buy it for $200 here in canada which is cheap right now. I currently have the 250. I’m pleased with the 250, would the 350 be better?(besides the text to voice option which I want the most)
Thanks for the response, Tim. Is the reason for hesitating on a discontinued product that its maps are unlikely to be updated, or another reason?
If not the Nuvi 350, can you recommend another with a similar mount (you write above, “the power connector connects to the mount itself which feeds power to the GPS”)? We had a Magellan 3225, but we take the GPS unit with us when we park the vehicle, and the repeated connecting/disconnecting of the USB power cable broke the unit’s charging mechanism (i.e., the unit will no longer charge when the USB cable is connected). Therefore, we’re looking for a GPS system where the power cable connects to the mount, not the GPS itself. Thanks again.
Steve, another option would be the 260 which does include TTS.
Michael, most systems have charging systems that connect to the device itself rather than first to the mount. So if that is a critical feature for you then you might want to stick with the 300 series.
On my Nuvi 350 when I enter destination address and then look in my recent selections option, on right side of it it shows total mileage for the particular trip. But if I look at simulated trip (same one) and add miles per section, the total mileage is quite different. Why?
Dariusz - I don’t believe it is showing you the total mileage for the previous trip… That GPS doesn’t do that. You are most likely looking at the current straight line distance to that destination from where you are.
TIM - Thank you for your answer. Just to clarify so I understand, when we’re looking in a Recent Selection mode or My Favorites selection mode, the mileage that is shown on right side is the straight line from point A to point B mileage not the actual driving mileage. Just curious, what is the practical use for it?
Correct, it shows the relative straight line distance. They do that because it would take too long to calculate a driving route to each location in the search results.
I purchased my Nuvi 350 1/31/07. Seems like I have updated something on it free in the past. Are there any free updates that I should get? Is there good reason to pay for the other updates.
Ron, you can use WebUpdater to check for application updates (free) and register your device at my.garmin.com to check for map updates (may not be free).
Hi Tim
I am consisdering buying a 350 with V.7 map. I am hearing so many complaints about the 350. What do you think of the 350…also 360 - I want one that says street names….. please help and advise…. thanks
The 350 was a great device. But it has since been discontinued. I wouldn’t purchase it with v7 maps as those are quite old now. I’d look at the Garmin Nuvi 255 or the Garmin Nuvi 260 instead.
thanks for a quick responce….
what about the garmin 650?
My 350 is V4 i believe. Purchased 1/31/07. Works very good for me. As mentioned above hearing complants. I’m afraid to upgrade in the event it does not work as well. Could this be true?
The 650 has been discontinued as well. The current models are the 200 series, 2×5 series, 700, 800, and 5000 series.
Well I’ve been reading the comments and concerns but I heard this is the only portable GPS that has the setting for commercial driving. Is this true? And if so how helpful really is the feature on this device.
Robert - Yes, Garmin has done away with that feature on newer models. I think people assumed it would route you around low bridges, sharp turns, etc. What it really does is just avoid things like carpool lanes and parkways where commercial vehicles are restricted from driving.
Hi, I bought a Nuvi 350 way back when they were a new model, after a year it stopped working and Garmin replaced the product without hesitation - great service, especially here in Belgium where the customer usually comes last. However now I get the message that the maps are out of date (Europe NT v9), I expected a free update for this but I’m getting asked to buy. Secondly, if I get the matest version will I have to install onto an SD card or will it replace the current version in the Nuvi memory?
Thanks
Map updates will replace the map in the internal memory.
I bought Nuvi350 at least a year or more ago. Did register it, but have not tried to update it (sware or maps). How do I know what map version I have? Is updating the software or the maps even worth trying now? I use the 350 all the time and has worked wonderfully, so updates could(?) cause problems? Any comments would be appreciated.
Great site! I’m trying to decide between the nuvi 255 and nuvi 350. The 350 is available for about $50 less from a local retailer here in Canada.
I see from above discussions that the 350 is older and no longer in production - will I still get firmware updates and the same level of support? Tim, you suggested that it would probably be better to buy the 255 or 260 because of the outdated map data on the 350.
Does this mean that I can’t upgrade the maps now that the 350 is no longer in production?
This will be my first GPS purchase, and any insights would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
You will be able to update the maps (at least in the current format) however since you may have to pay for that map update it might be more cost effective to purchase a different model that will already include the newer map.
Tim: I’m a first time buyer looking for a unit that will be used primarily for local travel for our new au pair. If the 350 is discontinued, is there an analog in the Garmin line-up now? Like the 270 maybe? And between that or the TomTom One 3rd is there a recommendation you are comfortable making?
Thanks!
The Garmin Nuvi 260 is the most similar to the 350. I’d go for the TomTom ONE 130s over the ONE 3rd Edition.
Thanks…and the 130s versus the 260?
Simplicity (260) versus customizable (130s).
I have Garmin 680, I downloaded songs from my cds to my computer in MP3 format. When I drive and run the music thru my FM reciever all songs stop in between songs for about 3-8 seconds. But when I play songs on GPS itself it does not stop. How can I play songs without songs stopping.
Tim: I recently purchased a refurbished Nuvi 350 from [snip]. Now that I’ve realized that the 350 has been discontinued, I’m thinking maybe I should return the 350 and get the 255. What is your opinion?
We’ve recently written about Garmin’s Discontinued Status and the implications thereof.
Thanks Tim, I did read that article. I am not as concerned about the map updates as I am the quality and functionality of the two products.
Thanks
It being discontinued won’t impact the quality and functionality of the product. Still the same product it was before.
Tim: I don’t mean to be a pain. Does the 255 incorporate features that are superior to the 350 i.e. chipset, display, accuracy,? In short is the 255 a better unit than 350?
I really appreciate your help.
Hardware is mostly similar. I prefer the display on the 255 and the lack of a flip up antenna on the 255 is also nice. Accuracy and chipset will have similar performance. The 255 also adds the nice graphical turn arrow at the top which I’m personally exceptionally fond of.
Thanks alot Tim. I think I will return the 250 and go with the 255. I have been reading many of the reviews on the site. It is very helpful.
Thanks again.