What if one device could help you navigate anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, while offering travel tips, storing your favorite tunes and photos, providing translation assistance, and more? That device is here, and it’s not much bigger than a deck of cards. The Garmin nüvi 350 is set to revolutionize what we expect from a GPS navigation device, or from any device for that matter.
With a total weight of 5.1 ounces and slim measurements of 3.87 x 2.91 x 0.87 inches (WxHxD), the nüvi 350 is just right for the pocket or purse. A bright, 64,000-color display dominates the front of the device and a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels means that there’s plenty of room for displaying map data and other elements of the device’s interface. An SD memory card slot is provided for expansion software, such as a points of interest database, media files and electronic guides (see below). The flip-up antenna includes an MCX-type connector for connecting the unit to an external GPS antenna. Meanwhile, a powerful built-in speaker resides on the back of device. A built-in lithium ion battery will give you for to eight hours of battery life, depending on use. In addition to an AC charger, the unit also ships with a 12-volt power adapter for vehicle charging, as well as a windshield suction cup mount.

Technical Details
Compact 700 MB GPS navigator with bundled MP3/audiobook player, photo viewer, and world travel clock
Small enough to fit in a pocket or purse; mounts on vehicle windshield with included suction cup
Preloaded with City Navigator NT maps of U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico
Turn-by-turn directions, automatic routing, and 320 x 240 color touchscreen display
Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot; measures 3.87 x 2.91 x 0.87 inches (W x H x D); 1-year warranty
Customer feedback:
1. After trying other Garmin units, this is the one I kept. Simply wonderful. I bought it when it was more than triple its current price and thought it was good deal then. It’s a great deal now. It has all the characteristics that I was looking for:
- VERY compact — easily able to fit in a breast pocket
- Text-to-Speech — announces proper street names, not just “turn left in 500 feet”; radically reduces how much you need to look at the screen to figure out the real instructions; wouldn’t own a GPS unit wihtout this
- Bright Screen — readable in virtually every situation
AND
Faster location of the GPS satellites. This turns out to be quite important in day-to-day use. In the other systems, it wasn’t unusual that we could be driving for a couple minutes before it located the satellites and could give us directions. With this unit, the satellites are located almost as quickly as the unit fully starts up.
2. The thing is great at telling you what to do and where to go. There are no second guesses. It says take a right, it highlights the turn graphically and it even tells you the road or route you are turning onto verbally, something most GPS’s are missing. Instead of “turn right in .02 miles”, you get “turn on to Vista Drive in .02 miles”. It even has some landmarks that comfort you along the way.
On of the best features is something my wife experienced on a trip to NY. She is not familiar at all with the roads here on the east coast and was taking a rather long drive to NY to a hotel we had never stayed at. Along the way, she managed to mess up and miss one turn. For her, that could have been a major hassle. I mean, you know what it is like. I have spent as much as an hour getting back on track when I was lucky. Even more time was lost when I wasn’t lucky because of detours or road work. One detour in California took me over two hours to recover from on what was originally a 1/2 hour trip. Other GPSs do this too, but this one seems incredibly adept and efficient at it.
When she missed her turn, the system immediately recognized it and redirected her. She lost about five minutes for her goof and didn’t have to ask directions or even pause in her travels.