Bluetooth Capabilities

As I stated on another psot, I gave my c340 to my college kid. I'm in the market for a replacement. Kind of decided on Nuvi series 350 vs. 360. So I'm reading up these experiences before I make the dive. Please post your experiences of 350 vs. 360. thanks in advance.

The only difference between the 350 and the 360 is that the 360 has Bluetooth.

I just don't know the quality of the sound output and input of Nuvi 360 are good enough. Are there echoes? Worth the extra $? Particularly, are there any nuances or idiosyncracies of each. Users are the BEST judges.

Your picture (icon) is cute. I enjoy reading your technical "workarounds" of Garmin. I print some of them out for future reference so I don't have post and re-post, wasting everyone's time.

As has previously been stated the only difference between the two is the 360 has BT. I have owned both, the 360's speaker is fair. As far as echo's I haven't heard any and none of the people I speak to while driving complain about any echo so I don't think that is an issue. I think what is more important is the type platform (car, truck etc.) you are using it in. My car doesn't have the best sound proofing, it is a 03 Mazda Protoge 5. At idle the 360's speaker are fine, however if I'm going down a noisy freeway it isn't adequate at all. For directions even at freeway speeds the speaker is OK however trying to listen to a phone call, that is another story. However I'd be willing to bet if I drove a Lexus, Mercedes, even a nice Toyota or some other vehicle with excellent sound proofing the Nuvi speaker at freeway speeds would be just fine for BT calls. My solution was to have a input jack installed in my car and play the voice through my car stereo speakers. Even in my noisy little car at highway speeds that works just fine. That also worked well using the Nuvi as an MP3 player in my car, I just load up the SD card with music and off I go. The bluetooth is so well integrated that if I get a call when navigating or listening to music if I answer the call the music is paused until I get off the call.

Before you make a decision on either the 350 or 360 spend a few minutes driving in the vehicle(s) you will be using it in and decide for yourself if it is quiet.

Hope this is helpful.

While the bluetooth capability seemed a nice to have I have found it iffy at best.
Also my callers complained of echo when I pushed it through the car stereo.
The internal speaker is also not quite up to the job either...

My boss has sprung for a fitted Nokia car kit - so no complaints from me then!!!

I was enthusiastic about the bluetooth capabilities...but now I've had it a while - I'm rather underwhelmed at the performance. I'm back to using my wired ear bud/mic.

Well, it was a cinch to pair my Plantronics 640 to iPhone, but it took me about a dozen attempt to establish a connection from my Nuvi. It had no problem finding each other, but somehow it took many, many attempts to the point where I can enter a passcode.

After that, I have the same set of capabilities I had with my Motorola RAZR.

I have the same problem with trying to transfer the
phonebook to my 680...Garmin support no help....If you find a way..email me at jwooten4@nc.rr.com

THANKS IN ADVANCE

Theoretically the bluetooth should be awesome. it a ni ce interface and easy to use.

However, everyone I called would complain of poor sound quality and echoing. I am using the external microphone too!

And it sounds really bad through the build in speaker.

I have the Nuvi 360 and I use a Jawbone headset now.

Am I in the minority when it comes to feeling like the bluetooth in the Nuvi 360 sucks?

I am not impressed with my coworker's 550 clarity.

You can't use the jawbone (or any other headset) with the 360...can you? I thought that only the zumos allowed you to hook up a headset and phone to it.

I'm quite happy with the clarity and volume of the bluetooth in my car cradle... works great with my Motorola KRZR. On the motorcycle, I've linked the Zumo into the factory radio with a connector from Kennedy Technology Group so that it now works through the factory headset in my helmet. It even lowers the volume on the radio when I have an incoming call. Couldn't be happier with it. I bought mine through the cycle gadgets website.

http://www.cyclegadgets.com

Wasn't cheap... but, works great. Can even connect a radar detector to it so that I can hear that through my headset as well... which is a HUGE deal on a motorcycle.

Bluetooth doesn't work well for my cell phone or my wifes. It used to take us 20 or so minutes of continued trying to pair the phones to my 660. Once we did, it worked well enough.

Then Garmin came out with Bluetooth 3.0 and every two days, the 660 looses pairing and has to be repaired to the phones again, wasn't an easy task.

Then Garmin came out with firmware 4.30 and now we can't pair either phone with my 660 at all.

My 650 doesn't have it and Costco just doesn't seem to have the X60s on sale! lol

Guess I will have to wait for Black friday (again!!!).

I've tried my 360s bluetooth feature with a little success. Sometimes the other line says my voice is not very clear but sometimes it is clear. I think it has to do with the fact that my car doesnt block a lot of ambient noise.

My Nuvi 360 pairs with my motorola Q4c just fine. I can call from my Nuvi but when I try to end call on the Nuvi it just keeps the call open. It ends on the phone but not on the Nuvi and I can dial again then without disconnecting the bluetooth or power down and power up. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Michael

...but I think it must sound better with the external mic. To me the audio sounds like you are in a hole. Not too bad but a little annoying and certainly noticeable on the other end. I think the external mic would definitely correct the problem which is what you would want if you ever had to take a "professional" phone call. Has anyone used different external mics or is it proprietary? I don't have my cradle handy so I can't look!

As far as the phone book goes, I am pretty sure that it is a function of the phone, whether or not it displays the full phone book or a single contact.

And as for the range of the bluetooth, I would never leave mine in the vehicle much less turned on so that wouldn't be an issue for me!

I use the Bluetooth paired to an Apple iPhone with great success. I use the Garmin external mic. I had another mic that did not seem to work as well. I needed an external mic to have any chance of being heard in a convertible with the top down. It works OK with the top down and very well with the top up. I have a direct connection to the car stereo, so there is no problem hearing the caller with or without the top down. It's a little bit public at stop lights in town with the top down, however.

Each of my phones have displayed differently for the contact information. The iPhone shows the full phone book with multiple numbers, including icons for the type of number. It also shows the call history since last connected. This is the same as my Razr, except the GPS would display the Razr text messages or read the text messages to you if that option was selected.

I find the hands free aspect of the GPS very useful and have used it on many occassions for conference calls in addition to placing and receiving other calls without complaint.

Bill

One of the reasons for purchasing the 360 was for bluetooth. I was happy that my T-Mobile Shadow was able to connect. I'm new to BT, so I haven't figured out all the details.

I did accidentally discover that it does have long range, at least 90ft through a number of wood walls and floors (from garage to opposite upstairs corner of house). I don't know the quality of the signal, though.

My phone book I believe is accessed directly (or it downloads pretty fast) when it is tied to the 360. Unfortunately, it only sees the SIM chip, not my phone's internal directory, which makes it a little more difficult to find names (since they are truncated in my phonebook and not updated).

The quality of the Garmin BT is okay for me. I only use it for quick phone calls. I can't have the stereo, or Garmin speakers loud, otherwise there is an echo for the caller on the other end.