A Humble review of the 1350LMT

I just returned from a trip Toronto – Florida – Toronto using my son’s Nuvi 1350lmt and thought I would share some of my impressions about the 1350 in comparison to my own 750.
First thing I noticed was the screen was not as bright as the 750 and noticeably more difficult to see in bright sunlight but not a deal breaker if I were to buy one.

I found that plugging/unplugging the power cable each time I parked the car for extended periods time was every annoying. Why did Garmin abandon the very handy cradle which made it easy to flip off and on the unit is a mystery? (Profit?) Bad decision.

I consider Lane Assist a waste of time. There was no indication that the lane assist picture was being displayed and you wouldn’t know it unless you were looking at the screen and then it appeared briefly in most cases to be of benefit to me (OK so I am an old guy) In general I found it to be distracting to my driving in heavy traffic. Conclusion – don’t need it, don’t care for it, don’t want it.

I should tell that the map detail was not as good as the 750 (set to most) and that was even more so when a route was operating. Streets disappeared, surrounding towns or rivers/lakes were gone once the unit was in trip mode. I understand that it is doing what I want it to do, get me to my destination, but I like seeing the surrounding area as I drive and the 750 provides that for me.

I have enjoyed reading the posts here of the people that love the traffic feature on their Nuvi. I was looking forward to this and thought it would be very useful on my trip to Florida along I95. What another disappointment. When it told me there was traffic delay up ahead there wasn’t any, and when there was a delay in traffic it was not showing on the 1350. To me this is a useless feature. Conclusion – don’t need it, don’t care for it, don’t want it.

A number of times I noticed that the unit would freeze (speed indicator, etc) but the voice instructions would carry on and be correct. I found that returning to the main screen and then back to the map corrected the problem. Easy fix, but annoying none the less. Good thing it didn’t happen too often. Never had this happen with my 750.

One great thing I liked was the choice of display for speed, time, etc., I found the speed indicator very useful in setting my speed and liked the fact it would turn red if the limit was exceeded. Wish my 750 had that.
I give the 1350 back to my son and am now, once again, using my 750 with greater appreciation. I read the posts here and was envious of all you guys with the latest and greatest Nuvi’s. I can now say that until my 750 dies I will stick with it. It serves my well.

No reason to look for Black Friday specials on Nuvi’s in this house.