Garmin Nuvi 350 - replacing older c340

 

Hi, owners of Nuvi 350:
Getting ready to pass on my 9-month old Garmin c340 to my college kid who will travel a lot for training. I want to replace it with Nuvi 350 or c550. Have a few questions:

1. Which gadget store has the best price and delivery record?
2. What do you like and dislike about Nuvi 350?
3. Can Nuvi 350 read POI off its SD card?
4. I did the comparison. Price difference between c550 and Nuvi 350 is minimal. c550 has bluetooth and mp3. Nuvi 350 has no bluetooth. Which one is a real better buy?
5. Is Nuvi 350 near the end of its product life cycle like c330?

I appreciate your help and advice.

1. I recently bought my Nuvi

1. I recently bought my Nuvi 360 from Amazon, I think I paid $428 for it. Can't beat their service and shipping to my house was only 2 days and that was using their least expensive shipping option.
2. Love the 360, lots of favorite features, Blue Tooth (that is the difference between the 350 & 360), POI's, playing MP3s, 3D maps and laughing at how it pronouces some street names.
3. Yes the 350 can read POI's off the SD card, that is where all of mine are stored. I also have photos on it and some MP3's.
4. I like the footprint of the Nuvi, fits in my pocket and is very light weight.
5. I don't think the Nuvi 350 is nearing eol, but honestly I don't know for sure.

I initially got the 350 (it was a gift from work) and returned it to get the 360 for the Bluetooth feature. When it's hooked up through the audio out jack to my car stereo it's a great feature, it also lets me use my cell phone hands free at home without a ear piece which I find slightly annoying. I also sprung for the GTM-12 FM traffic receiver because I live in the SF Bay area and we get a little traffic here. So far I am happy with it's performance and seamless integration into the 360.

Overall I'm thrilled with the 360.

--
Nuvi 360, OS X Lion 10.7

the C550 has a volume wheel,

the C550 has a volume wheel, the nuvi 350 you have to go thru menus to control the volume. It is easier to control the volume on the C550.

The nuvi 350 the speaker are on the back while the C550 the speakers are on the side. I feel you can hear the C550 better while driving because of speaker location.(the speakers are aimed at the driver and front seat passenger)

The C550 has a better anti glare screen like the nuvi 660. I feel you can see the C550 better than the nuvi 350 in sunlight while driving.

If you want use the traffic feature the C550 comes with the GTM-20. (you still have to pay an annual fee of $60 after the first 3 months).You have to purchase additonal equipment(GTM-12) if you buy the Nuvi 350.

The nuvi 350 is smaller which makes it easier to carry with you.

Purchased from BuyDig.com

Purchased my C530 from BuyDig.com. No problems...

Price on the C550 w/o shipping is $357.05.
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=GRSPC550

Good luck with your new unit.

--
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. - Pablo Picasso (Bob - Garmin c530, eTrex Vista HCx)

Here is my take on the two

Like said above, I think that the C5xx has MUCH better anti-glare, better speakers (louder without distortion). However, I really really really like the nuvi's size. The biggest complaint that I had with my C530 is that when I take it out of the car, which I always do, it was cumbersome to carry around. Now, although perhaps a bit geeky, I wear the nuvi on my belt when I am out of the car (looks like I have a blackberry on my side). The travel kit is neat too, but I wouldn't get it solely for the travel kit.

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

Size matters

I agree with Asiafire, I like the size of the 350. Very portable. When out of the car, it goes into my front pant pocket.

Hey, keep it clean ...

--
HarveyS - Nuvi 350

Go with the Nuvi

I got the Nuvi 360 for under $400 from PC Nation ... at the time they were even offered next day DHL Delivery, so it worked out GREAT!

The 360 has Bluetooth and a Pedestrian mode - which I am not sure that the cXXX has. It's great for walking around the big cities!

I wouldn't complain about the anti-glare screen on the Nuvi at all, but the speaker is a bit inferior.

350 vs bluetooth

One consideration - the Nuvi 350 can be had for just $370 at Amazon.com. I tried out the Nuvi 360, but I did not like the bluetooth performance from the speaker - it sounded great to me, but everyone I talked to was annoyed by how it sounded on their end.

I ended up getting a 350 and use a separate Motorolla T305 speaker which clips to the visor over my head. The T305 sounds much better because the device (and hence the microphone) are in a place that is much better suited to pick up your voice without the rumble of the stuff on the dash. This is especially true if you have a noisy air conditioner. You'll probably notice that in a lot of the built-in car bluetooth options, they hide the microphone in a spot in the headliner that is pretty close to where you would put the T305 on a visor.

The T305 can be had for about $60 - in my opinion, it's better to get these options separately.

Bluetooth & Nuvis

There is a microphone jack on the mounting cradle - one can, if desired, acquire a microphone from any one of an number of sources, including Garmin, and improve performance.

--
*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*