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Electronics : Garmin nüvi 360 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Text-To-Speech |
- Nuvi does the trick for a GPS newbieYou can see all of the extensive, hyperdetailed reviews. I won't write another one of those.
What I will say is that I received my Nuvi 360 yesterday, and I love it already. The design is excellent and the UI is terrific, even (especially?) for someone like yours truly who has very little patience for user manuals.
My initial hesitation about buying a GPS unit was something along the lines of "I know where I'm going around here. And I have a road atlas when I don't." What I wasn't anticipating was how much my love of maps and topology and points of interest in the world around me would be fed by a GPS unit. I have always loved staring at maps and following roads and learning names of mountains, parks, wilderness areas, and so on. My grandfather apparently had the same fascination. For example, I have driven by one particular section of Seattle hundreds if not thousands of times. I had no idea that little neighborhood/area was named. Was knowing the name crucial to my ability to get around? Nope. Is it interesting nonetheless to know the name? Absolutely.
I can also see how the Nuvi will make me more likely to strike out into the countryside, exploring new areas that aren't well documented on even the Thomas Guide. Hooray!
I will add that my nine-year-old daughter is positively enamored with the Nuvi already. She's selecting the vehicle to use, changing its colors, looking at the splash screen choices, fascinated by being able to tell the direction our car is pointed at any given moment, and so on. We've been discussing how the Nuvi works in relation to satellites, what satellites are, and so on. A great teaching tool and excellent for those who are visually oriented!
I'm not one to order one of every gadget released. However, I will say that this will most likely end up on a list one day of my best technology purchases ever. It's practical, fun, portable, affordable, and tremendously useful.
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- "Upgraded" from the 350Upgraded from the 350 to the 360 solely for the BT functionality in June 2008. Sorry to say the BT did not work well and many times I'd switch off the BT because the speaker would distort and or there were frequent drop outs. In addition I have trouble hearing the directions with the window open or even the stereo on at a low volume. My speaker isn't loud enough for directions, but distorts when all the way up during a BT call. I have the 360 mounted to the top of my dash. I've used the 360 with a Sony W300i phone and a BB curve. Same issues with both. Callers had a lot of difficulty understanding me. I also noticed subsequent to the latest firm/software upgrade that the unit is slower and not as accurate. In retrospect I should have stayed with the 350. The BT call quality was so poor that I ended up buying a new BT stereo with separate mic. Should have stayed with the 350.
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- Why was the 360 discontinued?I just bought the Nuvi 360 for $3 more than the 260 on Amazon. With the addition of bluetooth handsfree and MP3 support, it was a no brainer. My question is why was this model discontinued, and not the 260? Does anyone know?
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- High price of upgradesFirst, when I went to the Garmin website to check for upgrade, it said that I had to register to see if I was eligible for a free upgrade. So I registered and guess what, I wasn't eligible for any free upgrades. It seems to me, little more than a trick to get people to register.
Second, the high price of upgrades. After paying $170, I now find out that I have to pay another $70 to upgrade the maps. They are charging me for the same information that Google gives away for free.
If I had realized the high price to to keep the Garmin current, I would have done more research and possibly made a different purchase,
Rating:
- garmin nuvi 360Great value for the price. I needed text-to-speech so I would not have to take my eyes off the road. This gps works great. I only wish that the volume could be made to go louder than it does as I don't think it can be heard clearly over the car radio.
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