5/12/2012

Garmin nüvi 370 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator Review

Garmin nüvi 370 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
SEE UPDATE BELOW ORIGINAL REVIEW
I have just returned from a trip to Europe (London, Paris, Rome, and Florence) where I used the Nuvi 370 extensively and it worked great. First of all, I put a lot of the places I would be going to in the "Favorites" list before I left. The great thing about Nuvi is that it sorts this list based on distance from wherever you happen to be. So I didn't have to scroll through points for Paris or Rome when I was in England and vice versa. Very useful. I also found that the points of interest had all the sightseeing landmarks that I was going to visit and nearly every restaurant that I had earmarked for meals. I also got the translation guide which came in very useful (especially to explain "tap water" at European restaurants, they really want to sell you bottled water and pretend to not understand what tap water means, but showing them in their own language on Nuvi always got the point across). Now here is a report of actual real world use as a pedestrian in Europe.
Pros - It had every street that I walked on without exception. It knew that I could walk the wrong way on one-way streets as a pedestrian (in pedestrian mode). Usually very fast lock on of satellites. Currency converter very useful. Language guide easy to use and very helpful with menus. Learned a few phrases by imitating the voice on the language guide which led to a lot of goodwill in France and Italy. Used it to show addresses to cab drivers which was always helpful. Tracked the taxi rides and could tell when cabbies were way off route and a little protesting got them back on track. Used it to make easy decisions between walking, metro, or cab by routing a destination and seeing how far the walk would be. Nuvi lets you scroll through the route and is pretty accurate as to how long it will take to walk.
Cons - 1. In pedestrian mode, I almost always started walking the wrong way because Nuvi isn't sure which way it is pointed when you are standing still. This is fixed by walking a few feet until you see if you are going the right way, rarely more than 10 feet. 2. It doesn't automatically reroute in pedestrian mode if you get off the selected route, you need to hit "detour" which sometimes leads to a much longer path. 3. Sometimes satellite signal would get lost in the narrow older streets, especially in Italy. Sometimes the display would suddenly indicate that I was walking the exact opposite way that I had been going due to lost or confused signal. But these are all nits and were easily handled.
Overall - The Nuvi 370 worked exactly the way I was hoping it would. If you live in America and plan travel in Europe, I highly recommend the Nuvi 370 and Language Guide.
UPDATE 2ND TRIP TO EUROPE
I recently spent two weeks in Spain where I used the Nuvi in pedestrian mode and drove throughout Southern and Western Spain. The Nuvi worked perfectly except where maps were somewhat out of date. The scariest words in my life now are "Enter roundabout and take second exit to roundabout". At one point we did three consecutive roundabouts! If you are not used to driving in a foreign country, I highly recommend Nuvi 370. The POI's pointed out gas and food when we needed it, and in both pedestrian and driving mode, it got us through many medieval streets with no problems. I again used the language guide(very useful) and was able to figure out what was what on local menus. I find the estimated arrival times in both pedestrian mode and driving mode to be pretty accurate and helpful in decision making. I even used it on the AVE high speed train between Madrid and Cordoba to see how fast we were going (180+ mph). I have now had this for a couple of years and can't live without it.
One of most useful features is the ability to find metro stations nearby when you are in pedestrian mode. Very helpful in Madrid and Barcelona.


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Now you can go from North America to Europe without loading any more maps with the Garmin's transatlantic nuvi 370 Personal Travel Assistant. This pocket-sized personal travel assistant comes with built-in street maps for both continents, making traveling abroad as easy as getting off the plane. The nuvi 370 is loaded with convenience features such as a travel kit and hands-free calling, on top of which it provides you with even more maps and an integrated traffic receiver.
Despite being loaded with features, the nuvi 370 still allows you to navigate with ease. This unit comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded NavTeq City Navigator NT street maps for both North America and Europe, and includes a hefty points of interest (POIs) database with hotels, restaurants, fuel stops, ATMs and more. Simply touch the super-bright, sunlight-readable color screen to enter a destination, and the 370 takes you there with either 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. This navigator voice even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road, and can concentrate on your driving to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. In addition, the 370 accepts custom points of interest (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras, and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs that require your special consideration such as speed zones and safety cameras.
Speaking of keeping you safe, the nuvi 370 lets you make hands-free calls so you can talk freely during your worry-free driving. By integrating Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker, you can pair your nuvi with any compatible Bluetooth phone and talk hands-free while staying focused on the road. You no longer have to fumble with your phone's handset to answer a call or dial a number, just tap the 370's screen and you're instantly connected. And with 1-touch dialing for your POIs, you can quickly and conveniently call ahead to make reservations or get needed information.
You can also avoid tie-ups and steer clear of traffic with the nuvi 370's integrated FM TMC traffic receiver. This unit allows you to receive alerts about road construction and traffic problems that lie ahead on your route. Simply touch the nuvi's screen to view traffic details or change your route so you can detour around the problem area. All of which can be customized with configurable vehicle icons that let you choose individual car-shaped icons in a variety of colors that show your position on the map.
In additional to all this functionality, the nuvi 370 includes many must-have entertainment and travel tools such as an MP3 player, an audio book player (subscription to Audible.com required), and a JPEG picture viewer so you can take your favorite music and pictures with you wherever you go. This unit also features a world travel clock with time zones, a currency converter, a measurement converter, and a calculator so that wherever you travel it will be easy to know what you are getting and keep track of your costs. The MP3 player lets you browse music by artist, album, and/or song, while the optional audio books may be purchased from Audible.com which features over 70,000 hours of audio programs. What's more, the nuvi 370 allows further customization via optional software such as travel guide, savings programs and language translation on plug-and-play SD cards for all your travel needs.
The Garmin nuvi 370 comes with a built-in, high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, and lets you view and operate it via its bright, LCD TFT touch-screen display that measures 2.8 x 2.1 inches (W x H) and has a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels with 64,000 colors and a white backlight. As a whole, the nuvi 370 measures 3.87 x 2.91 x 0.87 inches (W x H x D), and weighs only 5.1 ounces for easy portability. This unit provides you with from four to eight hours of battery life (depending on use) via its rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and comes with Garmin Lock, which is an anti-theft feature to protect your investment. While you can add software via the SD card slot, the Garmin nuvi 370 also lets you interface via high-speed USB for loading data, though users should note that, like most USB mass storage devices, this unit is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.
What's in the Box Garmin nuvi 370, City Navigator NT maps for North America and Europe (preloaded, full coverage), FM traffic receiver, vehicle suction cup mount, AC charger, vehicle power cable, dashboard disk, USB cable, carrying case, quick reference guide and, owner's manual.

Which nuvi is Best for You?Note: All nuvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.
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