Garmin nuvi 1350T Review

If there is a good GPS out on the market that combines a good user interface with top notch performance, that device would be any of the GPS devices produced by Garmin nuvi. Their family of GPS devices is ever increasing with six different series to choose from already and that is for drivers alone. Compared to other GPS companies, people may have a difficult time deciding which device is for them. Even if they know what features they want, it can still be hard to zero down to a particular model. But for those that want a new GPS device with a slick design and great list of features for a good price, a Garmin nuvi 1350T may just seal the deal.

Garmin nuvi 1350T GPS Navigator

Design

At first, the design may deceive people that are acquainted with the older 205 and 705 series because there isn’t anything really new aside from the white design with black frame that it sports. But once all the angles are taken into consideration, the Garmin nuvi 1350T ends up being much thinner than the rest of the devices.

Features

The models in the nuvi 1200 series were also famous for their slimmed down look, but the 1350T which is the midrange model of the family manages to incorporate more features without adding any thickness or sacrificing any performance. The best thing is that the user interface remains the same so route planning is just a button away from the home screen which requires no setup whatsoever.

Route planning with the nuvi 1350T is both fast and efficient just like the 255W which is the thicker alternative, but the ecoRoute feature does more by giving priority to the fuel consumption. It can even go as far as tracking fuel usage during travel. There are plenty of points of interests to choose from in a 3-D or 2-D environment.

Going back to the interface, there are a few improvements that all users will enjoy including an enhanced touch-screen gesture that works by letting the user slide a finger to scroll screen to screen. This is particularly useful with some of the advanced features that it has including the “Lane Assist” feature which is a must have for people that are fond of missing important turns in complicated intersections. It will intelligently guide the driver to the right lane making it impossible for the next turn to be missed.

There are some other new additions as well including the “Enhanced Pedestrian Navigation feature” which gives the map more detail by highlighting the locations of various public transportation channels including subways and bus stops. It is also possible to get bus schedule information in addition to the live traffic feeds that has been always exclusive in T models.

Actual user review:
• "I have this unit for 10 days now and overall I am very happy with it. For its mainstream feature, navigation, it is excellent. I had a Garmin 350 before this which I loved but it was stolen from my car. I had a Magellan after that which was crap. The price on this unit was great ($247 - Amazon).

I chose it over the 1390T because I opted to not get bluetooth. It is the only difference between the units. I felt the bluetooth quality would be poor based on other reviews of bluetooth in general on GPS units. The main reason was in the way most people use bluetooth. In a typical day I am in and out of my car often. I always need my bluetooth immediately in case I get a call. I don't always need my GPS. And since my previous unit was stolen, and theft of these units is a big problem everywhere, I keep the unit hidden or sometimes remove it from the car. So if you are like me but you get this unit for bluetooth, you will need to stop and mount your gps everytime you get in the car whether you need it or not, just to have blue tooth capability. If you forget and the cell phone rings, you have no bluetooth. So I purchased a separate bluetooth speaker phone from Jabra (very good unit# which is always attached to my visor, pretty good quality, and always there when I need it. I saved about $75 by opting for the 1350T over the 1390T.

A few minor disappointments - the Lane Assist feature works great but is not available everywhere. I used it around NYC and it was helpful. I drove through Pennsylvania and upstate NY and it was not available." - J.Mitch (NJ,USA)

Bottom Line

The Garmin nuvi 1350T also has the same set of extra features that other Garmin nuvi devices possess and again, the price doesn’t really skyrocket like some of the advanced models. The new features that are added prove that the price isn’t just for the thinness, but the entire package that is neatly wrapped by Garmin nuvi.

Product Features

Widescreen ultra-slim GPS design with 4.3-inch WQVGA touchscreen display; interface features improved graphics and a new slide control for menu operation
Pre-loaded with City Navigtor NT maps for North America, including more than 6 million name-searchable points of interest
Pedestrian navigation capability enabled through optional CityXplorer maps; ecoRoute suggests fuel-efficient routes to save drivers money and fuel
Steer clear of traffic with integrated FM traffic receiver and free lifetime traffic updates
Lane assist guides you to the correct lane for turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate

Technical Details

Dimensions: 4.8(W) x 2.9(H) x 0.6(D) inches
Weight: 5.7 ounces
Battery: Built-in lithium-ion battery
Battery Life: Up to 4 hours
Connectivity: USB
Display: 4.3-inch touchscreen WQVGA TFT display with white backlight
Display Resolution: 480 x 272 pixels
Additional Storage: microSD card slot
Voice prompts : yes
Text-To-Speech : yes
Lane assist : Yes
Route avoidance (avoid highways, tolls etc.): yes
MSN® Direct compatible: yes
FM traffic compatible: yes (receiver and lifetime traffic included)
Photo navigation (navigate to geotagged photos): yes
Picture viewer: yes
MP3 player: no

More user reviews:

• "I received this as a gift. I thought I'd use it every once in a while, so I kept it. Boy was I wrong! I use it all of the time! Even if I know how to get someplace, I have used it to find stores, gas stations or restaurants nearby. I love the lane assist feature, as it lets me know in advance if I need to be ready to make a left turn or a right turn. The traffic update has been great too. I sometimes use the Nuvi just to determine length of time it will take to travel between two points - or how much longer till I get home. Only con was that it had trouble picking up satelite reception while driving among the tall buildings of Manhattan. " - B.Lowery (PA,USA)

• "Me and my family took it to Houston Saturday. It was pretty accurate. Once or twice it notified a turn a little late (it announced it beforehand but not when it got closer to the turn). So as long as u pay attention to it you would have known it was coming. The volume is great, we kept it at 80% and it was loud in clear in our 2003 Ford F150 truck. It also showed us a Luby's on the map when it was an abandoned building but that has more to do with the maps than the gps. The battery only seemed to last about 2 or 2 and a half hours. The only real complaint is I wish it had junction view but other than that it was great." - A.Montalvo (TX,USA)

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