Garmin nüvi 370 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator by Garmin
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Digital camera reviews of Garmin nüvi 370 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Digital camera Review: Disappointing Performance in Europe
Summary: 3 Stars
I just completed a 2 week driving trip in Switzerland, Italy and France using my Nuvi 370. In general I was disappointed in the type of directions given by this unit. I used the unit in the US for three months and it was fine but in Europe, esp. in rural areas it has its problems.
I lived in Europe for 2 years and had an Audi with a built in GPS which was designed for use in Europe. When in rural areas of the countries listed above rarely are there street signs only directions to the next town(s). The Nuvi software always gave directions at intersections and at roundabouts by street name when none were posted vs. the unit in my Audi which would tell you to go in the direction of town x, which is how the routes are marked. Yes they both said take a left or the 3rd exit in the roundabout but the addition of the steet name was confusing and the lack of directing you by town name a major drawback. I was just glad that I also had alot of Michelin maps with me.
In addition I had similar problems to another reviewer with the satellite reception in the Dolomites of Northern Italy - not sure what the problem is there since there were no issues in the French nor Swiss Alps.
Digital camera Review: Do not drive in Europe without this!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of these Nuvis is a must for any traveler driving a car in Europe. It saved us many hours of driving around looking for hotels. The text to speech makes it possible to keep your eyes on the road. Its walking mode guided us through Rome without a problem. It has most parking lots, ATM's, attractions, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, and community centers.
Another feature is the abilty to download different vehicle icons from the garmin Gargage, <http://www8.garmin.com/vehicles/>. If you update the unit, you can get several extra voices. Overall, this is an excellent unit worth double its price.
Digital camera Review: Don't go to Europe with out it!
Summary: 4 Stars
We just returned from Central Europe, where we drove 11 countries. After clothes,passports and a visa card, this item was the most important. It was so important to me, everytime I left the car, I slipped it in my pocket. It saved my so much time finding the right road, making the right turn, finding hotels etc. Right off the bat where we landed in Vienna at dark, it started doing it's job by helping us negoitiate a maze of highways, then narrow streets, directly to our hotel. We use the voice called Jack which was our favorite. Jack was very good at estimating an arrival time, the screen was also very easy to see. There is an amazing amount of information stored inside. Driving in European traffic is not easy, especially Italy. With Jack you are never lost, he is invaluable. I even used it in the pedestrian mode while walking. He got us out of Venice Italy. There we just followed his directions, while I noticed people around me kept checking the map and scratching their heads. I would mark where we parked and Jack would see to it that we found the car when we were done walking the cities. Jack was especially helpful in Krakow, Saltzberg and the previously mentioned Venice. Having the ferries on the map helped too, for instance at lake Como, where not taking a ferry would be a mistake. It is interesting that you can zoom in on a mountain road, and check to see if it is loaded with switchbacks so tight that they don't show on a paper map.
I didn't give Jake five stars for a couple of reasons, although I would have given him 4.5 if I could have. Jack was very simple to operate and intuitive. I would really like a few more simple features, such as elevation, click on map distance feature, and most importantly an indication telling you on each screen the scale of the map. Check your map coverage before you go, some countries in Eastern Europe are not loaded with detail, such as Slovenia, Croatia, and Slavick Republic, to name the ones that I found lacking. I am sure though that you can buy more countries although it was supposed to be loaded with Europe, and those countries are the "new Europe" per Donald Rumsfeld.
I worked perfectly right out of the box. I would recommend the sandbag mount for the dash. It's a little heavier than I like to travel with, but there again it was worth it. It stayed in place, has a nice swivel, and it can easily be detached and set on the floor under the seat to hide it while away from the car.
I used the currency converter several times, but I would suggest you update it before you go. I played around with the blue tooth phone before I left, and it seems like a good feature. I didn' get to use it, because my tmobile cell phone that was supposed to work in Europe didn't.
If your are heading to Europe, take Jake with you without a doubt.
Digital camera Review: Don't know I lived without it.
Summary: 5 Stars
Had been waiting for a device with both North America and Europe preloaded. Was partial to the Garmin interface as I had become used to it through a number of Avis rentals. When Garmin released the -x70 models, I moved out quickly. The 370 had all the features I was looking for - and is very portable. That last feature was very important since twice over the past few years, I parked our rental on some back street in Europe and then spent hours trying to find it.
Am I happy with the 370? Absolutely! Mounting is straightforward and strong. Audio and video are both great. Alerts are timely and succinct. Very accurate. Was visiting a firm in Florida a few weeks back. Followed one of their reps to the plant, but since I had to return there the next day, I saved the plant's location - just used the 'save current location' feature. The next day the 370 got me back to the same parking space! The user interface is intuitive - and eventhough the manual is rather thick, I have yet to open it. The traffic monitor has already gotten me around a number of major snarls.
Will be vacationing in Germany and Austria in the fall. Programmed our hotels, etc into the 370 - no problems whatever. Now the wife can enjoy the scenery while we blast along the Autobahn rather than constantly having to stay glued to the roadmap. And, yes, I've used it on long walks. Works great there, too. Very light and long battery life.
As I said, I don't know how I lived without it.
Digital camera Review: Don't leave home without it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for my daughter and I to use on a vacation while driving in France, Andorra and Sweden. It was wonderful. It did away with the necessity of detailed maps in each city. We did learn right away to use the gps, but verify with a regular map when driving to another city. France has several cities with the same name. Prepare ahead or verify with a map that you are going to the right city. I agree with another user, one must slow down if possible, to make sure to take the right turn, however when we missed a turn, "Jack" (We named him after the Australian voice) would quickly re-calculate and we would get back on track. It was very reassuring to have this GPS especially in cities where street signs were small and hard to locate.
In Sweden, it took a while to reprogram the maps and acquire the satilites. I found myself very relieved when I heard "Jack's" voice tell us to drive the the highlighted route!
The small size, and clear screen makes it easy to carry and use.