> My son had found a Garmin Nuvi 350 online for $150!!!
We also have a 350, with the "free" traffic option (which is actually
advertising supported).
The GPS part works reasonably well, although there does seem to be a bug in
their handling of shading conditions at power-on. If you are in a concrete
parking garage or similar when you power the unit up, and then drive
outside, it sometimes takes an inordinate amount of time to find 4
satellites.
But I have been definitely underwhelmed with the mapping software and/or the
embedded maps. It has done crazy things like deciding I need to make a
U-turn for no reason; sending me off one freeway ramp and back on the next
ramp; routing down roads that don't exist (and never did); and last year it
wanted me to drive from Phoenix to LA via San Diego! (Which it knew was
some 80 miles out of the way.)
The wife thought I was just being picky, until it directed us to drive into
a river <g> In San Francisco over the Thanksgiving holiday, it told me to
drive through a concrete wall. Then there was the cul-de-sac in rural Utah
(apparently a new development that fizzled due to lack of funds) where it
kept yelling to turn right as I drove around the circle at the end. Nothing
to my right but curb and dirt.
Bottom line, it's a useful tool, but you have to apply a healthy dose of
common sense. Don't trust it to actually know either where you are, where
you are supposed to be, or the best way to get from here to there.
Randall
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