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Review by mark goresky for Garmin nüvi 1350 Series 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Rating:
I’ve used this GPS for several weeks now and when it is fully charged it is absolutely great. The voice is loud and clear, the maps are accurate and detailed. It acquires satellites quickly, even in less than optimal circumstances with trees overhead or tall buildings nearby. It is easy to program and the onscreen menus are convenient. It is thin and reasonably light and portable and the screen is big. But it has one major problem: the cigarette-lighter charging system does not supply enough current to charge the GPS while it is turned on. It is unbelievable that Garmin would allow their unit to be sold under these conditions.

When I received the unit I completely charged the battery (by connecting it to my computer using a USB cable which Garmin does not supply, but I happened to have one anyway). Then I used it in my car, always plugged into the cigarette lighter. It turns on automatically whenever you start the car, and it turns off automatically when the ignition switch is turned off. However, over this two week period the battery slowly discharged (without my knowledge) until it reached a point where the unit would no longer turn on, even when plugged in to the car charger. Assuming the unit was defective, I called Garmin and (after 20 minutes on hold) learned that the car charger is not up to the task, and that the GPS will slowly lose its charge when it is turned on, even if you have it connected to the cigarette lighter adapter. I believe this means that if you have a long drive, perhaps 8 hours or more, then the unit may not even remain operational throughout the full trip. Other people have made similar complaints about some of the other Garmin GPS units.

The tech support people explained how to recover from the low battery situation: you do a “soft reset” which simply involves holding down the on/off button for 10 seconds. Then the unit will turn on, but the battery will need recharging. I was told to do this by connecting it to my computer using a USB cable, which Garmin does not supply with the GPS (fortunately I already had one), but I assume you could do the same by connecting it to the car charger and making certain that the unit is turned off while it is charging.

What a shame that Garmin has produced a superior product with a fatal defect. I will keep mine for now, but I’m going to investigate other charging solutions. Perhaps after reading this review, the wizards at Garmin will redesign the charging system for this GPS.

Update (Aug 1/09): I discovered the reason for these charging issues: In the User’s Manual, under “Troubleshooting”, Garmin states that the Nuvi will not charge if it is in direct sunlight or if the temperature is more than 113 degrees F (45 deg C). Since I had my unit attached to the windshield, and since I only drive during midday, it is always in sunlight. This charging rule applies to many other models as well; for any given model you can download the manual from Garmin, turn to the Troubleshooting section, and see whether or not they describe a similar charging rule. (The rule is meant to avoid overheating the battery: lithium batteries can occasionally catch fire if they are severely overcharged or overheated.) I think this explains why some people have encountered charging problems and others have not: it depends on whether or not the unit is always in direct sunlight while you are driving. Some people use the friction mount and their Garmin sits on the console. Others drive later in the day or at night.

Review by Denasantny for Garmin nüvi 1350 Series 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Rating:
The Garmin nuvi 1350 is, overall, a very good GPS. A complete instruction manual is not included – you have to download it from the Garmin website. A “Quick Start” manual is included in the box. One thing that is not clearly explained is that you really have to take the unit outside and acquire a satellite signal before trying to do anything else. Mine would not get a signal inside or near my house because of trees and other obstructions. When I tried to view the map, the map kept insisting that I was in Taiwan even though I was pretty sure that I was still in New Jersey. Evidently, they install a temporary map for testing at the factory and this map disappears after initially acquiring a satellite signal in the U.S. I nearly returned the unit because I thought that it was either defective or was not a U.S. model. None of this is clearly explained in the Quick Start manual.

You are entitled to one free map download in the first 60 days to insure that you have the latest map. With a DSL connection, it takes 4.5 hours to download the map and another 2 hours to transfer it from your PC to the GPS. The step-by-step directions are excellent, it is completely automated and you can pause and continue later. Overall, not really a problem.

The 1350 can use optional cityXplorer maps in pedestrian mode. This feature, along with a thinner and lighter construction to make it easier to carry around, adds about $100 to the cost of a similar model (say the nuvi 255W) which has most of the same features but does not use the optional maps. If you are buying the 1350 primarily for the cityXplorer features, you may be disappointed. According to Garmin’s claims, the pedestrian mode of the 1350, used with an optional city map, allows you to navigate around a city using a combination of walking and public transportation modes such as subways, buses, local rail service and ferries. It doesn’t. I purchased and installed the cityXplorer map for New York at $14.95, the most expensive of the optional maps in the U.S. It does allow you to navigate around New York city on foot and using the city subway system, usually computing the most efficient route and sometimes presenting several optional routes to choose from. It does not recognize city buses or use them in computing routes. It also does not recognize the existence of commuter rail services or ferries that connect NY city to outlying boroughs or to New Jersey. The promotional literature on Garmin’s website shows the coverage area as including all of NY city as well as new Jersey as far west as Morristown and as far south as Tinton Falls. Once you leave NY city, it does not use any public transportation modes, only walking. It can not compute a route from a major transit hub in NY to any point in New Jersey, say Jersey City which is just across the river. Actually there are at least 4 options using buses, the PATH subway, a ferry and NJ Transit commuter rail service. According to the GPS the only way is by walking about 25-30 miles or by swimming. Within the “covered area” of New Jersey, transit hubs such as bus depots and train stations are listed as points of interest, but the GPS can not compute any way of traveling between them using public transportation. If your main interest is in moving around New York City using only subways, it’s pretty good. Other public transportation modes (bus, PATH, ferry, commuter rail) are just not supported at all. Naybe other city maps are better. i don’t expect anything very sophisticated or exotic for $14.95, but I do expect something that lives up to Garmin’s claims.

Still, this is a fantastic unit and I do not regret buying it.