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We have Garmin Nuvi 350 and wonder if there is a better one.
Yes we updated the database a few months ago but it is already out of date. A recent trip through Tampa had it telling us to exit a non-existent exit. So we exited the next one and it was totally lost.
Other issues:
1) not enough notice on where to turn. It requires 2 people, one to drive and the other to look at the navigator, read the street signs and tell the driver what lane to be in in advance of the turn.
2) the street signs don't agree with the navigator. Example, the street sign has a name and the navigator gives a number. How can we know to turn there with nothing indicating what the navigator says?
3)we've vacationed in the Smoky Mountains and it continually tried to make us turn down roads that were dead ends. Not recent dead-ends, you could tell they had been that way for years.
4) It will not tell us which way to turn when we are in a parking lot headed onto the highway, even when we drive around the parking lot so it can get it's bearings.
So please, name your favorite. We can't trust Amazon reviews, that's why we bought the Nuvi. This is not our first Nav. system either. Our first one was Magellan 700, a bigger disaster
Another vote for maps here. Compass and sun aren't going to help you find the interstate.
In all seriousness though, if you're having problems with accuracy, getting another GPS may not solve the problem. Most of the major GPS manufacturers get their data from the same source: Navteq. If Navteq doesn't know about a new road, then your GPS won't either.
Maybe try a TomTom GPS, since they use Teleatlas data, rather than Navteq data, but there's no guarantee the Teleatlas data will be any better.
To your question #2... My Garmin 205 will warn you several times of an upcoming turn. Then a GIANT arrow will appear and animate you when to turn. You say you have a Garmin 350, does it not do this?
I have a Garmin nuvi 350 and haven't stopped long enough to download the new maps... but I'm pretty satisfied with it overall. Nothing's perfect, but it gets about a 95 out of 100 in my book.
The biggest quirk I've found about it is when I'm going north and have to pass thru Boston, it wants me to exit I93 to take Route 1 which is all red lights and not a highway at all anymore... makes no sense to me!!! lol
I have a Garmin nuvi 350 and haven't stopped long enough to download the new maps... but I'm pretty satisfied with it overall. Nothing's perfect, but it gets about a 95 out of 100 in my book.
The biggest quirk I've found about it is when I'm going north and have to pass thru Boston, it wants me to exit I93 to take Route 1 which is all red lights and not a highway at all anymore... makes no sense to me!!! lol
Hahaha! Yeah, I would recommend trying to get it updated online asap. It will re-configure etc and should help with some of the problems your having.
Are we talking about road travel navigation? Or wilderness? For road travel - Map, road signs...or print out directions from the web before hand.
Lets face it - for interstate highway travel, only an idiot would need a GPS road navigator and I would see them as being totally useless for ROAD navigation in some undeveloped areas. Highways are just too well marked, and dirt/logging/gravel roads would not be updated in the software. Off the interstate, in city travel, I can see how some of those would come in handy - but that would be a benifit for a taxi driver, not a camper.
For wilderness, which for me means somewhat developed trails - USGS topo maps or a local (NF or NP or national forest) trail map and awareness of the trail blazings in use in combination with a simple compass.
Last edited by Dd714; 07-07-2009 at 10:44 AM..
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