The Garmin Nuvi 350 is a small pocket size and lightweight GPS navigator. It can be easily used held in the palm of the hand, and is designed to easily fit in your pocket as well. The display is of high quality resolution, making it easy for you to understand maps and directions displayed on it. This GPS navigator also allows you the opportunity to store a great deal of information of previously navigated sites in its memory card, which has high storage capacity. The battery time is 8 hours for this GPS navigator and it comes with an energy adaptor for charging it in the vehicles.

The previous model for this GPS device was Garmin Nuvi 250 GPS Navigator System which had the same theme functions but was not as loaded as this GSP 350. The battery life was less and the GPS 250 had fewer features. The advantage of owning the Garmin Nuvi 250 GPS Navigator System is the modest price tag. Though the 250 GPS navigator lacked in some of the features but for basic navigation purposes it served very well and proved to be the great technology success. “

Technology has made life much easier and these GPS navigators have proved the statement true.  Best of all, Garmin is known for making high quality products available at a low price.

This is a good all around unit suitable for many purposes. Small enough to fit in a shirt pocket and waterproof so it can go almost anywhere. Power it up and it usually has a fix in less that a minute and has always been strong at keeping a reliable signal. Accuracy is also a strong point, it is common to be able to return to a preset position within a 10 to 15 foot range.

While this unit may be ideal for use in the marine invironment it is quite handy on the hiking trail as well. Garmin claims the unit floats and is waterproof and we can verify both to be true. It comes with a basic marine datadase but does not include street mapping. Other included features are 500 waypoint storage, 10 track storage, trip computer, 50 route storage, Tides, Sun and Moon phase.

All in all great performance at a low price in a neat package and this one is a hit.

Assuming you are using it on your laptop your are able to look at a map which is huge compared to in dash or those little on dash portable models. My laptop has a 15.5 inch screen so its easy to see the map at a glance. It includes voice directions, landmarks, and many of the standard feature found on most GPS receivers today. The accuracy of the estimated position is excellent. Most of us who travel seem to have laptops so you hop in the rental car, fire up the laptop and your navigation system is ready.

The not so good; the navigation of the menu seems awkward to us. Even after quite a bit of use we still find ourselves fumbling with it a bit. The top navigation bar is filled with icons that are not intuitive but you do get what you’re after. It just seems t take a little longer than we think it should. The other drawback is that it is only as portable as carrying a laptop would be. A portable GPS by contrast, could fit in your pocket or carried with a wriststrap.

All in all this is a great product for a very low cost.

Features; Unit Size (W x H x D) – 2.1 x 2.7 x .7 inches, Screen Size (W x H) – 1.3 x .8 inches, Weight – 2.7 oz. Battery type – Rechargeable Lithium- Ion, Battery Life – approx. 10 hours, Water resistant, Waypoint memory – Yes, 100, Routes feature – Yes, 50 max, Warranty – One year

My experience with the Garmin 205 has been very good. To begin, the unit is quick to lock on to the satellites and begin tracking. If you turn it on and head outside for a run it should be up and running long before you finish your basic stretching. We have found that it will lock into enough satellites to function indoors if there are windows in close proximity. Outdoors the signal acquisition and ability to remain locked into a signal is very good. Accuracy was also very good; the unit can detect small movements of just a couple of feet. When the elapsed distance was checked against a known measured mile the accuracy was within about 15 feet, much better than most of us would ever need.

Most people should be quite satisfied with this unit provided that a heart rate monitor is not desired. If the heart rate monitor is desired and we think it should be, for any serious training the Garmin forerunner 305 would be a better choice. Having said that, we have seen prices discounted well below $200 for the 205, making it a great option for a GPS tracking watch.

To provide accuracy the receiver has to receive signals from a minimum of 3 satellites. In order to provide data like speed, direction, distance traveled, etc. the receiver repeats the position calculation on a continual basis and thus updates the position and other data. The signal transmitted includes the satellites ID, the satellites position at any given time and the date and time.

Accuracy of the receivers has improved with technology advances to an average of about 15 meters. In real practice it is common to see accuracy within a meter or two, at least at times. 

The end result is accuracy and functionality of GPS receivers to the point we all can rely upon. As a result we now see and enjoy GPS watches, auto and boat GPS navigation systems, GPS cell phones.