Customer Reviews

Garmin nüvi 370 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

5 star:		(143)
4 star:		(71)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

SEE UPDATE BELOW ORIGINAL REVIEW
I have just returned from a trip to Europe (London, Paris, Rome, and Florence) where I used the Nuvi 370 extensively and it worked great. First of all, I put a lot of the places I would be going to in the "Favorites" list before I left. The great thing about Nuvi is that it sorts this list based on distance from wherever you happen to be. So I didn't have to scroll through points for Paris or Rome when I was in England and vice versa. Very useful. I also found that the points of interest had all the sightseeing landmarks that I was going to visit and nearly every restaurant that I had earmarked for meals. I also got the translation guide which came in very useful (especially to explain "tap water" at European restaurants, they really want to sell you bottled water and pretend to not understand what tap water means, but showing them in their own language on Nuvi always got the point across). Now here is a report of actual real world use as a pedestrian in Europe.

Pros - It had every street that I walked on without exception. It knew that I could walk the wrong way on one-way streets as a pedestrian (in pedestrian mode). Usually very fast lock on of satellites. Currency converter very useful. Language guide easy to use and very helpful with menus. Learned a few phrases by imitating the voice on the language guide which led to a lot of goodwill in France and Italy. Used it to show addresses to cab drivers which was always helpful. Tracked the taxi rides and could tell when cabbies were way off route and a little protesting got them back on track. Used it to make easy decisions between walking, metro, or cab by routing a destination and seeing how far the walk would be. Nuvi lets you scroll through the route and is pretty accurate as to how long it will take to walk.

Cons - 1. In pedestrian mode, I almost always started walking the wrong way because Nuvi isn't sure which way it is pointed when you are standing still. This is fixed by walking a few feet until you see if you are going the right way, rarely more than 10 feet. 2. It doesn't automatically reroute in pedestrian mode if you get off the selected route, you need to hit "detour" which sometimes leads to a much longer path. 3. Sometimes satellite signal would get lost in the narrow older streets, especially in Italy. Sometimes the display would suddenly indicate that I was walking the exact opposite way that I had been going due to lost or confused signal. But these are all nits and were easily handled.

Overall - The Nuvi 370 worked exactly the way I was hoping it would. If you live in America and plan travel in Europe, I highly recommend the Nuvi 370 and Language Guide.

UPDATE 2ND TRIP TO EUROPE
I recently spent two weeks in Spain where I used the Nuvi in pedestrian mode and drove throughout Southern and Western Spain. The Nuvi worked perfectly except where maps were somewhat out of date. The scariest words in my life now are "Enter roundabout and take second exit to roundabout". At one point we did three consecutive roundabouts! If you are not used to driving in a foreign country, I highly recommend Nuvi 370. The POI's pointed out gas and food when we needed it, and in both pedestrian and driving mode, it got us through many medieval streets with no problems. I again used the language guide(very useful) and was able to figure out what was what on local menus. I find the estimated arrival times in both pedestrian mode and driving mode to be pretty accurate and helpful in decision making. I even used it on the AVE high speed train between Madrid and Cordoba to see how fast we were going (180+ mph). I have now had this for a couple of years and can't live without it.

One of most useful features is the ability to find metro stations nearby when you are in pedestrian mode. Very helpful in Madrid and Barcelona.

Since this is my first GPS, I really have no way to compare whether this GPS is "better" than others. I can only describe my experiences with it.

I first used the GPS locally (southeastern PA) to test it out since I had an upcoming trip to VT where I planned to really use it. I wanted to make sure I'd know how to use the controls. I used the GPS while taking public transit to see what it would say the best route was. I also used it while walking near my home and Philly to see if it knew small local streets. The GPS performed well (detouring whenever I went in unexpected directions) during these tests. There are settings to change your mode of transport to bike, bus, car/truck, foot, etc. and I used many of these modes. I never encountered any streets that weren't known and this surprised me since these maps are from 2006 and there is tons of construction. Speaking of which, that was one of my complaints: that 2006 maps are included with a late 2007 sold product. I think it should have the maps of the year it is sold in.

Then came my trip to VT which I pre-mapped using Google on the way up thinking I'd see if the GPS agreed with the route I took. I had dragged my Google Map directions so that I could avoid the interstate routes that went through NJ. My route was PA->NY->VT on the way up. The Google map directions got me confused around the NY/VT border with some road names I couldn't find, but the GPS led me the rest of the way to Stowe, VT. I had absolutely no problems; I did not get lost once using the route the Nuvi 370 told me to take, even when I accidentally missed a turn and the route changed. Incidentally, it takes about 10-30 seconds to recalculate routes and I was pleased with that. In fact, the only slow point is when I first turned on the Nuvi and it took as long as 3 minutes to "acquire satellites."

I then used the Nuvi around Stowe and found pretty much everything I punched in, including some not-so-run-of-mill places I wanted to visit. Some of the roads were dirt roads, but they were considered finished (just sort of backwoods, which seemed typical near some of the hiking spots I went to). The Nuvi did fail in finding Mt. Elsmore State Park since it took me to someone's house in the woods. It was definitely not a ranger station or park office. That was it's only failure.

Coming home I allowed the GPS to completely figure my route. I had previously set the GPS for "shortest distance," but once I changed it to "fastest route" it put me back on interstates, which is where I wanted to be after all of those one-lane (in each direction) VT roads. Another small problem I had was the Nuvi's insistence on calling road name changes "turns", which sometimes caused me to wonder whether I missed something. I realized that all I really did was change roads so from then on I ignored the word "turn" if I saw I was not supposed to physically turn. Also, I never used the sound so I was going strictly by looking at the GPS. I prefer listening to music so I figured I might not hear the turns anyway. I used the mileage to each turn to remember to change directions or roads.

If you click the bottom left of the screen (Expected Arrival Time when you're routing), you can get a view of the trip information like fastest and average speeds as well as mileage and total time. Clicking the top where the current routing info is (like the road you are on and the very next upcoming turn) lets you see quite a few more steps in the future, which I also found useful.

All in all, I believe this GPS (which I bought here on Amazon) was well worth the money even though the maps are old-ish, the travel kit and languages come separately, the warm-up time is a little long, and I could not get it to stick to the dash (I placed it in the driver's cup holder instead since the dash of my car is too slanted to reach). I will be using my Nuvi 370 often.

We purchased the Nuvi 370 (our 3rd GPS) for use on an upcoming bicycle tour in Europe. It has full detailed maps of all of North America and Europe pre loaded. It is very intuitive to program and use. The display is bright and very easy to read. Battery life isn't too bad (about 4-5 hours depending upon backlight use. I have built a little battery pack for use during bicycle touring. With a 10 pack of AA batteries,we have 20 hours of operating time. I would give the Nuvi 370 5 stars for navigation and ease of use. It isn't useful for hiking as it doesn't have waypoint or backtrack features. I also (my personal feeling only) awarded 4 stars because it has a lot of features that I don't need ,and would rather not have to pay for. Others may want the Blue Toorh capability, as well as the MP3 and the picture viewing features. We felt these features increased the cost for unwanted features. But, as a navigation device,the 370 is definitely a 5 star. If you wont be going to Europe ,the 350 has most of the same features just not the European detailed maps,and it is less expensive.

I was looking at the 300 series and 600 series Nuvi units for some time. I did a LOT of research before finally making my decision to go with the Nuvi 370. I didn't realize just how hard it would be to find some really good comparisons on these products -- at least the type of comparisons I was looking for.

The unit has worked extremely well for me. There are some things you need to get used to, such as not turning the GPS part of the unit on until you're outside (otherwise it can take some time to re-aquire the satellites) but things like this happen with any unit you purchase -- it's just something you learn about and it's never a problem once you do.

The 370 has taken me to over a hundred locations successfully without a problem. There were a few cases where the unit got me close, but not to the exact location. I don't see this as the fault of the unit, rather it's just the way our address system works in the states. That's why Google maps, Yahoo maps, and MapQuest will often times only get you 'close' to a location. They can only take you to a location according to how it has been inputed by someone else (such as the government, or whomever is inputting the data). But, often times 'close enough' is exactly that -- when it gets me to a location I simply look around with my own eyes and can usually spot the exact address I need, or the sign of the company I was looking for, etc.

The one area where the unit gave me the most problems was in the downtown Dallas, Texas area. Near W Hotel (which is not listed in the Nuvi) and the American Airlines Center (where the Mavericks play). The Nuvi didn't list the W Hotel, but that's probably because the W is brand new and map updates haven't been uploaded. Shoot -- W doesn't even appear on Google Maps, so I can't blame the Nuvi all that much. Also, the Nuvi kept referring to streets incorrectly. I found out later that the wonderful Dallas city engineers decided to change the names of all the roads in that area because of all the new construction (and because of marketing dollars by big corporations to get them to rename everything). I learned very quickly to TRUST the directions the Nuvi was giving me, but to be aware that the street names in that area were all screwed up. Once I learned what the problem was everything went smooth. I've only experienced that issue in Dallas, though.

So... why didn't I get the Nuvi 350? or a bigger 600 series? Multiple reasons. The 370 comes preloaded with all the European Maps, and since I travel to the UK often it was a good thing for me. Purchasing the European Maps after the fact would have cost me $180.00 extra -- so you can see where the 370 is already coming close to the price of the 350. Not only that, but the 370 included a lot of extras -- such as the FM traffic antenna. If you use this service this will represent a great deal, as this antenna would have cost me another $130.00, or more, to purchase separately.

The unit has a lot of built-in storage (for MP3s, photos, additional maps, etc.) but the best thing is the SD card reader. I purchased a 2GB SD card from Best Buy for about $20.00 and filled it with enough music to last for a complete road trip across the United States. I put the SD card from my digital camera into the Nuvi and it recognized all my photos automatically and was willing to play them all one at a time, in thumbnail view, or as a slide show. I had about a thousand photos, so I found the unit a bit on the slow side (my camera is faster) so I'll probably only load my favorite photos to the Nuvi to show off to friends. The Nuvi also recognized all the MP3s that I placed on the SD card automatically, so that was a great plug-and-play experience.

The speakers on the Nuvis aren't as good as on the 300 and 500 StreetPilot series, but then again the StreetPilot series are very big units -- so it's a tradeoff. I'd rather have a Nuvi that I can slip in my pocket than a StreetPilot that I have to carry around in a bag... even if the speakers on the StreetPilot are superior.

The screen is big, bright, responsive... the tools are easy to find, and the extras are really useable (at least for me). I synced my BlackBerry up to the Nuvi using Bluetooth and it synced up (paired up) without a hitch. Now, when I get a call my Nuvi notifies me, pauses my music automatically, and allows me to press one giant on-screen button to talk with someone. If someone else calls while I'm on the phone it also allows me to place the first caller on hold, or just ignore the second caller. Truth be told, people could actually hear me better on the Nuvi than they could on my BlackBerry. Odd. But that's cool with me. I could also hear them better through the Nuvi than I could at times on my BlackBerry... so that's a huge plus for me.

Oh... one other thing. My BlackBerry is not listed as a phone that works with the Nuvi... but it did. I guess they just haven't tested my phone out, since it's older, so they didn't list it as a working model.

The Nuvi 600 series are great units... and they have larger (wider) screens. I almost got one of them, but I figured the 370's screen was plenty big... and if I had purchased a 670, for example, it might have been too large to fit in a pocket (you even have to have big pockets if you want to 'pocket' the 370). So, the extra expense for the 600 model just for a wider screen didn't appeal to me. The MSN features of the 680 model seemed cool, but I've heard that they're not always up-to-the-hour accurate (such as gas station prices, or weather conditions) and you have to pay an extra fee to use that feature, so I thought I'd pass on that.

I couldn't be happier with my 370. And for all the extras that came with it (such as European Maps and the traffic antenna) it was cheaper than the 350 (assuming I'd eventually buy those items after the fact).

Great unit.

This unit is quite light, is not much thicker than a palm, and has nice features like remembering favorite locations, being able to enter the actual coordinates instead of an address, having blue tooth to connect to some phones, and playing mp3s. The 370 has Europe and North America maps but is not otherwise different physically than the 360 that I could tell.
I purchased a new Nuvi 370 less than one week ago from Amazon and was astounded that Garmin is listing a more current map, City Navigator North America NT, than what came on it last week and Garmin seemed to want $70 for the update.

I initially complained in this review however Garmin came through:

"Thank you for contacting Garmin International,

Thank you for sending all the requested information. I have placed the order for the map update, once they start shipping you will receive the update at no charge."

I love this thing - best gadget ever!!! I took it with me on a trip out to LA and it made navigating scary LA traffic and freeways a breeze! I couldn't believe how comfortable I was running around the city by myself in my little rental car, with the assistance of my GPS (who I named Mick after the male Australian accent voice I chose to boss me around as I drive) - and this was my first time in LA, well, outside the airport anyway. It made it easy to do everything, from finding parking or restaurants (listed by genre). And the text-to-speech function (which most GPS systems in the same price range don't seem to have right now) is very reassuring - I think if it hadn't told me the street names, I wouldn't have felt as confident making each turn. Plus it's fun when you enter and save a friend's address under their name to hear the GPS tell you "Now arriving at Alex L on Right". It allowed me to be much more spontaneous - if I'd been relying on MapQuest, or something similar for directions, I would have been stuck in traffic many times, whereas with my GPS assistant, I could just hit detour, or just leave the freeway (inevitably where I hit traffic) and it would say "recalculating" and find me another way to get there. I have not been disappointed by anything with this gadget so far - it's far exceeded my expectations. Fabulous little toy. Can't wait to try it out in Europe.

There are 3 fatal flows with this product: (1) announcing too late and (2) giving confusing directions at complicated lane guidence situation and (3) taking too long to find satellite initially. I have been testing this product for a month in San Francisco and the Bay area.

(1) announcing too late

When your car is about to pass the intersection at which it is supposed to make a turn, then and only then it announces you to prepare for a turn. I missed so many turns because of the late announcements. It is also incredbly dangerous as you are tempted to attempt last-moment lane changes in order to make the turn. Also the distance to the turn is not that accurate -- when you are almost already at the intersection it shows you are 200 meters away (I changed the measurement setup to meters). SUGGESTION: Certain navigations have a bar-graph showing countdowns to the intersection, and perhaps that's what this navigation must have as well. Also certain navigations ask you to prepare well ahead. Make a customizable setting how long before to make the pre-announcement.

(2) giving confusing directions at complicated lane guidence situation

Time and time again, I missed the right exit on the highway. The map is absolutely no help. The multiple lanes look all overlapped!!! Red lines are cofusing as hell. Annoucement is in this fashion: "Keep to right and then keep to left." What is that supposed to mean and which lane are you supposed to be in? In a fast highway situation, this is incredibly dangerous. I almost got into accidents at many interchanges as I was trying to look both the road signs and my navigation and could not make any sense. SUGGESTION: the map needs major improvement on interchanges -- show us the way!!! Also get rid of "keep to right and then keep to left" style BS for a clearer direction.

(3) taking too long to find satellite initially

If you park your car outside, that would be fine but if you park it in a garage, woe to you. It will take at least 20 blocks to find the satellite and you will be either parking your car on the roadside waiting for godot or meandering down the street without knowing where you are going for very very long time. This is not acceptable. I used other product (magellan) before, and it found the satellite so much quicker. SUGGESTION: technological improvement or better processor.

[ADDED TO THIS AFTER I BOUGHT TOMTOM GO930 AND TESTING IT FOR A WEEK]

After my much frustration with Garmin NUVI 370, I purchased a Tomtom GO930 from local Best Buy. (The price of TomTom 930 at Best Buy was the same as the price at Amazon at USD 450, although I had to pay the tax.)

Wow, what a difference. That's all I can say. TomTom 930 is a bit more expensive than the street price of Garmin NUVI 370, but is so much better that the price difference is immaterial.

(1) prepare... prepare...

TomTom announces well before each turn and actually tells you on which side of the lane you should be in for the next turn. Incredibly friendly announcements. The arrow direction on the map display shows whether you should be making left or right turn as well. I never missed a single turn thanks to the ample announcements.

(2) guiding complicated lane situation with ease

the roads never appear overlapped like the NUVI 370. If there are five diverging roads, all are clearly shown, with the clear indication where you are and where you should go. Mind you, I haven't seen that many Advanced Lane Guidance screen yet as TomTom advertised (I hear that they don't have this on every intersection yet) but even without this, lane guidance is incredibly clear and easy (they show both on the map and on the status bar with muted arrows and one clear arrow). What a refreshing change from Garmin NUVI 370. The voice direction is a lot more clear and easier to understand as well -- it is as if somebody is actually speaking fine English to me. I never missed the right exit.

(3) lightening fast in finding satellites

It actually finds satellites when I am in my room with 4-5 bars. Need I say more?

(4) extras... extras...

TomTom has voice address input feature that is very useful. There are many situations that you hate to put in long characters (In California there are so many cities starting with San...). Simply pronounce it and the machine finds it for you, including the streets. I find this to be working well about 95% of the time. Also it gives you a few choices so that what you pronounced is almost always among the choices. SUGGESTION: This voice feature is not available for Place Name under Point of Interst (available only for the actual address).

Point of Interest feature in TomTom is incredibly extensive. I tested many restaurants listed in Zagat survey and found out that almost all (even obscure ones under "Best Value") restaurants have been registered in TomTom by names and phone numbers. I did not find that to be the case with Garmin NUVI 370 (I actually had to type in the exact address under my favorites). This makes inputing job so much easier. I typed in "Marshalls" under Point of Interest in Sunnyvale, and TomTom returned 7 results, some of them are as far away as San Jose, Mipitas, etc. Again, not so with Garmin.

Downloading updates and changes through computer seems painless and efficient as well. Works perfectly and took about 3 minutes to get the latest updates. Again, Garmin NUVI 370 does not have this feature. I don't know how actually useful the updates would be, but it is assuring that I am using the latest whatever.

Time estimation in TomTom is so much more accurate than Garmin. I found Garmin to be always a bit on the optimistic side (ie I never actually arrived as Garmin estimated especially in a city traffic). I don't know if it is because of the IQ Routes feature of TomTom but the timing estimate seems to be right on and there is little need for any traffic subscription service.

CONCLUSION: I will be updating this review to find any shortcoming of TomTom 930 (and I am sure there will be many) but so far it seems that TomTom is a very clear winner and fully justifies the extra USD 100. If you are looking for a navigation that includes both American and European maps, I guess your choices will be cleary limited: you would have to go for either the Garmin NUVI 370 or the TomTom GO 930, and my recommendation would be the latter -- not for the extra features but mainly for the basic abilities that I listed earlier in this review.

ADDED Later: I have been using TomTom for some time now, and again the fundamental qualities are excellent. In addition to reliable guidance, I find the voice address input feature truly useful and accurate. I use it all the time.

Another incredibly useful feature is the initial preview of the whole route (Garmin Nuvi 370 does not do this). When I used Garmin 370, I did not even know highway 280 existed since it almost always guided me through 101! However, with TomTom 930, at the outset I have the chance to view the entire route, pick and choose any alternative routes from it. This is just so convenient. 280 may be a tad bit longer route, but it has much less traffic than 101, with much better road conditions and scenic views, and just whole a lot better than 101 -- I can't believe Garmin simply never showed it to me!

However, here are a few suggestions to make TomTom better: (1) "Clear Address" is not immediate. If you want to clear the previous address input, you have to touch the screen a few times. This is not convenient. There must be an instant way to clear address. (2) Occasionally (bur very rarely) it misses U-turns. (3) When you turn off the ignition, it does not automatically turn off (unlike Garmin). You must push the button on top. This is not very convenient.

We are flying home tomorrow. We just completed 12 days in Normandy, driving all over the place and in our car just about every day. I suppose this product isn't perfect, but my wife and I will tell you that going on a car trip in Europe without one of these babies is just totally retro and you'd have to be a complete fool to not take one. It took us down a lot of little country roads we would have never had the nerve to go down. What a great security blanket! I've driven all over Europe and this is the first time I've enjoyed it at this level. $475 is chump change for what you get. Not to mention the use we'll have for this in the U.S. GREAT product.. (No... I'm not a Garmin employee. This gadget isn't perfect. Forinstanct, the documentation is pretty sketchy. But who cares, it's so intuitive to use).

Bought the 370 in April prior to a trip south to visit friends.We went for the 370 for use on our frequent trips to Uk and Europe. We have not used it there yet but if the USA performance is typical it will be fine.It is a great system; easy to use [manual not great] and never failed to get me where we wanted to go.Eliminated the MRS. getting abuse when she didn't read the map quickly enough.We challenged it by visiting friends in some very rural areas but it never failed. Display bright,and large enough. Sound is a little distorted.Being able to find local restaurants and gas stations also was an unexpected pleasure.Would strongly recommend it.
Have not used the blue tooth option. Tried the traffic alert AND NEVER GOT A MESSAGE.On return trip Washington D.C I 95 backed up for hours but no traffic alert which was disappointing. Will not renew that option when 6 Months trial runs out.
I had not used another system but used my fathers when with him in Fla.It was a Sears unit and poor in comparison in numerous areas.Also much simpler then my sons BMW built in in the Uk and a friends built in Mercedes system.
JIM

Always got me to my destination. It knows major and somewhat major roads very well. For local roads its 90% correct. Its not that it can't get you where you are going, its just that sometimes it takes awkward turns. Sometimes, however, this proves to be an advantage as you can often find new routes that you never thought of. A few times the directions have been dead wrong. For example the Garmin tried to send me down a 1-way street--the wrong way. You can always temporarily ignore those less then optimal directions and the Garmin will always recalculate new directions automatically.

I'm not convinced the attachable FM Traffic receiver is worth the extra money--it's free for, I think 2 months. After that, there is a monthly fee. Traffic information reception is not available everywhere (especially outside of major cities) plus it did not seem to not attempt to route me around traffic anyway.

I was worried about the size of the LCD screen, there being a larger, more expensive model out. I'm glad I got this size because: A. As a map, the Garmin is very awkward. You LISTEN to the directions, not look at the map B: A bigger unit takes up more space on my windshield and pocket.

All in all a great piece of technology.