Customer Reviews

Garmin nüvi 1350LMT 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates

5 star:		(944)
4 star:		(621)
3 star:		(193)
2 star:		(170)
1 star:		(259)

 

 

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.

I have this unit for 10 days now and overall I am very happy with it. For its mainstream feature, navigation, it is excellent. I had a Garmin 350 before this which I loved but it was stolen from my car. I had a Magellan after that which was crap. The price on this unit was great ($247 - Amazon).

I chose it over the 1390T because I opted to not get bluetooth. It is the only difference between the units. I felt the bluetooth quality would be poor based on other reviews of bluetooth in general on GPS units. The main reason was in the way most people use bluetooth. In a typical day I am in and out of my car often. I always need my bluetooth immediately in case I get a call. I don't always need my GPS. And since my previous unit was stolen, and theft of these units is a big problem everywhere, I keep the unit hidden or sometimes remove it from the car. So if you are like me but you get this unit for bluetooth, you will need to stop and mount your gps everytime you get in the car whether you need it or not, just to have blue tooth capability. If you forget and the cell phone rings, you have no bluetooth. So I purchased a separate bluetooth speaker phone from Jabra (very good unit# which is always attached to my visor, pretty good quality, and always there when I need it. I saved about $75 by opting for the 1350T over the 1390T.

A few minor disappointments. The Lane Assist feature works great but is not available everywhere. I used it around NYC and it was helpful. I drove through Pennsylvania and upstate NY and it was not available. Marketing material hypes this feature but they neglect to tell you this one point. But when it is available, it is a great feature. That brings me to traffic. Same story here. I was driving through PA and hit a 1 hour traffic jam. No warnings from the traffic feature because it was not available in that area. When I got to the Scranton, PA area the traffic alerts started working. It alerted me of a major traffic jam ahead and it even rerouted my trip automatically. The reroute would have been a significant addition in miles but would be worth it to avoid the traffic, right? I decided to ignore the re-route just to test the unit to see if the alert was accurate and I was willing to endure the traffic. As I drove my original route, no traffic anywhere. So had I listened to the traffic alert, I would have driven 50 miles out of my way for nothing. Bottom line is, don't let the traffic feature be a deal breaker for the unit you choose. But then again, I got the 1350T for about the same price as the 1350 #same unit without traffic). Updating the map was more difficult than it should have been. I consider myself a very technical person with computers and gadgets but the map update did not go smoothly and took me several tries. I could see where many people will have difficulty with this if they attempt to update the map.

After using my friend's Nuvi in Scotland last year I said I have to have one of these! It worked great and saved us many lost hours while effortlessly assisting us through hundreds of poorly signed round-abouts. He had a basic but very reliable Nuvi without many features other than direction finding, which is the main idea. I wanted a reliable Nuvi but with a few of the more interesting features. After reading reviews I eliminated the 700 & 800 series because of all the reported freezes. I eliminated any with bluetooth functions for the same reason. After a lot of reviewing I went with the 1350T. I wanted lane assist and I wanted cityXplorer mapping because we go overseas a lot and I wanted to have enhanced pedestrian capabilities. I live in a rural town so free traffic alerts wasn't too important but I do spend time in Phoenix, San Diego and LA occasionally so it was a plus.

I ordered the unit just prior to a trip from Phoenix to Sacramento. I'm a manual reader so I printed a copy of the instructions from the Garmin web site and read them thoroughly before messing with the unit (the quick start instructions included with the unit are worthless). Before doing anything else I bought a USB cable so that I could connect to my computer. Everyone should have the cable and it's ridiculous that Garmin doesn't provide the cable with the unit because you need it to register and get current software. Once I had the cable I connected to Garmin's web site and registered the unit and updated the maps and firmware. It's a little tricky but not too difficult...and I'm not very technical. I also purchased and downloaded radar detection software because Phoenix, Tucson and much of Arizona is loaded with scum-sucking radar detectors. I also did the screen calibration on page 47 of the manual because several reviews indicated that it made the touch screen interface much more reliable. I wanted to take some out-of-the-way highways on my trip so I programmed in some "via points" to use along the way. These are points that allow you to divert to another location or highway while keeping the same ultimate destination programmed. The night before the trip I was playing with the unit checking out the "browse map" function. It seemed to be a worthless function and it wasn't responsive with the screen being too small to be useful anyway. Just as I was about to get out of the browse mode the screen went dark. The unit was fully charged but I could not turn it back on again. I tried with the car plug adaptor, the USB cable, the on/off button...everything. The next morning before my trip it still wouldn't start. I sent the unit back and requested a replacement. After getting the replacement I went through the same processes again as outlined above except that I won't use the "browse map" function again. I took the unit on a trip from No. Arizona to Orange County then San Diego and back again. For the most part the unit worked very well. It did freeze once and the screen went dark again when I was programming in a location. I waited about 10 minutes and to my great relief it did restart but I was about to toss it out the window if it didn't restart. One time in a very complicated freeway interchange in San Diego it lost position and started "recalculating". If I had not known where I was going I could have easily taken the wrong offramp.

While traveling through Riverside, CA the Garmin indicated that there was some traffic ahead. I touched the screen to see the traffic map and the screen indicated the length and time of the potential delay. It was a short delay so I continued on and it turned out to be very accurate. I was impressed but another time in San Diego it indicated a short delay and there was no delay at all. So, just be aware that it's only as good as the information it receives from the reporting station.

For fun I also wanted to load some thumbnail pictures for my home and family destination "favorites". I could find no directions on how to do this, even in the full manual printout so I called Garmin. It's easy to do. Just connect your Nuvi to your computer, double click the Garmin icon and open the Garmin folder. There is a jpeg folder in the Garmin folder. Drag your jpeg photo and drop into the jpeg folder. Then eject and disconnect your Garmin. To add the picture to a "favorite" select "favorite"; "press for more"; press "edit"; "change photo"; select a photo and you're done.

I noticed that when going to a location and returning the directions to and from are not always the same. It sometimes sends you slightly out of the way either coming or going. I think that's because it seems to have a penchant for giving you right turns instead of left turns when starting out from a location. For instance, when departing from a shopping center it might have you make a right turn leaving the center, rather than making a left turn, even if it's slightly out of the way. It's not a big deal but I find that curious.

I know a lot of people don't want to read the long manual but in my opinion it will save you a lot of early aggravation and will help you use all of the nice features this unit has. I have also found that if you take your time and don't start pushing functions before the unit has made a calculation or transitioned to another screen the unit is more reliable.

Pros:
1. Volume works great. I'm hard of hearing and 70% is plenty loud.
2. Satellite response time is quick and recalculating time is generally very responsive
3. Lane assist is a great feature especially on major thoroughfares and freeways.
4. Speaks street names clearly and is surprisingly close on correct pronunciation. (Spanish street names can be fun though). Male & Female voice available.
5. Shows posted speed limit and actual driving speed which is a great feature.
6. Turn list viewing is a nice feature especially in unfamiliar areas with a lot of turns ahead.
7. I like the time or distance to destination feature. The time estimates to a destination have been quite accurate. It's a nice feature especially on long legs.

Cons:
1. No USB cable included
2. No manual (you must print from web site and it's over 60 pages).
3. May lose power and not restart for some time (or not at all as with my 1st unit). This is the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.
4. Even though I made the screen calibration, when typing in addresses some of letters don't response as easily as they should.
5. Browse Map feature glitchy and worthless.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the Garmin nuvi 1350 but I do have a couple of minor complaints.

First of all, I do recommend that owners/potential buyers visit the Garmin web site to read through all of the product information and to review the FAQs. Some folks have made an issue of Garmin not including the USB cable with the device but this did not matter to me. The required cable is a standard type "A" to mini "B" USB cable. Many other devices use this same cable and I already own a couple of them. (I also heard that if you contact Garmin customer service, they may send you a cable at no charge.) Other reasons to visit the Garmin site: to register the product, to download the full PDF manual and to install the "my Garmin Agent Plugin" for web updates.

Next, my quibbles:
When the 1350 is plugged into a charging device (PC or vehicle), there is no way to determine when the unit is fully charged. This is very inconvenient. To view the charge level, you have to unplug the device and turn it on. Only then can you see the battery level. According to the Garmin FAQs, charge time is about 4 hours using the vehicle cable and 8 hours using the PC cable.
One of the features of the 1350 is the speed limit display. However, I find this to be of limited value. The speed display is frequently 5 to 10 mph too high compared with the actual posted speeds on the roads being traveled. As a result, this throws off the estimated destination arrival time.

Finally, why I am impressed:
When driving with the 1350, I never had any doubt where I was at any given time and I never had any doubt what my next maneuver would be (and isn't this the bottom line of any GPS?). The voice commands have plenty of volume, are easy to understand and they also give you adequate lead time for upcoming turns. The commands will also repeat but the voice is not annoying. Several times, I deliberately missed a turn to test how the 1350 would respond. It quickly calculated a revised route based on my current location.
I also found the screen to be clear and easy to see while driving (in bright sun, shade and at night).
The full manual states that a PDA type stylus can be used for the touch screen. I found this to be convenient (I'm actually using a stylus from a Nintendo DS.) While you can certainly use your finger on the screen, this will leave fingerprints and smudges on the screen.

Other notes:
I have the 1350 sitting on my dash with the Garmin "Portable Friction Mount" - highly recommended.
My 1350 came with a free case - the Caselogic MGPS-2. This case adequately protects the 1350 when it's not being used.

Overall, this has been a great purchase for my business travels and I would rate the unit as four and a half stars.

I just got this item, and am glad I didn't get any additional stands or charging cables. On the site, there is no information about what it comes with. Just thought I'd inform everyone that it comes with the suction cup mount, usb cable, and car charger. I was actually considering buying these things, but decided to wait until I got the box.
Turns out, I saved over $25 by waiting. :)
Thought someone might like this info.

Let me be perfectly clear...I really like my new Garmin 1350T GPS.

The only difficulty I had after taking it out of the box and charging it for the first time was a problem in having the GPS "easily "recognize" exactly what available screen (option/letter/number, etc.) that I was "pointing" to on the touchscreen. I thought I had a defective unit so I contacted Garmin's free Tech Support. The technician took me through an easy, yet undocumented (to me at least) calibration procedure that only took a minute or so. Since then the unit has performed as advertised.

Also...You NEED to have a cable with a standard USB connection on one end & a Mini-USB connection on the other end. Garmin DOES NOT automatically include this cable in the box along with the 1350T. Without this cable, you can't connect this GPS to your computer in order to register it online or receive your free updated (if available) mapping or operational software.

Be advised also that not ALL USB/Mini-USB cables are alike. These cables may all LOOK the same but there really are TWO different types. One will only let electric current through in order to charge your internal GPS battery, while the other will not only charge the battery, BUT WILL ALSO carry data back and forth between your computer and the 1350T. Be sure to obtain the kind of cable that can perform BOTH functions.

I've had a Garmin for several years now, just the no bells and whistles model. It has been a life saver and I love the product. I just ordered the 1350LMT in lieu of paying for updated maps and because the car plug in quit working properly and the unit kept shutting off while trying to reach my destination. So far the 1350 model proves to do be a very reliable product. I haven't used the traffic feature yet, but I have read that it isn't that great, perhaps after use I will post again. The touchscreen works great, the sound is good and I was happy with it's overall performance. Here's a huge warning!!! Make sure you read the instructions with your unit and follow them. DO NOT REGISTER OVER THE PHONE!!!! There is a note that if you Register over the phone and/or if you DO NOT Register within 60 days of your first use, then you will lose your lifetime map updates!!!!! I personally thought that was sneaky and underhanded, if I wasn't so anal as to read the instruction booklet I could've screwed myself out of the lifetime map feature and that was one element that was very important to me since I use the Garmin for my job every day. I love the fact that this unit speaks the street names, it's a very helpful feature.

12/10/2010 Addendum: Alert - I bought a second nuvi 1390LMT and that one started giving me pop-up warnings after it turned on. Two different pop-ups were observed. 1. "This accessory is not supported" 2. "XM is not supported." Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the USB power plug and USB plug receptacle on the nuvi were severely corroded. They had come that way from the factory and I had not noticed the defect during installation. I called Garmin and they advised me to return the device to Amazon for replacement, which I have done. Got to love Amazon for their excellent return policy. Also have to question Garmin quality control to let something like this slip through. I have posted an image of the corroded plug and receptacle in the customer images area. Now back to my original review.....

In a nutshell, the 1390LMT performed reasonably well. It has features that I will never use or will use infrequently at best, like Bluetooth and EcoRoute. The "Where am I?" feature is very useful. The initial satellite acquisition took a couple minutes which is normal. Subsequent satellite acquisition was pretty quick after the initial acquisition. I like that I will never have to pay for another map update. For the rest of the story, read on...

I bought the 1390LMT as an upgrade to my aging StreetPilot c340 Garmin StreetPilot c340 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator. I actually have no issues with my c340... it is a solid, basic GPS that usually gets me where I want to go. I say usually because the maps are now 3 years old and it sometimes doesn't know about new streets and such. Plus, as most GPS's will occasionally do, you sometimes get directed to non-existent locations. Someday I'll tell you the story of being guided to Home Depot only to find that I had "arrived" but all I saw was a big open field with a bunch of mooing cows but no Home Depot. Another time I was told to turn left into a parking lot and once that happened I was stuck in an endless loop of mis-direction by the Garmin. Most hardened GPS users will have similar tales... being told to turn left when the display indicates a right turn and things of this nature.

In any case, I was not willing to pay the high price for a map upgrade for my old and comparatively large & clunky c340 so I began to search for a replacement. I looked at and read a mind-numbing number of reviews for Magellan, TomTom and Garmin GPS's. Since I had had relatively good luck with my Garmin c340 (I'll tell you about my misadventure with the nuvi 1300 later on in this review) I took a look at the bewildering product mix of GPS's that Garmin produces. Each series of Garmin GPS has between 2 to 8 variations. For instance the 1300 series includes the nuvi 1300, 1300LM, 1350, 1350T, 1350LMT, 1370T, 1390T and 1390LMT. That's a lot of choices and that is just for the 1300 series. You've also got the 205 series, 500 series, 705 series, 1200 series, 1400 series, 1600 series, 2200 series, 2300 series, 3700 series representing about 45 differing GPS devices.

Let me help you if you are as lost as I was... the "T" stands for Traffic. "L" stands for Lifetime. "M" stands for Maps, "W" stands for Widescreen and so forth. So a 1300T gives you lifetime Traffic updates whereas a 1350LMT will give you lifetime maps -and- traffic updates. And within each model you will get varying amounts of other features like Bluetooth, the speaking of street names, photo navigation, MP3 player, 3D terrain view and such. Then you've got 2.8" displays, 4.3" displays and 5" displays. You will also have to decide what maps you want included with your GPS... do you want or need Canada and Mexico? If so, make sure the model you choose has those installed by default. Or you could add them later I think by purchasing the map you need but of course that will entail spending more money. It can literally take years off your life trying to decipher all this and decide on a GPS that is most appropriate for you.

My take on this is to get the most basic GPS you can deal with. 4.3" screen is probably the best size for most people and cars. Truckers may want the 5" screen. Traffic updates don't work in rural areas and many small cities. Even in big cities, traffic updates are of dubious value (many people complain about this feature.) Do you really need an mp3 player in your GPS? Probably not. Do you really care about "EcoRoute"? Probably not. "Lane Assist" sounds really helpful, and it is when and where it works, but it doesn't work everywhere so it's not as helpful as it sounds.

It's not easy picking a GPS. But I chose the 1390LMT contrary to my advice to you. It has a lot of feature bloat. Many of the features I will not use and quite honestly, all -I- really want a GPS to do is get me to my destination as accurately as possible.

As it happens, I have both my c340 and the 1390LMT installed in my car so I can evaluate their performance simultaneously, side by side. It's quite strange because sometimes they are both talking and saying exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. Other times, like announcing upcoming turns, the 1390LMT will speak up first... sometimes by just a couple seconds, other times it announces the next turn as the last thing it says after announcing a previous turn... for instance it will say "Turn left on Main Street then turn right in 1 miles." Whereas the c340 will say "Turn left on Main street" and after a while it will say "Turn right in point-three miles." I can't figure it out but usually the 1390LMT gives more detailed instructions and generally does so with a bit more advance notice, which is greatly appreciated, especially at highway speeds.

I did notice that the screen icons and menus have changed somewhat between the c340 and the 1390LMT. Similar in many ways but just different enough that if you are familiar with the old layout, the new layout will frustrate you a bit until you un-learn the old way of navigating the menus/screens. One thing that really frustrates me is that "Spell Name" for a location requires an additional screen touch. With the c340 I'd just have to touch "Where To?" and then "Name Search" but with the 1390LMT I have to touch "Where To?", then "Points of Interest" -then- "Spell Name." One extra button push may not seem like a lot, but it is if you are not used to it.

I briefly owned a nuvi 1300 about a year ago and due to terrible touchscreen responsiveness, I returned it. I'm very happy to report that that is no longer an issue with the newer devices. Apparently a firmware/software update a few months ago addressed that and other issues. The touchscreen on the 1390LMT is quite responsive and accurate.

The volume and sound quality of the 1390LMT is decent enough although the c340 had a fuller sound whereas the 1390LMT has a scratchier, more treble sound. I did not notice any distortion that some people have reported at 100% volume.

Screen brightness is good and the screen can be seen pretty well even in bright light although it does wash out a little. The screen also does a pretty good job in the glare department, reducing it to a manageable level.

What I like the most is the "Where am I?" feature. When you click that button on-screen, it shows you your exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and fuel stations. You can also then save that locations as a favorite. Very handy.

What I like the least is when you arrive at your destination, the nuvi does not always say what side of the street it is on. As a comparison my c340 would say, "Arriving at Home, on left."

The Bluetooth works but it's not the best quality sound. I prefer my Plantronics bluetooth headset Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth Headset [Retail Packaging]. But in a pinch (like when my headset battery dies) this will work. I had no issues pairing my phone to the nuvi.

If you are looking for your first time GPS, this -might- be a good choice, but you could save money by getting the more basic 1300LM which gives you the lifetime maps updates and dispenses with many of the non-essential "features." On the other hand, if you liVe in a large metropolitan area and you think the Traffic feature would be beneficial, then get one of the models that have that features.

I could probably write a lot more but I've probably bored you enough by now. I like the 1390LMT overall but don't and won't use many of the features so I should have opted for the 1300LM which would have provided me the main function of getting me where I need to go and lifetime maps which is important and will save me lots of money in the long run.

Inexplicably, the nuvi 1390LMT sometimes routes me crazily. For instance I was .1 mile from an expressway that would have taken me to my destination the fastest, but the GPS routed me on local roads... the same distance but would have taken much longer. I made sure that the settings were for "Fastest" not "Shortest" so I can't explain this bizarre behavior. It happens frequently so I just go how I know to go and the Garmin will then "recalculate" the route and the second time is usually the right route (or the route that I think is the best.)

I'd recommend getting the Garmin Portable Friction Mount as it will make hiding your GPS much easier when you are in parking garages and other places where GPS theft is a likelihood. The suction-mount rarely works well in the long-run. My c340 was always falling off the windshield because the suction would be lost, particularly in super hot, or very cold weather.

Finally, in order to install the newest maps, you -will- have to delete unneeded voices from the device to make room for the maps. With memory price as cheap as it is, it's totally baffling why Garmin doesn't include enough memory with enough overhead to handle a map update. Why should less tech-savvy people have to deal with hooking up the device to a PC, navigating to the proper directory location and then carefully deleting the correct files in order to make room for a map update? It's ridiculous in my opinion. Nevertheless, it is what it is so if you attempt to update your maps, be forewarned that you will need to make room for them by deleting some voices that you will never use anyway.

Happy trekking.

UPDATE: 11/12/2010 - I can't believe I forgot to include this on my original review, but the length of time it took to download and install the map update from Garmin was absurd. Ittook over an 1.5 hours. I had read other people saying that the map update took this long but I just assumed they had a crappy/slow internet connection or just didn't know what they were doing. Well, they knew what they were doing and it does take this long. I have a very fast RoadRunner internet connection. I download huge files frequently and I have never, ever, had a download take so long. It felt like I was back in the dial-up days. So be forewarned, again, that the map updating process is not something that you can do in 10 minutes. Plan on more like an hour... at least.

UPDATE: 11/16/2010 - I've learned that the "inexplicable" routing choices by the nuvi was due, in part, to the fact that Traffic was enabled. If the nuvi thinks that there is a traffic issue, it re-routes you. The problem is that you are not aware that this is happened, you don't know why you are being re-routed and the instances where it has happened to me, there was no traffic issue at all that would have necessitated re-routing. I don't like that feature and have now dis-abled it.

UPDATE: 11/22/10 - In case you are considering a Tom Tom instead of a Garmin, I was too. I just went to a Sam's club and was toying with a TomTom XL335TM TomTom XL 335TM 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Lifetime Traffic & Maps Edition). To be totally fair, I do not own it and was not able to use it while driving, but as far as navigating the menus and using the touchscreen, I spent quite a bit of time with it and in my opinion the Garmin is much easier to operate. The Garmin menu system and touchscreen was simply a better overall experience for me. Just thought I'd pass that along in case you are teetering between the two.

UPDATE: 12/13/2010 - I traveled to Buffalo a few days ago and the Traffic function came to life once I got into the Greater Buffalo area. And yes, it was essentially worthless. It alerted me to traffic delays that never materialized and it wasn't really clear to me what to make of the alerts it was giving me anyway. Maybe I'm too dense. I also started seeing the pop-up advertisements that others have commented and complained about. I did not find them obnoxious, they were quite small and only displayed when I was stopped. No big deal.

UPDATE: 12/3/2011 - I recently purchased a TomTom Go Live 1535M and have to tell you that the Garmin menu system, voice commands, accuracy and display of posted speed limit and so much more is significantly superior to the TomTom. Although the TomTom has a great looking display and the the 3D look is superb, the operation of the screen is very sluggish and the voice prompts are not as helpful as the Garmin.

On a negative note, the power cord for one of my Nuvi 1390LMT's stopped working. It was not a blown fuse since the LED indicator light is still lit on the plug. I did check the fuse though and it is fine. The cord or plug itself just must have developed a problem preventing it from working. Garmin support was helpful and is sending a warranty replacement. Kudos to Garmin for the quick help and resolution to the problem.

i read a bunch of reviews on different models before i ultimately chose the 1390t. when it came down to the wire it was a hard choice between the 765t and the 1390t. The main difference I would like to point out is the charger. the 765t uses a mount charger, while the 1390t uses a micro usb fed directly into the unit. some users like the fact they dont have to unhook the charger when dismounting the unit(765t). like i said personal preference. oh and also no mp3 playback, fm tuner or multipoint point destination. 765t has all those.

real world test of features
user interface: so easy a caveman can do it. garmin definitely has the other brands beat when it comes to UI. i liked the feature set for price in the tomtom 940t, but the UI just looks so primitive. They need a major rehaul of that. the 1390t always gave precise directions without causing confusion. there was no lagging either. being able to update the ETA to total distance is a huge plus. almost always gave me the local speed limit. your speed turns red if you're speeding.

bluetooth: i was actually rather impressed with the bluetooth. it was easy to sync with my blackberry 8800(dinosaur phone i know). i had to speak a little louder than normal conversation. this is mostly because you're talking to the unit from 1.5 feet away. if the mic was more sensitive it would pick up more background noise. call quality was good on the other end. my friend couldn't hear the road in the background.

lane assist: i like the fact that it shows you all available lanes that you can take. it almost always did lane assist where available. junction view with photo realistic pictures never showed. i drove on the grand central, LIE, northern state, southern state, belt parkway, cross island. these are all major highways in the long island queens area. maybe it only does interstate highways. who knows. i was really disappointed when i didnt see the 3d simulation at all.

traffic alert: the ads are unobtrusive and don't show up while you're driving. traffic reporting was pretty accurate when it did have reception. i never tried any alternate traffic routes. the traffic map shows where the traffic begins and ends and your location.

new thinnest model of all time: don't make this the deciding factor for you. although the unit is 25% thinner than most other garmins, it's really not a big deal. the other garmins (200 and 700 series) were thin to begin with.

POI: for some reason when i looked for a mcdonalds or bk it would show everything but the closest location. i only used POIs 3-4 times.

random: i don't know why other people were complaining about speaker volume. i put it on a 100% thinking that it was going have weak speakers. i assure you, def not the case. it was practically yelling at me at 100%.

cons: no fm tuner, no multipoint destinations. you can have a via point though. price is a bit high. i paid 280 including tax for the unit. i think $200 wouldve been a more reasonable price.

conclusion: if you wants all the bells and whistles go for this model or the 765t. if you just need a simple gps get a 200 series. theyre a lot cheaper. all in all great gps. 4.0/5.0. if you want a full list of features with pics check out [...]. theyre affiliated with amazon, so take that for what you will.

***edit** 2 months later: 3/5 instead of 4/5 for ratings.
1)I use this device on the road every day now. I've driven all over queens, manhattan, and Long Island. One thing I found incredibly annoying is how it kept taking me off a highway only to remerge with it 2 exits later. It certainly was not the faster route to be following the gps' advice in these instances.

2)Another major gripe I had was the constant recalculation. I would follow its directions and it would say recalculating. When making critical turns that are close by, this can get really annoying. I don't know if this is a problem with my model or gpses in general or just garmin, but something needs to be fixed.

3) The suction keeps falling off the window. It may be because of the cold temperature. It recently dropped to the 40deg F. My friend uses a magellan (old non-widescreen 2-d version) on the same vehicle and her mount stays.

4)One thing I have to admit I absolutely love is lane assist. You really appreciate it when switching to different highways. It definitely is all it's cracked out to be. However, The 3-D sign simulation(lane guidance) is just a marketing gimmick(at least I think so). Not worth paying the extra $$$. Lane assist is more practical and worthwhile.

I know this edit may have confused customers on future purchases, but READ OTHER REVIEWS to see if the problems I've had are common in all devices or just this one.

So far, I like the Garmin nüvi 1300LM 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

I'm a newbie to the GPS world. As a local professional truck driver, I finally decided instead of purchasing maps for areas I'm unfamilar with, I'd spring for a GPS unit.

Why a Garmin? Well, I narrowed it down to between a Garmin and a TomTom. I actually was leaning towards the TomTom XXL 540TM 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Lifetime Traffic & Maps Edition) until I learned that the Garmin units do a much better job at finding addresses the likes of N1234 W9876 Booneyville Rd. There are GPS units available for truckers, however, the price tag is a bit north of my budget. Since I'm generally familiar with the roads I travel on, I decided to stick with a lower-priced model and download POI's (Points-of-Interest) associated with the trucking community such as low bridges, truck stops, etc. The lifetime maps bundled into this unit was the deal-maker for me. I plan on keeping this unit for a long time (got a 2-year accident replacement plan on it).

I purchased the unit yesterday and my family and I have used it for shopping purposes yesterday and today. We sure had a chuckle when we switched the unit's voice to German and tried to follow the directions. Anyway, here's the skinny on the 1300 LM.

20-seconds after switching the unit on, you're ready to choose either "Where to?" (getting/typing directions) or "View Map" (to see where you are). The touch screen is nice--it responds well to your touches. Of course, if you're not use to a touch screen (or have fat fingers), it may take a while for you to get comfortable with it. The screen is bright enough--even in direct sunlight (keep in mind that most screens wash out a bit in direct sunlight). You can manually control screen brightness or have the nuvi 1300LM adjust it automatically for you. Volume control in an automobile is more than adequate. We had the radio on mid-way and could still hear the text-to-speech instructions clearly at 80% of the volume.

Actual navigation was impressive. Then again, I'm new to the GPS world. The GPS navigation tried to steer us on a different route a few times (we knew the shorter route) but quickly recalculated the route after giving up on the route it wanted to take us (even though we had the "faster time" option selected). The 4.3-inch screen is fine for viewing. While a 5-inch screen would probably be beneficial for driving an 18-wheeler or RV, I'm sure I won't have any problems with the 4.3-inch screen.

After giving it a spin straight-out-of-the-box, I later downloaded both software updates and map updates at [...] using "myDashboard". I had 4-6 successive software updates (why can't they bundle them as one?) followed by a map update. The entire process took somewhere between 4-5 hours on a DSL line. Not a big deal since I knew it would take some time to get the latest updates. By the way, Garmin has included a mini-USB cord to connect the 1300LM to your computer. The sales technician sold me a cord (which I returned) because he wasn't aware that Garmin has decided to start including the cord with certain (or all) GPS units.

My family doesn't plan on using the cityXplorer feature (fee-based) to navigate various cities by foot. However, eventually, we like to tour Washington, DC by walking and the Nuvi 1300LM presumably would be handy to have for that trip.

In summary, if you don't need bluetooth in your GPS unit (I've heard volume levels are very iffy in GPS bluetooth units) and you don't rely on traffic updates a lot (traffic is a hit/miss type of thing with a GPS unit from what I can determine), the Garmin Nuvi 1300LM just may be the unit you're looking for.

If warranted, I'll update this post after I've used the 1300LM in my big-rig.

P.S. The Garmin Portable Friction Mount (bean-bag) works great. Keep in mind that the cord from your cigarette lighter plugs into the garmin unit itself rather than the mount. Over time, I can see how that connection could become compromised with repeated plug-in/plug-out action. However, the mount itself seems very stable in warm weather. I would guess it will also do fine in colder weather.