I like this gps, which was purchased (refurbished) through Amazon. I received this gps about two weeks ago and tested it last week on an 800 plus mile drive from Temecula,CA, to Felton,CA. I was unable to distinguish this gps from a new one, in appearance or in performance. The only reason for 4 stars rather than 5, was I was unable to have the lady "directeur" repeat instructions at will, which I was able to do with my previous Garmin. . The repeatability is not only good company, but important to this WW II veteran with noise damaged hearing. If there is a way to have her recite on request, I would appreciate the information. Thank you.
Jules Darras
P.S. Any and all comments are welcome and requested, please. JD Garmin nüvi 1350 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)
I bought a refurbished Garmin 1350 from Amazon after reading about a number of problems people had with it shutting down and rebooting for no reason and losing the signal. I figured the refurbished model would be working correctly, which it is and it saved at least $50 off the price of a new item. Not bad. I have used this item for only a week on a number of short and long trips and it works great. I also purchased the friction mount which also works great, a slip case, a USB cable and a 96 cent A/C charger which was a bargin. The first thing after charging it to see if it worked, which it did, was to register the unit and download the new maps, which took about two hours. Addresses that I had tried to program before the download, that weren't there, were there after the download was installed. Now I knew the unit was working. The only probem is that it doesn't always give a turn that you expect it should show and gives you some other route to your final destination. However, when you turn onto the best road, from previous experience, it recomputes the route for you as you would normally take. Also, it doesn't show stores at the local shopping centers and malls for some reason, even though they have been there for many years. It would be nice if you could touch a road on the map with your finger to change your direction before you made that turn, much like changing your route on a Google Map. I guess no GPS allows this? The real test will come when I drive down to Tampa, FL in the near future. That was the main reason for buying this unit. If any problems come up on this trip I'll submit another review. In the meantime, you can't go wrong with a refurbished 1350 at such a low price.
Additional Review Update at 09/11/10: Some other information you might need: I did a Google Map for a new route from Atlantic City Airport to avoid the Garden State Parkway traffic going North on Labor Day. I found out that I could download the map into the 1350, but found out this doesn't work. All the download does is to give your starting and ending locations to the unit. The route is not stored at all, thereby giving you all kinds of "misdirections" to your final destination. A copy of the Google map and directions saved me from sitting in 15 miles of stop and go traffic on the Parkway on Labor Day. Don't bother with a Google Map download into your Garmin. Just print out the Google directions and follow them instead of the Garmin directions.
You would think that the unit would store a route that you always take instead of giving directions that you don't want to take. Again this is not the case. The unit continues to give "misdirections" and will constantly recalculate directions base on your turns. Garmin should change the processor program so it includes a learning mode. Maybe they can delete ten of the languages in the unit that you don't need in order to free up memory for a learning mode. I hate to see what happens on a really long trip where I have no clue regarding what roads to take. I guess a good backup is to print a set of Google Map directions to backup your Garmin route. So far the unit has worked well and I have not experienced any of the problems mentioned by those who purchased this unit previously. It looks like the "refurbishing" corrected the problems. Other than the annoying "misdiretions" I would not hesitate to reccommend this unit to those seeking to buy their first GPS device.
I tried to research the various GPS auto units and chose the Garmin nuvi 1350. Mainly because of the features I wanted and Garmin's reputation. So far I've not been disappointed. I had no problem buying a refurbished unit along with the three year warranty. The routing to my house is not the best but then we live in a rural area. In a strange location/city we will have to rely on the Garmin's directions. The 1350 has been easy to learn and use right out of the box. If you need the complete owners manual it's on line ready to download. I've emailed Garmin tech support several times and they have always answered within 2-3 days. Anyhow, I'm satisfied and would buy a 1350 again. - Garmin Nuvi - Garmin - Portable Vehicle Gps - Widescreen Gps'
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