4. Mounting the nuvi 350 in the car

Figure 16: Garmin nuvi 350, Attached to the Windshield

Mounting the Nuvi 350 in the car is simple and straight forward:

• Connect the 12V power cable to the bottom of the mount, and connect the other end into the cigarette lighter plug in your car.
• Garmin suggests cleaning and drying the windshield and the suction cup prior to mounting it, although I did neither and everything still held solidly in place.
• Press the suction mount against the windshield and flip the locking lever into the locked position.
• Flip open the patch antenna.
• Fit the bottom of the nuvi into the cradle and tilt the nuvi back until it snaps into place.
• The Nuvi can now be docked and undocked by pressing the small tab on the bottom of the cradle and tilting the nuvi forward (towards you).

Figure 17: nuvi 350's Suction Cup Mount, Connected to the Windshield

Figure out where on the windshield you'll want the nuvi to reside. Most people will likely mount the nuvi somewhere between the rear view mirror and the dashboard, in the center of the windshield (although some people prefer to mount the GPS on the driver's side).

Once you're figured out where to attach the mount, press the suction cup firmly against the glass and lower the locking lever into the locked position.

Figure 18: Connecting the 12v Power Adapter

The included 12v power adapter is relatively small and unassuming. The cord is sufficiently long enough to accommodate just about any vehicle.

Figure 19: Connecting the 12v Adapter to the Dock

Thankfully, the 12v adapter connects to the back of the dock instead of the nuvi unit directly, making it that much simpler to dock/undock the nuvi 350 from the windshield mount. This is a nice touch not normally seen on entry-level GPS units.

Providing power to the unit from the mount means you don't have to fiddle with the power cable each and every time you connect/disconnect the nuvi from the car; everything is all setup and ready to go - there's no extra cables to connect. The nuvi snaps into the mount and automatically powers itself on.

Figure 20: Attaching the Dock to the Windshield Mount

Once the 12v Power adapter has been connected to the back of the dock, we're ready to snap the dock onto the tip of the windshield mount.

Garmin's excellent windshield mount derives much of its strength from its simplicity; to connect the dock to the mount, you simply press the socket onto the ball-style joint. Once the dock "clicks" onto the ball joint, the two pieces are held firmly in place and do an excellent job holding the nuvi. The mount and dock can then be articulated into almost any viewing angle.

To remove the dock, twist it either to the right or left until it snaps off the windshield mount.

Figure 21: Garmin nuvi Windshield Mount and Dock

With the windshield suction-cup mount, dock, and 12v power cable setup, we're ready to mount the nuvi in the car.

Figure 22: Garmin nuvi 350, Mounted in the Car

Here you see the nuvi 350, connected to the windshield mount.

Garmin's mount design is excellent; the ball and socket style joint holds the unit securely in place while driving, and allows you to tilt the unit at almost any angle. In my testing there was no vibration at all when driving.

According to Garmin, figure 22 shows the correct position for the flip-out patch antenna. The patch antenna should be parallel with the surface of the earth, typically forming a 90 degree angle with the nuvi.

Figure 23: Garmin nuvi 350, Mounted in the Car

Garmin's GPS units have outstanding mounts, and the nuvi 350 is no exception. In fact, the suction mount makes such a solid connection with the windshield, I had a bit of a time getting it off the windshield (had to use 2 hands). I always pay special attention to the mounting hardware because it is a critical component that often seems to be get overlooked by GPS manufacturers -- Kudos to Garmin for continuing to invest in simple, elegant, and functional mounts.

5. Using the nuvi 350

Figure 24: Viewing the Installed Software Version

The nuvi 350 I tested was running version 4.70 software, as shown above in the "System and Copyright info" screen. You can check the version of installed software by tapping on the wrench icon from the main menu, then tapping the System icon, and then tapping on About.

Figure 25: Checking the Version of Installed Map Data

All Garmin nuvi 350's sold after May 1st 2007 should ship with Garmin newest maps, "City Navigator North America NT 2008", which includes full coverage of North America. If, for some reason, you purchase a nuvi 350 post May 1 '07 and it doesn't have the latest maps installed, Garmin will ship you the updated maps for free (you'll need to register your GPS on Garmin's website, and then call Garmin support for them to ship you the map update installer DVD).

Make sure that you've got the most current maps on your GPS. To verify what version of maps are installed on the nuvi 350, tap on Settings (Wrench icon) -> Map -> Map Info

If you purchased your nuvi 350 prior to the May 1st free update cut-off, you can purchase the updated maps for around $70. For more details on how to update the maps, be sure to check out GPSmagazine's Guide to Updating Garmin Maps.

Figure 26: nuvi 350's Main Page

Figure 26 shows the Main Page screen on the nuvi 350. This is the screen you see when the nuvi 350 is powered on. From here you can view the battery life, GPS signal strength, view the map, enter a destination, or use the Travel Kit. Along the right-hand of the screen are icons to configure various system options (wrench), or adjust the audio volume (speaker icon).

Figure 27: Map Page

This is the screen shown during normal navigation. Touching the plus and minus icons zooms in and out on the map. The purple line indicates the route you should follow. The lower-left hand corner of this page displays the estimated arrival time. Touching the arrival time opens the trip information page (shown below in Figure 28). Touching the blue button just to the right of arrival time brings up the main menu. Touching the blue note icon brings up the integrated MP3 player, and touching the "Turn In" box brings up the Next Turn page. You can also tap on the horizontal green bar across the top of the screen to bring up a maneuvering list of all remaining turns in the trip.