Garmin nüvi 360 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Bluetooth and Text-to-Speech

I've been using the nuvi360 for about 8 months now, and while it's been a lifesaver, it hasn't done anything that any other GPS could do. My biggest problem is that the screen is polarized 90 degrees off axis. If you're using polarized glasses the screen is black. I've driven about 3500 miles this summer and had to use the thing at a goofy 45 degree angle and tip my head just so I could see the screen. The only reason I didn't return it is because it was a gift.

This is a major engineering blunder in the screen fabrication. There are tons of alternatives out there. Get one of those instead.

This is one of the best things I have ever bought. I love it. It's very accurate. I love that it has bluetooth, I can call and receives call from the device. When I sync my phone with device it copied my phone book. The only thing about this (which is not a big deal) is that the semulated car never gets to the finish line. I like this GPS and it's better than the other one I have tried.

Overall, very satisfied with this GPS and its features, well worth the relative price would have given 4.5 stars if available. I purchased this GPS just days before a roadtrip across the states. Using for more than 4200 miles along the trip I learned many of its uses and limitations. First though, setup is quite intuitive and easy to master, I spent just minutes configuring the setup without instructions. However, after registering online, I found that new firmware and software was available for my unit. I spent a few hours downloading everything to my computer and uploading it to the the unit. Garmin's customer support is great but you have to wait for long periods on hold. The database is huge and takes a computer with significant harddrive space (about 10GB) to load. The database still isn't perfect (few misnamed fuel stations and out of business restaurants) but it worked quite well throughout the trip. The popup antenna quickly acquires satellites no matter the location. The Sirf technology is very accurate and will calculate if you are off route in just seconds. It will always put you on the fastest or shortest route. However, it will not allow you calculate a scenic route. Overall it was a very comforting item to have at night or when driving to an area where we didn't have a detailed map. The Bluetooth feature is great, not only to answer calls but to call numbers in the database automatically. The speaker is a bit tinny but overall works well. I have not used the MP3 player or the Book Reader. I've tried other friends GPS navigators (Tom Tom One and Garmin 260) and just wasn't satisfied with the performance or the database features. This GPS navigator works very well and we are glad we got it.

This is a great product. The voice commands with street names is extremely helpful. Would recommend updating the maps right away. Highly recommend product and GARMIN company. GARMIN International technical support was great when I had trouble downloading on my 10 year old computer - they talked me through the process step by step.

Recently, I purchased a Garmin Nuvi 260 for my mother who is technologically challenged at best. She picked it right up and used it! I then started shopping for a GPS for myself. I knew that I wanted a Garmin, but I wanted bluetooth as well. I did some research and found the Nuvi 360 at the top of every list. How right the reviews are!!! I love mine... and get this...today I was talking via the bluetooth speaker to my dad and he said it sounded better than any headset and maybe better than the phone itself! The bluetooth is a very nice feature. I had no problems pairing it with my iPhone which I was worried about. The text-to-speech is great and the voice interface is very clear. All and all a great product for the money!

I like the Nuvi 360 very much. The only problem I had was the maps were old and I had to download the 2009 maps and that took awhile on my computer. People are not aware of what year is available. I just happened to look on the Garmin website and saw the new maps. Maybe your company can have the maps downloaded before you sell it.

So glad to order this Garmin product. Exactly meets our needs and performs beyond expectations. Would have paid more for more functions, but found they were not necessary. This product has already got me out of several situations of being lost in a nearby town and and also consistently and very accurately figured out the correct drive times to various destinations, despite road conditions. Wonderful functions, beautiful maps, lots of great functions and intuitively easy to use.
Wonderful product!

Very Pleased. Working right out of the box--hardest part was updating the maps online, if I had to do it again I would buy the disk to do the updating, even with a high speed DSL it was very time consuming.

Like the ease of use, works well here in Texa. If I had it to do again, I might buy the larger screen size. All in All a very good product

This GPS works great. The announcements by street name is a big plus over previous GPSs. I have used it on several trips now and found it to be quite reliable, easily recalculates routes when needed. It also does a good job of determining your new location (ex: use it to get to airport in point A, fly across country to point B, it will determine that you are in point B now in under 5 minutes). I have used other GPS units that take a very long time, 30 minutes or more to make this determination. I would like to volume to be a little louder or have the speaker in the front. But this is not a big enough problem from my recommending it to others. I would buy the unit again.

I took my new Garmin NUVI 360 on my trip from Salt Lake City, Utah to Yellowstone. It worked great for most of the time even in very remote areas. I also got a GPS on my rental car but Garmin NUVI 360 outperform all the time. One limitation on GPS in general is that you have to have the exact street address in order to search for the best route. Without the street address, it is very hard to use the GPS function between different states. For example, I could not ask the GPS to pick a route for me from SLC to Yellowstone since I did not have the a street address of Yellowstone in Wyoming. Yet, once I was in Wyoming, I could use the "Attraction" function to look for Yellowstone. So, for cross country or states trip and you don't really have the street address of your destination, it will be helpful to print out a route from the internet first.

My Garmin Nuvi was working fine for an year and stopped acquiring the satellites whenever I want to use it. I upgraded the software to 4.7 and it started showing wrong time. It neither shows the maps nor does not show time. Waste of money.

Great product, I had a Nuvi 350 before and it had issues. It was stolen so I replaced with this one, the 360. Much better and much faster at locating satellites. Also not as many issues with the keyboard. I would highly recommend this to anyone that travels often.

I purchase my Garmin 360 nuvi a few weeks ago and I took a trip to a small place in the mountains of Tennessee. I was surprised to witness all of the short cuts that I took and ended up at the address that I had selected. I have had the unit to come loose from the windshield a couple of times and luckly it did not break. I have since order a mount that sets on the dash. I have been very pleased with it's performance. I looked a some other units that were older models but feel that I made the best choice.

it is small and easy to use. signal is always good no matter that you are under the gorge or on the top of the mountain

I am not usually into toys, but I have forever taking off for a destination without really knowing where I'm going. I borrowed my son's Garmin for a trip and just loved it. (I had previously purchased the Street Pilot which I found too bulky). This model is easy to walk around. I find the directions good 80% of time. I wish they would give you option to take route with mostly freeways or surface streets, They do allow detours so you can change the route. I love the bluetooth capability that pairs with my iPhone...no need for handsfree device, and the microphone has excellent volume (easy to hear as a receiver and sender). I also really love I can find restaurants in the area as well as other pertinent sites. I got a case, and 2 chargers (AC/DC outlet and auto), and dashboard mounting paraphrenalia with the device. This is a great GPS.

From speech to navi this thing works very good i kid u not a must buy for those who likes to travel or just to explore the city,but i tell u one thing u will not get LOST so go out and travel without fear.

I did a lot of research before I bought my Garmin nuvi 360, and I'm pretty sure that it's the best portable, GPS-dedicated device on the market at this price point. I like it. It's small, light, bright, sufficiently loud, easy to learn, and it's never gotten me stuck on the wrong end of a dark and dangerous blind alley at midnight. It even does fairly well in San Francisco, where streets are more like tiny, curvy capillaries than big veins or arteries. If you're determined to buy a portable GPS come heck or high water, stop reading, buy this one, and rest easy that you've made a sensible decision.

Having said that, I think that the reviews here are a smidge on the happy-happy side. I'm really glad that people love their Garmins, but I have to wonder...compared to what? If the comparison is with being lost, I give it 5 stars. If the comparison is with with Rand McNally, a hastily-printed Mapquest map, or your friend's distracted phone directions("Uh, you'll see a red building on the corner...no, no...it's white but it has a red ROOF, yeah...you'll know it when you see it, really"), ditto. If the comparison is with other portable GPS devices, then I say four stars, three cheers, and happy driving.

If the comparison is with what OUGHT to be, however (As in, if you visited Amazon review pages to see if it's worth buying a Garmin GPS at all, not whether you should buy a Garmin GIVEN THAT you've already decided to buy a GPS device), I have to knock one big star down and point out some areas of improvement for the good, hardworking folks at Garmin:

First, it just shouldn't take a dedicated-GPS device 10 minutes to find a satellite. If my cell phone can pinpoint my location in 5 seconds, the Garmin should be able to compete within an order of magnitude....or even two. All too frequently, however, I have to "trick" the Garmin into finding my location by plugging it in (if it's not already plugged in), unplugging it (if it is), or rebooting it entirely. Lame. Second, what on EARTH is going on with that ABCD alphabetic keyboard? Was the Garmin designed by 60 year old men who always had secretaries to do their typing? Seriously, the lack of a QWERTY keyboard is annoying and eats up my time. It's bad enough that I can't hook this baby up to my computer and download a bunch of Google maps...don't make me type slowly to rub it in. Third, the feature that allows one to type in the name of a shop or restaurant and be directed directly toward it without going through the intermediate step of entering the address has worked for me approximately 1 out of 10 times. Ten percent isn't a great hit rate, and when I got to 10 I just stopped trying. I'm sure this is one of the more difficult features, as shop names change frequently and cities have a high density of urban retailers. But basically, unless my goal is to track down the nearest Big Mac or bucket o' Colonel's special recipe (infrequent, to say the least), then this baby isn't helping me get to my dinner any faster. Fifth (am I really up to 5 already?), I have to point out that the design of the Garmin is underwhelming, to say the least. Yeah sure, it's small and light, but so what? Has anyone seen the iPhone lately? I'm not suggesting that the Garmin match Apple's gorgeous design standards or that they hire a designer from Herman Miller, a Koolhaus apprentice, a MOMA artist, or that guy who designs cool stuff for Target, but really. The Garmin is to what portable GPS devices could be as your mother's first home computer was to today's sleek designs. It could be a lot better. Lastly, the windshield mount that it comes with is pretty cheesy. Mine falls off a lot, and I've had to order a new mounting to avoid holding this in my lap while I drive.

In all, not a bad product and I'd buy it again, but it came out of the box feeling like Old Technology. I have this nagging feeling that it's going to be obsolete in a couple of years, and it's not going to age as well as an Edison. It's only really impressive if you don't have other options, and with iPhone and Google maps (and who knows what else) sighting down the personal navigation market, I have an uncomfortable feeling that my 250 dollar Garmin will get donated to Goodwill before too long.

I have been very pleased with the purchase of my Garmin. The Bluetooth options is awesome and works like a charm. I have downloaded one upgrade without any issues. This GPS has never let us down, and has been a lifesaver and timesaver on many short and long trips. Thanks Garmin and Amazon.

I bought this for my husband and he absolutley loves it. I don't like to travel far and I found using this and going the distance I have no problem or fear of being to far away from home or getting lost. We showed this product to a couple of our freinds and they immediately put their orders in for one. We liked it so much we bought 3 more for our kids for Christmas!

I am still learning how to use my garmin nuvi 360, however, so far I am very pleased with it. It has been a life saver as I travel to unknown areas. My 82 years old mom is amazed by it! She loves it too!!

The Nuvi 360 is very easy to use, and very helpful. The bluetooth feature is a very helpful convenience, even tho the sound quality is not high quality, but good enough for telephone use. The maps are clear, and the menus are easy to follow.

This is my first GPS unit and I am pleasantly surprised. After I received the Nuvi 360 I updated the software and maps to the current versions. The process (really the maps) took some time, but was completed without any problem.
I am just back from a visit to New York City and New Jersey, the unit worked flawlessly and performed beyond my expectations. I experienced no problems with the loss of satellites while driving between the tall buildings in Manhattan. The 360's navigation accuracy is surprising. I was impressed as it even continued to navigate and give directions while in the Holland and other tunnels (without satellites). It was great to be reminded of what to do when you get out at the other end of the tunnel. (I assume it is storing the information in memory before you enter into the tunnel)
As a novice I had my preconceived ideas of GPS, i.e. only useful to get to a destination. The other functions I considered unnecessary if not useless. Was I wrong? In addition to getting me to where I wanted to be very satisfactorily, I will share my experience with some of the other functions:
* Shortcuts - I am glad I have read the manual before the time. I used the suggested "shortcuts" all the time.
* The speaker volume was adequate and I had it for the most part at about ¾ of its capacity.
* The trip information page is interesting, but it is not essential. Nonetheless, as it is there, why not?
* Trip and preview page - Used it often to get a better understanding of what was ahead. It is an essential function.
* Next turn page - Used it often to get a better view of what is coming and to confirm instructions. It is an essential function.
* Text to speech - I under estimated its value. It is very helpful, especially in a city like NY, to have the street names spoken. That way I could listen and concentrate and keep my eyes on the road and traffic around me. Based on my experience it is essential and I will not consider a model without this capability.
* After using it I appreciate how well the "Go to" has been designed. The POI information is not only convenient, I found it very useful. For instance, to refill the rental before I dropped it at the airport I could locate a gas station near the airport, enter it as a "via point" and get to the drop off area in the least amount of time. The battle to look for a gas station near the airport is now of the past and I will always use this function in the future.
* Bluetooth - A function I considered unnecessary. Yet, I used it all the time.
* MP3, Audio Books, FM, etc. I have not used it and still consider it gimmicks. However, it may just be that I will change my mind again once I have.
As I am traveling often and, hence, am renting cars, it must be convenient to carry the Nuvi with me. Therefore, the "size of a set of cards" of the smaller screen Nuvi 360 is very convenient. I never found the screen uncomfortable or too small. I don't know what the bigger screen Nuvis are like; however, as I am going to have it with me ALL THE TIME in the future, I prefer the smaller format.
I also bought the Nuvi "Portable Friction Mount Part Number: 010-10908-00". What a useful and innovative product. It is an excellent accessory and I have no intention to ever install the suction cup mount that comes standard. If you travel in many different cars this is a must have.
In summary, I have no experience with other GPS systems (Magellan, TomTom, etc.) or Nuvi models, but am very satisfied with the 360. In fact, it will in the future always travel with me. The only question I have is: How did I in the past get along without one?

Had a Garmin Ique3600 palm based unit before this, so that is what I judge against. Nuvi has 3d view which is nice, but kind of cartoony compared to a standard 2d overhead view. 2d can be selected also on the Nuvi. I use 3d and then slide to drag the map and it switches to a 2d overhead view complete with distance scale (that is missing on the 3d view because the distances are not linear).
- Likes:
-New map (allowed 2gig download of version 2009 maps no problem)
-Suction cup is solid mount.
-Power cord connects to MOUNT, not unit like the newer 200 Nuvi units.
-Easy to remove and reinstall to mount with one hand. Tomtom XL one mount stinks.
-Easy to get to volume and brightness control
-Phone Bluetooth works great with a Motorola Razor 3v. Pulls contact and last called, ect from the phone to the unit.
-Point of interests can easily 1 button dial a hotel or restaurant when bluetooth is connected to phone. (Find location and press DIAL button to ask for reservations etc.)
-Very sensitive antenna.
-Accurate time estimates (250 mile trip off 5 minutes from intial Est! Tomtom XLone off by HOURS!
)
Cons:
-Routing takes more side roads than the Ique ever did.
-Volume should be louder. Wife has a convertible Mustang GT and all the way up there is NO WAY the phone option is loud enough. Even in a Caravan it is JUST loud enough cranked all the way up. The Tomtom XL1 is much louder, but has limits of its own.

Overall good replacement for the Ique3600, but wish the volume was louder and the routing more like the Ique way. (Phone thing rocks though!)

This product has been a savior when trying to get around town. It has directed me down a few dead-end streets that probably show as going through on the maps. My only real complaint is the the window holder that came with the unit broke on the first hot day, now I'm propping it up in the ash tray.

I initially got the 360 because I got 650 for my daughter earlier. However I found that 360 is not very bright compared to 650. So I returned and got 660 for my wife. My new LG Dare phone does not yet bluetooth with the GPS device, but once that is up and running the usefulness can be appreciated by dialling POI (point of interest) straight from the screen of 660. THE UNIT IS VERY RELIABLE AND DEPENDABLE. Thats my friend is the bottom line. If you want to save money and dont care for the bluetooth on the GPS, go for the 650 instead.

Did some research before purchasing this unit. Turned out to be the right decision. Easy to use and has all the features I needed. To date I have only one complaint. After entering my home address I am advised that there is no such address. When being directed back to the road I live on, the directions take me 10 miles out of the way in a half circular route. Not sure what to blame for that. No other complaints.

ok so its definitely better than my previous gps (garmin nuvi 200) but not extremely happy with it. first off when i get a call via bluetooth, the voice doesnt come back on once my call disconnects. i emailed garmin and was given a link to upgrade something but i havent had the chance to try it yet. also, i used it for a trip to Ikea in Paramus, NJ. It was closed on Sundays so we went to the Ikea in Elizabeth and i could swear it took me thru every side street to get there! ARGH! Also, when it recalculates, it seems to make you flip a u-turn and try again instead of just re-routing you completely. on the other hand, it has come in handy for a couple other trips. the bluetooth is convenient, hopefully that link will fix my problem.

I cant live without my Garmin-I take it everywhere. I travel quite a bit for my job and I enjoy the fact that it is portable and light and can fit into my handbag. I recommend to all to get the beanbag for it as the suction plate doesnt hold.

this is realy great...only one thing i lost in finding very new address...or I should say address of new community was not in map data..

I received the Nuvi 360 as a gift from someone who felt I wouldn't buy it for myself. I have used various Garmin e-trex products over the years for navigation in the woods. I have been using GPS for about 18 years, mostly during my Forest Service Career. I live in Montana and did not think I'd need a "street navigator". As it turns out, I was called out on a Fire Assignment at 5am and did not have time to look at maps. I stuck the Nuvi on my windshield and typed in the address. I'd never tried it before. The Nuvi navigated me to the exact location (400 miles away), in faster time than the dispatchers had estimated. I am very impressed with the clarity of the screen, as well as the quality of the bluetooth. I had no problem initiating the bluetooth and all it's features with my LG-8350 cell. The antenna acquired the satellites very quickly and I never lost the signal. As I stated, I have used GPS units for a long time and Garmin has consistently provided the best products. I will stick with Garmin as long as they keep up the excellent work. Now, to replace my E-trex...

I got this GPS right as I moved to Hawaii. It has been a huge help getting around the island smoothly. A lot of the roads here on Oahu just change names suddenly and this product can seem a little confusing because of it. I haven't used it on the mainland, but I imagine it would work even better there. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone looking at a GPS. I have a handheld Garmin eTrex, so I already liked the company. And the price on Amazon.com is so much cheaper than what's out there in a lot of stores I looked at. I saved well over $100. Great product. Great investment if you hate getting lost and asking for directions.

Well this is a handy gadget and surely lets you avoid pulling over to ask fordirections. I wanted the device to give me alternate route but it was adamant and did not give the alternate route though it would be a faster route. You have to first look the maps on a computer and not totally depend on the GPS. The bluetooth isa good feature but the speaker sound is not good enough to hear while driving on a freeway.The basic ones will still servethe purpose.

The Garmin is a great unit, however we live in a rural area and the maps are very out of date. Roads that had been closed for 30 years are still listed as viable options. Also some roads are not named correctly anymore due to highway reconstruction. Hey garmin, how about a wiki site for updated roads that the users can use and update on their own.

I LOVE MY GARMIN NUVI 360!!!! From the moment I opened it the Nuvi has been my constant companion.

It has saved me considerable gas as it finds either the fastest or shortest way for me to get wherever I'm going. When you're set in your ways about a particular route you could be wasting gas (which I was doing almost daily) and with gas prices being what they are anything that'll save gas consumption is ok with me. Every day has been an adventure with my Nuvi.

I took a 300+ mile road trip with complete confidence that it would get me there, around the area and back. The friend I took with me doesn't normally drive and used the Nuvi for the first time with no problems. The screen is easy to see both in daylight and at night. At dusk it automatically goes to the night setting. That is SO cool.

I live in NY so talking on the phone is a no-no. The Bluetooth feature makes it easy for me to talk, answer a call or make a call. I like loud music so the Nuvi makes it easy for me to see my incoming calls. I do plan to upgrade eventually to a Nuvi model that can go through my car radio. I'm gonna have to upgrade my radio too at that point (smile).

I love the fact that I can search for a restaurant based on what I feel like having: American, BBQ, Spanish, French, and Italian etc...or search for shopping locations, movie theatre locations or SO much more.

It is easy to set up and take down. I attach it to my windshield using the suction cup so it is easy for me to see and to input info. The only thing missing for me is the ability to change the ABC keyboard to QWERTY but that alone isn't enough to diminish my rating.

I have not yet tapped all of the potential of this Nuvi and I look forward to trying.

I will say again that I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Garmin Nuvi 360!!!!

I had a garmin C320 for one year, I was very satisfied with it except poor reception sometimes.

Then I got the NUVI360 and hoped it would exceed the old C320. Unfortunately it let me down. It is still good at routing, operation etc. However, it had a big problem in giving directions on local roads. All the following descriptions are about local roads since it works good on high way. Sometimes, it does not give direction when you are 0.2 mils (or so) away from the next turn and only speaks direction when you are 200 feet (or so) away from the next turn, which makes it difficult for me to make the turn. But my old C320 CONSISTENTLY gives you directions twice, one is when you are 0.2 miles (or so) away and the other is when you are about to need to turn. The only exception is if two turns are very close, C320 will give you the next two turns at the same time, which makes sense.

I do not understand why NUVI 360 behaves randomly in this sense. Sometimes it gives you directions twice, sometimes it keeps silent and just speaks when you are only 200 feet away. After using a month, I still can not figure out when it will gives you direction twice, when it will gives you only once. This makes no sense to me at all and I keep missing turns when I using this unit, which rarely happens when I use my old Garmin C320.

And I need to mention, I tried to use the voice without tts, then it behaves exactly like my old C320, and consistently gives you direction twice. So I am guessing the voice with tts makes this difference, which I think needs to be fixed IMO.

I bought 3 of these for my children before embarking on a long family vacation to the mountains of Tennessee (from Texas). They loved them. They came in very handy as we traveled along the highways. We were able to find gas when we needed it, food when we were hungry and never got lost. The only issue at all is that sometimes the GPS wouldn't show a route that we saw on the Atlas that looked to be the shorter distance(only in small town areas). A minor issue compared to the overall usefulness.
I would recommend anyone traveling with it to have an Atlas in the car as an adjunct reference. Also, the Atlas shows the bigger picture of the surrounding areas.
The sound quality with the Bluetooth was very good also.
As it's quite portable, we were also able to use it on a walking excursion. Make sure your battery is fully charged if you use it away from the car.
I bought the 350 for myself as I really didn't need a bluetooth, and I'm just as happy with it.
Once again, I used one of my $25 gift receipts from my Amazon Visa card and was able to save $$, plus got Super Saver Free shipping. A great buy!!
It's very user friendly, touch screen, graphics are great. Sound quality is good and easily understood. It gives you a choice of different languages. We love it!!

This is the first GPS I have used, and the product lived up to the reviews. I had read that the units were being shipped with the 2009 maps installed, but this was not the case, however the update was free at the Garmin website after registering the unit. Be warned though, even with a high speed connection the update does take several hours to complete. Also, Amazon recommends a couple of products that you dont need to purchase seperatly. They recommend buying the auto charging cord, and a carrying case, both of these things came with the unit in the box.

My last GPS (Garmin street pilot) was stolen so I bought the nuvi 360. It works great. It finds satelites much quicker. I don't use the bluetooth often but that also seems to work well. I recommend this GPS.

This is my third Garmin GPS. I bought the Garmin brand again because I was really happy with the two previous units. I do love this model's streamlined shape and the fact that it speaks the directions with street names. My short experience with it, however, makes me believe it is not as accurate as my two previous models. It also doesn't seem to hold a charge the way it should. I discharged the unit totally and then charged it for two full days. It didn't make any difference. It's still fairly new, so I will continue to use it and keep an eye on it.

I figured I was getting a good product, but I never expected to be so surprised at how REALLY good this one is. It's very easy to use, and the screen is plenty bright to be seen even in the sun. It's about the size of a pack of cards, making it very easy to travel with - you don't feel like you're lugging it along with you, it just tucks away.

We took this on a trip from Central Illinois to Kentucky, including several stops and detours along the way. The directions were very good, and in the one instance where a road no longer went through when Garmin thought it did, the device recalculated the correct route in seconds. It was equally good when we hit a detour on the way back home. I pressed the Detour button, and immediately had a new, very efficient route that only added three minutes to the total estimated time.

The Points of Interest feature works well. It helped us find several restaurants and parks that we wouldn't have known about otherwise. It obviously doesn't know about *everything*, but it is still very helpful. When searching for POI's, you can look for locations near where you are at the time, along your route, near your destination, or near a different city. The POI's are also very nicely categorized so you can quickly find exactly what you're after.

You can store locations in a "Favorites" list. These and other locations (such as but not limited to the POI's) can be inserted as "waypoints" on the way to your main destination, which is a nice feature.

The most helpful feature is how much time the device gives you to make your next turn. You get about a mile on the Interstate, which is generally plenty of time even in heavy traffic. Unfortunately this time is cut down when you're driving in town, and sometimes you don't get enough notice to make the turn on time. However, the device compensates for this somewhat by giving directions such as "In .3 miles turn right on Main Street, then turn left." In that case you at least know what you're going to have to do next and can be ready to do it quickly if you need to.

I also like that it tells you which side of the interstate your exit will be on. It will even tell you when you need to "keep left" or "keep right," so often you don't even need to watch the highway signs.

The text-to-speech feature works well and provides audible directions that are loud enough to hear easily even over an older vehicle that has a lot of road and wind noise.

Accuracy on the open road is usually about 9 or 10 feet, which is shorter than most cars and therefore plenty good.

The device will tell you what time you can expect to reach your destination, which is very accurate. It tallies the amount of time you've spent driving and the time you've spent stopped. It also tells your current speed, your average moving speed, and your overall average speed including time stopped.

As far as the "extra" features go, the MP3 player is remarkably full-featured (browse by album, artist, etc.) and easy to use. The speaker isn't really good enough to get great sound, but it's nice if there's nothing good on the radio. The bluetooth feature is also pretty good, although not outstanding. I can hear callers well, and they can hear and understand me okay, but they do hear some background noise. (I don't know how you'd avoid that in a moving car.)

There are a couple features that I'm not sure are mentioned in the owner's manual that are worth pointing out:

1.) From the menu screen, you can tap the GPS signal strength icon for a report of current positioning accuracy

2.) While traveling to a destination, you can tap the "Turn In..." icon at the lower right to have the next turn read to you, or to scroll through the rest of the directions for the trip with a map and mileage and time estimates for each step.

3.) You can get a short list of remaining turns by tapping the green bar at the top of the map that displays the current information.

4.) Tap the "Estimated Time" button in the lower left to pull up your current speed, average speed, distance driven, etc.

I am highly satisfied with this unit. I can't imagine going back to traveling without it. This makes trips so easy.

I bought 2 of these. One to keep for myself and the other was for a gift. I love the nuvi 360~it is so user friendly and the compact size is perfect to travel with!!

Naturally, I wanted to give this a great review as I received it as a gift and didn't want to trash something I didn't have to pay for. But here's my user experience so far...

On the four road trips tested so far, I've had problems each time. In each case I wasn't the driver. I sat in the passenger seat while my wife drove, and I attempted to use the navigator to find the quickest route. And in each case, I tested the Garmin without a full street address. (...Because this is the purpose of a navigator, right? To help you out when you can't just easily Google an address and have it tell you the full route?)

In each case, I would get a combination of "address not found" ... or a confusing time attempting to even find the location. The menus don't assume you can get to a place unless you know the street address beginning with the house number. Also, if you're looking for an Apple store in another city, it might get hung up wanting to take you instead to an Apple store that might be within 2 miles, and possibly tell you that no other store in that chain exists, even within 10 miles. In a highly populated area like Los Angeles/SFV, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

In more than one case, it took SO long to find a satellite signal that we actually got there before the navigator could keep up!!! Absolutely ridiculous. I can hardly imagine myself sitting in my car, waiting 20 minutes before driving somewhere while I wait for the thing to sync up with my actual coordinates. And no, I have no intention of multi-tasking at that level while I drive. It's already illegal since July 1st to hold a mobile phone while driving, need I say more.

In short, it has been easier to use the VZNavigator in my wife's cellphone (a paid service at $10/month) than to intuit a route using this Garmin. I use tech all day long (yes, I'm a computer geek) and I found nothing in the CD-R based user manuals to suggest that I was doing much of anything wrong in my attempts to figure out this product.

For me, this disappointment seems to outweigh most of its benefits, which many of the other reviewers have already pointed out.

The Garmin nüvi 360 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator was my first venture with a basic GPS device, having recently traveled with someone using both an expensive Garmin model (>$700) and a very inexpensive Holux unit (<$60). Although the expensive Garmin unit offered a vast array of options and impressive image quality, I was also impressed with the basic navigational functions of the inexpensive unit. So I split the difference and bought a low-mid entry level device with bluetooth capability. I am very satisfied with the service that the Garmin nuvi 360 provides ... simple, accurate navigational assistance. The bluetooth option is straight forward and syncing with my LG phone was simple enough ... however, after a couple of days I decided that the quality of using the Garmin nuvi 360 as a hands-free cell phone intermediate was really not what I needed. Again, the Garmin nuvi 360 does what I was looking for in a GPS device ... simple, accurate directions. As a Macintosh OS user, it is also encouraging to see that Garmin has initiated an active participation in developing accessory software for updating, annotation and customizing your GPS device's content. Be sure to check out the Garmin Bobcat (transfer waypoints, tracks, routes from Mac to Garmin device), Garmin POI Loader (load custom points of interest in your Garmin device), and Garmin Communicator Plugin software applications for the Mac.

I have been waiting for a GPS for a long time and was debating to get a plug in for my cell phone or buy a GPS unit itself. Finally, I got Garmon Nuvi 360 and I am really happy with it. Garmin knows what they are doing and is a great unit.
* Pros
- Reads out street names (will really help when driving in downtowns with streets close by)
- Play MP3 audio
- Bluetooth

* Cons
- None noticied so far

Let me tell you why I think this is good -
After waiting and debating for a GPS, finalyy I bought Megallan before going on a trip to Wisonsin. I was not really happy with it and had issues while setting it up and was shutting down on me. It could be just that unit. Next day morning, I returned and got a harmon Kardon before hitting the road. I used it to my trip and I am not impressed with it. They really have old data and sometimes it tells you to merge on to highways from no where. I should say I was lost while GPS was onboard. Anyways, then I went and got Garmin and worked like a charm :)

What's not to love about now having a young gorgeous strapping Australian man telling you where to go?

Oh and all the tech'y stuff works.

THE GARMIN NUVI 360 IS A MARVELIOUS DEVICE. WHEN FIRST INTRODUCED THE ASKING PRICE WAS MORE THAN TRIPLED THE PRICE I PAID FOR IT. WITH IT QUICK SATELLITE ACTIVATION, STREET BY STREET TURNS NAME RECONITION, AND EXTREMELY WELL DETAILED MAPS, THE GARMIN NUVI 360 HAS MADE ALL MY TRAVELS A JOY. I NOLONGER GET LOST, NOW THAT I FOUND THE GARMIN NUVI 360.

So far it fits the requirments I needed. The best thing is it has shopping menu which contains all kinds of stores address. Basically as long as you know the name of the store, you can go there. Also it is the same for gas station. But I have to say it's not updated so well. Once I want to find the nearest shell station because I'm almost ran out of oil. But the addresses is wrong, TWICE. I'm very close to call someone towing my car that day. So if you want to go to some gas station, go online to confirm first.
Other things are really good. Especially when you know the accurate address of the position you want to go. There are so many similar addresses with slight differences aroung. Like south, north, Dr, Blvd, or just different city. It's very confusing when you just look though the paper map. The only thing you need to be careful is that don't enter the wrong name.
You definitely need one.

After comparing several GPS products, I settled for this one, mainly because it tells you the street names. Often, there are more than one street to turn on to in the same intersection, and to hear "turn left on Elm Street", instead of just "turn left" (WHICH LEFT???) is really of great benefit. I have been using it now for several weeks, and I would not want to miss it anymore!

We just took a week-long road trip from Austin to Estes Park in Colorado and the nuvi had been an indispensable gadget for us:

1) The routing algorithm is excellent. The Nuvi gave us a different route than that from Google maps and I was skeptical at first since it asked us to go thorugh some smaller state highways from Austin to Amarillo. However, the route turned out to be faster since there're less traffic on those roads.
2) With a 7-month old in the car, we had to stop from time to time to change diapers. With the Nuvi, we could always find the nearest gas station or fast food restaurant using the POIs without having to worry about getting lost.
3) The altitude feature is interesing when we're driving through the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. The altitude defines what's the surrounding ecosystem and we could always check our altitude on the Nuvi.

A couple of improvements will make the Nuvi even better:
1) When we're leaving Amarillo and heading towards New Mexico, we're trying to look for McDonald's and all the top locations listed on the screen were in Amarillo. I wish there's a way to narrow down the choices of POIs by which direction the car is traveling.
2) Time zone change is not automatic. The nuvi should be smart to figure out we're crossing from Central Time to Mountain Time and adjust the arrival time accordingly.

Anyhow, given the price of the Nuvi 360, it's an awesome GPS.

Awesome in every way, but a little slow to initialize. However, I live directly in downtown so the buildings may interfere with the signal.