Testing the Garmin nuvi 360 GPS

We have been testing the new Garmin nüvi 360 personal GPS model for two weeks. After testing it around our neighborhood, on streets we know well, and testing the unit on the open road, we are very happy with the results.

Close-up on start menu

Portability is one of the best advantages to the Garmin nüvi 360. It is very small (about the size of a pocket-sized digital camera) and weighs next to nothing, so the nüvi 360 can easily be slipped into a pocket or purse for city walking. With a long-lasting rechargeable lithium ion battery, you can be completely mobile for up to 8 hours. The screen is 2.8” W x 2.1” H (3.5” diag.), 320 x 240 pixels; bright, TFT display, 64K colors, with white backlight and a touch screen. The unit weighs only 5.1 ounces.

The box includes the GPS unit, a nice carrying slip-case, an electric power cord, a cigarette-lighter charger, a USB connector, instruction manuals and a suction-cup mount. The nüvi 360 arrived preloaded with maps for USA, Canada and Puerto Rico. You can also order an European version, or order memory cards with the European information for your next Roman Holiday. Everything you will need is included in the box! Good thing, too, as the nüvi 360 is very expensive.

Expensive or not, the Nüvi's are flying off the shelves because they are not only a complete GPS system, but are a personal travel companion - a concierge in your pocket. Bubba is driving the motorhome and I have the nüvi 360 mounted to the window next to the passenger seat - easily accessible as needed. All I needed to do was power-up the Garmin nüvi 360 and flip up the antenna and within seconds, the unit had locked to the satellites above and we were in business.

Teeny, but loaded: The nüvi 360 in action at a rest area in Northern
California. The antenna is flipped-up and the unit is attached to the
window with a removable suction-cup mount and is powered with the
electric cord via our inverter.

The START MENU SCREEN is bright and the words are large and easy to read. The satellite signal strength is on the top left corner, battery strength indicator and the current time appear on the right. There is a small wrench icon along the right column for setting adjustments (see below for details) and a megaphone icon for volume and screen brightness adjustments. The main choices from the MENU are WHERE TO?, VIEW MAP and TRAVEL KIT.

WHERE TO? This is the main navigational area on the GPS and the area you will use most. It is simple to use, you really needn't even bother with the instruction booklet. After entering our destination address and saving it in "Favorites", I touched the "GO" button on the touch-screen and the route is instantaneously calculated. A map appears on the screen, your arrival time is noted on the lower left corner and the next turn is noted on the right. Touch the arrival time corner and a new screen appears showing your average and max speeds, moving time, stopped time, time traveled. Your current speed and direction are noted on the top and there are also two odometers - one showing how many miles you have driven and one showing how many miles to reach your destination. Touching the top left corner (at the satellite signal strength icon) of the start menu takes you to the view of the satellites above, noting which satellites are triangulating by your nüvi 360. This screen also shows your elevation, your GPS coordinates and your present speed.

Here is a list of all the information available from the WHERE TO? menu on the start page. All of the options immediately locate the closest options (by distance) but also allow you to type-in the name of a restaurant, RV park, shop, etc. for a detailed search. Each location found will display the address and phone number too.

ADDRESS: Use this option for typing in a known address. The nüvi 360 starts with a state search, then asks for the city name. Type in a few letters and a list of possibilities will appear. The touch-type screen keyboard is easy to use - bright blue keys with white letters - and are in alphabetical order, not laid-out as a type writer keyboard (this is a feature that needs to be changed). You can switch easily from letters to numbers or symbols.

FOOD: All Food, American, Asian, Barbecue, British Isles (pubs show up here), Cafe/Diner, Chinese, Deli/Bakery, Fast Food, French, German, International, Italian, Mexican, Seafood, Specialty Food Products, Steak/Grill.

LODGING: No categories here, they are just listed by proximity. Hotel, motels, resorts and campgrounds. We found better luck returning a larger list of campgrounds if we did a search for "RV" in the lodging section.

MY LOCATIONS: Use this area to save and organize your favorite locations. There are four categories here - GO HOME, FAVORITES, RECENT SELECTIONS and MY CURRENT LOCATION. This area is useful for noting addresses you may be needing on a trip, and MY CURRENT LOCATION is great for saving a location to your favorites - press SAVE, name the location and you are done.

FUEL: No categories here, gas stations are listed by proximity, but you have the option of typing in the name of a station or brand if the station you are looking for does isn't near by - the nüvi 360 will find it for you - even if it is hundreds of miles away.

INTERSECTIONS: This icon takes you to a search, starting with the state, narrowing down to city. This would be useful if you need to find (for example) Smith and 5th Street. Not so sure we will be using this feature much.

ATTRACTIONS: All Attractions, Amusement/Theme Parks, Arena/Track (horse and auto racing show up here), Hall/Auditorium, Landmark, Museum/Historical, Park/Garden and don't forget Winery!

SHOPPING: All Shopping, Apparel, Computer/Software, Convenience, Department, General Merchandise (Wal-Mart showed up here), Grocery (great for RVers!), Home Furnishings, House & Garden, Pharmacy/Chemist, Shopping Centers (Malls,etc.) and Specialty Retail.

PARKING: Nearest parking lots, but also lists airport parking lots.

ENTERTAINMENT: All Entertainment, Bar/Nightclub, Casino, Live Theater and Movie Theater.

RECREATION: All Recreation, Amusement/Theme Park, Arena/Track, Bowling Center, Golf Course (yes!), Park/Garden, Skiing Center/Resort and Sports/Fitness Center.

COMMUNITY: All Community, Bank/ATM (GREAT!), Border Crossing, City Hall, Community Center, Court House, Fire Department, Government Office, Library, Place of Worship, Police Station, Post Office (WONDERFUL!), School and Utility.

CITIES: This opens to a list of the closest cities from your present location. If you want to know how far it is from here to there, just type-in the name of the city and it will tell you.

BROWSE MAP: Shows your current location on a map. Want to look around? Use the zoom in/zoom out icons on the touch screen or actually MOVE THE MAP by simply dragging it with your finger - very cool feature!

HOSPITALS: Lists the closest hospitals and medical centers. I never saw a dentist in this section, so either they are not listed or everyone in Central California has perfect teeth.

TRANSIT: All Transit, Air Transportation, Auto Rental, Ground Transportation (local bus service) and Transit Service (taxi and limo services).

AUTO SERVICES: All Auto Services, Auto Rental, Auto Repair, Automobile Club (nearest AAA, etc.), Car Wash, Dealer/Auto Parts, Parking, Rest Area/Tourist Info, Truck Stop (great for RVers!) and Wrecker Service (hope you never need this one!).

COORDINATES: Know where you are going? Use the touch-screen to type-in the coordinates and you are on your way!

Let's test the system. We are getting low on fuel, so want to find a truck stop or gas station.

Look at that! Not only does the Nüvi find a long list of gas stations (you can just keep scrolling down for more) and truck stops, it gives you the address and phone number - making it easier than ever to phone ahead for reservations or information. We really liked the phone number feature.

BLUETOOTH
If you happen to have a Bluetooth phone, you can integrate it into the unit for hands-free dialing and use the built-in microphone and speakers for a hands-free conversation. When we paired a Bluetooth phone to the nüvi 360 (no kidding, it took 30 seconds!) the GPS suddenly had the entire address book from the phone and we could scroll down the list to make a call. You can switch between the phone and the nüvi 360 speaker phone with one touch.

TOOLS
Here are the details of options available at the TOOLS section:

MAP: MAP DETAIL: Want to see every golf course, road, park and park along the route, or just want to see the basic route? Five options here to chose how much map detail you wish to see. MAP VIEW: Track up, North up or 3D. We have been using the default 3-D view, and like it just fine. MAP OUTLINES: on or off, but I can't tell the difference on this option. VEHICLE: Here you can change the icon on the map to show a blue sports car, a blue truck, a blue SUV or a blue arrow.

SYSTEM: WAAS/EGNOS: An even more accurate GPS locator system. SAFE MODE and an ANTI-THEFT device. TOUCH TONES: Have the nüvi 360 beep when you touch the screen... or don't.

LOCALE: This is a fun area! First set up your local from a list of countries. Then select a language. We use American English, but had fun with British and Australian English. The nüvi 360 can operate in 40 different languages. (I suppose this could be useful if your taxi driver is lost in Turkey?) You can also select a male or female voice. When choosing a voice, be sure to choose one with a TSS option. TSS reads street names, meaning directions will say "turn left on Main Street", instead of "turn left in 100 feet". Here you can also chose between a 12-hour AM/PM clock or 24 hour (military), set your time zone and daylight savings time option and decide between miles and kilometers.

DISPLAY: Use this area to choose screen brightness, backlight timeout, take a screen shot and choose your screen saver.

NAVIGATION: ROUTE PREFERENCE: options for faster time, shorter distance or off-road. VEHICLE: Choices include car, motorcycle, pedestrian, bicycle, truck, bus, emergency or taxi. In the RV, we have switched our vehicle to "bus". AVOIDANCES: touch the check-boxes to avoid traffic, u-turns (eeks!), highways, unpaved roads, toll roads, ferries or carpool lanes. ATTENTION TONES: set the nüvi 360 to ding right before instructions are sounded, so you can pay attention! We found this a bit annoying, so turned the feature off. VOICE PROMPTS: Turn them off, just get the basic instructions, or have the voice tell where to go and when to turn. BLUETOOTH: Use this area to set up communication between your GPS and your Bluetooth-enables cell phone or laptop. TRAFFIC: This is an add-on subscription feature available through Garmin for instant traffic and accident updates. The nüvi 360 equipped with the optional traffic receiver can get you around a traffic jam before you know it is in your future.

VIEW MAP: Touching this icon on the START MENU simply takes you to a map of your present location. A bar across the top of the map gives your current set of instructions, large enough to read at a (safety-first!) glance. With the voice-over directions, it simply isn't necessary to look at the map. The lower left corner of the map screen shows your estimated time of arrival. This time changes during the day, depending upon your speed and stops. The lower right corner has the next turn or exit instruction. Touch the icon and you can hear the next directions in advance. The map itself holds zoom in and zoom out buttons and shows your little car tooling down the road. Touch the blue MENU icon on the lower center screen to return to the START MAIN MENU.

TRAVEL KIT: This is where the Garmin nüvi 360 gets really personal and the unit becomes your entertainment on the road, or on a long plane ride.

LANGUAGE GUIDE: Buy optional software from garmin.com for dictionaries in many languages and use this feature to get around in a language you do not know. Need to ask if dogs are allowed at your campground in Portugal (in Portuguese)? It's in there. You can order two beers in about 40 different languages. Interesting thing? You don't even have to speak. Touch the icon, let the bartender have a listen and the nüvi 360 will order for you! Written or spoken, this would be a great tool when your Russian gets a little rusty. Hundreds of scenarios, thousands of words. Garmin includes a few samplings with the nüvi 360, but you will need to buy additional cards if you are serious about this feature.

TRAVEL GUIDE: Another add-on option. The city software include listings provided by Marco Polo and Fodor's for restaurants, hotels and city overviews - museums, sights, gardens, etc.

SAVERSGUIDE is add-on coupon and discount software, provided by the same people who offer the Entertainment books.

MP3 PLAYER: Put your tunes in your nüvi 360. Only mp3 files will work, the system is not compatible with iPod.

AUDIBLE BOOK PLAYER: Do you subscribe to Audible.com? Put your audio books in your nüvi 360 and listen to a book while you are on the road.

PICTURE VIEWER: The unit also has room for your favorite photos. Don't drag around a photo album of the grandkids - put their mugs on your GPS and set it up for a slide show.

WORLD CLOCK: What time is it in Rome? Sydney? The nüvi 360 knows and will give you the time and date in 95 cities around the world. There is also a world map, showing the movement of daylight around the earth... making you seem very small indeed.

CURRENCY CONVERTER: How much did you just pay for fuel in Manitoba? The Garmin can convert 130 world-wide currencies and even has room to add-in a custom currency if you happen to be really "away".

MEASUREMENT CONVERTER: Convert area, distance, speed, temperature, volume and weight with the help of your little pocket-sized friend.

CALCULATOR: Just a calculator, plain and simple.

In review, the Garmin nüvi 360 is a great little personal navigational system. It worked well during our tests and was easy to operate. When first using the unit, it is advised to download the most recent software from garmin.com. I did this with no difficulty, but they offer support if you have troubles. (I even tested their customer service by placing a "dumb question" call and they were great and quick.) The nüvi 360 will now always be in our RV - or in my purse - on our travels and I happily recommend the products.

My photos aren't so great, so I suggest you visit the Garmin website for more information and better screen shots. Already, newer models have been introduced, but the above information will give you a good idea as to what a Garmin GPS has to offer.

Travel safe!