[elementownerswife]

My husband is a member of this site and loves it and is always looking for new ways to upgrade/improve his new element so i figured signing up may be a good idea for getting lots of ideas/advice for gifts to buy him. that being said, i've read old posts and it seems like the garmin nuvi 360 is a decent gps ? we have a hand-held but i'd like to get him one for his new element. i don't want to go cheap but also don't want to spend too much money. we don't have bluetooth or an iphone and has let his xm subscription lapse but may want it back in the future. he does use his ipod through the the mp3 input. would like to have something just for everyday travels/vacations, etc. does this sound like a good fit for us and is capatible with the element ? any suggestions/advice would be wonderful

 

[ramblerdan]

Welcome, Elementownerswife.

The Nuvi 360 is a good little unit; you should be happy with it.

 

[elementownerswife]

oh great, thanks for the quick response. i tend to go cheap on things and he's def. picky about certain items (this would be one of them) so i don't want him to think i made a bad choice so i know if people from here say it's ok, he'll trust my pick !

 

[markjaycups]

I was looking at a recertified nuvi 265wt on newegg, it looks like an awesome unit for cheap:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16858108364

It does have bluetooth and MP3 capability, so you may want to go a step down, but you can't beat the features for this price.

Just my two cents, hope it helps.

 

[DanTheMan102288]

Wow mark! Best Buy wants $329.00 :shock:

What a deal you got

 

[bh241]

You might want to go with something else. While the garmin Nuvi 300 series is a good GPS unit it was discontinued about a year ago. But, if that doesn't bother you there would probably be some deals to be had on it.

I'm thinking the 500 series replaced it, but I'm not certain about that.

I have the 350, and it's a great little gps unit.

 

[JSm00thJaZ3]

I purchased the 360 earlier this year from Amazon. I think I paid about $175, brand new. I was also able to upgrade to the latest maps. See the link below. New 360's are ranging from $150 - $390.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-3-5-In...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1243380889&sr=1-1

In addition, H and A was selling these for about $155. I am not sure if they still have these in stock, however, here is the link: http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54128

Good Luck.

 

[chiewable]

i bought this last week from Amazon and got it yesterday. it's a great little GPS and you can upgrade to 2010 maps within 60 days of turning your gps on

 

[scorsone]

I have the Nuvi 750 that I found for $200 online. Don't remember where but a Google shopping search will help you. The 750 has the wide screen and can have Bluetooth and the traffic deal if you step up to the 750t I believe. The big thing about the 750 line is the ability to have via points or multiple points along a route. The lower end models don't allow multiple point routing.

 

[elementownerswife]

thank you all so much for your input. i actually looked into the 750 and was able to get the wide-screen 750 for $155 at amazon. it is refurbished which i've read great reviews about, so hopefully this will work and the screen is still in good condition, etc. has anyone ever had a bad experience with refurbished ? i did read about the multi-point feature and realized it's probably worth the upgrade for this, but with the refurbished it ended up being the same price. i really hope he likes it ! thanks again

 

[NoRegrets78]

360 is great, loved mine!

 

[scorsone]

thank you all so much for your input. i actually looked into the 750 and was able to get the wide-screen 750 for $155 at amazon. it is refurbished which i've read great reviews about, so hopefully this will work and the screen is still in good condition, etc. has anyone ever had a bad experience with refurbished ? i did read about the multi-point feature and realized it's probably worth the upgrade for this, but with the refurbished it ended up being the same price. i really hope he likes it ! thanks again

The refurbished is good stuff. It is refurbished by Garmin so no worries. You still qualify for the 60 day map updates and Garmin support, which I must say has always been top notch for every time I have called them. You will be very happy with the 750.

I will search for it and get back to you about a program that lets you customize the voice prompts to make the GPS say phrases you choose rather than the pre-programed stuff. It can be very fun to change it up.

http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/TTSVoiceEditor

above is the link to the program...

 

[kjaba]

Just came across your post (Garmin Nuvi 360) so I may be too late to give you much help, but FWIW I have a Garmin Nuvi 350, bought a year or so ago, and it's one of the best additions I've made to my Element, not only for practical reasons but also because the thing is often so much fun.

Don't know if the Nuvi 360 comes with voice directions, but I would strongly advise not to get a Nuvi (or any GPS) without it. With voice directions you never have to take your eyes off the road to peer at a small screen on the dashboard. So far, Jill (you have your choice of several voices, among them "Jack" and "Jill") has never given us a wrong turn and, in fact, has picked out short cuts we didn't know existed. That's the practical part. The fun part is that "Jill" can't hide her exasperation if we don't take the turn she tells us to. When she says, "Recalculating," she just oozes exasperation. You almost expect her to mutter "Zheeesh! under her breath and you lean perilously close to apologizing to her. To top it off, Jill has a slight speech impediment. We live close to West River Road and she calls it "West Wiver Woad." We dare not snicker.

If you get the Nuvi, by all means get the weighted stand the Nuvi clicks onto. It's small, unobtrusive, and no matter how fast we've started, stopped, or turned, the unit never shifts on the dashboard. You'll love this thing. Good luck.

 

[scorsone]

I am partial to the voice "Karen" but that may just be because I have this thing for Aussie chicks.;-)

I used the TTS voice editor program (link in my previous post) to change the command from, "Off Route, Recalculating" to "Please wait, you didn't listen to me". The fun can only go as far as your imagination will let you.