Garmin nüvi 370 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

Now you can go from North America to Europe without loading any more maps with the Garmin's transatlantic nüvi 370 Personal Travel Assistant. This pocket-sized personal travel assistant comes with built-in street maps for both continents, making traveling abroad as easy as getting off the plane. The nüvi 370 is loaded with convenience features such as a travel kit and hands-free calling, on top of which it provides you with even more maps and an integrated traffic receiver.

The nüvi 370 comes with built-in street maps for both continents, making traveling abroad so easy. See side view.

Keep track of all of your speed and timed information on one single screen.

The 370's travel kit menu delivers access to audio books, pictures, and more.

Despite being loaded with features, the nüvi 370 still allows you to navigate with ease. This unit comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded NavTeq City Navigator NT street maps for both North America and Europe, and includes a hefty points of interest (POIs) database with hotels, restaurants, fuel stops, ATMs and more. Simply touch the super-bright, sunlight-readable color screen to enter a destination, and the 370 takes you there with either 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. This navigator voice even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road, and can concentrate on your driving to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. In addition, the 370 accepts custom points of interest (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras, and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs that require your special consideration such as speed zones and safety cameras.

Speaking of keeping you safe, the nüvi 370 lets you make hands-free calls so you can talk freely during your worry-free driving. By integrating Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker, you can pair your nüvi with any compatible Bluetooth phone and talk hands-free while staying focused on the road. You no longer have to fumble with your phone's handset to answer a call or dial a number, just tap the 370's screen and you're instantly connected. And with 1-touch dialing for your POIs, you can quickly and conveniently call ahead to make reservations or get needed information.

You can also avoid tie-ups and steer clear of traffic with the nüvi 370's integrated FM TMC traffic receiver. This unit allows you to receive alerts about road construction and traffic problems that lie ahead on your route. Simply touch the nüvi's screen to view traffic details or change your route so you can detour around the problem area. All of which can be customized with configurable vehicle icons that let you choose individual car-shaped icons in a variety of colors that show your position on the map.

In additional to all this functionality, the nüvi 370 includes many must-have entertainment and travel tools such as an MP3 player, an audio book player (subscription to Audible.com required), and a JPEG picture viewer so you can take your favorite music and pictures with you wherever you go. This unit also features a world travel clock with time zones, a currency converter, a measurement converter, and a calculator so that wherever you travel it will be easy to know what you are getting and keep track of your costs. The MP3 player lets you browse music by artist, album, and/or song, while the optional audio books may be purchased from Audible.com which features over 70,000 hours of audio programs. What's more, the nüvi 370 allows further customization via optional software such as travel guide, savings programs and language translation on plug-and-play SD cards for all your travel needs.

The Garmin nüvi 370 comes with a built-in, high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, and lets you view and operate it via its bright, LCD TFT touch-screen display that measures 2.8 x 2.1 inches (W x H) and has a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels with 64,000 colors and a white backlight. As a whole, the nüvi 370 measures 3.87 x 2.91 x 0.87 inches (W x H x D), and weighs only 5.1 ounces for easy portability. This unit provides you with from four to eight hours of battery life (depending on use) via its rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and comes with Garmin Lock, which is an anti-theft feature to protect your investment. While you can add software via the SD card slot, the Garmin nüvi 370 also lets you interface via high-speed USB for loading data, though users should note that, like most USB mass storage devices, this unit is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.

What's in the Box
Garmin nüvi 370, City Navigator NT maps for North America and Europe (preloaded, full coverage), FM traffic receiver, vehicle suction cup mount, AC charger, vehicle power cable, dashboard disk, USB cable, carrying case, quick reference guide and, owner's manual.

Customer Review: Great Little Unit
I am impressed with the Garmin Nuvi 370. The fact that it is portable makes my life easier. I can stick the unit in my pocket travel on foot, bike or Motorcycle and with a quick startup find out where I am. The Maps are easy to read, the navigation has good options and recalculated pretty quick if driver error happens (that is I take a wrong turn). Overall I do rate the unit highly and with the language translator and European maps, I plan to take the Nuvi with me on my next European adventure.
Customer Review: Trust but verify
I've had the unit for a few months. It changes the way we drive in that we can focus more on the road and less on the signs. Unfortunately, it does makes mistakes. On more than one occasion we were told to get off at places that made no sense. When I knew the roads, I just ignored the instructions but it's not so great when one doesn't know the route. What I like most is that I use the unit to listen to my audio books and the unit cuts in rather talks over the speaker. I believe that makes for a safer trip. Some of the interfaces are not as smooth as they could be. For example, when placing a call it should assume you want to call the place you're driving to as a default. It doesn't. Overall, I like it very much.

I will never again be without a GPS system on a trip.

Are they are really worth it?

Have you ever wondered:

First of all, when bringing it home and taking it out of the box, came my first pleasant surprise. No long descriptions , setting up, programming, or long lengthy descriptions. I pressed a button, and it was ready to go, only a few seconds to find its satellite. Of course, the battery was not fully charged, but it was not completely dead either. For details on all the features, the instructions were simple, straightforward, and they worked. This was the first of many amazing things I found when first getting acquainted with my GPS.

How often would I use it?

I had all these concerns and questions and probably some I have forgotten before I decided I would spend what was to me a lot of money for another "toy". I had planned an auto trip to Chicago, had never been there, and the thoughts of finding my reserved hotel in a city that size was daunting to say the least. But, at least, I had the incentive and excuse to buy one, I could justify it to my spouse.

Leo Pete

Are they too complicated for the ordinary guy or gal to use?

It was very soon, I learned my first lesson. It will try to direct you the shortest route. Being in my own neighborhood, I knew that my way was best, because of street conditions, traffic, less traffic lights, etc. So, always, common sense must be used, if you have knowledge the device is not aware of. It will send you on 2-lane highway if it is shorter than an interstate for example. I understand some have other options when selecting routes.

Is a GPS Tracking Device for You?

I took out my trusted Atlas, and roughly figured the best route, and even in Chicago itself, familiarized myself as much as possible, about the general area, major thoroughfares, etc., still not fully convinced my newly purchased friend would get me there.

On the day of departure, I entered my street and city destination, diligently positioned my device on my windshield, and started my journey.

I used it again the way home, because it is fun, and kept me informed where the eating places were and how to get there.

Naturally the ultimate test was, will it perform the way all the advertising claims, which is , will it get you where you want to go?

Another of the great pluses when using a GPS device is the ability, no matter where you are, to check for restaurants, places to see, lodging and other useful information. With the easy touch selection screen, make your selection, and it will direct you there. What a time-saver!

If you do not make the turn it wants you to, it will quickly recalculate, and give you the next option, and will come around to coincide with your route when you also going in the general direction. It is this feature that absolutely prevents you from being lost. I know from experience what can happen when a wrong exit is taken. You can get hopelessly lost in 1-way streets, winding curves and miles from where you should be. I purposely used exits and turns I knew were not in my route plans, and the GPS system immediately was recalculating and telling me the turns to get me back on route.

By the time I left, I knew of a better well-traveled, but a little longer route from our lodging to the Interstate. But the GPS device had done its work well.

When arriving near the Chicago suburbs, I followed both the maps and voice directions all the way to our lodging. Reviewing the route we followed, I could not help wonder, how long it would have taken to figure it all out.