njxbean

I have a garmin nuvi 350. I was thinking about getting the traffic receiver for it. I was curious if anyone had this and could tell me if it works well. Also, is there a monthly subscription? how much is it? Anyone use it in the NYC area? Thanks.

njxbean

No one has one of these?

Bobster

If you don't get an answer here, try http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/default.asp?group=2

Seahawk_6

I have it for the 660...I suspect it's the same. I love it, especially when I'm in a non-home city and don't know my way around very well or the typical traffic patterns.

njxbean

Does it automatically re route you if your trip is going to hit traffic?

Seahawk_6

Not 100% sure...I think there's a setting to do it automatically, but I haven't looked for it. I just hit the "Detour" button that's presented and that takes care of it for me.

Pureboy

I'm also a 660 owner, and yes, if in the Navigation options you select "avoid traffic," it will do so. I've used it in AZ, CA, and now PA, NJ and NY, and I have mixed reports. If you are mainly travelling within a city, or a commute of an hour or less, it can be a godsend. It picks up slow traffic, accidents, and road construction. However, the accuracy depends on location. AZ (Phoenix) info was very good, if not perfectly accurate (accidents reported that have already been cleared, slow traffic no longer so slow, etc.). I didn't encounter traffic in CA. But I've been heading out from PA (near philly) to NYC/NJ for the last 5 or so weekends, and sometimes the avoid traffic setting is just a bit too... skittish. In what is normally a 1.5-2 hour trip, it sent me through highways instead of faster freeway/turnpikes. While much more scenic, I doubted if it really made up time. Sure enough, on the way back, I decided to ignore its requests to get off the turnpike early to take local roads, and all of a sudden the ETA would be shorter once it recalculated to the normal turnpike route!

Also, the bridge/tunnel situation in NYC can change dramatically in minutes. The traffic data for these instances simply does not update quick enough.

I think the receiver is worthwhile overall, especially if you aren't checking traffic reports on TV/radio, or are in unfamiliar territory, and most useful for medium commutes. However, for longer trips, it is best taken with a grain of salt, and a local traffic report on the radio.

One last thing. Not sure about the 300 series, but my 660 is very prone to crashes/freezes. Not the biggest deal, requiring a hit of the power button or the reset tab, but one of the functions it most commonly freezes on is pressing the yellow exclaimation "show traffic" button.

Seahawk_6

Really? I've owned mine since January and it's never crashed once...and I use the FM modulator to play music and the prompts over my car stereo and Bluetooth for my cell...all at the same time I've got the traffic receiver running. No problems for me. Are you running the latest software?

Pureboy

Yup. Crashes all the time. You have a 660?

Seahawk_6

Yeah. I literally have never had a single crash or freeze (owned it for 6 months now), and I run the thing full-bore all the time. Weird.

sapman986

Same here on my 660. It hasn't crashed once.

I used the traffic feature during the trial period here in the Metro NY and Northern NJ area and didn't find it particularly useful This, as mentioned before, is probably a function of the traffic information not being timely enough to be of any great benefit.

Pureboy

Hmm... Methinks I should have a little talk with Mr. Garmin.

elCheapoDeluxe

I had the 350 with the traffic receiver and it was great. Used it all the time. My biggest complaint: I routed the power and traffic cables behind the dash so they would be out of the way, but the traffic cable must plug into the side of the nuvi seperately since the harness only has a place for the power cable. Relatively minor, but not the clean dock and go I would have liked. One more thing to fumble with.

I just got the nuvi 680 and find its traffic information is even more up to date. The 680 uses the MSN Direct service instead of the ClearChannel service, and MSN Direct has more bandwidth apparently. Another nice feature of the 680 is that the receiver and a battery are built into your charger cable. You can take your nuvi out and put it in your glove box and the receiver (not even connected to your nuvi, mind you) will still listen for updates for about 8 hours, working off its own battery. Then the minute you plug your nuvi back in the cradle, you've already got updated information ready and waiting. The 350 would take about five minutes to get a traffic update most of the time after you plugged it back in.

Word to the wise: be careful about that windshield mount. I have had two problems with it. Problem a: the rubber would melt to your windshield on a hot day sometimes. You could rip it off the windshield, but you will never get the rubber ring off your glass and the newly rough edge on the suction cup would never stick to a windshield again. Problem b: that thing can be lethal in an accident. I was in a pretty major car crash a couple of weeks ago (it killed my 350, thus the new 680). The windshield (along with the entire front end of the car) was impacted pretty hard by a ford econoline cargo van. The GPS became a projectile that left huge gashes in my forehead. Spent a few hours with the plastic surgeon after that one. I'm not sure how much better it will be, but I'm definitely mounting on the dash board and not the windshield now.... Just something to consider.

- cheapo