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Reviewed by UK Guest, 27th May 2007. |
| Review Summary: Highly Recommended |
Overall Score: 5/5
 
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Review: This Garmin Nuvi 310 car sat nav is an excellent piece of kit.
The first thing that strikes you is the build quality of the unit itself and the mounting accessories. The unit is solidly put together and the touch-screen responsive and simple to use. Both the suction windscreen mount and the attached cradle have clips which eject the unit and the mount easily and quickly - they are well designed and have that satisfactory feel of quality about them.
The software on the unit is responsive and well thought out. Routes are added and calculated quickly, and detours (e.g. to a petrol station) are easy to set up. You can type addresses and/or full UK postcodes, or select from a very useful range of points of interest (POIs as they call them); this means you can quickly find the nearest Tesco, Burger King, NCP or whatever else. There is even an option to find the `POI' nearest to your route, i.e. the unit will direct you to your destination with the smallest possible detour to a grocery shop, for example. Routes are quickly recalculated if you take a wrong turn, and the navigation software has so far correctly handled the complex one-way and gyratory systems near where I live in central London. In the map mode, you can either view in 3D or top-down; in the latter you are able to drag the map with your finger (like you do on Google Maps with your mouse) and select destinations manually. Unlike just about every other electronics manufacturer, Garmin have obviously sent a normal person out with one of these and got them to test it thoroughly and make suggestions. As a result the Nuvi is a pleasure to use.
The only problem I had was with the Bluetooth phone connection, which only started working reliably once I had upgraded my mobile phone firmware, the Nuvi firmware (easily done on the Garmin website) , and then pressed the `Troubleshoot' button in the Bluetooth settings menu. Using the phone on the Nuvi is very simple; you can browse the phone book and recent calls on-screen, use voice commands and even write text messages.
I would highly recommend you buy one.
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Ratings
| Value For Money: |
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5 |
| Review Score: |
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5 |
| Recommended? | |
Yes |
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Car Accessories