Customer Reviews
Decent and worth the price
I replaced a well-used and outdated Magellan Meridian Color with this 1350LMT. It was time. The updates are absolutely necessary and worth the price of the new Garmin model... Read more
by AreGee
Garmin does good with minor exceptions...
I have a 3 year history of using Garmin products; my first GPS was from the 260 series. Three months ago I upgraded to the 1390 LMT model. Read more
by mwriter
Wouldn't be without!
I purchased this particular one for the lifetime free maps. It's easy to use as my other garmin is and as soon as I received it I went online and simply registered mine and... Read more
by Linda from Monessen
Happy, but...
Garmin makes a great GPS. I was happy to see the new features on this newer model vs my old Nuvi 360, like the ability to have more or less info show on the screen while driving... Read more
by M. Smith
Great GPS
I purchased the Garmin nüvi 1390LMT because my last GPS wanted me to make a left off a bridge...haha. This Garmin is easy to use. Read more
by Val
Garmin Nuvi 1390LMT
I find the 1390 easy to use and read while driving. The only regret is that there is no menu for uploading your own personal music onto this device.
by Cheryl E. Grant
Great, have had one glitch.
We had a Magellan before and it was horrible, mostly because it was outdated, which is why we went with this Garmin with Lifetime Map updates! So far it has been great. Read more
by S. Pyne
Nuvi 1300LM GPS
This my first GPS, though I got to use a TomTom for a while before getting my Garmin. I chose the Lifetime Maps feature as an obvious choice since new subdivisions and roads will... Read more
by Steve
Good Garmin
Even though I updated the maps, this Garmin still got "lost" recently. However, all the other advertised features work very well. Good item for the price.
by Stephan John
Garmin GPS Review
Thanks to some timely expedited shipping by Amazon (less than 12 hours-major props deserved there) the GPS unit arrived a day before we went to Ireland. Read more
by aglazier
This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1350 Series 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I've used this GPS for several weeks now and when it is fully charged it is absolutely great. The voice is loud and clear, the maps are accurate and detailed. It acquires satellites quickly, even in less than optimal circumstances with trees overhead or tall buildings nearby. It is easy to program and the onscreen menus are convenient. It is thin and reasonably light and portable and the screen is big. But it has one major problem: the cigarette-lighter charging system does not supply enough current to charge the GPS while it is turned on. It is unbelievable that Garmin would allow their unit to be sold under these conditions.
When I received the unit I completely charged the battery (by connecting it to my computer using a USB cable which Garmin does not supply, but I happened to have one anyway). Then I used it in my car, always plugged into the cigarette lighter. It turns on automatically whenever you start the car, and it turns off automatically when the ignition switch is turned off. However, over this two week period the battery slowly discharged (without my knowledge) until it reached a point where the unit would no longer turn on, even when plugged in to the car charger. Assuming the unit was defective, I called Garmin and (after 20 minutes on hold) learned that the car charger is not up to the task, and that the GPS will slowly lose its charge when it is turned on, even if you have it connected to the cigarette lighter adapter. I believe this means that if you have a long drive, perhaps 8 hours or more, then the unit may not even remain operational throughout the full trip. Other people have made similar complaints about some of the other Garmin GPS units.
The tech support people explained how to recover from the low battery situation: you do a "soft reset" which simply involves holding down the on/off button for 10 seconds. Then the unit will turn on, but the battery will need recharging. I was told to do this by connecting it to my computer using a USB cable, which Garmin does not supply with the GPS (fortunately I already had one), but I assume you could do the same by connecting it to the car charger and making certain that the unit is turned off while it is charging.
What a shame that Garmin has produced a superior product with a fatal defect. I will keep mine for now, but I'm going to investigate other charging solutions. Perhaps after reading this review, the wizards at Garmin will redesign the charging system for this GPS.
Update (Aug 1/09): I discovered the reason for these charging issues: In the User's Manual, under "Troubleshooting", Garmin states that the Nuvi will not charge if it is in direct sunlight or if the temperature is more than 113 degrees F (45 deg C). Since I had my unit attached to the windshield, and since I only drive during midday, it is always in sunlight. This charging rule applies to many other models as well; for any given model you can download the manual from Garmin, turn to the Troubleshooting section, and see whether or not they describe a similar charging rule. (The rule is meant to avoid overheating the battery: lithium batteries can occasionally catch fire if they are severely overcharged or overheated.) I think this explains why some people have encountered charging problems and others have not: it depends on whether or not the unit is always in direct sunlight while you are driving. Some people use the friction mount and their Garmin sits on the console. Others drive later in the day or at night.
