Review on 🗺️ Garmin nuvi 1350 Series – 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Discontinued by Manufacturer) by Original Mansel

I've been using this GPS for a few weeks now and when it's fully charged it's just great. The voice is loud and clear, the maps are accurate and detailed. It quickly acquires satellites even in sub-optimal conditions such as trees or tall buildings nearby. It's easy to program and the on-screen menus are user-friendly. It's thin, relatively light and portable, and has a large screen. But it has one major problem: the cigarette lighter charging system doesn't provide enough power to charge the GPS when it's on. It's incredible that Garmin would allow its device to be sold on such terms. When I received the device, I fully charged the battery (by connecting it to my computer with a USB cable, which Garmin doesn't include, but I had one anyway). ). I then used it in my car, always plugged into the cigarette lighter. It turns on automatically when you start the car and turns off automatically when you turn off the ignition. However, during those two weeks, the battery slowly (unbeknownst to me) drained to a point where the device would not turn on, even when connected to a car charger. Assuming the unit was faulty, I called Garmin and found (after waiting 20 minutes) that the car charger wasn't up to the task and that the GPS was slowly blanking when turned on, even when you had it plugged in. to the cigarette lighter adapter. I believe this means that on a long trip, maybe 8 hours or more, the device might not even work for the entire trip. Other people have made similar complaints about some other Garmin GPS devices. The tech support folks explained how to recover from a low battery: they perform a "soft reset" by simply holding the power button for 10 seconds. The device then turns on, but the battery needs to be charged. I've been told to do this by plugging it into a computer with a USB cable, which Garmin doesn't ship with the GPS (fortunately I already had one), but I assume you can do the same by connecting it to a car charger and make sure the device is switched off while charging. Too bad Garmin released a superior product with fatal behavior. I'll leave mine for now, but I'll look into other charging solutions. Maybe Garmin will change the charging system for this GPS after reading this review. Update (01 Aug 2009): I have found the cause of these charging issues: The Nuvi will not charge when in direct sunlight or above 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius). Since my device was attached to the windshield and I only drive at noon, it's always in the sun. This loading rule also applies to many other models; For any specific model, you can download the manual from the Garmin website, go to the Troubleshooting section and see if there is a similar charging rule described there. (This rule is probably to prevent overheating of the battery: lithium batteries can sometimes catch fire when heavily overcharged or overheated.) I think this explains why some people have charging problems and others don't: it's always directly device related sunlight while driving. Some people use a friction mount and their Garmin mounts on the console. Others drive later in the day or at night.