ok to buy dicontinued garmin nuvi?

December 1, 2008 11:44 AM

Can anyone give me a reason not to get a Garmin nüvi 350 just because it has been discontinued by Garmin?

This has the features I want, and we are a bit of a garmin shop at home. Just curious if there is a reason to switch to a different model that replaced it that doesn't have as much of a positive track record. It is online at really reasonable prices, and I would like to get it for my mom who isn't terribly technical.

posted by Amby72 to technology (6 comments total)

Must spend more time previewing. meant to title it discontinued*.
posted by Amby72 at 11:50 AM on December 1, 2008

I hear of nothing but good things regarding the Nuvi. I've also experienced great customer support with Garmin for my Forerunner 305.

I wouldn't worry that it's been discontinued. If it has all of the features you want, go for it. If it craps out during the warranty period you'll either have it replaced with a refurbished unit (like my experience) or they'll give you the next comparable model.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 12:05 PM on December 1, 2008

The upside is they've likely worked out pretty much all the bugs in the firmware, and it'll be cheapish. The downside is map updates will cease sooner than for a current model. For example, early streetpilots can no longer download new maps due to a format change. Also, an older model will be more likely to have outdated maps to start with, which you may need to pay for - though I think they've got a new maps guarantee now, so that may be less of a problem.

The biggest issue with a GPS is out of date maps. Nothing more annoying than it trying to direct you down a route that only goes to a dead end now, or avoiding a new high capacity road because it doesn't know there's a junction for it.
posted by ArkhanJG at 12:07 PM on December 1, 2008

I bought a refurbished Nuvi 350 about a month ago, and it's been great. It came with the newest (2008) map set and has worked very well.

Your mom probably won't use this "feature" but if you buy her the nuvi and feel like nerding around with it, touch the signal bars on the main menu - it'll show you the satellite status screen, which I find most amusing.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 12:28 PM on December 1, 2008

It's a great little SatNav.
posted by A189Nut at 1:17 PM on December 1, 2008

I was going to say the same thing that others mentioned — Garmin may not offer updated maps in a format compatible with the 350. It wouldn't hurt to call them at 800-800-1020 and see if it this is true. (I have an older Garmin, am very pleased with it, and have had good experiences with their tech support.)
posted by davcoo at 4:28 PM on December 1, 2008