Garmin nüvi 1300 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

List Price : $169.99
Price : $88.99
You Save : $81.00 (48%)

Product Description

Edition: 1300
Amazon.com Product Description
The thin nüvi® 1300 has a widescreen display, yet it’s slim and light enough to take along on all your travels. This affordable GPS comes with regional mapping, announces streets by name, offers pedestrian navigation options and calculates a more fuel-efficient route with ecoRoute™.Navigate City TransitWith its enhanced pedestrian navigation capabilities, nüvi 1300 is the perfect travel companion for getting around town. Download optional cityXplorer™ content to help you navigate city public transit. Know where to walk, where to catch the bus, subway, tram or other transportation and how long it will take to get there. It easily fits in your pocket or purse. cityXplorer maps are available for select cities throughout North America and Europe. And with prices as low as $9.99, you'll have money left over to spend in the big city.

Just over a half-inch thick with a 4.3-inch widescreen display. Click to enlarge.

The device announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. Click to enlarge.

Garmin greets you with two simple questions: "Where to?" and "View Map." Simply plug and play. Click to enlarge.

An ultra-thin GPS navigator with great Garmin features like CityXplorer and ecoRoute. Click here for an interactive demoSee MoreWith nüvi 1300's widescreen display, you'll always get the big picture. View map detail, driving directions, photos and more in bright, brilliant color. Its sunlight-readable, 4.3" (10.92 cm) display is easy to read — from any direction.Get Turn-by-Turn Directionsnüvi 1300's intuitive interface greets you with two simple questions: "Where To?" and "View Map." Touch the color screen to easily look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination. It comes preloaded with City Navigator® NT street maps for the continental U.S., Hawaii and Puerto Rico or one European region or country (click versions tab to view all), millions of points of interest (POIs), and 2-D or 3-D maps. Its digital elevation maps show you shaded contours at higher zoom levels, giving you a big picture of the surrounding terrain. With the 1300's enhanced user interface, you can slide your finger to conveniently scroll between screens. You also can upload custom points of interest (POIs). And with HotFix® satellite prediction, nüvi calculates your position faster to get you there quicker.Go Beyond NavigationNavigation is just the beginning. nüvi 1300 saves you gas and money with ecoRoute — a green feature that calculates the most fuel-efficient route, tracks fuel usage and more. The 1300 includes many travel tools, including JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. With photo navigation, you can download pictures from Garmin Connect™ Photos and navigate to them. It's also compatible with lifetime traffic alerts (receiver purchase required). With its "Where Am I?" emergency locator, you always know your location. Simply tap the screen to get your exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and fuel stations. The 1300 features Garmin Lock™, an anti-theft feature, and is compatible with our free Garmin Garage™ where you can download custom custom voices and vehicles. Enhance your travel experience with optional plug-in microSD™ cards.What's in the Boxnüvi 1300, Preloaded City Navigator® NT data for the lower 48 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico (no Alaska or Canada detail), Vehicle suction cup mount, Vehicle power cable, and Quick start manualCompare all Garmin nüvisClick the button below to compare by series, user type, and features.
Visit Garmin.com at https://www8.garmin.com/support/download.jsp to get the latest firmware updates for your nüvi to keep it current and performing at its best.
The NUVI1300 4.3" Ultra Thin GPS Navigator features a wide screen ultra slim design (approximately 25% thinner than previous models), enhanced user interface, ecoRoute, public transit mode and text-to-speech. The nuvi 1300 offers pedestrian navigation capability enabled through optional CityXplorer maps. CityXplorer maps are available for select tourist destinations in North America and Europe and can easily be downloaded directly to the nuvi. The nuvi's enhanced user interface features improved graphics and a new slide control for menu operation, while ecoRoute suggests fuel-efficient routes to save drivers money and fuel. Also, Garmin's new public transit mode allows you to navigate using buses, tramway, metro and suburban rail systems. ecoRoute - Drivers can view suggestions for fuel-efficient navigation, conserving both money and fuel Public transit - Navigate using buses, tramway, metro and suburban rail systems with optional CityXplorer content. Available for download at garmin site. Where Am I? feature - Find the closest hospitals, police stations, gas stations, nearest address, intersection and coordinates Bright 4.3 diagonal color display; 480 x 272 pixels; WQVGA TFT display with white backlight Trip computer records mileage, max speed, total time and more Built-in travel kit includes features such as picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters and calculator MicroSD memory card expansion slot Offers a 3-D mapping perspective, or 2-D overhead view Unit dimensions - 4.8W x 2.9H x 0.6D; Weight - 5.7 ounces. Built-in lithium-ion battery - Lasts up to four hours depending on usage. Includes sturdy suction cup mount that allows for easy adjustment and quick release POI loader program - Set up proximity alerts for school zones, create custom POIs and more

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 4.8 x 2.9 inches ; 5.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001U0O7T4
• Item model number: 010-00782-40
• Batteries: 1 Lithium ion batteries required. (included)
  

Technical Details

• Widescreen ultra-slim GPS design with 4.3-inch WQVGA touchscreen display; interface features improved graphics
• Pre-loaded with City Navigator 48 States NT maps, including millions of name-searchable points of interest
• Pedestrian navigation capability enabled through optional CityXplorer maps; ecoRoute suggests fuel-efficient routes to save drivers money and fuel
• Public transit mode allows you to navigate using buses, tramway, metro, and suburban rail systems
• Turn-by-turn directions with spoken street names (text-to-speech)

 

Garmin nüvi 1300 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

 

Customer Reviews

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.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the Garmin nuvi 1350 but I do have a couple of minor complaints.
First of all, I do recommend that owners/potential buyers visit the Garmin web site to read through all of the product information and to review the FAQs. Some folks have made an issue of Garmin not including the USB cable with the device but this did not matter to me. The required cable is a standard type "A" to mini "B" USB cable. Many other devices use this same cable and I already own a couple of them. (I also heard that if you contact Garmin customer service, they may send you a cable at no charge.) Other reasons to visit the Garmin site: to register the product, to download the full PDF manual and to install the "my Garmin Agent Plugin" for web updates.
Next, my quibbles:
When the 1350 is plugged into a charging device (PC or vehicle), there is no way to determine when the unit is fully charged. This is very inconvenient. To view the charge level, you have to unplug the device and turn it on. Only then can you see the battery level. According to the Garmin FAQs, charge time is about 4 hours using the vehicle cable and 8 hours using the PC cable.
One of the features of the 1350 is the speed limit display. However, I find this to be of limited value. The speed display is frequently 5 to 10 mph too high compared with the actual posted speeds on the roads being traveled. As a result, this throws off the estimated destination arrival time.
Finally, why I am impressed:
When driving with the 1350, I never had any doubt where I was at any given time and I never had any doubt what my next maneuver would be (and isn't this the bottom line of any GPS?). The voice commands have plenty of volume, are easy to understand and they also give you adequate lead time for upcoming turns. The commands will also repeat but the voice is not annoying. Several times, I deliberately missed a turn to test how the 1350 would respond. It quickly calculated a revised route based on my current location.
I also found the screen to be clear and easy to see while driving (in bright sun, shade and at night).
The full manual states that a PDA type stylus can be used for the touch screen. I found this to be convenient (I'm actually using a stylus from a Nintendo DS.) While you can certainly use your finger on the screen, this will leave fingerprints and smudges on the screen.
Other notes:
I have the 1350 sitting on my dash with the Garmin "Portable Friction Mount" - highly recommended.
My 1350 came with a free case - the Caselogic MGPS-2. This case adequately protects the 1350 when it's not being used.
Overall, this has been a great purchase for my business travels and I would rate the unit as four and a half stars.