Garmin nüvi 1300 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
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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
Features
- 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)
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 1 x 3 x 5 inches
- Weight: 0 pounds
2 show stopping bugs during 2 week vacation
I recently spent a two week vacation in the USA. I was planning to do a lot of driving so decided to buy myself a GPS the day I arrived. I had previously researched GPSs and decided that I liked the interface of Garmin the best.
I ended up buying the Nuvi 1300 which is a basic model, but is 500x better than having no GPS or using a paper map. I was quite happy with the usability of this GPS, the routes seemed to be reliable, it had all the POS I wanted, lane changing was fine (even without the “lane advice” feature on better models), battery life seemed OK. The only downside of the Garmin was the occasional lag and pauses when its searching, which can be annoying (although I used my dads Magellen during the vacation and it was 10x worse!).
Unfortunately this GPS ended up causing significant stress during my vacation…
First off I ran into the documented bug whereby the GPS switches itself off and cannot be turned on unless you hold down the power button for 10 seconds. Unfortunately for me this happened when I was in the outskirts of Los Angeles, without a clue where I was. I spend 10 minutes swearing and wondering how the heck I was going to find the nearest Office Depot so I could get a replacement. By complete luck I managed to discover how to switch the device back on. If it wasn’t for that I would have spent half a day trying to get this thing replaced… instead of enjoying my vacation!
So, that was a near miss. I will also point out that I noticed the GPS crashing at least 5 times prior to this point (the first two days I used it). That basically means you will be driving along and suddendly the GPS goes black. You lose the maps and have to fumble about turning it back on (while driving of course, because you are on a 12 lane LA freeway!!) and waiting 20 seconds to get it back to how you had it. Another software bug then.
The GPS worked fine until the last 2 days of my vacation. Then I hit the complete show stopper: I decided to upgrade the firmware to fix the documented crash bug described above. Firmware upgrade seemed to work fine. I am not sure how soon after the firmware upgrade, but at some point over the next 24 hours I turned on the GPS and it would crash DURING bootup. And so it would startup and crash again. Startup. Crash. Startup. Crash. *FOREVER*!! The thing was now stuck in an infinite loop and was bricked. I tried everything I could to reset it – run down the battery, plugged in the USB etc. Nothing worked. So I had to spend the last DAY of my vacation running around (before my flight!) trying to find an Office Depot, only to find out they would not exchange a FAULTY item because it was over 14 days since purchase! (Ok this is not Garmins fault but a stupid Office Depot or USA law). But still… its Garmins fault I was in that position.
So to finish the story, I then had to leave the GPS with my dad, who had to RMA the BRAND NEW GPS all the way back to Garmin, who have now sent me a REFURBISHED GPS in exchange for my brand new, two weeks old, one. I doubt my dad got an apology from their helpline either… (not doubt it was just a soulless robotic ‘droid working on the RMA).
I have tried to write a letter of complaint to Garmin about this awful reliability, but unfortunately there are no obvious contact addresses for complaints on their website. I also complained on Twitter but yet again… no Garmin presence, so nobody heard my complaint. In other words: Be warned, Garmin are not “with it” in terms of social media or customer->product team communication. (The only blog they have is a “look at our new products blog”… no real opportunity to converse with Garmin. If you want that sort of relationship you will have to look for another GPS company.
So what do you think? Bad customer service and a VERY UNRELIABLE product. No… this was not “just my unit”. I am a software engineer, I know these were bugs in the Garmin firmware. BAD BUGs at that. This product must have had very poor testing and quality control. Garmin, you owe me an apology but I know you are not really into the “internet” so you will never read this, but I hope it serves as a warning to potential buyers about what you can expect from the reliability and quality of Garmins software.
The Nuvi 1300 does not work
I am now on the third Nuvi 1300 after exchanging the unit with Garmin. This unit also does not work and is incapable of locating satellites. Customer support will send me another unit, but that will take about 2 weeks and I fully expect the fourth unit not to work. I will never buy a product from this company again and I hope that no one does.
Garmin Nuvi 1300 4.3 inch Widescreen GPS
After borrowing a friends Garmin for a “road trip” from Havasu, to Temecula and then on to Tahoe (and back!), we were very impressed with the ease of setting the Garmin up for the trip.
During our travels around Tahoe, the Garmin got us to every place that we needed to go with ease. We also liked the feature of telling us the elevation, direction, etc.
Overall, the Garmin 1300 actually did more than we expected. It was fun just playing with it to see what all it is capable of doing.
My only suggestion would be to hire an average, all-American, English speaking person, to use as the “voice in the box”, as “the voice in the box” pronounces street names almost to the point that you can not determine what she is saying. (Not all street names, just some). You are able to see the street names on the GPS, but it does help to have them provided audibly when you are driving and are not able to really stare at the screen to read the name.
We did purchase one for ourselves after returning from the trip and we purchased it through Amazon, as they had the lowest price! We have used our own Garmin on a couple of “trips” and we like it!
looks like a 50/50 chance…
We own one that works fine. Bought one for my parent’s anniversary, and when you turn it on, it seems to think it is at a location in Chicago (which wouldn’t be such a problem, except that we are in the state of Delaware!). Needless to say, it has difficulty locating a satellite… and we are unable to get the “where am i?” location to change.
Have called Garmin support several times ~ estimated wait for next available product support specialist (EVERY TIME) is 30-35 minutes (do they REALLY have so much trouble with their products that ALL their people stay tied up on the phone THAT long?). Have done two “master re-sets” via the directions on their website to no avail. E-mailed support via their website & received an off-the-wall reply that has done nothing to resolve the problem.
If you should manage to receive one that works properly, it’s a really nice little gadget.
If you end up with one that DOESN’T function as it should, don’t expect Garmin to be of much assistance…
Great GPS!
This is a great inexpensive GPS. It is intuitive and has all the basic features.
Might be a good product but the lack of Garmin Tech Support kept me from knowing.
First, I generally don’t write reviews for products I didn’t purchase on Amazon – but this was an emergency purchase to replace a GPS stolen from my vehicle and I needed something fast to complete my vacation. Plus, I feel I must post a warning about the almost total lack of Tech Support from Garmin.
I’m not a GPS rookie. I’ve had several Garmin units and I’ve been pleased – but that’s probably because I never attempted to call Tech Support.
The Nuvi 1300 had some nice features compared to my old Garmin but I could not get the trip computer to register elapsed miles and a few other minor things. I looked online but never found answers to my questions. I never tried to register or update maps and based on information from other reviews, I’m glad I didn’t add that frustration to my travel plans! But I did attempt to call Tech Support which should have another name – maybe Anti-Tech-Support.
The support agent might have been a good one if I had ever spoken to him or her – but after 36, 48, and 47 minutes (respectively) on hold (twice being disconnected by their phone system), I gave up. I was eating up cell phone minutes and wasting vacation time.
ADVICE: If you need a GPS, this might be a good one and the price is ever so right. Get it before you leave home and try it out. Make sure you do your registration and map updates before you leave. Password protect the unit so it can’t be use without a password. AND, do not leave it in your car when valet parking – or any other time for that matter. People will steal them to use, sell, or find their way to your home while they know you are away (refer back to the password protection sentence).
Having never had another brand of GPS, I can’t say Garmin’s Tech Support is the worst but it’s hard to believe anyone else’s could be worse.
Great Product
I love everything about this GPS navigator except for one tiny little thing – the vocal pronunciation could be better! I works great and is easy to see, plus I love that I could have a little pink car instead of a blue car – the options are fun! I love the Garmin nuvi 1300!!!
Not bad for the price
Nice design, ok for the price. Cons: the touch pad is not very responsive when you try to enter and address; selecting the city is also another problem: it is not requested in a logical sequence. If you live in a metropolitan area where immediate destinations are in a different state, this is not for you. Also, it directs you on routes that are long and illogical. Instead of directing you to the nearest highway, it will take you on a side road which has stop signs, traffic lights and lower speed limits, no matter if you choose the fastest route. You have the options for scenic, faster/shorter and economy fuel routes. Yet it will take you through the heart of congested downtown when it ought to indicate a less congested route. It doesn’t make sense. Well, you get wht you pay for!
Good product for the value
I have always liked Garmins and the one issue was that it used to lose signals in busy areas such as downtown Chicago when navigating through areas that have upper and lower level streets. So, it would get confused between say E. Illinois St and E. Upper Illinois St. I think the memory caching capabilities have improved and this one seemed to work right. Good job, Garmin!
Good-deal GPS
Pros: Straightforward in use. Fast start. Shows the street names (I found it very useful). Nice, bright 4.3″ touch screen.
Cons: When using for the first few times was confused about saving destination addresses while in the map directions mode.
Very Good Basic GPS unit, missing one “Garmin wish”
This is my replacement for the Nuvi 350. My 350 still works, but the map was getting old and Target had a sale (probably a misprint but they honored the price) at $109. My wife had been wanting one.. and after she got her’s, I decided to get one for me too.
The 1300 is a basic unit. The 1350 has some additional features that I probably would rather have had (speed limit notices and lane assist), but money is money.
As someone else pointed out, all GPS’s have their mistakes/errors (can’t find the local Adli Food store that’s been here for over 5 years). But this one does pretty well. Nice display, nice directions ahead of time & repeated.
One rant on Garmins: so I’m going somewhere, the route is marked, I’m traveling 55mph. I want to find a gas station or fast food place. The default mode is “what’s nearby”. At 50mph on a highway, I don’t care what I just passed… only what’s in front of me. Garmin needs to improve the software: a) I should not have to tell the Garmin to find something close to my route (vs 2 miles back), and b) there should be a quick menu for “Food” and “Gas” nearby. I can’t believe that the Garmin programmers use these units and haven’t discovered this very nice feature to put in their units. The Garmin knows what speed I’m at… and perhaps when I’m above 30mph, it would only look “ahead”. Dumb! Such a cheap, ease of use feature to differentiate from the competition, til they roll out that feature, too.
But, it’s a very slick lowest cost unit that talks to you about what’s next in your trip!
Best GPS I have ever owned
I have owned several Magellan GPS’s in the past, form the Roadmate 700 up to newer touch screen models. This Garmin Nuvi 1300 is by far the best GPS I have ever owned. It is very accurate, the volume of the spoken directions is much louder and easier to hear for us older hard of hearing people. With all of the Magellan’s I owned I had to set the volume to 100%, and still had trouble hearing it sometime. I have set the volume to only 60% on this Garmin model and have no problem hearing it at all. If you set the volume to 100% it almost drives you out of the car. The screen it also very easy to see in direct daylight as well as during the evening. I would recommend purchasing this unit 100%. If I ever have the need for another GPS, you can bet your life it will be a Garmin.
Don in Florida
Nice GPS
I bought the Nuvi 1300 just prior to a trip with my family to Disney. While I did print some mapquest maps ahead of time, I did not use them. The Nuvi 1300 was very convenient and made finding nearby restaurants and gas stations very easy. I did have one instance where it stopped working and wouldn’t turn back on, but I believe it was because I ran the battery down too low. Once it was recharged, it worked fine. I would recommend this product to others looking for a nice, yet inexpensive GPS.
English not arabic
The unit and instructions did not give info for changing from arabic as I received it to change to another language. I was fortunate that someone on google had had the same problem and worked it out. Garmin support is closed on weekends so I was unable to get anyone. Thanks to Google.
Small but mighty
We had a Lowerance 500 and it had a nice size screen but it wasn’t easy to read and we were unable to update the software. Got the Garmin because it was inexpensive and we thought we would give it a try. Not only was it half the price, but it works so much better. It was much easier to enter information, to read the screen and the voice command is very good. For the price it is a great deal.
great basic gps
Hey so I bought this gps about two months ago and it’s been great. I mean its a basic gps and if that’s what you’re looking for then it’s fantastic. I don’t really have the use for traffic and bluetooth so this was a natural choice. I sell these at Target as well and I don’t really understand people complaining about not having an ac adapter to charge it in the wall. People all the time complain by saying “well what if I’m going on a long trip and it’s not charged?,” well then you’ll be a car to charge it with then so there you go. If you just want a basic gps that’ll tell you street names and get you where you want to go then this is it.
Returned the next day
I was very excited about the features available for the price. Nice size screen, etc. However, the keyboard didn’t work at all for entering street names, etc. Tried to recalibrate the touchscreen but it didn’t behave the way the instructions said it should. Never popped up a recalibration screen.
From what I read online, if you get a good one,they’re great, but if you get a bad one, it’s never okay.
Took it back and ended up buying a Garmin Nuvi 255W, which I’ve had a week and love!
DO NOT BUY- it’s like a Lottery!
The product arrived well packaged and before the scheduled delivery date- which is good. The 1300 series GPS sucks. It’s seems with Garmin it either hit or miss. I have tried multiple Garmin product and 50% of them are good the rest have problem with screen not being responsive. And you CANNOT calibrate the screen. They say that you could, by holding down the POWER button for 30sec, but it doesn’t work with any of the GARMIN product!
I have owned c330, 200w, 205w, 3 of the 1300 (only 1 one of them had ok touch screen)
the best of all of them is the old model c330 street pilot. yes it’s a bulky unit, but it is has one of the best software’s and touch screens. If you can deal with the fact that it’s bulky and has a smaller screen, BUY it
Good GPS While Its Working…
My husband bought this for work, he does a lot of driving. It worked great, got him where he needed to go… until it didn’t work. I spent 2 hours installing all the updates and updating the maps. It worked one day and then wouldn’t turn on. So we exchanged it for the same model. Same thing, worked great for a couple weeks, quit working, installed updates, worked for a few days, then it got stuck in Iowa and wouldn’t get him back home. Going to exchange for the 265WT (model that I use) that hasn’t given me any problems for almost a year now.
All in all, display is nice, easy to use and voices are easy to understand, but not reliable enough for daily use.
fabulous
Garmin nuvi 1300 is very easy to use right out of the box. Easy to set up — doesn’t need a lot of instruction. Voice is clear and easy to understand speaking the street names to make it not necessary to constantly view the screen. Highly recommend.