Garmin nüvi 1370/1370T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic

Reviews

1. Works pretty well

   by Michael Nolan

   Seems to work well and as described. It’s not very convenient to use to just play around with the maps. Note that the one free update you get with registration is for *either* the US or Europe maps, but not both. My local maps (Puerto Rico) have some issues, but that’s not a surprise. Maybe the update will improve things.

2. mediocre GPS

   by a_guy_in_boston

   I bought this GPS for travel in both the USA and Europe. I am very disappointed with it.

   -Connecting the unit to a computer in order to update maps and download software was absolutely baffling. It took me hours and literally hundreds of mouse clicks to figure out where the appropriate firmware, map, and PC/Mac downloads were located on the Garmin website. The unit does not come with a CD or flashdrive, nor are there any instructions on how to connect it with the Garmin website or a computer; you just have to figure everything out on your own.

   -The user interface on the device is very frustrating. For example, you can scroll the map by sliding your finger on the screen — but most of the time (though not always; why? – beats me), the GPS then *on its own* scrolls the map back to a different, random place on the map, so that you have to literally fight with the GPS, sliding your finger over and over again, to position the map where you want it. I cannot adequately describe how annoying this behavior is. And the GPS often wastes your time with screens that are useless — these are the equivalent of “splash screens” after you select a waypoint, that do nothing other than force you to press another “Start” button.

   - The GPS’s jerky, slow response time means that I often find myself pressing the wrong buttons. Again, just amazingly annoying.

   - The waypoints that you create do not appear on the map, except when they are your target destination. So if you set up any landmarks just to orient yourself, or to remind yourself of useful local areas, which is something that I like to do, they will be invisible (except for the single waypoint that happens to be your destination).

   - You cannot set your waypoints to appear alphabetically. You just are not allowed to do it. This is massively frustrating when you have a lot of waypoints.

   - My unit sometimes takes up to an hour (literally) to locate its GPS position, especially after a plane trip, when it’s moved to a new time zone.

   - You cannot create/edit waypoints on your computer. There are two exceptions that I’ve found, both annoyingly limited. First, you can send a waypoint from Google Maps to the GPS, using a complex user interface that crosses two websites; sometimes you are allowed to name the waypoint yourself, and sometimes Google Maps forces an unchangeable name on you, I’m not sure why the variation in behavior. Second, on the Mac, you can download a program called Road Trip and use it to create waypoints, but ONLY if you buy a map update from Garmin first; it won’t work with your unit out-of-the-box.

   - The unit takes a very long time to boot up, anywhere from a half-minute to a minute. This is so very, very annoying in pedestrian mode.

   - My unit has already crashed several times, one of which required a complete reset.

   Overall, I would recommend staying away from this GPS. Even with the pre-loaded Europe and USA maps, it is not worth the frustrations and limitations.

3. Love my Garmin

   by DT

   I have never owned a GPS before and we really bought it for the speedometer. My daughter is a barefoot waterskier and my husband likes to water ski too. Our boat is having difficulties with the speedometer and since my daughter is training hard it is imperative that we know how fast we are going. Works like a charm.

   Then we decided to take it on the road. I found it to be quite intuitive to use and we named our new navigator Kitty. Kitty was very informative and happily “recalculated” every time we ignored her instructions. She always got us to the destination. One exception was when we were trying to get to see the Shuttle launch. It seemed impossible to get instructions to the park where the viewing spots were. She took us into the boonies and instructed us to “off road from here”. After knocking on a couple of doors we did indeed find that we were very close to our destination and the locals guided us from there.

   The amazing part was the traffic information. On our trip to see the shuttle we passed about a 40 min line up for the tolls. Since we had a Sun Pass for the tolls this didn’t bother us. It should have. Kitty spoke up. “Recalculating……Severe traffic ahead…” and directed ust to take the next exit off the freeway. As we left the free way we saw that we just missed a three lane wide parking lot. We continued into Titusville according to Kitty’s directions and found absolutely no traffic and were there in stellar time.

   I am told that the wait on the freeway was a couple of hours and many missed the launch. Also, the locals got us started on the way home so as to miss the 50 thousand people leaving Titusville and Kitty got us the rest of the way easily. No problem. No traffic. It was fantastic. We were told that it often takes up to 2 hours just to get on to the free way back to Orlando.

   We bought the package that will have Europe included. We are going there this summer and you can bet Kitty is coming! I am so looking forward to being able to find things more easily and not getting lost in a big foreign city.

   There are many features on this gizmo that I haven’t even begun to explore. I would definitely recommend the Garmin Nuvi 1370 to anyone looking for a portable GPS.

4. Miss leading Ad

   by E. Teran

   Be careful when reading this page, pictures are miss leading. It supposed to have Junction View as the photo you can see when they advertised the product but is not right.

5. Loved it

   by Kara HOLLADAY

   I just bought this for a recent trip & loved it. It was very useful trying to find my way through the cities & towns I travelled through. It was also very handy in locating gas stations that would be along my route so I could plan my stops. It is relatively easy to use but it didn’t come with an instruction book – there is a help button & so I’ve been using that when I have questions. Also, on a long trip, if there are multiple routes I would recommend you having a general idea which route you would like to take. For example – on my recent trip there were 4 possible routes I could have taken. 2 of the 4 routes would take me over very high mountain passes that were actually still closed for the winter. So I needed to find another way to go & the only way I could get get the unit to locate the other route options was to put in a mid point location. The destination time was very accurate. I liked how it showed the speed limit of the road you were on. Screen was a nice size & easy to see – not to big, not to small & I like the wide screen. I have not used it in pedestrian or bicycle mode yet but I’m sure it would work great & it’s not too big that you can’t easily carry it around. It was very handy to have & I’m glad I bought it & I would recommend this to anyone looking for one.

6. Midwestern and International Traveler

   by T. Hubler

   This product has worked out great for me and my family! We used it on our way up to Minneapolis and didn’t have to worry at all about finding our way or navigating with other maps. If we acidentally took a wrong turn, the Garmin instantly recalculated and got us back on track. For other consumers, definitely consider the lane-assist and traffic info. options, they are very helpful, especially when traveling to an unfamiliar destination. My one minus on this GPS is that sometimes it doesn’t process quick turns fast enough, but overall it is very reliable. We can’t wait to use the standard European maps on our family trip to Ireland this summer!

7. Garmin 1370

   by D. Hurley

   I had no issues with USA travel and recent Ireland travel. Previously used car rental GPS and was told it was up to date. No comparison to the accuracy of my new new Garmin. Plug it in and go!

8. A must purchase for the business trip and holiday.

   by Sheraz Dabiedeen

   Very user friendly and the precision of the maps are execllent. Simply the best choice when looking for GPS.Garmin nüvi 1370/1370T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic

9. Compact satnav good price

   by Ciaran Harrison

   I bought this model because it has maps of North America and Europe as I travel a lot. Easy to use, good price (cheaper than buying add on maps) but the map of Ireland isn’t as good as my previous sat nav

10. Works well, when it works…

    by B. Cardanha

    I had read the reviews, saying that there were firmware issues, so I made sure that I updated to the latest before leaving for my trip. My first stop was in the US, and other than taking a long time to get the signal when I first turned it on, it worked well.

    Then I got to Italy, and it would not get a signal at all. It searched over and over for hours, no luck. Finally, I did a full reset to factory defaults, and finally it got a signal and got us where we needed to go (but I lost all of my locations for my trip that I had programmed in from home).

    I still had issues mentioned by other folks with the unit powering off randomly – for me, it was if I pressed zoom-out too many times too quickly, it would turn off. I was also disappointed by the slow response of the touch screen.

    It seems like Garmin still has some issues to work out so this unit got returned.

11. Garmin nuvi 1370

    by R. Gordon

    I purchased the Garmin as a replacement of my Tom Tom that became damaged during a trip, (a cracked screen.)

    I travel to Europe frequently and depend upon my GPS to navigate.

    Recently during my last visit two weeks ago I used my Garmin for the first time. It turned out to be a very critical time as well; I found myself and three others traveling across Europe by car to find an open airport during the volcano shutdown of northern Europe.

    We drove from Brussels to Milan in 11 hours, across five countries. Then during the following week drove from Milan to Rome. The Garmin was given a very good test during this time.

    Here are some notable points to be aware of:

    1) The Garmin search feature is limited in range. I found that it limits it search to an approximately 100 mile radius when looking for features such as airports or hotels. When I was in Parma Italy for instance it identified a town named Rome, but that was not the Rome Italy I was traveling to. It was a small village which sidetracked us briefly on our trip to Rome. When I input Leonardo De Vinci airport – Rome’s airport, it could not identify it until we were about 90 miles from Rome.

    2) During the trip from Alsace to Milan through the Alps, the Garmin reported severe traffic congestion and attempted to divert us to the over mountain pass route away from the tunnel route. This would have increased our 11 hour journey by two additional hours. We ignored the detour suggested by the Garmin and continued to the tunnels not finding any traffic congestion. This occurred again as we approached Rome. It appeared logical because I had only heard of legendary traffic jams around Rome. We ignored the detour warning however because it would have diverted us to small country roads and added hours to our journey. There was no traffic. This indicated that the traffic warning system is not reliable at least not in Europe. I have not yet had the warning come up in the US.

    The outcome is that it is taking time to become familiar with the Garmin compared to the Tom Tom. Tom tom discontinued the model I was used to which is too bad. It was very dependable, but as I use this Garmin more I will find it useful too. After all it did successfully navigate me through Europe from the North Sea to Italy. Just remember to verify your route first, especially if you are traveling in potentially hazardous areas with limited facilities like fuel or accommodations
    

12. A Very Useful Navigation Tool

    by TwoHedgehogs

    I have been using the 1370 in the US since January and recently for two weeks in France. It is a worthy successor to my cherished Nuvi 370 and has performed flawlessly. Ironically, I found more instances of lane assist in France than in North Carolina. Like all GPS units of this type, it does have its limitations and must be used intelligently (you don’t blindly follow it down a one lane farm road just because it has calculated that as a faster route). I always supplement the Nuvi with a detailed paper map and with a laptop with Streets and Trips/Autoroute for more detailed planning than a dashtop unit can be expected to do when I am wandering about in unfamiliar countryside). The utility of the 1370 (and of other Nuvis) can be greatly extended if you generate custom POIs specifically for a trip. I added the City Xplorer for Paris and found it to be very helpful in walking around the city and deciding which metro stations to use.

    It’s important to update the firmware when new versions are released, and map updates are also useful. This is probably not a product for the complete novice who has no interest in maintaining the unit or in using the advanced features which do have a learning curve. You cannot, however, rely on Garmin documentation if you want to maximize the unit’s usefulness. Poke about on the web to find several excellent sites loaded with Nuvi tips and tricks and continuing news on the product as its firmware and maps evolve.

    In short, this is a well-designed receiver with very useful capabilities, and I have found it to be a highly reliable navigation aid.

13. Working Fine So Far

    by Gons

    I have been very happy with my 200 series Garmin for almost two years now. I was looking to upgrade and decided on the 1370T. The Bluetooth technology works great with my LG Chocolate. I have had no problems with the traffic service. The lane assist takes a little getting used to, but is helpful. I have only used it in the U.S., so I don’t know about the funcionality in Europe. The Ecoroute feature is good for keeping fuel costs down. And it’s a nice bonus to have a free map update with the unit.

14. Garmin nuvi1370T

    by emerald

    I like my Garmin GPS and the only problem I have is with Amazon’s product description which lead me to believe that this
    
    model had the junction view of interstates as the photo shows and it does not have this feature. I haven’t used
    
    the traffic report yet but will be in June and we’ll see how that goes. It was easy to set up and Garmin let me know of their
    
    free map update as soon as I registered it. Did that before the 60 days deadline.

15. Review of the Garmin 1370/1370T

    by Abderrahman Touati

    I surely like the ease of use of this GPS. One feature however, is missing in the pedestrian mode, and that is, it does not point out the north/south/east/west directions. It can be frustrating if you don’t know whether to start going north or south, for instance, in order to follow the directions you’re given by the GPS!

16. The Great Garmin

    by Craig Weston

    I decided to purchase this Garmin for my upcoming trip to Rome and Venice. I was attracted to it because of its European maps, as well as its pedestrian (walking) mode. I was a little hesitant at first as some gave it mixed reviews, but I decided to take the plunge. Well, I just returned from Europe having used the Garmin nuvi 1370t extensively in my travels and all I can say is WOW!!!! Before my trip, I downloaded the City maps on the Garmin site for both Rome and Venice. This gives you very detailed information for the individual areas your’re going to and I would recommend doing the same if you’re going to be walking around. Remember, this unit does come with Europe installed so this add on is just more detailed information. Walking around Rome and Venice was a joy with the 1370t. My family and I walked everywhere and never got into a taxi. People were asking us directions after awhile! I found that we would venture out in any direction we wanted because we knew we could always make our way back. It helps you plan your trip giving you the most interesting sites to see in and around where you are. In Venice, everyone is glued to the map in their hands. They have to stop at every intersection because it is so easy to get lost in that city. Even looking at the map in their hands, they were still lost! The Garmin allowed me to explore with ease and not have to stop at every turn to reacquaint myself to where I was. Now is this thing perfect? Here’s the deal. In Rome and Venice, you’re surrounded by tall buildings that cause problems for the gps reception. That’s not Garmin’s fault, it’s just the reality of using a gps receiver. In both cities, your lack of reception lasts only a small amount of time and then you will enter a better reception area and your unit will update itself pretty quickly. Losing reception, while walking, is really not a big deal. You already have your way mapped out on the screen, so you follow it even though it may not be updating your precise position. This is an absolute must buy for those traveling. I’ve also used the automobile mode and it is outstanding!
    
    Here are a few wish lists for future updates. In walking mode, you don’t know which way to begin walking. You have to walk a small amount in a direction, look at the screen and see what direction your going, then adjust to the way you were supposed to be going. This was a bit frustrating. Next, when your in an unfamiliar city, it would be nice if the unit could give you some restaurant recommendations based on user reviews, price etc. Right now, it gives you a list of all the restaurants, but in an unfamiliar city with a family, it would be nice to narrow that list down. In walking mode, I wanted to know how much longer I needed to walk (in miles or part of miles) to reach my destination. It gives you this information in automobile mode but not in pedestrian mode. Bottom line: this unit will help you explore with confidence and reduce your stress while traveling so you can spend more time enjoying your vacation!

17. confirmed problem of other reviewers

    by John G

    The second time I tried to use this GPS the screen went white. This continued through efforts of turning on and off, etc., and the efforts of Garmin help. They said to return it for replacement, but I decided to return it to Amazon for my money back, because it was still in its first week, and I had read of similar failures in other reviews. I figure it is a problem to deal with – need more reliability.

18. Great for the map reading impaired!

    by Jackie Williams

    I have used this Garmin just a few times and already think very highly of it. On trips to unfamiliar territory, it has proved invaluable. When visiting another state it got me to and from the airport and around an unfamiliar town to all the shops, restaurants and gas stations. I chose the Nuve 1370 as it has Europe also loaded and I visit there often. Haven’t tried that out yet but looking forward to driving in France without fear of misunderstanding the signs. It is by no means perfect, you have to keep your wits about you for the general direction you are traveling. Especially when you are going through tolls as it does not recognize your need to go off to pay a cash lane. But if you have not tried one out and you would rather not keep printing off Google maps or Mapquest, this is great. I think the extras can work out expensive if you are not in need of them. I have not purchased any extra features so far.

19. No Updated Maps?

    by P. Turecamo

    I just purchased the 1370T and was surprised to find out that both the Europe and North America maps were out of date (2009) AND Garmin only gives you one free update. So, add $69.99 to the cost of the unit if you want updated maps. This is a very deceptive trade practice. Also, the hands-free operation is poor.
    
    On the plus side, it is very easy to use and the points of interest is a nice feature.

20. listed as a new item, sold used

    by R. Dailey

    I bought this item new to give as a gift. When my friend opened it up he found that someone had already written their information on the product registration. He called Garmin to receive help and was told by them that the product was already registered to the person who’s info was listed on the registration card in the packaging. I am really dissapointed that we paid for a new item and was sent a used one. The packaging did not list that it was used and looked new. This item was given as a gift to someone out of the country, so returning the item to get a new replacement will cost a lot in shipping. The whole thing makes me mad!