Review: Garmin Nuvi 310 sat-nav device

As the market for sat-nav devices presses forward, manufacturers are looking out for new ways to hook in the punters. An increasingly common trend is to include a load of ‘added value’ features that don’t necessarily help users to get from A to B but are intended to make the journey more pleasurable along the way.

The Garmin Nuvi 310, for example, comes with a built-in mp3 player, an audio book reader and Jpeg photo browsing functions. Entertainment features such as these might be nice, but they’re rarely well implemented and often seem like an afterthought.

The Nuvi 310 might not instantly replace your iPod or your PDA, but it’s better suited to these types of bonus functions than most. Its small size, relatively light weight and comparatively lengthy (4-8 hours) rechargeable battery life mean that it could be used as a portable media device when not docked in the car.

Further extras are available in the shape of software ‘Travel Kits’: SD card plug-ins that can be purchased separately to add features such as language guides, travel guides and even ‘geocoded’ savings coupons for participating restaurants, hotels and shops.

Most useful of all, however, is the Nuvi’s built-in support for Bluetooth. This allows users to pair the Nuvi with a compatible mobile phone handset and effectively use the GPS device as a hands-free set for making and receiving calls, using the touch-sensitive screen, microphone and speaker.

Of course, none of this would make the blindest bit of difference if the actual sat-nav element of the device was no good. Thankfully, the Nuvi 310 also happens to be pretty good at its day job. The pre-installed maps of the UK and Ireland appear to be accurate and up to date, while Garmin’s software is easy to use and includes full support for seven-digit postcode searches.

This article is part of a group test of 10 satellite-navigation devices
See also:
Introduction
Acer p610
Magellan Roadmate 3050T
Medion Gopal PNA465
Mio Digiwalker C510E
Navman N40i
Novogo S700
Sony Nav-u NV-U50T
Tomtom One Europe
ViaMichelin X-950
A tables of features can be read via our pdf download above