Sooooo.... Spent some more time on www.gpspassion.com (highly recommended) - here's the gist of the situation:

* All the Nuvi models fit my "dumbed down" stereotype from above - they're wonderfully easy to use, but don't support route planning & download from the PC. You can ID points of interest on the PC and download those - but that's about it and that doesn't do what we want.
* Some of Garmin's "higher end" units DO support PC route planning. An interesting looking forthcoming one is the Zumo (made for motorcycles, like the Nuvi in some ways, waterproof, made to use with gloves on, XM integration). In fact, the Zumo feature set is really a "motoring enthusiast" featureset - if they'd make a car unit with the same stuff, that would be mah-velous...
* If you're willing to do a LITTLE work you can do an interesting manual-route-planning workaround on the Nuvi - I've done this myself. With the antenna folded (off) - enter/save known locations/addresses/intersections along the way. Name them something easy (e.g. Dragonrun1, Dragonrun2, Dragonrun3, Dragonrun4) - You can simulate point-to-point routing between these to ensure you have enough points to "force" the route you want. Then when driving just "hop" between these, entering the first as your destination, then when you arrive enter the next as destination, etc. Obviously this defeats ETA, etc. but it is an option.

Alas - I'll keep waiting for the car version of the Zumo, I guess. Then I can "hand down" my 350 to the wife.

 

Thought I would update this post from a couple of years ago. I've since upgraded to a Nuvi 360 for bluetooth functionality, and wanted to come up with a simple mount that satisfied the following requirements:

Here is my mount. It's the first working prototype--I'll be finetuning it over the next week or so. It's fabricated from mild steel.

Why I like it:
1.) Doesn't require tools to install or remove
2.) Can install or remove in seconds
3.) It's not bulky
4.) Should you remove it, no evidence is left behind for potential thieves to see
5.) Puts the Nuvi in a position that's easily viewable and controllable.
6.) Rock steady--doesn't shake or vibrate during hard driving
7.) Doesn't block drinks in cup holder or access to HU controls

What still needs to be done
1.) Lengthen mount so Nuvi can sit level with bottom of dash as pictured below.
2.) Offer more side to side adjustments
3.) Explore different coating/paint options





If anyone is interested in this, send me a PM as I MIGHT be turning this into a real product.

Richard
(note I made this post in the 2nd gen forum by mistake)