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Garmin iQue 3600 PDA/GPS Handheld System with Americas Detailed Street Mapping

Garmin iQue 3600 PDA/GPS Handheld System with Americas Detailed Street Mapping

List Price: $589.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love this thing
Review: I got the ique for Christmas and it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Haven't had a single problem with it (except that my son keeps trying to "borrow" it from my car!) My son bought me a copy of How To Do Everything With GPS, which is an excellent companion because a portion of it is all about the ique.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It works well, but...
Review: The PDA part functions like all Palm OS powered devices; there is a short learning curve for anyone familiar with earlier versions. The GPS function is remarkable in many ways and earlier static electricity-caused accidental resets have been addressed. But the battery life of the unit is so short that wandering far from a recharger is impossible. The only suggestion Garmin seems to have is to dim or turn off the backlight, which (next to the GPS function itself) is the largest drain. Fortunately, the versatile car base not only supports the unit for mobil use, but also keeps it charged. If a better battery comes along, it will be unbeatable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Garmin iQue 3600
Review: I have owned my Garmin iQue 3600 for 6 months now. The GPS software is fantastic. I have used it to navigate in cities and it always gets me to my destination quickly and clearly. I use it a a Palm PDA as well. With a 256 M SD card I can hold all the maps I need for several cities, plenty of games and plenty of books.

I store a lot of books on it. With its back lit screen, you can use it for reading in a dark room without disturbing a sleeping spouse. I also like using it as a MP3 player.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Fine Product
Review: Most of the bad reviews below are not a true reflection of this great and wonderful product. No, I don't work for Garmin. My unit worked perfectly right out of the box as is. But you do have to treat it carefully as it is a delicate electronic instrument. You should not subject it to extreme heat or cold temperatures and expect it to work correctly. Yes, the battery life is short but there is a battery charge icon at the bottom of the display, contray to one post here saying there isn't any. In a car I always use the car travel kit and car battery for power which includes the extra audio amplifier. I also use an external amplified outside antenna. Some add on antennas are amplfied and some are not. Be sure to get one that is amplified. You should also get the Garmin dash holder and at least a 256 MB SD card to hold the maps. Also don't try to load up the built in memory with a LOT of extra programs. Some of which are not designed for the Garmin and may cause the reset problem. This is not a falut of the unit but the third party software. If you run the unit out of memory you will have problems - that is only natural. Watch the memory left carefully. Yes, you can sync it with Outlook, again contray to a post here. Sad to say a lot of posts are from folks that have loaded bad software, mistreated their units, run it out of memory, run down the battery to zero (don't let this happen or you will have problems) or otherwise not followed good operator practice and didn't get the add on items needed for full enjoyment of the unit.

Read and follow the manual, get all the add on devices, treat the small delicate electronic device carefully, keep plenty of memory availble to the unit, keep the battery charged, and you will have a wonderful reliable navigation tool.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome product, but if unsure get antenna
Review: I got the Garmin iQue after much deliberation. I wanted something portable that could also be used in the car, with voice prompting. First thing I did was try it out in my office, but found you can't use it indoors. I went outside and stood under an awning next to our parking lot, and still got almost no satellite signals. It was raining a lot (this is Oregon, so it's expected) so I then took an umbrella and stood out in the rain. Got a few signals, and eventually got enough signals for the GPS to start working. It took about 10 minutes. Could weather have an effect on satellite reception? However, I moved my hand a bit, lost one of the three signals, and it stopped working again... That night I tried it out in the car, and noticed if I held it up to the glass (a tricky thing to do while driving) I could get a signal, but it was very intermittent and wouldn't last very long. I was starting to get disappointed.

Flash forward to a week later, when my antenna arrived (I got it off Garmin's website, since I didn't see it advertised here). It came with a suction cup attachment to put it on a window. Tried it in my office again attached to the window, and got three black satellite bars, and it started working. Okay, I thought, so far so good. The kicker came when I went out to the car and attached the suction cups to the windshield... Woah! I got no less than 6 black satellite bars in less than 30 seconds! Plus, whenever I would move the unit around, since the antenna was fixed, it never bothered satellite receiption. Now, THIS is what I had been hoping for. Now, I'm just waiting for my cat kit to arrive so I don't have to hold the thing. The antenna apparatus was an additional $100, but WELL worth it. In other words, if you don't get good reception right out of the box, think about getting one and it should work wonders for you.

But enough about reception, here's a few other points that I liked. The voice is very helpful, although it doesn't actually read street names. Instead, you get prompts like "In four hundred feet turn left" or "In one point three miles exit right". Those are fine, and when it talks it shows an expanded little graphic window showing the street name in large letters and an illustration of the exact turn. You have to take your eyes off the road to see it, so a dashboard mount would really be the ticket. However, if you know the street, listening to the voice prompts is fine. It's plenty loud, but not with any radio on. Since the car kit comes with speakers and a cigarette lighter adapter, I think it'll be just the ticket. Not that the batteries ran down or anything (I used it for a good three hours and the battery went to half full), but not to have to worry about it would be nice.

The internal memory can hold detailed maps for about two major cities and six-seven sparser area squares. (Major cities divide the ordinary detail map squares into four squares themselves). I recently bought a 256MB SD expansion card, which should allow me to put in almost the entire west coast US.

It comes with the North America (read: USA) detailed maps, but to purchase any European detail map sets is upwards of $300, so be warned if you also plan to use it internationally, there's a bit more cost involved.

Anyway, a GREAT unit, I think, even though all in all I spent upwards of $600 including shipping for all the parts. Even still, Amazon had the best price by far ($100 less than anywhere else). Still don't know how they managed that!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrible PDA - Okay GPS
Review: If you have Outlook 2000 or later, do NOT purchase this. It is NOT compatible at this time. It will NOT download/sync correctly. Only have 32 MB - 28 leftover for storage. Lots of problems with this model. Skip it. Wait until Garmin get their acts together. Horrible return/support policy. You pay top dollars and still get a horrible PDA. Don't know where those expert reviews get their units. Recommendation for a PDA/GPS PDA? Get a Pocket PC Phone Edition (next generation is due out) and then get the Bluetooth GPS unit with it. You not only get a GPS enabled (wireless - bluetooth/802.11b) PDA but also the phone. More importantly, with Pharos, you will get REAL TIME traffic information based on your current location (if you are in the 16th largest SMSA's). If you can't wait for the second generation due out soon, get the ATT pocket pc for $99 and get the wired GPS accessory for $200. You STILL get a better product.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I cant believe Garmin is selling such an awful product
Review: This is my first review, and I am writing because i want you to make an informed decision. There are hardly any advantages of this product over streetpilot III, so i will only write flaws of this product:

-Battery discharges itself on its will, particulary in cold temperatures.
-No indicater for battery level or if it has fully charged.
-Very limited battery capacity.
-If battery discharges, sometimes it erases all the data, imagin if it happens when you dont have your laptop!!
-Very poor speaker performance for MP3 player.
-Constant reset problem, as listed by many other users.
-Very slow response time. This is a problem when you use autoroute feature & have one turn after another quickly. It might lead you to make a wrong turn. I have used Streetpilot III in the past & that was much more faster/stable product in this regard.
-After two uses, one of the pins on hotsynch craddle is deformed & that is almost unusable now, i had to buy one USB Hotsynch cable.
-If you have a sports car, with very steep windshield angle, you can not mount the autonavigation kit/craddle on the dashboard. In my Camery LE, there only one way i can do it.
-Recently i have noticed a new error, "Auto Route recalculation error", seems like a new software flaw, that i need to report to Garmin.
-If you store your maps on the SD memory card, be prepared for further slow performance.

Inspite of knowing all these defects, you must be crazy for a PDA to buy this product, i was & so i am regreting now. I would suggest go for Streetpilot!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Excelente producto, solo algunos problemas.
Review: 1. Despues de cargar la bateria toda la noche, no podía llegar a 50 minutos de uso, aún sin GPS y con el brillo en su nivel mas bajo. Por suerte mi proveedor me la cambió por otra nueva. Con esta puedo trabajar hasta mas de 3 horas seguidas.

2. El cargador de base es bastante fragil, uno de los pines se dobló y una de las patitas de acero, se quebró. Por suerte tenía la base de mi vieja m500, que es compatible y por medio de ella sincronizo con mi computadora.

3. Después de cargar los prompts en español, encontré que hay muchos errores en la vocalización de las distancias, no se si por el idioma o el cálculo en si mismo.

4. La implementación de graffiti 2, deja mucho que desear. Sobre todo si se compara con el de la Tunsgtain. Es mucho mas lento el proceso de escritura.

5. No trae el Note Pad y en general viene con menos software que las Palm.

Salvo los puntos citados, estoy satisfecho con el producto, aunque hay que convenir en que es necesario adquirir por separado una tarjeta SD de 128 a 512 según necesidades y un cargador de 12v., o mejor aún el "Garmin IQUE 3600 auto navigation kit".

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: expensive but worth it
Review: I purchased the Garmin i que 3600 two weeks ago through Amazon. Purchase and delivery was top notch. Unit is more complex than anticipated but the utility increases with your learning curve. Pluses: GPS is nothing short of fantastic. The Palmware functions are excellent and comparable to the top line Palms.
Negatives: No written manual. Battery is nearly a joke, if all screen functions and GPS are engaged, you may have one to two hours of play before zip happens. The leather "flap" which apparently is a cover is useless. Don't buy the The CD "demo." It is a ripoff.
Advice: Buy the optional leather cover but put the Garmin away "backwards" to hide the jog button and voice record buttons which protrude from the top side of the unit. Otherwise you will inadvertently activitate the unit Voice recording every time you remove it from the cover. Be extremely careful of static electricity as it fries this device in a heartbeat, requiring a soft reset to restart the unit. Buy the auto kit. It works great and is well worth the price. Forget an external GPS antenna, totally unnecessary. Definitely buy a 256 Mg. SD card as the maps are very detailed and really consume the internal memory

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great tool for who hates to look up map
Review: We got this device from Amazon right before the Christmas holiday break. And, we were very happy with what it could do for our one week's travel down to LA, and San Diego area. The device is quite easy to use. For the whole trip, we didn't ever look up a map, and we were able to get to any valid destinations without problem, even finding at runtime the nearby restaurants, gas stations, or grocery stores! Some features are very cool such as the ability to link waypoints to address book, and the turn by turn routes voice instruction, etc. However, to make the device reasonably useful, you will have to get the optional auto kit, and 256 MB memory card. Some problems which we experienced: even though we have the latest software updates, we found system crashed quite often especially during route recalculation. It is very painful to use stylus to reboot the system in the middle of driving. Also, the routes function doesn't provide very useful instruction for the case when one highway becomes multiples. Or, in some cases, the routes function will give you wrong instruction of highway exit side. One obvious bug I observed is that the routes function automatically off-sets your system clock by one hour. It is an irritating, and obvious bug that the manufacturer should have addressed it. There are a few other minor problems with software, but I still think this is a great device to have especially for those who hates to look up map in the middle of nowhere.


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