Rating: 
Summary: Excellent PDA / GPS combo with a few bugs
Review: Currently this is the best integration of a Palm PDA and GPS available! I was looking for an in-car GPS unit and came across this. After using it pretty hard for about a week I am happy to report that it is everything I expect it to be and then some! I was sold on the following features:
- Palm OS 5 PDA with hi-res screen and expandable memory.
- GPS with full routing and voice prompt navigation.
- MP3 player / Voice recorder.
The unit includes an integrated flip-out antenna and is not much bigger than my Sony Clie PDA. In GPS mode it does everything you would expect in an in-car full featured GPS costing twice as much. Routing / re-routing is quick, timely voice prompt and accurate maps. Plus, unlike an in-car system, it integrates nicely with your address book already on the PDA.
You must get an external SD card because MP3 files can only be stored on the SD card (you would not want to take up space on the 22MB of free space in the internal memory anyway).
I would also recommend the purchase of the Auto Navigation Kit which includes the bean-bags mounting and external speaker.
My unit came loaded with release 2 software, but I went to the Garmin website and also applied the latest patch. Even so, I still observed the following bugs:
- Spontaneous resets: Happened to me twice. I think these resets are caused by static electricity and it's unlikely that software fix will completely cure it. Just be careful, especially in the dry winter, in handling it. Backup everything into your SD card, in case you lose data and don't have access to your computer to hotsync.
- There is no way to upload routes and waypoints from the unit into your Mapsource; you also can not download routes from Mapsource to the unit. Hopefully, future software releases will fix this.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Ignore the reviews that talk about hard resets and poor reliability. Garmin released Version 2 of the firmware and all that has been fixed. This is an awesome product that I would recommend to anybody. The screen is gorgeous, the integration between PDA and GPS is first rate and the map detail is extensive. Every street in my small town is included, even the dirt roads. If you're thinking of buying this device, give it a shot, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Great Product
Review: I purchased this item in Jan 04 and I couldn't be happier. Prior to purchasing, I read the reviews listed here and started to become concerned because of some of the negative comments. I have used the palm operating system for many years and have owned a garmin e-trex legend for 3 years, so I was familiar with both basic operations. I have found that most of my concern was unfounded. Here are the remarks that most concerned me and my actual experience with them.1) "Software problems". The software updates from Garmin are easily found and easily installed. Took less than 5 minutes start to finish. This was a non-issue. 2) Battery Life. Several users reported only one hour of use with the GPS on. I set the unit in battery saver mode and dimmed the screen brightness to about 30%. I then used auto-routing continuously in order to keep the unit from staying in stand-by mode. I felt this would be more of a real-world experience. The unit operated for over 5 hours before the low battery warning came on. While it could be better, I only use mine in the car and the 12v charger was always handy. If you will be using your gps mostly for outdoor activities, then buy the e-trex vista instead. It is more than adequate for non-vehicle use. (p.s. Instead of the car mounting system, i purchased the car charger and a Belkin AC-vent mount from walmart for $5. This kept the unit off the dashboard and within easy reach.) 3) Satelite aquisition time. Mine aquires within a minute, much faster than the e-trex. Regarding GPS accuracy, I placed this unit next to my garmin e-trex and both showed identical accuracy (8 feet with waas enabled). 4) "Speaker hard to hear". I drive a F-250 DIESEL and can hear the voice prompts clearly at 60 mph. 5) Memory. Many people recomended getting the 128 M card. 95% of my driving is within a 100 mile radius of my home and the internal memory stored it all with plenty of room left over (this may not be the case in larger cities). Map uploads are much faster (15 seconds) than my etrex legend(15 minutes)so adding a map for a trip is not a big deal. 6) "Hardware problems". My unit has worked flawlessly so far. 7) Map loading speed. Some reviews noted a slow map rebuild time. Mine is almost instantanious. (maybe different if using a sd card) This is a great product that has,so far, exceeded my expectations. Amazon's price was within $15 of the lowest price I found on the web, and I received it in two days. Purchase screen protectors, they are a must with any palm device.
Rating:
Summary: WOW! It worked
Review: All the software related problems mentioned in other reviews are gone. I just received my package from Amazon.com, day before yesterday. It came with version 2.x+ software. I tested it from my work (Mountain View,CA) to my home (San Jose, CA). I didn't encounter any problem,and got very accurate direction, turn by turn. I also bought travel kit, but didn't use yet. It lost GPS connection when I parked my Honda Pilot inside my garage. Other basic Plam features are also very cool. The only drawback could be when you are on the road, say, out on vacation, to find a location could be difficult, without storing it first in the address book, though I didn't get a chance to read the complete manual yet. So you may have to carry a laptop or an external portable keyboard interface (I don't know whether you get for this unit or not, but you get for other Palm models). So I will rate it 4 for the time being. Will update as soon as I get a chance to use it more.
Rating: 
Summary: Works ok, but that is all
Review: Great display, somewhat slow redraw. Menu's need a lot of work, not very intuitive. Car mount speaker failed after two weeks. Fuze not user replaceable. Mount not very well designed. Buy this unit for graphics, but that is all. This unit was put on the market before all the bugs were worked out. Garmin should know better, I had problems with a Garmin Marine GPS I ordered several years ago. Producing a quality product for initial release should have a higher priority at Garmin. Wait to buy if you can. Maybe they will correct the initial flaws.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ique is terrible. Garmin's tech support is a disgrace.
Review: I have two other Garmin GPS. After buying the IQue I agree with the other negative comments concerning the incredible difficulty of downloading the software and also having to re initialize the time and date of the unit. Even worse than that is the impossibility of contacting tech support within a reasonable time. Wait times are always claimed to be greater than 30 minutes.
After being on hold for in excess of one hour, my very computer knowledgeable son in law was able to speak to someone who explained that "Disk 1 was not really the Disk 1 referred to when attempting to download the CD map" !??!
The internet contacted tech support did not read the question properly on two occasions, consequently did not even come close to addressing the difficulty of downloading information. The greater problems apparently started after uninstalling mapsource in an attempt to get it to respond properly. Garmin are aware of this difficulty, but have chosen not to disseminate the information. This product and Garmin's tech support is rubbish! Buy something else..........anything else!!!
Rating:
Summary: Good Idea - Poor Execution
Review: This is a pretty weak product across the board. Even with the updated OS, it crashes unpredictably. Took it on a trip from SF to Oregon (multiple destinations), and it worked very well. Tried to route to Tucson, AZ for my next trip, and nothing but calculation errors. On a short hop inside CA, it got me to the destination just fine. Coming back, it crashed, loosing all data. The documentation is one of the big weak spots. Looks like they wrote the documentation for a similar design, but not the same product. Makes a lot of assumptions and sometimes takes you through a process that does not describe the options the same way they appear on the system. Support also sucks. I was having problems with the IR port, and the docs say to read a separate document on the CD. The document isn't there. I contacted Technical Support, and they said to read the Help. The Help says read the document. When I told TS about this, I was told to post a message on the newsgroup. Ugly!
Rating:
Summary: iQue 3600 - Highly Recommended
Review: I have been using my new iQue 3600 for over a week and could not be more pleased with this purchase. It is everything I had hoped for and much more. The GPS functions are quick and reliable. The accuracy is exceptional. I consistently acquire 7-8 satelites from the dashboard of my car. Integration with the Palm software is excellent. GPS locations can be attached to addressbook entries and Datebook entries. If there were problems with early versions of this device, they have all been worked out. I have experienced none of the earlier reported difficulties. I recommend this unit without reservation. If you can have only one GPS device, this is the one.
Rating:
Summary: A terrific product, incredibly well done
Review: A friend bought an earlier unit and ran into some of the problems cited here, though downloading the latest software fixed those problems for him. In my case I bought the unit around Christmas 2003 and never saw any of those problems. The unit is very compact, the user interface is flexible and easy to use, the routing software works very well. Even when you're not following its directions somewhere, watching the "approaching xxx streat" and watching the ticking off of street numbers (no more hunting for signs) is really marvelous. The PC software for downloading maps to the unit is well done (you're going to need an SD card, I suggest something 128M or greater). And the other included software--calculator, voice recorder, audio player, etc all work well. The most obvious problem is the units power consumption--you're going to spend a lot more time with the unit plugged into a power source than you're used to for a Palm device. Really, this is the device that sets the standard for how a GPS should work.
Rating:
Summary: It's not reliable and crashes too frequently
Review: I've had my unit about 3 weeks - when it works, it's great - but it crashes almost daily and I'm sending it back tomorrow to Amazon.com. Also, when it crashes - you lose everything. I have a back-up on my computer, so I can reload everything again, but it's a big hassle. It really let me down this week when I was travelling back through Oregon and it just died. The developers need to go back to the drawing board. It has the making of an awesome piece of equipment, it's just not reliable and has too many problems.
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