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"Indispensible but unsupported" on by Bill Zucker
Pros: Great form factor for travelers
Cons: Garmin doesn't have their act together
Summary: I’ve been using the iQue or about a year now as I’ve traveled the US in a motorhome. While traveling, the accurate estimated time of arrival for a route is supremely useful, as is the peace of mind knowing that when the unit is silent that you’re on the right path. And the beauty of a device like this (PDA/GPS) is that you can move it from vehicle to vehicle, and carry it around with you for the occasional location fix, unlike other car-only navigation units. The 3600 goes where I go. I can’t imagine life without it (or an equivalent unit).
I agree with the reviews, and would like to add the following specifics so a new owner doesn’t have to search in vain for answers to their questions:
Map Data: Way out of date. Maybe 1 in 50 Visitor Centers around the US was where the data showed. Many roads and attractions missing even though they’ve been around for years and years. Garmin says they update every 12-18 months so a new version should be out soon, but don’t expect everything to be up to date. Also, it’s best if you preview the calculated route before you head out, to avoid goofy routing at the end (dragging you through side streets instead of having you do a simple u-turn).
Support: Don’t bother. Website is very confusing when looking for program/data updates. FAQs worthless. Tech Support said they have NO INPUT to Engineering or the website contents so save your breath!
Car Kit: Mandatory. Get one for each vehicle if you swap often. I don’t like how easily the volume gets inadvertently changed whenever you go near the 12v plug/speaker. I’ve reduced the diameter of the knob with a Dremel and inserted a rubber friction piece to avoid this.
Searches: Comes up empty-handed on occasion for no good reason. After you’ve entered an address in the Address Book and asked for a location search, sometimes the street name has to be entered manually, although it appears on the street number field above.
Crashes: About once a week, although mercifully never when actually navigating. Garmin says it’s probably a 12v power spike, although their power adaptor is the logical place to filter spikes out (like for every other 12v device out there). I also carefully enlarged the reset hole in the back for fast resetting with the stylus point (although there is a reset pin inside the screw-off top of the stylus).
Stylus: The point material is too hard, is seriously wearing the screen in the graffiti area.
Free Downloadable Applications: Try the free JPEGView (why didn’t Garmin give us the ability to view images?). Get FileZ to allow you to manage (specifically delete) files. VFSMark lets you benchmark SD memory card speeds.
Memory: Obviously you’ll need a larger SD memory card. I’m okay with a 256MB card, but 512MB might be best because it would hold about half the US. Think twice about putting a large card and filling it up: the search times and map data download times are bad enough as it is.
Tracking: For some reason you can’t leave a breadcrumb trail as you travel like with most other GPS units. You can turn tracking on, then stop it and display it however.
MP3 Playback: Clicky, not really usable, unless you’re not very discerning.
Battery: Short life even when turned off, but more importantly is $150 to replace by Garmin (although it’s the same fee to completely replace the unit).Updated
Two things I'd add to my original review: It will take at least a 1 gig SD card without problems, as I've done it. And apparently you can buy a new battery with installation tools and instructions on eBay for about $20.
Still really like the unit. -
"Surprisingly Unstable for a Palm Based Product" on by lankychris
Pros: Cheaper than most DVD navigation systems, Palm Based PDA is versitle
Cons: Poor battery life, unreliable and crash prone.
Summary: I purchased this product because I have been using Palm based PDAs for 7 years now and I was excited to see a navigation system available for a Palm based PDA. When I purchased the product I had read some reviews about the reliablity problems people had experienced but being a computersystem andministrator and therefore a professional computer nerd, I thought that I could solve any potential problems that arose, I was quite wrong. I found that the PDA did not deal well with being synchronized with already existing Palm desktops. Every time I loaded the PDA up with information it would crash each time I turned it on. The problem was it did not take on new programs well, if I only added the most basic Palm information, Date Book, To Do list etc., it was fine, but it did not like most prgrams I installed on it. Additionally, the DVD Navigation system itself was decidedly more inconveinent than DVD based ones since you had to load maps ahead of time. Being that I travel across the country quite frequently this system was quite inconvient, I found myself hooking it up to my laptop on the dashboard constantly and loading maps. Eventually I decided to return the product and I will try the Dell Axim next, it is a shame though, I prefer Palm but I think I may have better options with the Windows based machines.
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"Affordable Navigation System" on by ben1974
Pros: Price, User-Friendly
Cons: Battery Life, Internal Memory
Summary: I use the IQUE 3600 on a weekly basis, it's an essential tool in the line of work that I do. It's an expense you could definitely avoid if you intend to use it just for fun. I purchased the IQUE 3600 for $387 on Amazon.com on a sale. The same device cost $540 at Circuit city. I advice you to purchase online since it's much cheaper. The navigation system is quite accurate, it could misfire a specific address by few yards though (no bigi). I could confidently say that I managed to understand how to operate each single feature the device had to offer without the manual (user friendly). And my technical abilities are not much better than yours. I was aware of the short battery life issue prior to purchasing the device, however, I use it only in my vehicle so it's not a drawback for me. The screen has poor visibility during daylight especially sunny days, but the turn-by-turn voice command compensate for that. You will find it extremely difficult to acquire satellite reception in downtown areas where buildings are especially high and dense (Manhattan for instance). The device's internal memory is literally a joke (32MB), you will need at least 512MB if you are a heavy map user. I purchased 1GB for $30 on sale in Best Buy. If you do not use the device for a while and let the battery die you will lose your address book data, and voice command feature when you recharge and turn it back on. I could not understand why it does that (if you let your cell phone's battery die you don't lose data when you recharge and turn on do you). Make certain you synchronize frequently, that way if you happen to lose data you can recover it quickly. You will need a car kit don't fool yourself. I suggest the suction mount car kit (you don't mess with the dashboard - $55 approx). Overall, I am extremely satisfied since it really fits my needs. I hope this assists you in making a decision.
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"best PDA GPS combo" on by simon408
Pros: great navigation freatures built into a PDA. you can never get lost and can find any places you need to get to.
Cons: battery life is short
Summary: this is a great PDA/GPS combo. I travel a lot and use it everywhere I go. I was thinking about buying just a navigation unit but when i cam across the iQue 3600 I thought it would be perfect. I also wanted a PDA and this was the answer. the iQue 3600 functions the same way as any other gps units with a couple of extra features. the mapping softwear is very good. you can go anywhere and find anything you want. all u need to do is load the area that you are traveling. other then the gps and mapping features, there are not any other great programs that come with this unit. all u get is the basic palm stuff. (adress book, calculator, calender...) The iQue also has a larger screen compared to the M5 and M3 models. for this reason i bought the 3600 and not the later models. the 3600 also has a jog button on the side that comes in handy that the other models dont have. battery life is very short so keep a charger handy.
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"Great product, but delicate" on by jdcnpr
Pros: Very good navigation / Excellent Customer Support
Cons: Reliability / Battery Life
Summary: A $500 - $600 system w/ Car Kit and SD card.
Navigates as well or better than Magellin Never-Lost (built into some Hertz cars)
I really like the product, despite flaws.
Very good display, not quite as good as the Garmin portables for car use.
Very good customer support from Garmin. Got my first unit replaced after warranty period when I broke fragile external antenna connector.
But.. battery life is short, not a good GPS for hiking, biking. Units tend to reset due to static electricity. You do not lose data, but you will lose the current route and need to re-select destination.
If you are thinking about buying, lots of good info on this forum:
http://www.pdastreet.com/forums
Garmin iQue 3600 user reviews
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