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Garmin iQue 3600
W33dz writes "Several sources are talking today about Garmin's new iQue 3600. This lovely new gadget runs on Palm's OS 5.2 and features an onboard GPS system. Garmin has a long history of being a top GPS manufacturer and has created a neat little device that you can see reviewed here (MSNBC) and here (InfoSync)."
crap, and I wanted to get mine before it was posted to slashdot.
> The iQue 3600 is the first PDA to include integrated GPS technology.
> With the power of Palm OS(R) 5 and the dependability of Garmin(R) GPS technology,
> this "Super PDA" redefines multi-tasking. Our integrated software not only
> allows you to look up appointments or contacts, but also locates and routes
> you to them with voice-guidance commands!
Impressive, although I imagine voice guidance is going to sound very cheesy coming out of a tiny machine like this. And embarrassing. (Did your coat pocket just say "turn 90 degrees left"?)
You may now begin the usual "How long will it take for someone to put Linux on one of these" discussion.
It's Slashdot's evil twin... SlashNOT
Now I can say I have an "iQue of 3600" and be telling the truth.
The iQue does not come with any built in wireless networking. That seriously limits its ability to be used as a transponder.
Dang...my color StreetPilot seems to be obsolete now. The only thing it has left going in its favor is its shape, which sits well on a dashboard. I paid $530 for it back in 2000, and it serves me well. I knew a guy who had a lay-flat GPS, and it was a pain for him to drive and watch it at the same time.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Well, one of the frustrating things about being on a Mac has been the almost total lack of GPS software available for OS X and GPS devices. What I can't seem to find out from the site is if downloading new maps requires Windows? If the maps are platform independent, Garmin has just made a sale.
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
The Garmin Legend came with a "basemap" of major highways and major roads, but there are no detailed streetmaps cuz you gotta buy Garmin's CD's for that.
This new unit it pretty expensive, but what how much do you have to spend for the friggin maps?
With a color screen, this is pretty good. It was mentioned it would drop to a few hours with constant use [GPS feature]. On a suckage note the baterry is not user replacable and the car adapter tops $70.
-- Some days you're the dog; some days you're the hydrant.
and attach a gps sleeve to it? You could get more processing power and the gps, for much much more less than the 538 by garmin.
Speaker for voice-guidance commands, MP3 player, and message playback
So when play this, does it guide you there ?
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Ooo! I can take voice memos now!
"Note to self, save a couple hundred dollars next time."
I don't want more multimedia features, I want a better screen, LONGER battery life, and small and thin (Palm V). The latest trends are definitely away from the last two.
There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself
-Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye
I read the Forbes Garmin iQue 3600 overview last week, but it didn't seem quite so exceptional. The Garmin iQue debuted at CES this year. It looks pretty bulky due to the integrated GPS hardware but I can see its usefulness as someone who travels. At $589 for a Palm plus GPS though, the price seems truly exceptional.
I find this offering by Garmin to be superior to other combination PDA and fill-in-the-blank-with-MP3-Player-or-cell-phone-or -digital-camera.
It is particularly applicable for mobile professionals who often find themselves in unfamiliar cities. The high level sales executives where I work immediately come to mind. No they aren't stupid, they just often find themselves having to get to a certain downtown meeting in a city they have been to many times visiting different clients and I am sure it would be nice to have a mobile GPS integrated with the PDA they already carry anyway. Plus it is sleek and stylish enough that even the women in the power suits would pull it out of their purse at a meeting.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
I've been working on a hiking website that uses GPS data to allow users to create and share maps. You can download trails from the website to the palm, and after hiking a never-before-mapped trail, you can donate the GPS track log and my website will add the trail to its network of trails.
I've currently got a whole bunch of trails from the new york/ new england area.
Check it out:
http://www.trailregistry.com
-Geoff
Check out TrailRegistry.com, my hiking site, Maps, altitude pr
Battery life in GPSs has never been all that great, but it's gotten a lot better. I have a Rockwell-Collins Trooper GPS (manuf. circa 1992), and it will drain 8 fresh AAs in 20 minutes. If it's staring up cold, it will often not be able to get a position before the batteries die. Fortunately, it keeps almanac, ephemeris and last position in NVRAM, so it's good to go on the second set of batteries.
1) If you are indoors and you do not know where you are, you need more help than a GPS unit could give you.
2) What? The protocol for GPS has not and will not be changing, unless you are talking about selective availabilty. which changes the accuracy, yes the gov't could make it unusable. However with the number of private services that now use and rely on GPS I doubt that would happen.
$500 for it is not too bad, considering a dedicated color GPS unit meant for the car costs MORE. And I imagine the intended use of this device is for the guy who travels alot for work. You fly into a new city get in your rental and use your PDA to find the office you need to meet at.
My old Garmin GPS MAP12xl may only be greyscale, and twice the weight, but it is also water resistant and runs for many many hours on alkaline AA batteries. And it bounces.
For any serious usage, such as boating or hiking, this frail-looking unit might not be a very good idea. Ever seen a palm with a shattered screen?
I'm particularly suspicious of cheap GPS that claim to be motorist friendsly. (This new Garmin falls into this category despite its hefty price tag: most of what you're paying for is a very fancy PDA.) It's nice to have audio prompts for when you need to make a turn -- but if the gadget can't acquire a satellite in a moving car, that feature is pretty useless!
Flames welcome here: if you've used a cheap urban GPS that works better than what I've described, I want to know about it!
Taking stuff apart since 1969 (TM)
As I started to cross the road I was facinated to watch the little white triangle that was mean cross the small red line of the road. Taxi's should show up on the screen as small yellow squares. I say should because they didn't and while I was crossing the road staring at the little screen, one of those large yellow boxes ran me down. I could even see the little white triangle that was me rapidly changing direction and increasing velocity before I blacked out. Luckily, I can still take voice dictation with my one good arm thanks to the clever controls on this fabulous device. If you don't know how to read a map or ask for directions, this could be just what your looking for.
Yesterday I checked for a firmware update of my Emap and noticed that they had fixed a minor bug and removed French as a language choice, Hurray for Garmin. http://www.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp ?id=73
Oh, it's a great unit. Especially with full color. It's designed to sit on the dashboard while driving (hence the name StreetPilot), as opposed to other GPS units which are designed to lay flat to go in the pocket for hiking (eTrex, Ique). It doesn't matter if you're moving or sitting still...I've acquired satellites on an airplane moving at 550 mph and it didn't take any longer than usual. It's rare you find an address it doesn't have...it's happened to me once as I remember, and that was in a newly-built area. If you're interested in buying it perchance, I'd be willing to entertain fair offers. I'm leaving the country soon and where I'm going I won't need a GPS. It's in top-notch condition...it's been my favorite posession and I've been quite anal about keeping it safe (and the faceplate unscratched).
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!