Strengths: Voice recorder and voice activation
Weakness: None
I am please with my GPS because it is useful tool as MP3 player, Palm, GPS, voice recorder. It is a little bit difficult to set it up 2 first but when it's done, it works fine.
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TopStrengths: GPS works great, voice prompts are clear and loud, pda itself is excellent, large memory capacity sd card, car kit friction bracket is excellent, holds the unit well.
Weakness: In bright sun there is a strong glare, can't import already calculated routes from map source.
This unit is terrific. The routes are calculated quickly and seem to be accurate. The GPS picks up the satellite signals quickly after the initial fix is gained. The difficulty seeing the screen in bright sunlight is offset by the fact that the voice prompts are excellent, and you probably shouldn't be looking at the screen so much anyway. If you are really bothered by the glare, pick up an external antenna (which is reasonably priced from 3rd party manufacturers) which works well and enables you to move the unit out of the glare.
I have used both the Garmin Street Pilot 2610 and the iQue 3600 and do not believe the 2610 is worth the difference in price when you consider the screens are similar, the GPS capabilities are virtually identical, and the iQue offers all the additional benefits of a Palm PDA.
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TopStrengths: decent for non-city driving
Weakness: Major design flaw - when the unit loses sat reception it blanks the directions from the display. Blanking out the miles to the next turn and times are one thing, but this unit clears the directions.
So I've used this unit for several months and found that there is one major issue. When the unit loses sat reception it clears the directions display - i.e. when I'm driving through downtown San Francisco (the only place I really need the unit for) and it loses reception due to the tall buildings it completely blanks the direction display and I am completely lost. It takes several minutes to recover the location so in many instances I wind up 2 or 3 miles off course in heavy traffic. If I'd known this ahead of time I would have bought a different unit. I contacted the manufacturer and they more or less told me there was nothing they could do and it would be considered in their next model. Considering the price I'd expect a patch at least. The unit is decent for highway navigation - just not for use in cities.
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TopStrengths: compact and portable gps and palm organizer at a reasonable price.
Weakness: a number of instruction documents but hard to follow for the complex functions like gps.
Lots of bells and whistles with great functions that will keep me interested in using the iQue3600 for a long time. Palm Organizer interfaces very well with my desktop pc. The GPS navigation map and voice thru the external speaker is easily understood. There is a nice listing of business and landmark addresses, or ability to input the street address. Display brightness is good for both day and night. The portable friction mount base seems to be stable for typical driving situations, and the iQue mounting bracket has a nice range of swivel and tilt adjustments.
So far the biggest negative is the hard to follow instructions for the neat but complicated functions of the unit. Using the unit along with referring to the instructions makes learning the functions a lot easier. A soft travel case for the iQue would be a good investment to protect the handheld unit when using it remotely.
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TopStrengths: Integrated GPS and Palm in one package. Not too heavy; bright & good quality color display. Software installation is smooth and interactive (WinXP).
Weakness: Side-mounted buttons are easily pressed when inside a briefcase or pocket. Same problem when removing the iQUE from the leather case.
I have used the product for 3 days now in my car. Works great! Most places I need to find are already in the database: car dealer, hotel, restaurants. Voice feture is clear and good quality. I have the Auto Nav Kit (bean bag device that sits on the dash #010-10407-00) it is stable and good quality; purchased as a bundle. Don't forget to but some MEMORY, I went with 512meg.
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TopStrengths: The design is compact and light weight; the voice instructions on the GPS are clear and allow one to drive without even looking at the visual display.
Weakness: Some menus are not intuitive and require extra effort to navigate successfully. When maps become out of date, updates may be pricey.
As a user with a nontechnical background, I was pleasantly surprised at how well my first attempt to navigate via the voice commands of the GPS system turned out. This was also my first experience with a PDA, and my ability to use all the features will no doubt take time, but I would definitely recommend this system to other potential customers.
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TopStrengths: light weight; multi-tasked device (palm + GPS); nice color
Weakness: Weak signal receiption; non-intuitive GUI; small original card size
First of all, I really want a working GPS, because I hate to read map when I drive to unfamiliar place. From previous reviews I've read, this GPS device seems to satisfy all my need. However, when I first use it in my city, it cannot get any satellite signal at all, even in a open parking lot, because of the cloudy sky in New York. I decided to try it in California. It did work there, but the signal would lost whenever I drove between high buildings, making it useless in the downtown area, where I need GPS's help most. Even in cloudless CA, this GPS still needs 3 to 4 minutes before it can get enough satellite signals. If you plan to use it outside of your car, think again. This GPS draws battery power quickly, and you'll need a car inverter/charger to make it work (the good thing is that there is a car charger included in the duplex package I brought). There also seems a couple of bugs exist in the software, because I got fatal error message a few times without even actively using the GPS.
In conclusion, it would be a great GPS if it works all the time, and bugfree. I'd wait for its newer version, and buy a large memory card to store all the maps.
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TopI love it! I carry the IQue 3600 in my fanny pack; have my calendar and contact information for all my clients, relatives, friends, etc. wherever I go; can check out locations (maps) even when the GPS is off; and then no matter which car I'm driving (or riding in), the IQue directs me where I am going.
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TopStrengths: Only fully integrated GPS-PDA unit on the market that's a proven performer since 2003. Garmin has just announced on their webpage a new Pocket-PC version, iQue M5, with voice recognition-command.
Weakness: Battery life is too short -- strongly suggest a bundle version vs. a basic PDA.
Used it on travel in Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, Southern California, Texas and elsewhere. Worked effortlessly every time like a built-in unit even in unfamiliar surroundings -- voice command is nice, simple, loud enough and appropriately timed. Voice recorder feature is useful and looking forward to using MP3/WMP player, which will require a SW purchase. Being a former Pocket PC user, I was amazed with wide variety of software support. It would be nice to have few upgrades such as more memory (< 23 of 32MB available to the user, although SW/data can be loaded on to a much larger SD flash memory), and also to enable voice recognition for performing voice command while in route, similar to the new iQue M5 model. For the SD flash memory, I would recommend at least 256MB -- better choice would be 1GB or 512MB (Note: loading detail maps of Pacific Coast, East Coast, and Southern/Central Florida require ~200MB).
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iSalon
- Jan 29, 2005
Strengths: It's a great product! small, powerful, Exellent Voice Guidance,and Easy to use. All my firends are thinking about switching to this from their old-fashion PDA now
Weakness: battery life is too short, and don't think about using it to play music,the speaker is really bad other than voice. Sometimes it will lost satellite recieption when driving in the city.
overall, I love it! With this unit I don't have to go to yahoo maps any more and not just this, I can carry it anywhere while access my calendar and address book. However, make sure that you also buy a larger SD card (I got a 512M) PDA mount with speakers for auto-navigation.
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TopStrengths: Nice size screen, friction mont works great, GPS work great
Weakness: It take a little time to get used to reading and listening to the unit. When it say to turn 400 feet ahead, it is pretty much the next street ahead of you.
I've had this product for about 3 months now and it works great. No real complaints. I use the calender and the address by syncing it to my Outlook.
It take time to get used to reading and listening to the directions on the unit. But once you get used to know when to turn, it is great. For example when it says to turn 400 feet ahead, you pretty much turn on wahtever street is coming up ahead.
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TopStrengths: Small, well integrated functions of palm + GPS
Weakness: GPS almost impossible to navigate, weak signals, hard to read, see
I have been using the unit for about a year. Tried to justify the money I paid and to maximize it for what it's worth. After about a year of collecting dust, the charging connected got messed up one day when I was sitting it in the charging cradle. Now it's a piece of junk. Do not miss it though.
Anyone interested in buying a cheap broken iQUE 3600?
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TopStrengths: portable, compact, versatile; works well both as GPS navigator and PDA organizer
Weakness: takes time to learn to use; not exactly point and shoot
Husband and wife agree that this is one of the best designed tech toys we've bought in a long time. It takes a bit of playing around with it to get to know how everything works, but it's a very clever system and we are both impressed. Have never had any problem picking up satellites and any directional errors are rare and minor. We bought a 1GB SD card to go with it and it holds all the maps we need. The auto friction mount works fine in both our vehicles. It's easy to place and remove from car, to purse or pocket. Well worth the price paid. No regrets.
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Garmin iQUE 3600 GPS Bundle Includes Unit
Strengths: PDA integration, voice prompting, mapping software, ease of use
Weakness: Screen could be brighter, battery life
I picked up this and the Garmin Quest at the same time. The Quest is a nice unit (see my review on the Quest) and has a brighter screen, but the PDA integration in the iQue is nice. At the touch of the screen, it can route to anyone in your address book (or anywhere else for that matter). The detail of the maps is fantastic, but must be loaded from the PC. Pick up an SD card to hold the maps, as the included memory is small. The screen on the iQue is a little dimmer than on the Quest, but livable. The beanbag friction mount included with some iQues is not for my vehicle. I find the suction mount works better. The navigation software is nice, and is spot-on (at least where I tested in rural NH, VT and NY). Battery life is short, so leave it plugged in to the car while driving.
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