Pda Cf Gps Vs Ique 3600 Pda/gps

[Growley]

Besides my normal GPS (a Garmin 76S) I also have a Dell Axim X5 PDA with a Globalsat BF-307 that slides into the CF Card slot. It seems to be quite accurate and works with my NC National Geographic Topo CD. My question is this: For whatever reason I am thinking of getting rid of my Dell PDA and Globalsat CF/GPS and buy a Garmin IQue 3600. I would like to hear from those who have used one of these units or both and give my your opinion. Thanks

[+nscaler]

I have the iQue and I love it. I just got a 512 meg sd card. It has:

260 meg - complete maps of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.

114 meg - approx. 114 minutes of mpegs.

and 53 megs free.

I have my old 256 card which I can put on more mpegs or additional maps of other states.

The voice guidance is great. I like the british voice best. Sounds like Troy from Star Trek Next G.

The only shortcoming is battery life. I got a pda charger pack (4AA batt.) and it can recharge the iQue several times. This is only a problem if you do not use the iQue in a vehicle (navigation kit) or are away from your computer sync (also recharges).

For everything, you are looking at about $600.00 USD.

 

Your call.

 

Try www.pdastreet.com also. Look at the forums.

Edited December 17, 2003 by nscaler

[+ATC Dude]

We absolutely love our iQue 3600, too. I turn down the brightness when it's out of the navigation cradle, and the battery last a lot longer.

 

ATC Dude

[ltpat]

I took mine back. It is a very nice unit when it operates properly. It ran down the batteries in just over an hour (from a full charge) once I got the maps loaded. I tried adjusting the brightness and it would not come back up to normal.

The little pin on the cradle bent the first time I used it. Garmin sent me a new one but I was too frustrated trying to figure out how to use the palm stuff. I have not used a PDA before and the documentation for that part of the system is not just bad- it is not even included. I looked online and spent a lot of time and never did figure out how to load and use programs. The first time I did a sync proceedure, it loaded all of my email from outlook and I had to delete it. The clincher was that the software for use with Office was a trial version. I gave it a trial ok and I then declared it guilty of all of the above and more. I sentenced it to be returned to the custody of Garmin for rehabilitation before it gets released to the general public.

I am getting an ipaq and a wifi gps receiver for use in the car, boat, airplane, or just hiking. It is a lot easier to see the screen if I am not holding the antenna under the windshield so that the receiver can see the satellites. There is a lot more compatible map and charting software for the pocket pc than for the palm. I could not find any aeronautical charts for the palm and the Maptech charts I already have for the boat will not work for the garmin and they want a fortune for the same coverage.