Ever use MapQuest for directions? You enter your starting address and your destination address and the web site shoots back a list of turn-by-turn instructions to get you from point A to point B. Garmin’s iQue 3600 is a GPS navigation system that takes the MapQuest approach to a whole new level.
The iQue is more than a GPS with a list of directions— it’s a complete navigation system. The GPS is integrated in a Palm OS based Personal Digital Assistant, or PDA. That means your address book, notes, and emails are easily within reach. Then, flip open the small GPS antenna on the back of the Palm and your PDA acquires a signal from anywhere between 3 and 15 GPS satellites in orbit around the earth. Acquiring satellites takes between 5 and 30 seconds in most cases. But once you have a signal, you just need to tell the navigation system where you would like to go.
That is where the iQue really shines. Since the GPS is integrated with the PDA, you simply select an address from the Palm address book and tap the Route To button. The GPS instantly calculates the fastest route between your current location and your chosen destination. It’s really that easy!
As soon as you route is calculated, the iQue will display a map of your current location on the PDA’s color screen. A highlighted patch directs you from your current position to your prescribed destination. But, since the navigation system is designed with the driver in mind, and not the passenger, it makes it easy to keep your eyes on the road. A digital voice reads off the routing instructions as you drive.
Now, if you’re like me, you’re already impressed. If you heard the voice, you would be even more impressed. Garmin has actually achieved a voice that sounds almost human! The PDA not only speaks to you, but it does it in a clear and intelligible voice!
Now your probably wondering what kinds of instructions the PDA reads to you. Garmin was smart enough not to worry about making the device try to pronounce street names that boggle even the human mind. They brought the directions down to a slightly more generic level, but they arguably just as useful. For example, the device might say something like “Turn left in .6 miles.” As you approach your intersection, the device chimes in again. “Turn left in 500 feet.”
As you approach the intersection for the turn, the screen redraws with a blown up view of the intersection an animated arrow indicating the correct path to choose. Even more impressive, we are not talking about some generic view of an intersection. The device shows you that particular intersection. This makes it very easy to understand the correct path if you pull up to a crazy 5 street intersection. The device makes it almost impossible to make a mistake.
While I loved all of these features, I still have not gotten to my favorite feature. This is a feature that Garmin calls QTurns. At any time you can chose to toggle out of the real time map view of your course in favor of MapQuest style turn by turn directions. This makes it easy to see your list of turns far in advance. Just like MapQuest, it might instruct you to drive 5 miles, then turn right on Route 14. But, unlike MapQuest, that 5 mile calculation actually counts down in real time as you drive closer to the next waypoint! It really is a real time, live updating list of turn-by-turn direction.
Why not throw in some more bells and whistles? The data is there, why not use it? Since the device gives you such accurate directions, and it knows a great deal about the route you are taking, the system can actually estimate what time you will arrive at your destination. And, if you get stuck in traffic, the ETA will update accordingly as you go about your trip. The device also does some cool little things such as telling your current speed, altitude, and heading. And, once you arrive at your destination, the GPS can even shows your average moving speed, the amount of time you spent in motion, and the amount of time you spent parked. All in all, the device does a great deal of calculating given all of the data that it has available.
The Palm OS integration is perfect for GPS incorporation. Site guides are built into the device and make it easy to get to almost any location without prior research. For example, say you are in an unfamiliar town and you have a taste for Starbucks. Just enter the name Starbucks into the restaurant section of the location guide and the PDA will list all Starbucks locations in your vicinity. It will tell you the distance between you and each listed location, and give you the option to navigate to that location with no additional effort. This device is simply that powerful. Other destinations include airports, shopping centers, gas stations, sports arenas, and historic landmarks.
Unfortunately, no matter how easy directions are to follow, we still make mistakes. So what does the iQue do when you make a wrong turn? It simply announces that you are “Off route,” and recalculates the directions on the fly. Rather than make you turn around to get back on the route, it calculates an entirely new set of directions to the destination. This makes the device ideal for that sudden detour that the PDA could not possibly have predicted, as well as that turn you missed when you where paying more attention to your passenger than the road.
Now, if we’re on the same page, you’re no doubt thinking that the device is fairly brilliant. Well, it is! But there are a few caveats to keep in mind before you run right out and buy an iQue. First of all, there is the price. The unit is currently available from Amazon.com for about $500. Its not cheap, when you consider that you are getting a color Palm with 16MB of internal memory in addition to the integrated GPS receiver, the numbers start to become more justified. If you consider that the device removes just about all anxiety over getting list, you will likely find the device well worth the expense.
Accessories:
The next big problem is line of sight. The iQue must have clear line of sight access to the sky in order for the GPS to work. Sitting in the drivers seat might work is you have a sunroof, but in most cases, it just won’t cut it. The PDA must be sitting on the dashboard in order to do its job properly. Fortunately, Garmin planed for this. The optional dashboard mount is a friction based stand that just sits on the dash of the car. It keeps the iQue in easy sight without obscuring the driver’s view of the road. The stand plugs into the cigarette lighter port on the dash and keeps the Palm charged while you drive. This means you never need to worry about the battery dieing and leaving you lost. A speaker is also built into the power cord that makes the GPS audio directions much easier to hear even when you are running the air conditioner at full blast.
Some modders will like the optional external antenna that plugs into the iQue. This is perfect should you decide to mount the iQue permanently in the car. The external antenna has a very long cable on it and offers two means of securing the end of the antenna. A suction cup makes it easy to attach to the window, and a magnetic mount makes it easy to attach the antenna to the outer roof of the car.
The maps are downloaded to the PDA through the Palm HotSync functionality. Simply chose the geographic area you want to keep in the GPS and it will download to the device the next time you hook it to your PC. And, while the maps are vector based and extremely small, they are also very detailed and chosen geographic locations also contain all of the indexes of stores and landmarks within that zone. This means that the navigation features can require a great deal of memory. Fortunately the device supports Secure Digital memory cards. Just pop a 256MB memory card into the slot and you have more than enough storage to keep an entire state mapped. And, if you like, you can keep a couple of states on one card, and a couple of other states on another. The expansion is almost limitless.
There is only one way to really understand the power of this navigation system. You simply have to experience it for yourself. Unfortunately, that is simply not feasible for most people. My best efforts to explain the raw practicality of this device simply cannot do it justice. Garmin spared no expense in developing this navigation system to its fullest. Once I used one, I knew I had to have one. It does for driving what Tivo did for television. It takes all of the anxiety out of unfamiliar surroundings and makes life easier. And, for all of its features, the Garmin iQue is very easy to use.
Unfortunately, the device was designed with PC users in mind. Macintosh users will have to jump through some hoops to get the system working with their Macs. Many Mac users have found success using the device with Virtual PC. That will get the maps installed, and works fairly well. If you are interested in getting the PDA to sync with your Mac’s Address Book, or Entourage, check out Missing Sync for Mac. It’s better than the Palm Desktop, and since Palm abandoned the Mac platform, its the only game in town.
