The Garmin iQue M3

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.garmin.com/products/iQueM3/' target='_blank'>http://www.garmin.com/products/iQueM3/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The iQue M3 is a user-friendly automotive GPS navigator in a sleek, lightweight Pocket PC design. The attractively priced iQue M3 features larger, more-intuitive icons that make it easier for consumers to select navigation applications using their index finger, rather than a stylus. No other unit on today’s market combines straightforward in-car navigation with Pocket PC applications like the iQue M3. This powerful time-saving tool is ideal for anyone who wants to simplify their life with one integrated device for their automobile, home, or office."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20050717-iQueM3.jpg" /><br /><br />The iQue M3 (a scaled-down version of the M5) is definitely one slick device. Packed with an Intel PXA271 312MHz processor, 32MB ROM, 64MB RAM, SDIO, IR, USB, GPS, a 3.5" QVGA screen, and Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, this US$533 device is expected to be made available in US markets this month. <a href="http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000097050621/">Engadget</a> also has a few hands-on pictures of this device, so be sure to check it out. As nice as this device is, don't expect a Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade for it anytime soon.

[jngold_me]

Packed with an..

I don't know, with those specs, I'd be hard pressed to say it was "packed" with anything.

From the bottom area, it looks like a T5.

[surur]

Rumor: Garmin pulling out the iQue 3600?

This week, OfficeMax has put the Garmin iQue 3600 on clearance. Is this a sign that Garmin is pulling out from the Palm OS space or is there a new iQue coming out?

For those not familiar with the iQue 3600, it is the only Palm OS device that integrates a GPS. The GPS automatically turns on when you flip it up and turns off when you flip it down. The iQue 3600 has a 320x480 screen, runs Palm OS 5.2.1, a built in MP3 player, and voice recorder. Since my review of the iQue 3600 when it first came out, having used other navigation apps for the Palm OS, even without 3-D navigation, I can still say that Garmin's the best one, hands down.

Sometime May 2004, Garmin released the cfQue, a compact flash GPS accessory for the Pocket PC. Early this year, Garmin introduced the iQue M5, a Pocket PC version of the iQue 3600. Garmin also released the GPS 10, a bluetooth GPS, bundled with software for the PC and Pocket PC, but surprisingly nothing for the Palm OS. Garmin was recently at the PalmSource Developer Conference, but no major announcements were made.

http://www.1src.com/scripts/show/1113-Rumor__Garmin_pulling_out_the_iQue_3600_.html

Turns out Garmin was replacing the POS iQue with a WM one.

People have long mistaken the long slow death of Palm with the death of PDA's. WM devices have always gone from strenght to strenght.

Garmin made a mistake by betting on the wrong horse, but they are now trying to correct that. They may be a bit late in the game though, with competition from the likes of Mitac in exactly the same area. They still have a name for ruggedness and reliablity though, so they may just prevail.

Surur

[Gerard]

Maybe if one used it to find one's way to the Antiques Road Show, one might find an expert who could see the value... for a late-2003 device. Seriously, unless you've been hiding in the back woods for the past two years, there is nothing exciting about a device with 32MB ROM and 64MB RAM, not this year anyway. And there are abundant GPS options using external Bluetooth modules or CF cards, so simply integrating it into such a weak (312MHz?!?) device at this point offers nothing superior. Sorry if this sounds grouchy, but frankly I wonder why such an outdated spec device deserves front page mention.

[surur]

On the other hand navigation software is quite expensive. Say $100 for the GPS reciever, $150 for the software, $200 for the cheap PDA and $ 100 for the convenience of the intergration.

Not such bad value then, is it?

Surur

[Gerard]

You still have to purchase your GPS-enabled maps, which make a USD$533 device seem a bit of a stretch. Especially considering that an old iPAQ 3970 can do the same job with a $30 sleeve ($80 or so if you want to add battery life) or just use a Bluetooth GPS module without a sleeve. Though they're not quite easy to find, they do crop up on eBay and other sites now and then for very cheap. And there are a few more recent models which would likewise do the job for comparable or less money all-included. I'm not saying this device is valueless, just that there have been weaker machines on the front page this year which Jason and others have pretty much dumped on for being "too little, too late" and such comments. What makes this one so special that it will sell when there is zero chance of a WM5.0 upgrade (not nearly enough ROM to handle it) and so little in other native resources? If PocketPCTechs released a RAM upgrade, well, maybe, but then that adds at least $100 to the cost. The iPAQ 3835 has the same amount of RAM and ROM as this thing fer cryin' out loud, and it's 4 years old!

[surur]

I guess its because its Garmin. Its kind of like Toshiba releasing a new PPC.

Surur

[Darius Wey]

Maybe if one used it to find one's way to the Antiques Road Show, one might find an expert who could see the value... for a late-2003 device. Seriously, unless you've been hiding in the back woods for the past two years, there is nothing exciting about a device with 32MB ROM and 64MB RAM, not this year anyway. And there are abundant GPS options using external Bluetooth modules or CF cards, so simply integrating it into such a weak (312MHz?!?) device at this point offers nothing superior. Sorry if this sounds grouchy, but frankly I wonder why such an outdated spec device deserves front page mention.

I'm with you on that one - sort of. The reason why I mentioned it was slick was because of its form factor.

Specs wise though, I don't know if it's something to toss and turn over. Garmin markets these devices as GPS Pocket PCs, not media powerhouses. For what it's worth, this device does the job and I can still see it grabbing the interest of a number of consumers out there. Sure, you could get a fast Pocket PC like the X50v, hx4700 or LOOX 720, and couple it with a BT GPS or CF GPS module, but can all users be bothered doing that? Maybe, maybe not.

"too little, too late" and such comments

I've made that comment before. :lol: With the BenQ P50. Why? Being a Pocket PC Phone Edition, I can already name about 5-6 competitors which do a better job. Secondly, this device wow-ed audiences a year or two ago when it was first announced, and right now, we're still waiting for an official release (aside from Asian markets, of course).

You could argue that there are a couple of GPS Pocket PCs better than the M3, but now we're looking at a market dedicated to GPS-equipped Pocket PCs. There aren't that many out there that are miles ahead of the M3 (or the M5 for that matter). Even Asus' recent offering at Computex wasn't bursting the specs bubble.

I guess its because its Garmin. Its kind of like Toshiba releasing a new PPC.

This has nothing to do with the Garmin brand name. It's just a simple market analysis.

[huangzhinong]

For this price, people can get a hp H6500, which at least provide a phone and keyboard free. :lol:

[Gerard]

I suppose it's a perspective thing. From mine, GPS is pretty close to irrelevant toy technology. For professional surveyors/engineers, military folks, fishermen and other travellers at sea, and many other specialists GPS is important, but these sorts of folks would be foolish to entrust their lives and/or jobs with a PPC. Too great a likelihood of glitches in software or lockups forcing resets, as most PPC users can attest. Dedicated and vastly more durable devices are preferred where great importance is placed on accurate navigation/positioning. Then there's the sad battery life, compared to standalone GPS devices which can run days on a charge or use common alkaline batteries. Weather resistance is often a factor, considering the way it rains in many regions.

So a GPS-focused PPC costing several times as much as comparably featured (in terms of navigation) dedicated devices ought to boast something special to justify the cost. In this case there is nothing special. It's weak, slow, and bound to disappoint many compared alongside either a modern PPC or a decent GPS. Seems a watered down blend of both. A tool for travelling salesmen at best.

But the look? Sure, it looks slick.

[ADBrown]

Turns out Garmin was replacing the POS iQue with a WM one.

Actually, Garmin has had a GPS PPC for awhile now, the M5 referred to in the original post. I can't remember when exactly they introduced it, but I think it was very new at CES, which would be early January. This may be a replacement for that.

[Ed@Brighthand]

Garmin also released the GPS 10, a bluetooth GPS, bundled with software for the PC and Pocket PC, but surprisingly nothing for the Palm OS.

The only problem with this is that it's not true. A couple of weeks after announcing the iQue M5, Garmin released the iQue 3600a, a Palm OS bundle designed to help pilots navigate.

You can read more about it at:
www.brighthand.com/article/Garmin_Announces_iQue_3600a?site=Palm

Garmin has continued to show equal support for both platforms: Pocket PC and Palm OS.

[Ed@Brighthand]

Actually, Garmin has had a GPS PPC for awhile now, the M5 referred to in the original post. I can't remember when exactly they introduced it, but I think it was very new at CES, which would be early January. This may be a replacement for that.

The iQue M3 isn't really a replacement for the M5; it's a lower-cost option. The iQue M5 is a great device, but at $750 it is outside of the price range of a whole lot of people. The M3 leaves out Bluetooth and the car cradle, reducing the cost by $250. Not exactly cheap but more in line with the price of other GPS-enabled handhelds.

[surur]

Garmin also released the GPS 10, a bluetooth GPS, bundled with software for the PC and Pocket PC, but surprisingly nothing for the Palm OS.

The only problem with this is that it's not true. A couple of weeks after announcing the iQue M5, Garmin released the iQue 3600a, a Palm OS bundle designed to help pilots navigate.

You can read more about it at:
www.brighthand.com/article/Garmin_Announces_iQue_3600a?site=Palm

Garmin has continued to show equal support for both platforms: Pocket PC and Palm OS.


a) I did not write the Garmin rumor article, but its quite recent (06-29-2005) 1src.com article.
b) the iQue 3600a is clearly just a variation of the iQue 3600, to a small and limited market, more than 6 months ago.

As that 1src article says, what has Garmin done for PalmOS lately?

Surur

[Paragon]

GPS is pretty close to irrelevant toy technology.

Oh, Gerard, far from it, my friend. There are thousands of folks out there using GPS on their Pocket PCs every day that would argue that point with you. There is nothing like getting into the car and not having to worry about where you are going, how far to the next turn, which way to turn, or if you should somehow miss a turn, to then have your route automatically recharted for you. Don't put down GPS till you have really tried it.

My favorite way of putting GPS into perspective these days is to relate a trip to Scotland a few months back, and not once looking at a map for the whole trip. We just sat back and let the GPS tell us where to go. I saw more of the local surroundings than I had on any previous trip, and NOT once got lost.

You should talk to the professional drivers and salesmen who depend on it on a daily basis........far from "irrelevant toy technology" ;)

Dave

[Gerard]

Not very nice to grab out only the harshest few words, making my statement seem a sweeping condemnation of GPS. I said:

"I suppose it's a perspective thing. From mine, GPS is pretty close to irrelevant toy technology."

'From my perspective', and 'pretty close to' both qualify the term 'toy' which you've so eagerly latched onto.

I do not drive. Never have. I travel by bus, bike, on foot. If I have a map and a minute to establish North - walking a block in any direction in a strange city then checking the street names on the map establishes compass directions and after that it's easy - then there's no excuse for getting lost. If I happen to bring a compass, which I sometimes have, then even in the bush there's not a lot of chance of becoming lost. Add the sun's position if it's not raining and a watch (my PPC for a few years now, as I stopped wearing a watch when I bought my first Casio) and really, it' easy to find one's way around.

Driving is a rather interesting form of tourism. When I have travelled with drivers, whether in local towns or in strange cities, I have found that most of them communicate and obsess most about the driving itself; the roads, the fuel stations, the parking, the traffic, the road conditions, the heat or cold of the car, whether lunch is close the the highway or not, etc. It's depressing, frankly. When I travel I prefer to know the place I'm in, which is better accomplished on foot, amongst the locals. Taking a small version of my home with me in the form of a travelling room on wheels would seem a great means of isolating myself from actual experience. I'm not guessing when I say this. I have been a passenger in many places, with friends, strangers, family, and have found almost all to behave as though watching television in their living rooms. It's all a view through rectangles of glass. No time, got to keep to schedules, get to the next parking lot and viewpoint, got to get that perfect picture like a million other cameras grabbed just this year, got to buy that souvenir...... nauseating.

GPS is a barrier between people and understanding. It's a crutch. A valuable one for some professions, as I said, even vital, but for most people it's yet one more distracting toy to block actual learning.

I see people in my own city watching their dashboard GPS displays in their SUVs, cellphone pressed to the left ear or microphone dangling and jaw wagging, attention everywhere but on the road and the pedestrians. I have lost count of the numbers of near misses I've had and also witnessed with others on foot, where these urban tank drivers are so out of focus as to make we mere humans on the pavement virtually invisible. Vehicles have moved away from tools of transport and into multi-media showcases, with every possible distraction right at the contained user's fingertips.

Now admittedly the fun factor of handheld or driven GPS navigation is real. How could it not be? The geek factor is very high. Automate everything, just 'control' your world through a pocketable device which takes away all risk of wandering into the 'wrong' place. One an depend, with a GPS-enabled PPC, upon finding the most up-to-date and efficient route to anything, right down to realtime traffic condition and road maintenance reporting. A sense of control of the world through information technologies is quite the balm in the out of control time, where uncertainty about life and death, war, disease, all the evils imaginable are potentially right around the corner. Who knows, perhaps in our generations we'll see RFID tagged ex-cons pinpointed on our little glowing screens as we navigate through streets at home and abroad! If one gets too close, just warm up your handy Windows Mobile Taser CF adapter and prepare to disable the bad guy before he gets that knife out of his pocket... or better yet, disable him by remote control if he passes within 5 metres of a tech-enabled citizen.

But I get ahead of us. We're discussing the utility of a newly released PPC here, right? It does what a hundred other GPS devices do, and most of what all the PPCs do, which is PIM and all the other wonderful mobile computing we want and/or need. And that's cool. Just not terribly important, in terms of the average person who really doesn't need GPS to keep from getting lost while walking around town or driving to work or the theatre or shopping. And to buy a weak spec'd PPC for USD$533 based on the potential utility of the GPS aspects for a 2 week vacation once a year, well, that's just sad.

[Paragon]

I took nothing out of context, Gerard. :) I only meant that you shouldn't judge something as being "irrelevant toy technology" if you haven't tried it.

Have a nice day. :)
Dave

[surur]

Who knows, perhaps in our generations we'll see RFID tagged ex-cons pinpointed on our little glowing screens as we navigate through streets at home and abroad! If one gets too close, just warm up your handy Windows Mobile Taser CF adapter and prepare to disable the bad guy before he gets that knife out of his pocket... or better yet, disable him by remote control if he passes within 5 metres of a tech-enabled citizen.

Hey this is cool! You should patent it. I'm sure there are many laws in America which would make a large part of this perfectly legal!

Surur

[ADBrown]

Not very nice to grab out only the harshest few words, making my statement seem a sweeping condemnation of GPS. I said:

"I suppose it's a perspective thing. From mine, GPS is pretty close to irrelevant toy technology."


GPS is far from a toy for most people, and it does a lot more than I think you are aware of. Besides geolocation, the Global Positioning System also synchronizes clocks on cell phone towers, tracks delivery of packages, provides effective emergency beacons to people in remote areas, guides airplanes across continents, finds missing persons, and It serves as the underlying infrastructure to a host of applications important to modern society. Guiding somebody from Adirondack to Poughkeepsie is a minor benefit, and a lot of your complaint about that has to do with people, not with technology. Don't have a fit and turn traditionalist just because some people are rude. Rude people existed long before GPS.

[Gerard]

Oh dear, misunderstandings on all sides. I'd thought my above noted exceptions regarding surveyors and whatever other professions in contrast to trivial end-user navigation had made my point clear. Guess not. So:

GPS is a serious tool in many applications. Pocket PC assisted car navigation for the average driver is not one of them. Again, I am attempting to aim my criticisns at this thread's device of focus; an under-powered, out of date, non-upgradable unit which seems aimed at the more ignorant sector of Future Shop clientele, people too fast to whip out a credit card and pay too much for such a device. Better units can easily be got for less. That's my main point. Yes, I know lots about the 'legit' uses of GPS. But most of the users I know who have PPC-connected GPS devices cannot show any meaningful advantage to using such things over a proper map software.

Solitary drivers in strange cities will of course love GPS, especially if big fonts or a comforting voice tell them proper directions (unlikely, as program logic and road sense are unlikely to mesh) and saves them the distraction of looking for street signs. But... which is better, the distraction of a navigational device or of looking out the car windows for landmarks and signs? Frankly I'd rather the driving tourists visiting my town were looking out their windows than squinting into a 3.5" screen, at least while I'm anywhere near a road. Too manu people get killed crossing streets or sitting at bus stops as it is, with a cellphone glued to 1 in 4 drivers' heads. Leave GPS to those who really need it.

[Paragon]

:confused totally:

[davea0511]

Oh dear, misunderstandings on all sides. I'd thought my above noted exceptions regarding surveyors and whatever other professions in contrast to trivial end-user navigation had made my point clear. Guess not. So:

GPS is a serious tool in many applications. Pocket PC assisted car navigation for the average driver is not one of them. Again, I am attempting to aim my criticisns at this thread's device of focus; an under-powered, out of date, non-upgradable unit which seems aimed at the more ignorant sector of Future Shop clientele, people too fast to whip out a credit card and pay too much for such a device. [snip]

... which is better, the distraction of a navigational device or of looking out the car windows for landmarks and signs? Frankly I'd rather the driving tourists visiting my town were looking out their windows than squinting into a 3.5" screen, at least while I'm anywhere near a road. Too manu people get killed crossing streets or sitting at bus stops as it is, with a cellphone glued to 1 in 4 drivers' heads. Leave GPS to those who really need it.

I didn't misunderstand you at all. Having used GPS technology for tourism myself I can assure you that it has made driving easier and safer, and have made trips more pleasurable for me and my family (my wife can't read a map to save her life). The wonderful about GPS's whether they're a dedicated device or a PPC is that they talk to you. And unlike a backseat driver, they know what they're talking about. You don't have to look at a 3.5" screen for more than a glance, because it shows you exactly where you are in relation to the roads around you and where you are in relation to monuments and what not.

Contrast that with the driving tourist that has a large map with poorly placed illegible street names unfolded on their lap with a finger in the rough vicinity of where they were when they last looked up street names on the x-y grid. I've done that - and I see far less of the world around me, not to mention how many times I've missed a turn and almost ended in an accident while searching for street signs that a city was too cheap to invest in.

Yes, it's a matter of perception, but perception is only as valuable as the depth of one's experience. Sadly, bad experiences are common when you live on the bleeding edge of technology, but you should know that going into it and a true techie always has faith that the bugs will get worked out and applications will get developed that can slingshot a technology far beyond what it was ever intended to do. That will happen with GPS - it already is, despite the efforts of naysayers critical of anything they haven't tried.

On another note - this idea that PPC GPS devices are vastly inferior smacks of geocacheing snobbery - not that you're such a person - I'm sure you aren't, but such people should know that not everyone can afford both a PPC with a 240x480 screen and a GPS with a 240x480 screen. Especially one that you can take out of the car. Most of the stand-alone GPS devices have a bit of a cryptic interface or they're a huge thing that you want to leave in the car. By the same token, most PPC users don't need the latest and greatest PDA, so this, even with it's low-end specs, might be perfect for them. Just because it isn't for you doesn't make it suck.

[Gerard]

I am not so much suggesting it sucks. More that at $533 US it's over-priced. At $450 US or less I'd have zero to say about it. At $350 US I'd call it a good deal! I wonder if the marketplace will agree...

As as for safety, talk to me next time a cellphone-using (yes, even hands-free) GPS-addicted driver cuts you off in traffic, or better still, next time one knocks you off a bicycle. I hope it doesn't happen, to you or me or anyone, but studies show it'll happen far too often and get worse, not better, until laws strictly prohibit use of such distracting devices while in motion. A driver referring to a paper map while navigating is absurdly dangerous. People do it, and people die because of it. More distracting devices are not going to reduce the popularity of stupid behaviors. Add a coffee to the mix, or a burger, and the driver should probably be jailed for conspiring to manslaughter.