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Introduction

The Garmin iQue 3600: GPS navigation in a handheld PDA.

It had to happen sooner or later. Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and handheld PDAs are two of the hottest technologies on the market today: one a powerful navigation tool, the other an organizer's dream come true. It was just a matter of time before they were brought together.

The result is the Garmin iQue 3600, the first handheld to offer the best of both worlds. It keeps you up-to-date with your appointments, organizes your contacts, edits your Word documents and, as an added bonus, promises that you'll never be lost again. Impressive, but can these two technologies really work together to make a better handheld? We set out to answer that question when we tested the iQue for Crutchfield Advisor.

GPS ? a technology first developed by the U.S. military ? involves microwave communication between a receiver and a network of 27 navigation satellites. Units like the iQue can "track" to up to 12 of these satellites at once, though it only takes four to determine your position. Wide Angle Augmentation System (WAAS) compatibility improves on this reception by tapping in to a network of ground-level repeater stations that strengthen the satellite signal. WAAS-compatible GPS units, like the iQue, are generally accurate to within 40 feet, though accuracy depends on how many satellites the receiver can track at any one time.

First Impressions

Out of the box and ready to go: the iQue includes a full complement of accessories. Day or night, the backlit color screen is crisp and readable. Add-on Secure Digital (SD) cards can extend the iQue's memory indefinitely.

As a veteran PDA user, my first impression of the iQue was "it's a handheld, nothing new there." But after powering it up and playing around with the features, I realized that it was actually much, much more. Sure, it can serve as a pocket organizer, but what other handheld can help you find an Italian restaurant in Rome, GA and then guide you there with turn-by-turn voice prompts?

The iQue measures 2-7/8" wide by 5-1/8" high, and is a little thicker than a standard handheld. It still weighs in at a mere 5.2 ounces, so it certainly isn't heavy, but it's a bit bulky for a shirt pocket. The backlit color touch-screen is bright and easy to read day or night ? the automatic night mode offers an especially cool "negative image" that is very readable in the dark ? and the rechargeable lithium-ion battery ensures that you've always got plenty of power on hand. The gray plastic case is well designed and seems solid enough to put up with normal use. The GPS satellite signal is received by a flip-up antenna that tucks neatly against the back of the unit when not in use.

The iQue 3600 comes loaded with the Palm? OS 5 operating system, Microsoft Word and Excel editors, and a nationwide "basemap" for basic navigation. The basemap features major highways, cities, towns, waterways, airports, and little else. It's helpful for highway road trips, but if you want street level detail and local "points of interest" you'll need to install detailed maps from the included "MapSource City Select" CD.

Another thing that jumped out at me was the iQue's speed. It packs a blazing fast 200MHz processor that put most other handhelds to shame. It powers up almost instantly, jumps smoothly between programs, and handles large applications with ease.

Set-up

The iQue comes out of the box with everything you need to get started: the unit, HotSync? cradle, AC power cable, MapSource City Select and Palm OS discs, and instructions. Everything is neatly packed and includes ample instructions to make the set up process quick and easy. In addition to the manual, there is also a software guide included on the installation CD.

Charge up the internal battery with the wall adapter ? or on the cradle (which also serves as a USB connection) ? and the iQue will be ready for business in about an hour. The battery will last about five hours once fully charged. (Note: the GPS receiver is power hungry, and cuts battery life in half).

Before you can navigate with the GPS receiver, you need to go through a one-time calibration process to let the iQue know where it is on the planet. It involves taking the unit outside and letting it establish contact with the navigation satellites ? a 15-minute process that can also be done manually by entering in location coordinates if you prefer. Once this step is completed, subsequent start-ups take about 30 seconds.

Software installation is straightforward, and involves setting up the Palm Desktop? and MapSource? utilities on your PC (the iQue is not Mac-compatible). The map tool allows you to choose and install detailed maps on your iQue, and lets you edit maps directly on the PC ? an excellent way to set courses in advance without having to work from the small iQue screen.

From there, it's just a matter of deciding which applications you want on the iQue and how much of the 32MB internal memory you want to dedicate to map data. True, the memory can't hold too many of the 2-3MB detailed map files on top of the OS, but the good news is that the iQue can accept add-on Secure Digital (SD) expansion cards for near endless storage capability.

Navigate to waypoints like a standard GPS, or choose local "Points of Interest" for directions.

Using the iQue 3600

So what can the iQue do? Sure, it can get you from point A to point B like any GPS, but the iQue adds in a host of convenient features that can tie navigation into just about everything you do. Want to get directions to someone in your contacts list? Done. Need to get from the airport to an appointment in a new city? No problem. This integration makes the iQue an extremely valuable tool for anyone who spends time on the road.

Power up to the main menu screen to peruse everything at once: audio recorder, calculator, memo pad, date book, Microsoft Office, and address book. The GPS functions start here too: map, trackback (a feature that records a "bread crumb trail" to guide you back to a starting point), route, and find.

"Find" allows you to look up local restaurants, landmarks, hotels, and more from a series of easy-to-use menus ? an incredible feature for highway travelers. The map updates in real-time, displaying local attractions and even street addresses as you approach them.

My first iQue test focused on the unit as a stand-alone GPS receiver and mainly involved wandering around the Crutchfield headquarters setting waypoints and trying out the trackback feature.

Setting waypoints on the iQue was even easier than with other GPS receivers I had used. You can either walk to the location and tap "Set Waypoint," scroll to the point on the map and set it remotely, or enter longitude and latitude coordinates directly. However you do it, the iQue's ability to edit point names quickly from the main screen is another extremely valuable resource. Unlike the long lists of "Point 1" and "Point 2" I've slogged through on other receivers, the logical names I recorded for each point on the iQue made selecting points later that much easier. A nice feature.

Once you have a waypoint entered, the system can display the distance to it and route you to it with a simple "follow the arrow" directional aid.

I was able to maintain accuracy of about 20 feet ? impressive, given the wooded area I was exploring ? and had no trouble finding my way back to the starting points. The on-screen map was clear and easy to follow, even in the sun, though using the stylus while walking can be a little tedious. The verdict? As a basic GPS receiver the iQue can certainly hold its own with more feature-rich handheld units.

Garmin's optional car kit mounts the iQue neatly on the dash.

On the road with the iQue

Nothing bugs me more than being lost in my car, and as someone who moves around a fair amount, it's something that happens to me more often than I'd like. I had heard Garmin's claims that the iQue would "keep me found," but I've been burned in the past and was skeptical that anything could turn it around for me. Suffice it to say that the iQue proved me wrong again and again.

Though I didn't get one for my test, Garmin offers an accessory kit for the iQue that includes a "bean bag" dash mount and a cigarette lighter adapter that keeps the unit up in view while providing it with power. It's worth investigating if you plan on doing a lot of driving with the unit since, though it doesn't require any extra connections to work in your car, keeping the iQue tracking properly while navigating can be tricky. The mount keeps it up in the windshield as long as you're in the car, in view of the satellites, and easy to use from anywhere in the front seat.

There are two ways to navigate with the iQue: you can either set a waypoint or choose from a list of local "Points of Interest." In map mode, simply set a point as discussed above. You'll be given the option of routing there from your current position or saving the point for later. The "Points of Interest" mode ? accessible from the "Find" screen ? allows you to choose your destination from a set of pull-down menus. Looking for the nearest gas station or restaurant? Select it from the menu - which lists destinations according to their distance from you - and follow the prompts. The feature can be extremely useful when traveling through a new area, as it puts you a few clicks away from nearly every local service: from restaurants, to hotels, to shopping centers and attractions.

You can also choose between the shortest or fastest route, and select directions that favor cars, motor homes, bicycles, or pedestrians. This way, you can include or exclude features like toll roads, highways, and unpaved roads from your route.

For my test, I plotted out several points at random on the map and selected a few points of interest from the menu. All were in areas that I didn't know very well and I fully expected to be hopelessly lost within the hour. To my surprise, however, the iQue walked me through each turn without fail and delivered me within feet of my waypoint every time. The voice prompts were timely, clear, and always spot on, allowing me to keep my eyes on the road and my mind off of the directions. Too cool! Along the way, the map updates kept my passenger up-to-date on our progress and gave us all sorts of useful trip information: total mileage, driving time, miles to go, estimated time of arrival, average speed, and more.

The iQue didn't even blink when I missed a turn, guiding me back on course and updating the route in real-time.

One nice feature that I noticed along the way was that the map continually updated itself with address information ? displaying them on the screen as I passed them on the road. This was a nice way to keep track of our progress and would be a great way to find a location when you know the address but not much else. You could simply drive along the road and watch the numbers progress.

Inside the car, accuracy fluctuated between 25-40 feet since the antenna didn't have a clear view of the sky. I found that reception was best when I left the unit on the dash, but an external antenna would have gone a long way to improving the accuracy. Also, the small screen wasn't the easiest to see and work with on the road, so I left most of the navigation fun up to my passenger. This is probably a good thing, as it forced me to pay attention to the road, but it can be a hassle to pull over every time you want to change your route or review your progress if you don't have a passenger to assist you.

A powerful navigation tool wrapped up and ready for the business world.

Conclusions

If you're a frequent traveler or a businessperson who's often on the go, the iQue will be a dream come true. It packs an amazing array of technology into a tiny package and truly redefines what a PDA can do. The navigation software is easy to use and surprisingly powerful, and existing PDA users will appreciate the standard Palm OS layout.

Is the iQue right for you? That ultimately comes down to how much you travel and how you use your PDA. I, for one, was surprised and impressed with the innovative design of the unit and all the things that it can do. At the very least, anyone with an interest in navigation would do themselves a favor by taking a long look at the iQue. And besides, who doesn't want to know exactly how far they are from Chinese take-out at any given moment?


Tim Sprinkle writes about A/V for Crutchfield