Garmin - iQue 3600 Car GPS Receiver Review

I've had my Garmin iQue 3600 for probably about three years now, so when my wife decided to buy a TomTom One XL, we were very quick to discover the things we liked and disliked about each.  Surprisingly the iQue beat the TomTom hands-down, despite the technology being several years older.

The biggest advantage of the iQue 3600 (and any Garmin product that uses CityNavigator software) over the TomTom XL is the vast collection of points of interest.  CityNavigator  comes with practically any business you could think of.  (Even our home-based web development company shows up!)  My wife's TomTom can't even locate a Starbucks in the DC metropolitan area!

Of course the iQue is not just a GPS but a Palm PDA too!  This means wherever I travel, I always have instant access to my address book, calendar, notepad, and tons of other Palm utilities, plus of course an assortment of games that I've installed.  This is probably a bigger selling point if you are already a Palm user.  If not, you may already have a cell phone that does many of the same things. 

Since the iQue is designed as a PDA, it is slim and easy to carry around, small enough to fit in a jacket or pants pocket.  This makes it great for planning routes or finding points of interest while you are in your house or office.  It can also be used as a hand-held GPS unit. 

Here are some more things I particularly like about the iQue:

• The shape of the iQue is taller than it is wide.  When you're driving, you typically want to see what's ahead of you, not what's out to the side, right? 
• Looking up businesses or entering addresses is quick and easy using the Palm "graffiti" text entry. 
• The iQue (and probably most Garmin products) will automatically zoom out to show you the entire map up to your next turn, and then slowly zoom in as you approach the turn.  You can also manually override the zoom level.  On the TomTom, you can zoom out but it will zoom right back in after about 10-15 seconds.
• The Garmin products will always say the distance before the action, for example "In 500 feet, turn right."  The TomTom varies -- sometimes it will say "Exit right ... [pause] ... in two miles", just as you're approaching another off-ramp.
• Satellite reception is fairly good, even with the built-in antenna, although it can take a while to initially locate the satellites and pinpoint your location.  The only time I really have trouble is in downtown DC.
• Because it's a PDA, you can easily save all of your custom waypoints to your computer.
• The iQue automatically detects the local time from the GPS satellites (great for traveling outside of your time zone!), and automatically switches to night mode at dusk.  The TomTom does neither of these.
• As with all PDAs, it is a touch screen, which allows you to easily drag the map around to look at other locations, although it does require using a stylus.

As far as negatives, the biggest drawback is that the iQue does not come with preloaded maps -- you must select the individual areas you want to load and then load them to the iQue from your computer using Palm's HotSync.  However, this is what allows Garmin to provide such an extensive listing of businesses.  To preload nationwide maps plus all of those businesses would probably require 2 gigs or more of storage space.

Here are some other tips regarding the iQue 3600:

• You will need to purchase an SD memory card in order to load anything more than a few local maps.  I have a 512mb card and I have most of the east coast loaded.  SD cards are cheap -- get a 1 or 2gb card and you'll be in good shape.
• To use the iQue in your car, you will need to purchase a windshield or friction mount kit (or a bundle that comes with one), which provides power and has a built-in speaker.  I use the Garmin friction mount and it works great.  (My wife's TomTom came with a windshield suction cup mount and constantly falls off.)  The speaker quality is a bit tinny, but it's plenty loud.
• Because the iQue is Palm-based, if the battery dies completely you will lose any data or applications stored on the built-in memory (anything on your SD card will be preserved).  Just sync it with your computer and everything will be reloaded from the last time you did a sync (so be sure to sync regularly).

Some other negatives of the iQue:

• It does not hold a charge terribly long.  Maybe this is just my unit, but even if I'm not using it, I must charge it once a week or it will be completely dead. 
• Because the technology is a few years old, it can be very slow to calculate long routes or recalculate if you go off-route.
• Some preferences, such as whether to avoid toll roads, must be changed through menu screens.  (The TomTom warns you about tolls and asks if you want to avoid them every time you plan a route, which is nice.)
• Because the unit combines a GPS and PDA, there is a lot to learn to use it.
• Data entry using Palm graffiti or selecting points of interest from a list takes a steady hand, even for the passenger.  (Of course you are never supposed to enter data into a GPS while driving!)