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PDAStreet.com > Hardware Reviews > Review: Garmin iQue M4 & iQue 3000 GPS PDAs Review: Garmin iQue M4 & iQue 3000 GPS PDAs
By Joe Moran
Garmin, a company well known for its dedicated GPS system as well as PDA-based devices, has recently added two new combo units to their line: the iQue M4, a Windows Mobile-based device, and the iQue 3000, which runs the Palm OS. Both are solid PDAs, but given the company's heritage, the M4 and 3000 are handheld GPS devices first and PDAs second.
iQue M4
Storage capacity is expandable via a top-mounted SD/MMC slot which supports SDIO, so you can use it for non-memory peripherals such as a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi adapter. That's good news since neither is built into the M4.
The M4's size and weight are about typical for this class of device, with dimensions measuring 5.04 x 2.83 x .75 inches and a weight of 6.3 ounces. The M4's 1250 mAh lithium-polymer battery is rated for about 7.5 hours of usage with the GPS enabled, and extrapolating from the time we spent with the unit, that figure seems to be about right. The battery isn't accessible behind a hatch, so when the time comes to replace it will require a service appointment, or at least a bit of work changing it yourself. The M4's built-in GPS patch antenna has five positioning detents and is released by flipping an adjacent latch. When the antenna is in the closed position the GPS automatically turns off to conserve battery power, and there's also a MCX connector for an optional external antenna.
QueNav The M4's D-Pad also doubles as a map zoom control. The QueNav interface uses large buttons that are not only easy to see clearly from a few feet away but also to press with your finger instead of the stylus. As is usually the case, using a blunt fingertip requires too much pressure and thus doesn't work very well&—better to use the top edge of your digits, and having fingernails really helps. A particularly nice feature of the M4 is that it comes preloaded with a complete set of City Navigator NT maps which cover the U.S. (including Puerto Rico) and Canada. This saves you the trouble of downloading regional maps via your PC, and since the map data resides in dedicated internal memory, you don't need to store it on memory cards leaving the SD slot free for Wi-Fi or Bluetooth adapters.
QueNav makes it almost effortless to create routes and includes many pre-defined points-of-interest (about six million by Garmin's count). It can also automatically plot the way to the address of anyone in your Pocket Outlook contacts. There are numerous ways to customize route calculation; in addition to the usual methods (such as optimizing for time or distance), there's also an area avoidance feature that lets you screen out predefined things like highways or toll roads. (You can also set up your own items like specific stretches of road or mask out entire areas of the map.)
Before you embark on a trip you can view a simulation and follow the route on the screen. Strangely, you can only run a simulation in real-time—in other words, a simulation of a ten minute trip takes ten minutes to run. This feature would be much more useful if you could run simulations at an accelerated rate. Another (albeit minor) complaint is the lack of external volume controls, which would certainly been more convenient than drilling down through four levels of on-screen menus to adjust the volume. After spending a good deal of time with the M4, we noticed that it sometimes took an inordinately long time to acquire GPS satellites, often as long as five minutes, which can seem like an eternity whether your already on the road or waiting to leave. Garmin suggests positioning the antenna "parallel to the sky", an imprecise term that seems to imply that fully extending the antenna doesn't always get you the best reception. Repositioning an intermediate antenna position did seem to speed things up a quite a bit. In spite of the quirky antenna positioning issue, on several test trips with the M4 it never steered us wrong and the directions were always spot-on. The M4 unobtrusively displays each upcoming cross street as you approach it, and it responded gracefully and promptly whenever we intentionally veered from the prescribed path. The device employs a dedicated GPS co-processor, so in spite of the so-so CPU the device response time (other than GPS acquisition) was quite acceptable. The M4's included windshield mount is a bit more sophisticated than the basic goose-neck windshield mount that ships with many PDA/GPS combo devices. The M4 mount includes a built in dock connector so you can insert and remove the GPS without having to connect the power cable separately. It also lets you customize the angle of both the suction mount and the GPS, but the downside is that doing so requires two hands, which can be a problem if you want to quickly adjust the viewing angle of the device (to compensate for changing sun position) without having to pull over. While the Garmin iQue M4 certainly isn't cheap, it does give you an excellent interface and many useful GPS features for your $700. A particular plus is the built-in comprehensive map data, especially for those who travel widely and/or want to add wireless connectivity to their device without sacrificing the GPS function while doing so.
iQue 3000
At $426.65 (MSRP), Garmin's iQue 3000 represents the company's entry-level Palm-based GPS device. It runs Palm OS 5.2.1 (also known as Garnet) and sports a 200 MHz TI CPU backed by 32 MB of RAM. For memory expansion, the iQue 3000 uses diminutive (barely fingernail-sized) micro SD (a.k.a. TransFlash) cards. There's a built-in patch antenna plus a MCX connector for an external antenna.
GPS features and function are essentially the same in the 3000 as in the M4, since both devices use the same StreetPilot interface and City Navigator NT map data. There are, however, a few notable differences. Since the 3000 lacks the M4's pre-installed map data, you need to copy it over from your PC via the Palm desktop. The 3000 includes a 128 MB micro SD card which is just enough storage for a few entire states, but if you regularly travel regionally you'll probably need larger or multiple cards.
The 3000, which measures 4.8 x 2.83 x .71 inches and weighs 6 ounces, has a 3-inch 320 x320 resolution TFT screen protected by a hinged leather cover. Since the screen is smaller (albeit higher resolution) than those of most Windows Mobile and some other Palm devices, the map display area and on-screen controls are correspondingly small.
The buttons are still large enough for all but the most ham-handed to press without the stylus, though. A more expensive ($549 MSRP) 3600 model offers a larger and higher-resolution screen, among other hardware enhancements, though it lacks the simplified StreetPilot UI. The 3000's included windshield mount is a simple (and short) unit with a swivel ball and socket joint at the device cradle end. One caveat: The 3000 won't fit in the mount with the screen cover folded back, leaving two inconvenient options; to remove the cover or let it dangle awkwardly below the unit while mounted.
The Garmin iQue 3000 doesn't offer the bells and whistles (or the convenience) of the M4, but if you want a good basic Palm-flavored GPS or just one that won't break the bank (it's the company's least expensive model by far) the 3000 should fit the bill nicely.
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