CaptMyCapt
07-30-2003, 03:35 PM
I just got off the phone with Garmin's customer service after reading through the two PDF manuals, and finding no mention of Bluecharts or Marine navigation. Although we can use Bluecharts with the iQue and we'll have guidance capablity, this units functionality on the water is scaled down significantly from handheld GPS units designed for the water such as their latest handheld (GPS Map76), which is a dream. The rep mentioned the iQue is really designed for the businessperson who travels over land. The rep had no news on upgrades to enhance over water functionality on the iQue or a color handheld on the horizon that provides robust GPS functionality over water. I guess we'll just have to see how scaled down the marine functionality is and maybe relegate ourselves to not purchasing the iQue if robust marine functionality is critical.
lostagain
08-01-2003, 10:13 AM
I'm sure Garmin doesn't want to cannibalize their marine unit sales, but I thought it might be good to balance Capt's opinon's with some info I received.
I posted this to another thread, and I'm sorry to cross post....
I also wrote to Garmin with this question, and got a quick response. I don't think they would mind me sharing it...
---BEGIN GARMIN RESPONSE---
...It will load and draw the detail from the
BlueChart CD unlocked and loaded to it. The main limitation is with the
finds...it won't support the full scope of them. It won't find anchorages,
lights, etc. With Fishing Hot Spots, it won't find nearest fishing areas,
etc. Such data will be in the device and will draw...it is just that the
automatic find won't work.
With BlueChart, it won't give the full scope of the navaids. If you click
on one, it might say "starboard light" or "light," whereas with a plotter
you would get height, height above datum, etc...more detailed info about the
navaid. But it will draw it.
The iQue 3600 won't do tide predictions, either.
And keep in mind, it is not a hearty unit, with regard to weather and water.
Be careful with it.
---END GARMIN RESPONSE---
I followed up saying thank you and mentioning that there's other tide prediction software available for the Palm. I also suggested that some people might be willing to pay a bit more for a software enhancement that would give full chartplotter functionality. The Garmin response to that wasn't completely negative. I may have been seeing what I want to see, but it read like we might be seeing some software enhancements akin to what I was suggesting in the future.
There's also a few waterproof PDA cases out there. I'm sure some will fit the iQue.