Kurvenal
12-13-2003, 03:03 AM
After a few years of relative Palm inactivity during which I was too busy at work and sufficiently satisfied with my Palm Vx not to bother trading up, I just took the plunge and bought the iQue 3600. I have been a longstanding Garmin eMap and Mapsource Metroguide Europe user (and a very satisfied one at that), principally for cycling all over Europe, so when I saw that the iQue was available in Europe the temptation was simply too great in spite of the VERY hefty price premium on this side of the Atlantic. (For those who are interested, I would stiill recommend the eMap over the iQue for cyclists since it is a much more rugged piece of equipment and works well with the optional handlebar mount. Although there are no voice instructions, autorouting wiith Mapsource Metroguide Europe and downloading to the eMap is good enough for me.)
Now then, many of the apps that I used with Palm OS 4 are not compatible with OS 5, and with the enhanced potential offered by mapping and GPS functionality, I am keen to get suggestions from users on how to get the most out of the iQue. I have seen the very comprehensive posting by bobny, but it did not address most of my needs. In addition to general productivity tools, I am also looking for travel-oriented apps. In the near-term, I will be splitting my time between Paris and London, so I am looking to use the iQue more as a resource for exploring these urban jungles rather than as a navigation aid (the GPS start-up acquisition time in an urban setting is unacceptably long when all you want to do is quickly figure out the closest restaurant or metro station). Since I can read French, French apps for Paris would be welcome.
Here is my first-cut wishlist (I reserve the right to edit and add to this later):
1) iQue Features
Set Current Location from Waypoint:
I am in full agreement with the many other contributors to this forum who have expressed a desire for Garmin to add the ability to Set Current Location to a waypoint. For city users, it would be most convenient if this could be done directly from the Find Address function. Doing this using the Map from the GPS page is a very poor substitute. Again, since the satellite acquisition time from a cold start is so long, this is essential if the iQue is to become a truly useful weapon for the urban warrior.
Full Compatibility with Microsoft Outlook:
It has been many years since I have used Palm Desktop to manage my contacts or diary. I have been happily synchronizing from Outlook with Chapura PocketMirror Pro, but Garmin has added in an extra layer of complexity by only making its add-ins compatible with Palm Desktop. In addition, I swore many years ago never to use Intellisync or any other application from Puma Technologies after trying an earlier version of their Outlook conduit which simply did not work as advertised and caused me many hours of grief.
2) MapSource City Select Features
Subway/Metro/Tube Information & Route Calculators:
I have already posted in another thread my dissatisfaction with the fact that the City Select Paris map does not include Metro stations, an unforgiveable omission in my view. Many thanks to jonasolof for pointing me in the direction of the Visual IT Tube product at http://www.visualit.co.uk/palm_tube.htm, but this is only a second-best alternative if the objective is to take maximum advantage of the built-in mapping and waypoint features of the iQue (although granted the street map in the Visual IT product is much more viewer-friendly than City Select).
The ideal app would be one that allowed you to input the starting point and destination using the Find Address function and then calculated alternative routes to the destination based on user-specified preferences for subway, bus or walking, adjusting for walking speed, number of connections, etc. Visual IT seems to have produced a decent product for London which ties into digitized version of the London streetmap bible A-Z map, but unless this can be combined with user-specified waypoints or linked to a product like Vindigo with built-in waypoints for restaurants, museums, movies, etc., it will never maximize the potential of the iQue. I think the ideal solution would be for Garmin to allow other developers to build on its own mapping database to provide waypoint and routing data. For example, it would be great if every time you added a restaurant to your Favorite List in an app like Zagat-To-Go or the Michelin Guide Rouge it automatically generated a restaurant waypoint or highlighted the relevant one in MapSelect.
3) Third Party Apps
Launcher:
I was a reasonably satisfied user of Launch'Em, but this is not compatible with OS 5. Suggestions?
RPN Calculator:
Previously used Abacus since I was baptized on the HP12-C. What is the best HP12-C emulator out there?
Dictionaries:
First of all, would it be possible for me to transfer the contents of my PalmPak Franklin Reader/Merriam Webster Dictionary-Thesaurus card to the SD card on my iQue, and if so, how?
Second of all, any good French/English dictionaries out there? TomTom have advised me that their Collins dictionary products will not work on OS 5. I was never wild about their product in any case, but I could not find anything better.
DialerPro:
Again, not compatible with OS 5. What else is out there in terms of access number databases?
SwitchHack, AppHack:
At least OS 5 has incorporated better text-editing features so I do not need TextEditHack anymore, but I still miss being able to switch back and forth between apps, and I know there must be a good app out there for programming the buttons on the iQue.
WorldClock:
Less relevant now that it is possible to switch time zones within preferences (hopefully without screwing up my Datebook appointments), but could still use a decent alarm. I was using Clock+ which I liked.
4) Paris/London Resources
Mapping Software:
Although the primary reason that I bought the iQue was for its mapping functionality, given the shortcomings of CitySelect, I would be prepared to defect to another product if one was out there that allowed me to customize my map (essentially replicating Vindigo functionality) even if it was not compatible with the GPS, which is virtually unusable in the city as a pedestrian and/or public transportation user.
Vindigo Paris:
To my knowledge London is the only European city supported by Vindigo. Does anyone know when this might change? There must be a critical mass out there for Paris and other major cities and tourist destinations. A Vindigo/Pariscope alliance would be a world-beater for Paris listings, even though I guess Vindigo and TimeOut ended up not being able to get their act together in London so the precedents are poor. For those who have used Vindigo with GPS-equipped handhelds, how good is the integration between the two?
Restaurant Reviews;
Have found Zagat-To-Go and Michelin Guide Rouge. Any other suggestions?
City Guides:
I have seen a lot of crappy city guides over the years. Even the Lonely Planet product failed to do much for me. Any thoughts?
5) Accessories
Carrying Case:
I liked the Tumi carrying case for my Palm because it had room for a stylus in the seam of the case, but this will not allow me to deploy the GPS antenna. Has anyone come up with a creative carrying case solution for the iQue?
Thanks to everyone who had the patience to read this message, and looking forward to replies.
Now then, many of the apps that I used with Palm OS 4 are not compatible with OS 5, and with the enhanced potential offered by mapping and GPS functionality, I am keen to get suggestions from users on how to get the most out of the iQue. I have seen the very comprehensive posting by bobny, but it did not address most of my needs. In addition to general productivity tools, I am also looking for travel-oriented apps. In the near-term, I will be splitting my time between Paris and London, so I am looking to use the iQue more as a resource for exploring these urban jungles rather than as a navigation aid (the GPS start-up acquisition time in an urban setting is unacceptably long when all you want to do is quickly figure out the closest restaurant or metro station). Since I can read French, French apps for Paris would be welcome.
Here is my first-cut wishlist (I reserve the right to edit and add to this later):
1) iQue Features
Set Current Location from Waypoint:
I am in full agreement with the many other contributors to this forum who have expressed a desire for Garmin to add the ability to Set Current Location to a waypoint. For city users, it would be most convenient if this could be done directly from the Find Address function. Doing this using the Map from the GPS page is a very poor substitute. Again, since the satellite acquisition time from a cold start is so long, this is essential if the iQue is to become a truly useful weapon for the urban warrior.
Full Compatibility with Microsoft Outlook:
It has been many years since I have used Palm Desktop to manage my contacts or diary. I have been happily synchronizing from Outlook with Chapura PocketMirror Pro, but Garmin has added in an extra layer of complexity by only making its add-ins compatible with Palm Desktop. In addition, I swore many years ago never to use Intellisync or any other application from Puma Technologies after trying an earlier version of their Outlook conduit which simply did not work as advertised and caused me many hours of grief.
2) MapSource City Select Features
Subway/Metro/Tube Information & Route Calculators:
I have already posted in another thread my dissatisfaction with the fact that the City Select Paris map does not include Metro stations, an unforgiveable omission in my view. Many thanks to jonasolof for pointing me in the direction of the Visual IT Tube product at http://www.visualit.co.uk/palm_tube.htm, but this is only a second-best alternative if the objective is to take maximum advantage of the built-in mapping and waypoint features of the iQue (although granted the street map in the Visual IT product is much more viewer-friendly than City Select).
The ideal app would be one that allowed you to input the starting point and destination using the Find Address function and then calculated alternative routes to the destination based on user-specified preferences for subway, bus or walking, adjusting for walking speed, number of connections, etc. Visual IT seems to have produced a decent product for London which ties into digitized version of the London streetmap bible A-Z map, but unless this can be combined with user-specified waypoints or linked to a product like Vindigo with built-in waypoints for restaurants, museums, movies, etc., it will never maximize the potential of the iQue. I think the ideal solution would be for Garmin to allow other developers to build on its own mapping database to provide waypoint and routing data. For example, it would be great if every time you added a restaurant to your Favorite List in an app like Zagat-To-Go or the Michelin Guide Rouge it automatically generated a restaurant waypoint or highlighted the relevant one in MapSelect.
3) Third Party Apps
Launcher:
I was a reasonably satisfied user of Launch'Em, but this is not compatible with OS 5. Suggestions?
RPN Calculator:
Previously used Abacus since I was baptized on the HP12-C. What is the best HP12-C emulator out there?
Dictionaries:
First of all, would it be possible for me to transfer the contents of my PalmPak Franklin Reader/Merriam Webster Dictionary-Thesaurus card to the SD card on my iQue, and if so, how?
Second of all, any good French/English dictionaries out there? TomTom have advised me that their Collins dictionary products will not work on OS 5. I was never wild about their product in any case, but I could not find anything better.
DialerPro:
Again, not compatible with OS 5. What else is out there in terms of access number databases?
SwitchHack, AppHack:
At least OS 5 has incorporated better text-editing features so I do not need TextEditHack anymore, but I still miss being able to switch back and forth between apps, and I know there must be a good app out there for programming the buttons on the iQue.
WorldClock:
Less relevant now that it is possible to switch time zones within preferences (hopefully without screwing up my Datebook appointments), but could still use a decent alarm. I was using Clock+ which I liked.
4) Paris/London Resources
Mapping Software:
Although the primary reason that I bought the iQue was for its mapping functionality, given the shortcomings of CitySelect, I would be prepared to defect to another product if one was out there that allowed me to customize my map (essentially replicating Vindigo functionality) even if it was not compatible with the GPS, which is virtually unusable in the city as a pedestrian and/or public transportation user.
Vindigo Paris:
To my knowledge London is the only European city supported by Vindigo. Does anyone know when this might change? There must be a critical mass out there for Paris and other major cities and tourist destinations. A Vindigo/Pariscope alliance would be a world-beater for Paris listings, even though I guess Vindigo and TimeOut ended up not being able to get their act together in London so the precedents are poor. For those who have used Vindigo with GPS-equipped handhelds, how good is the integration between the two?
Restaurant Reviews;
Have found Zagat-To-Go and Michelin Guide Rouge. Any other suggestions?
City Guides:
I have seen a lot of crappy city guides over the years. Even the Lonely Planet product failed to do much for me. Any thoughts?
5) Accessories
Carrying Case:
I liked the Tumi carrying case for my Palm because it had room for a stylus in the seam of the case, but this will not allow me to deploy the GPS antenna. Has anyone come up with a creative carrying case solution for the iQue?
Thanks to everyone who had the patience to read this message, and looking forward to replies.