iQue 3200 Users - Come on Out!

[Roofrat]

There have been one or two threads on here that have tried to anticipate when we'll see the first 3200 users. Well, I think it's about time to offer an open invitation to any of you out there to come out of the closet (so to speak). Don't be shy - I promise we won't bite. But many of us are interested in how many 3200 users are out there and what your experiences and observations have been so far. And if curiousity killed the cat, I'm sure there's one member of this forum who is probably having a near death experience by now.

So 3200 users, COME ON DOWN!:D

[Bokkie]

Originally posted by Roofrat
There have been one or two threads on here that have tried to anticipate when we'll see the first 3200 users. Well, I think it's about time to offer an open invitation to any of you out there to come out of the closet (so to speak). Don't be shy - I promise we won't bite. But many of us are interested in how many 3200 users are out there and what your experiences and observations have been so far. And if curiousity killed the cat, I'm sure there's one member of this forum who is probably having a near death experience by now.

So 3200 users, COME ON DOWN!:D

Roofrat, you are shouting in the wrong direction. You should be calling downwards to the 3200ers and not upwards which is where the 3600ers reside. Seriously, I'd like to know if there are any 3200 users lurking around and what they think about it.

As for the 'cat' reference, he has been extremely quiet for quite a while now. We know he keeps in touch for you get the occasional 'ping' from him, but the cat activity of months gone by is alsmost too quiet now. Apart from the long-tailed, pointy-nosed rat (OWG) I am feeling quite isolated in The Animal group at this moment.

This time last year, we were all a-buzz with R3, but there is nothing but hazy rumours about R4 so I think we are just tick-tick-ticking along at the moment.

[Curious Cat]

This cat would have to be more then just "curious" to get a 3200.....

There may be a 3200 lurker or two here already but perhaps they are afraid to fess up, especially if they have read some past comments we have made about,"who would actually buy one"?

[Bokkie]

That explains your absence CC! You made some disparaging comments about the 3200 so you've been lying low in the cat litter until the fury has blown over. It's safe to come out now. We have not heard from a 3200 user since way back when we hounded him and chased him out of town into the desert.:p

[Roofrat]

Well, its now December and I've seen one 3200 user show up on the site (RickeyS - see this (http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52383) post).

Any other iQue 3200 users out there lurking? Feel free to speak up share your impressions and experiences. Don't worry, most of us don't bite.

[tonglaji]

I've been using my Company's 3200 for a month now.

Only crashed twice :) The first one took Betty away, fixed with a hard reset, and resynch. The second one was when i was doing a detour, and panning the map. I got a white screen, and a soft reset fixed it.

Compared to the 3600 my wife uses, I miss the extrar 160 lines of screen. Battery life is non-issue since I keep it in-car.

SDIO is useless since Garmin said there is non to use for now.

Anything else you guys want to know?

[Roofrat]

tonglaji, you say it belongs to your company. I'm wondering what was the basis for your company's decision to purchase the 3200.

[tonglaji]

can't tell you. :cool: next question?

[Bokkie]

Originally posted by tonglaji
can't tell you. :cool: next question?

My 3600 was a company purchase. As a developer we had applications for development but we switched to ppc/cfque using the VS.Net environment we use on the desktop.

Mine's no secret, so why is yours. Tell us!:)

[waterskier1]

Hi all, I got the 3200 for Christmas. It's on it's way back to Garmin because both times I used it, it crashed. Wiped out almost everything. I'm hoping they will fix/replace it. I'd like to know if the utilities that I've been reading about, specifically JMckie's Birdwatch, Fastfinger and Queiet. I know SideButton won't work, cause I don't have a side button!
So, will this applications work on the 3200?

Thanks

[Roofrat]

Originally posted by waterskier1
Hi all, I got the 3200 for Christmas. It's on it's way back to Garmin because both times I used it, it crashed. Wiped out almost everything. I'm hoping they will fix/replace it. I'd like to know if the utilities that I've been reading about, specifically JMckie's Birdwatch, Fastfinger and Queiet. I know SideButton won't work, cause I don't have a side button!
So, will this applications work on the 3200?
Thanks Waterskier1, I have reposted your question in the FastFinger thread here (http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=255766#post255766), where it can probably be more appropriately answered.

[JMckie]

If you have a 3200, I'd be quite interested in seeing a baseline of battery performance. It would be interesting to find out how much it has improved over the 3600. Instructions and download Rundown (http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44462) here.

[nickwalt]

I've just got hold of our first 3200. We use the 3600 for in vehicle use, but the battery life of the 3200 is definately better around 5-6 hours.

One other improvment is the brightness of the screen, it seems much brighter than the 3600.

We intend to continue selling both, but the battery life of the 3200 is an incentive, but you loose 1/3 of the screen space. Trade off we're willing make for some customers, depends on the application.

I was just wondering if anyone has managed to work out how to tell between the 3200 and the 3600 in code. I have an app as I say for the 3600 full screen and need to sense the model to route the software a different way. Any ideas??

[RVRodie]

Look in the Pen Input Manager section of the Garmin Programmers's Reference.

I use this in wayQue:

err = FtrGet( pinCreator, pinFtrAPIVersion,&APIVersion );

if (err == ftrErrNoSuchFeature)

then you must be on the 3200.

[nickwalt]

thanks i'll try that tonight.

[Rusty J]

Specifically, has anyone opened the case on one of these? If so, is there enough room to install an earphone jack tapped into the speaker leads?
The reason for this is that Betty can't shout over the engine and wind noise whille I'm riding my motorcycle.
The other option would be to tie into the speaker on the cigarette lighter adapter, but I'd like to leave open the option of using a charge cable rather than the cradle for power.

[Rusty J]

To be honest, I'd forgotten that there was a big-screen model of this device, but the price was reasonable...
On the other hand, since I tend to use it as a PDA more than as a GPS, having a dedicated Grafitti area is probably a good thing. I've pretty much trashed the lower 1/3 of the screen on my T|T3 from writing on it, and I'd do the same to any stylus-entry PDA.

[nickwalt]

I think you raised a very good point, the 3600 in my opinion is not ideal as a PDA, it's fantastic with the big screen for in car guidance but the battery life is too poor.

I use a Treo 600 as PDA/phone and my 3600 for in car navigation only.

I have customers who try to use the 3600 as a PDA and give up quickly.

I think the 3200 could fill that gap.

[Curious Cat]

Yes battery life could be better but unless you're out hiking, sometimes during the day you should be at your desk or in a car or at least somewhere with electricity for 45 minutes. Even hiking there are very cheap battery pack options that are also light. I don't think for most of us it is a deal stopper for using it quite nicely as a PDA.

[apersson850]

After using the 3600a for a while, I've noticed that the battery lasts significantly longer. Actually, I almost never charge it any longer, just because it's low on energy. It gets what it needs when being used in the car cradle, or a nap in the cradle at work. But recently I've been away from my office for weeks, and I don't think I've recharged, due to red battery icon, more than once.

The last two weeks, I've used it 3 hours 10 minutes every day, on the average. Max use was 5 hours 48 minutes.
The commute to and from work takes about 45 minutes (round trip), but when doing that charging, it's on all the time, which isn't as effective as charging with the unit off.

Regarding the screen, they seem to have found a better surface too. It's not just the image and backlight that's better, but the scratch resistance seems to have improved as well. In spite of frequent use, without any extra protective sheet on the display, there are virtually no scratches at all. Maybe I can find a few, if I look carefully, in a proper angle towards the lamp in the ceiling.

The 3600 seemed to collect scratches much easier. I've given away the last 3600 to my daughter. I don't know how it stands up to her use of it right now.

[nickwalt]

Anders,

What is the biggest difference between the 3600 and the 3600a. i thought the a was for the aircraft boys. Is that not correct.

My interest is if I can replace the 3600 with the 3600a and get a better screen and battery life, that would be what I'd like.

What is the price difference?

Sorry if this info. is already on the newsgroup. Just a quick summary.

[apersson850]

I recommend you start here (http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=54620). If you then have more questions, come back.

MSRP are at Garmin's web site.

[nickwalt]

Anders,

Thanks for info. Price is in $ but will contact Garmin direct for the local price.

Sorry for getting you to repeat the info. Not good form I know.

[apersson850]

I didn't repeat, simply redirected.

I know prices are in USD, but you can see the relative difference, at least. Then notice that the City Select maps are normally not delivered with the 3600a.

But if you disregard the cost, as I could do at the moment, then clearly the 3600a is better than the 3600. The difference as a GPS, for car navigation, is not so big (some added features), but as a PDA, it's quite a lot better. For handheld, off-road use it's much better, and for airborne use, tremendously better, of course. The only cloud on the sky is the tendency to crash in aviation mode, but I know they are working on that at Garmin, and a fix will appear as soon as they've sorted out all the issues we testers have found.

[nickwalt]

I guess crashing whilst mid flight is a potential disaster. Image trying to reset when trying to fly a helicopter. Can see the news flash now "Chopper hits school bus. Pilot quoted as saying "I couldn't get the top off the pen""

[Ken in Regina]

Anders, aside from the improvements to the screen brightness and durability, why do you think the 3600a is a better PDA than the 3600. I've read the previous stuff and I saw nothing in it that would suggest any significant enhancements to the PDA functions.

Are there new apps? Improvements to the standard apps?

Curiousity .. always questions. ;)

[apersson850]

To nickwalt: In at least nine cases out of ten, you don't have to. The crashes that does occur usually result in a spontaneous reset, so 20-30 seconds later it's as good as new again. Until it happens next time.

It does happen that it locks up too, but not very often.

[apersson850]

To Ken: Better battery life (commented on here before) and 2.5 times the memory. 1.5 times as large heap also improves the performance (or ability to use at all) of some applications.

The display has a clearer apperance, too. It's not just the backlight. The contrast is better, to make the colors stand out better. Thus easier to see. You have to see them side by side to really appreciate the difference.

Now, when I've used the 3600a for several weeks, and then go pick up Emily's 3600, I'm often stunned that this is the display I considered really good before. You quickly get spoiled.

Then there are improvements to applications, but only on the GPS side. The Palm apps are as before. But that's no big issue to me, since I mainly use DateBK5, SC-103PC, Docs ToGo, HanDBase3, RescoViewer and other 3rd party applications, regardless of whether it's the 3600 or the 3600a.

But with the 3600, I had to start PowerRun applications from the card, because I was running out of working memory space. With the 3600a, I've moved them back to internal memory, added some more applications, and still have more than 10 MB free.

[Jago]

I have a new Ique 3200.

It's my first PDA, i decided for this model beacuse of GPS function.

First impression: PalmOS and Icons, cunfusing, bad, idiotic handling ...

I have to install 3rd part Programs:

1.First at all i've installed Winlauncher to get windows like desktop for comfortable work.
2. Rescoviewer for Photos..
3.Piloc for other languages...
4.MMplayer for .avi and divx.
5.Pocket tunes for Mp3/wav playback (in some reviews they said there is no mp3 support-wrong).
6. Uninstall manager
7. Quickoffice
8.Resco explorer
9.Install City Select 7

and let's go..

+ gps (que) in combination with city select works fine - this is the best feature
+ mp3/avi/divx (lower bitrates), ogg, wav support
+ low price
+ car kit included

- smaller desktop / screen than
- original programs are useless
- no digital camera/photo
- no gsm
- no voice record (dictat)
- without 3rd part programs user unfriendly
- no bluetooth

I decided for 3200 because 3600 is much expensive and dont have any significant funcitions (also no digital camera/photo, no GSM), just voice recored and some minor functions...

[coop]

Sounds like you should not have gotten a Palm based unit, but should have gone for the MS based Garmin PDA, the M5.

coop

[apersson850]

The major advantage of the 3600 is the real estate of the screen, when compared to many other units.