iQue M5 / iQue M3 / GPS 10 ?

[mforce]

Hi all,

I currently own a iQue 3600. I am about to replace that with a new device and I am looking for advice and or opinions. I am trying to decide between the Garmin iQue M5 / M3 or the HP iPAQ hx4705 with the garmin GPS 10. Any insights, thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

I have a couple of specific questions.
(1) I see that the M3 has what appears to be a newer interface with large touchable buttons and 3D map capability. Does the M5 or GPS 10 offer this capability? If not, is it likely that it may be added?
(2) If I understand correctly, it seems that the GPS 10 can be purchased without software. Can you download the que software from garmin? I believe that a previous installation is necessary to install any upgrade, so why would you purchase the GPS 10 without software?

[JMckie]

Originally posted by mforce

(1) I see that the M3 has what appears to be a newer interface with large touchable buttons and 3D map capability. Does the M5 or GPS 10 offer this capability? If not, is it likely that it may be added?
(2) If I understand correctly, it seems that the GPS 10 can be purchased without software. Can you download the que software from garmin? I believe that a previous installation is necessary to install any upgrade, so why would you purchase the GPS 10 without software?

Neither the M5 nor GPS 10 have the new user interface or 3D map capability. It is possible that the software might be updated in the future to do so. Personally, I would bet against it. In my limited 18 month experience with owning the iQue, I have seen a number of software releases - but these focused on bug fixes and not on functionality enhancements.

It is possible to download the latest version of the Que software. To the best of my knowledge you can install and run it even without a previous version. It will work with the OEM GPS 10, but it will be missing a few things like voice files.

I would personally go for a standalone PPC over the M5/M3. There are many reasons for this that I won't go into now. As for choosing an iPaq, my advice is to try it first at a store. IMO, the touchpad is terrible was a showstopper for me. I went for the Axim x50v and I am quite satisfied with it. Knowing what I know now, I might have gone for the VGA Loox instead.

[mforce]

Thanks for the reply. I am leaning to a standalone pocket pc. I am not familiar with the loox ppc. I'll have to look into that. I agree with you on the software upgrades from garmin. They do tend to focus more on bug fixes rather than new functionality.

[jonasolof]

Loox 720 forum:

http://www.firstloox.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=54

It's a nice PDA but probably not supported in the US.

The forum has a tremendous guru called Menneisyys who is a super specialist in PPC.

[mforce]

For those of you that own a pocket pc without an integrated gps, what gps are you using?

[getafix]

Originally posted by JMckie
Neither the M5 nor GPS 10 have the new user interface or 3D map capability. It is possible that the software might be updated in the future to do so. Personally, I would bet against it. In my limited 18 month experience with owning the iQue, I have seen a number of software releases - but these focused on bug fixes and not on functionality enhancements.

It is possible to download the latest version of the Que software. To the best of my knowledge you can install and run it even without a previous version. It will work with the OEM GPS 10, but it will be missing a few things like voice files.

I would personally go for a standalone PPC over the M5/M3. There are many reasons for this that I won't go into now. As for choosing an iPaq, my advice is to try it first at a store. IMO, the touchpad is terrible was a showstopper for me. I went for the Axim x50v and I am quite satisfied with it. Knowing what I know now, I might have gone for the VGA Loox instead.

I got an Axim x50v and i too am trying to decide whether to go the GPS 10 way or use the Globalsat BT338 with either TT5/iGuidance 2.1.1.

I spoke to a garmin tech rep today and what he told me didn't really make sense to me when i asked him if the new Que software used in M3 would work if I were to load it on my x50v and use with the GPS 10 receiver and the City Select v7. He said that the 3D software was built into the circuitry of the M3 and I couldn't get 3D maps on the GPS 10. That sounded like total BS to me. From my understanding of how the gps 10 works, the gps 10 would send out the location info using the garmin protocol (instead of NMEA) for it to work with the City Select NA v7, due to the unlocking issue. It's the software which translates the location info (or the NMEA strings) and is responsible for displaying the maps (2D or 3D) along with the routing and has nothing to do with the hardware.

I may be wrong but this doesn't make sense why Garmin wouldn't want to give us the new software for 3D mapping with the GPS 10.

[mforce]

Thats exactly what I am looking for. I have ordered a dell x50v would like to use the garmin gps 10 with the M3 ppc software. I like the 3D maps. I also called garmin tech support to discuss this and spoke with Jason. He told me that he could see no reason why the M3 ppc software would not work with the gps 10. He also said that he did not know if that would ever become an option. I wish we could get a straight answer from garmin...

[SYD119]

Well, if the M3 is anything like the M5, then you will not have a way of getting the Que application from it to work on another pocket pc. You can not even access the Que application on the M5 to attempt a copy from the directory 2 directory. Not to mention that it is written into the software to access the position data stream from the hard wired antenna comport(2). Maybe I am wrong, but I much prefer the tool icons(even though small and hard to use while driving) and usability of the Que application for the 10 over the M5's software.

[getafix]

Looks like we'll have to wait till someone can try copying the new Que software from an M3 on an X50v. i tried looking at the iGuidance 2.1.1 and i'm not sure how extensive is the POI database. Garmin probably has the best POI database. To me POI is more important than the extra sensitivity offered by the new SirfIII chipset, if i decided to go with the GPS 10 Deluxe.

The dream gps unit would be BT338 w/WAAS Enabled with the 3D Que software and City Select NA v7.

[SYD119]

Again, from my last post, it will probably be very difficult to be able to copy the Que from the M3 to another pocket pc. The Que is written only to the ROM and can not be accessed via file explore.

[mforce]

I understand what you are saying SYD119, however when I spoke with Jason at garmin tech supoport he said that he did not expect that it would be a big deal to port the software to another ppc. He said that since it was already written for that platform it should be easy to transfer to another device.


by the way, i happen to agree with getafix:
"The dream gps unit would be BT338 w/WAAS Enabled with the 3D Que software and City Select NA v7."

[JMckie]

Tech support has been known to be wrong. :)

I'd be very surprised if the M3 navigation software would even run on a non-Garmin PPC. In the future they might offer these features on a new GPS 10 software release but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[SYD119]

I have done a little programming(java,c++) and will agree with Mckie on this. My guess is that the specific Que software on the M3, even if you could strip it from the ROM(much coding and work) on the unit, would probably not run correctly on another ppc. That being said, I would say that a whole new Que application would have to be written to give a regular ppc the same look as the M3's operating system. This means starting from line 10 begin to create this.

[getafix]

Garmin has launched a few products that offer the new 3D interface - M3, c340, SP 2720 and the i2/i3. Coming from a programming background myself too, it's unlikely they would've written a separate app for the M3 which runs on WM2003 on an Intel XScale processor and doubt if all those other new products use the same processor/platform.

I would assume they have an API written which can be ported to other platforms without considerable effort. So even if the Que for M3 doesn't run on other PPC PDA's (mainly due to the fact that it talks to the com port feed of the garmin proprietary NMEA strings from the built-in gps processor), they should be able to offer us either a new GPS 10 Deluxe bundle or updates to the software. Of course, this will be totally at the discretion of Garmin who don't like to give away updates free except the bug fixes.

[stairman]

I for one would pay for an update to a superior "Que" program for my GPS 10. Garmin apparently believes that they are in the hardware business, so they only want to sell the maps and programs with hardware. I think they have superior software, and could sell the software to run with any bluetooth or wired gps.

[frofan]

Bump... I'm interested in purchasing my first GPS. I like the idea of having both a GPS receiver and PDA in one. My first concern would probably be the functionality of the GPS and then the use of a PDA. That being said, I have decided on either the M3 or the X50v with the Garmin gps10. I like the x50v because of its vga screen and very fast processor. I will be mainly using the gps for motorcycle navigation and hiking. I will use the pda for reminders, email and internet. Since I want wifi, I will have to also purchase a sd wifi card if I choose the m3. What do you suggest I do?

[thetransportguy]

I will be mainly using the gps for motorcycle navigation and hiking. I will use the pda for reminders, email and internet. Since I want wifi, I will have to also purchase a sd wifi card if I choose the m3. What do you suggest I do?

Everybody will have their opinion on which PDA is right for you. Usually, its the one that you will find in their pocket. I'll say that I have the M5 and dont nessessarily recommend it to everyone. For me, it suits my needs perfectly. I'll explain. I drive to destinations which I have never been on a daily basis for my work. I need to calculate mileage as I charge my clients by the mile. The GPS has to be precise and does not need to be used outside of the vehicle. I also need PPC format as Excel and Outlook is integral to my business scheduling. I needed a good graphics processor for watching DivX movies between jobs and needed bluetooth to get "on-the-road" internet access via my cell phone. WiFi would be nice but not nesessary.

As you can see, except for wifi, the M5 solved all my demands. i still own a Clie UX-50 and use that for when I need wi-fi. As a matter of fact, the Clie was known as the best for video as sony built a specific processor for graphics, but as an owner of both units I must say that the M5 plays much smoother. It also plays divx, xvid, mpeg, and wmv... FULLSCREEN!

But back to you, with your motorcycle, you may come across some mounting issues if you go with a PDA and a seperate GPS reciever. There will be a bunch of cords all over your bike. Another issue will be power. GPS drains power quite fast. If you are using a PDA & seperate GPS you will have twice as much power drain. If Email and wifi are high on your priority list over the GPS, then definately go with the Dell. I borrowed a Sandisk 256/wifi SD card and it worked. But it limits you to your card storage. Plus it sticks out and I felt uncomfortable thinking that I would break it and owe my buddy a new one.

Bottom line is that I would recommend getting a portable GPS like a eTrex or a rino, AND getting the Dell X51v. Why? Because the eTrex/rino will get you better battery life and would be easy to find a way to mount to your handlebars or tank. You could use it hiking and still be able to have your PDA fully charged for the internet cafe up in the mountains. Now, without the need for GPS built in the PDA, get the best PDA out there... the Dell Axim X51v 624MHz