Garmin iQue M3 Car GPS Receiver

About a year ago, I was in the market for a GPS system for my car, frankly due to my poor directional genetic programming. I looked primarily at Garmin due to their track record in the past and recent offerings. One thing I realized very early on in the search was that if I simply got a stand-alone gps, it probably wouldn't be used enough to condone the cost of one and as such I searched for pocketPC GPS systems along with the Garmin NUVI which had additional features that most GPS systems did not have. At the time, the NUVI was almost $900 while the M3 was about $400. Prices have come down considerably over the year and both are much more reasonable.

I picked the M3 for one major reason: I needed a pocket PC anyway and the thought of having GPS on demand was truly a great combo. While I won't say that the M3 is the finest pocket PC out there, it met my limited needs in terms of a datebook appointment manager and other related software. Being a programmer-type by nature, I loved the fact that I could put any PPC program on the M3 as well as maps for either europe or the U.S by simply copying them to an SD card and popping it in the m3. One gripe I have with the PPC system is that it is a bit slow on certain apps. This comes into play more with the GPS portion.

While I have never owned a GPS before, I knew in general how they operated and their overall efficiency in off-route recalculation etc. As such, I noted the M3 was not always up to the task of processing a route recalculation fast enough for my impatient nature. This really isn't that big of a deal though as it will always 'get you there' regardless. As for whether it takes the best route or not, I frankly couldn't care as long as I know i'm not getting more lost, this is a non-issue for me as I like the fact that at least 'someone' in the car knows where 'he/she' is going. Button pressing is not like a stand-alone gps and I often find I have to use the stylus, which isn't a big deal if you drive safe and pull over to change routes etc. Signal aquisition has never been a big problem although on cloudy days it can take a bit longer as well as in less populated areas. If you want, you can buy an external antenna but frankly there are just areas where this is the case with any GPS.

At today's prices, I would highly recommend the M3. Would I recommend it to someone who hasn't tinkered around with a computer before? Probably not as a stand-alone would fit the bill much better in terms of ease of use.

The Garmin iQue M3 PDA/GPS Receiver is an excellent handheld GPS for the money. The manufacturer has installed many user-friendly features that make the first time buyer or the professional happy. They manufacturer has excellent customer service and many additional add-ons to make this unit an extremely versatile GPS to be used in town, on trips, hunting, fishing, cycling, hiking, four wheeling or camping.
Suggestion:
1. One of the best ways to protect investment is to purchase a Protective Case for this GPS. You can find a top of the in line protective case that protects while allowing full viewing and access to all the features of your GPS unit. See a variety of cases at: http://stores.ebay.com/FIS4HER1-COM_W0QQssPageNameZL2
2. Purchase cable accessories that allow you to upload or download maps and data from your GPS. Purchase a 12v auto charger so that you can always keep you unit charged before heading out cross-country. Purchase quality power and data cables at: http://stores.ebay.com/FIS4HER1-COM_W0QQssPageNameZL2
3. Purchase an Amplified External GPS Antenna for the unit. The internal antenna is ok but will become intermittent in high buildings, cloudy skies and stormy weather. Purchase a quality, high gain remote antenna. See specification on 28dB and 55dB GPS antenna at:
http://stores.ebay.com/FIS4HER1-COM_W0QQssPageNameZL2

Cheers – Fis4her

I bought the Garmin iQue primarily for the GPS feature, which is easy to use, and for it's portability, since I drive multiple vehicles. I just plug in the power, choose my destination, and go. The screen is not hard to see in daylight, and the voice prompt volume is adequate for overcoming road noise even with the windows open. It also has an appointment calendar, contact list, and e-mail retrieval capabilities. You can choose to ask the GPS to take you to one of your contacts and home again, or choose multiple destinations. I got a lot of options for not a lot of money. My only concern is the limited memory capacity with the memory card provided, and having to install detail maps. After installing a 4Gb card, I was able to install maps for a good part of the southeast U.S. Still, I feel I got more than I paid for.

After purchasing a number of these units in bulk, I tested a sample out and I have to say that I could not be happier with this sleek combination PDA/GPS unit. If you like to know where you are at all times this is definately the product for you. Garmin is a very respected brand and this product really has no rivals on the market right now due to its superior capabilities.

Slow to find sats, slow to build routes further than 5 miles. Otherwise it's completely fine. All the features I need (maybe 3D map would be helpful). Garmin updates maps from time to time (first update is free!). There are many kinds of maps available - road, topo (called trail), water. Though, only N. America or Europe. No Asia, no South America, no East Europe. European maps are EXPENSIVE.
Unit is OK near by downtown, but looses sats between high buildings.
Battery live is average. Even without GPS turned on, games can consume all the power in three hours (after two years of very little usage).
On the bright sun hard to see anything on the screen, as with many LCDs...
When you use pointer to move map, it's not accurate - map can jump to the opposite side of your intention.
But overall, considering it's portable PDA AND GPS, it's OK for my needs. Used it in USA, all over Europe, and on rafting trips with topo maps.

If you're looking for a great buy I suggest the Garmin iQUE M3 GPS receiver and Pocket PC. Yes, not only is it an excellent GPS device but it also is a Pocket PC with all the benefits of a PDA. It is extremely portable yet works great in the car with the included base. The map software is excellent, even containing phone numbers for the points of interest. I've taken it on 3 trips since I bought it and it has worked flawlessly. So, listen to music or watch a video on the plane. Then when you get your rental car, plug it in and go. Or just use it in your home city to find where it is or what it is you want to visit. By the way, the GPS gives voice directions and is fast and accurate.

I was looking for a reasonably priced GPS receiver and was not happy with my Tungsten E palm so the Garmin M3 seemed like the perfect solution and it was. I love the GPS in this package - sure, sometimes I know a faster route but for the most part, it is great on directions, especially in the cities. I love the fact that it charges while in the car and have never had a problem with the supposed poor battery life because I am in the car a lot! The PDA has the functionality and windows format that I like (I wish the start button was at the bottom of the screen though!)
The speed of the PDA could be better but I have it loaded up pretty heavy with programs. I added the 1 GB memory card for my maps and some programs which is pretty much a requirement.
The biggest downside for me is not having Pocket Access but the other programs are working well. There is a ton of free software out there for this operating system and it all works - unlike so many pda's where only one out of about five downloaded programs actually works!
All in all, this is an excellent product for the price.

I love this roduct. I use the GOS system everyday at work. I am a Paramedic Firefighter in Tennessee and use it when I am not sure where the address is located. This way I can respond quicker and provide care for the pulic in their need. I would recommend this product to anyone!

Great device, very good price. The only thing I don't like about it is the battery. I would have loved to have a user replacable battery instead of a fixed one.

I couldn't say enough about this item. It plays music, open Excel and Word files, stores tons of maps(with an upgrade of SD memory recommended) and places of interest. This is a must for those who are on the road alot. At first it calculated the routes a little slow, until I found the upgrade for my unit software free on Garmin.com website. Not if is fast and efficient. I get to almost all places with no problem. Some streets may not be found as there is always new streets being built that aren't even on the paper maps yet. I drive a limo and I have't been lost yet. It is great at night when trying to look for addresses as it tells you what address you are in front of.

Yep, No complaints here! :)

Great little unit, which doubles as a pocket PC. The GPS is like having the Yellow Pages with you all the time and then it gives you Directions and Phone numbers to anywhere you need to go. Very user freindly with a nice touch screen. You do need to purchace an SD card for extra memory, you can also get an SD WIFI card to get onto the internet. I found the price to be cheaper than just a GPS unit, so this was a no brainer.

I purchased the Garmin IqueM3. Its difficult to figure out how to download the maps. The GPS if you really don't know where you are going will take you in a totally different direction. But will eventually get you to the address. Also the screen is difficult to see in the daylight, even in the car.

Its difficult to use the wifi because there aren't that many wifi's around that aren't blocked. I mostly use mine for games now.

I should have saved my money and purchased a lap top for a couple hundred more.

I since have bought a better Garmin GPS and use that exclusively!

Over all I would not spend the money on it. Invest in a regular GPS with a bigger screen.

Easy to use GPS (Even my mother got it).
Nice PDA functionality.
Not 100% accurate - if you think its wrong force it to recalculate route and you should be fine.
Easy to surf the internet where wifi is avaliable with wifi sd card.
You need a 2GB sd card to load all the maps and some music.

bought this garmin ique m3 gps receiver for my son for christmas. it came on time and my son loved it. he is now buying all the accessories.

I had made the purchase for the purpose of navigating in the middle east. I was not aware that the unit did not have MGRS. As it does not, I cannot use it here so, I will buy a unit that does have MGRS and use this one in my Jeep when I get home. Other than that, I was very pleased with my purchase.

This is an awesome multi-tool. I orginally bought it for the purpose of studying for a promotion test... but the added benifit of GPS capability encouraged me even more. I like it's sleek style, it's very portable and reliable. It takes about 1 minute to detect satellites, which some people might get frustrated about... but I'm patient and it works just fine. I did drop this PDA accidentally the other day. It still works fine, but it will loose satellite reception more often. I'm almost positive this behavior is due to the drop. I have become much more organized with this little gadget. Never regret buying it!

I could not be happier with this thing. I get all the benefits of a GPS and the features of a PDA with Windows Mobile. Syncs easily and I can add maps to its memory and upgrading more is a breeze. You can add 2GB's for about $50 now-a-days and also use part of that towards mp3's and listenin to them back on the WMP. You can also load "Pocket Streets" on there for more detailed maps and it works perfectly with the GPS built in. I could not be happier!

I purchased Gamin M3 in 2006 with map version 7 $180. On the internet I read the features of Nuvi 350 like “it even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road”.
Especially this feature forced me to sell M3, so I sold my M3 and got new nevi 350.The Nuvi 350 cost me $400.
With in a week I realized that I did big mistake, because this feature does not have worth to pay $220 extra. Also Nuvi 350 is only for GPS purpose nothing else, where as M3 has full functionality of PDA.
So I sold Nuvi 350 and bought M3 again on Aug 14 2007 in $ 185
Now I can write my notes and synopsize with outlook. It is my pocket pc. I am using it daily. I keep it always with me. I saved my address, picture, music files, and event list, appoints list, and excel files etc on it.
Where as Nuvi 350 was always at home.
I am very happy with my M3.

Most of reviews I read sound pretty good,so I bought it. So far it's not user friendly.Unlock # and registration# are so small,I had to use magnifying glass to look at it.I registered according to instruction.I put CD to my computer before I download to GPS. I was not able to transfer any map.I do have Garmin username and password. I went to Mapsource Unlock and put my username and password,it says registration code I entered has already been used.I checked GPS,it says there are no map and says check with Garmin.I email them,no response on weekend.I am waiting to call on Monday. If I knew it is so complicated,I would not buy this product.

I bought the M3(and I bought an M5 at the same time) after having three other brands, only one of which, a Mio 168 using Mapopolis maps, was any good. My Mio 168 died after four years of hard and faithful service. I looked at getting another Mio but was unimpressed with Mio maps or the very high prices. Since Mapopolis has stopped selling maps, I felt Garmin was the best map system. All pocket PC's work the same accept for speed; I don't do emails or music or WiFi so these were not factors..just maps, GPS system with a Pocket PC.
Some of my friends had M4's, M5's and M3's and all were very good and tech support has great.
I find the M3 more user friendly but both M5 and M3 do a bang up job with GPS functions. Route correction is as rapid as you wish(adjustable in feet off course). POI's are the most of any system. Searching POI's can be from where you are, where you are going or the whole route, also adjustable. Garmin is the only system with churches in POI's. Some maps systems (DeLome) have phonebook look up which would give churches I guess. Route planning is quite fast even when using a 2G SD card of the east coast. Sync to a PC is also very good. Battery life was about 5 hours with GPS going on both the M3 and M5. I just tested them since I always have the unit on car power while using them. I did get an external antenna but where there are no tall buildings or lots of trees, the internal works just fine.

I am very pleased with both units and don't understand why Garmin stopped the selling of pocket PC with GPS, they were very good at it.

I love it pretty accurate. Its more than a gps , this pocket pc has games and some more features, but the map is old, I've paper maps that are a few years old that have better detail, and of course don't count on new roads to be in your map.

What a great little unit, and so much cheaper than a lot of the others. I wanted to combine all my music, contacts, GPS and email togather, and this on does just that. I added a wireless SD Card so that I can connect to the internet and that makes it complete. The only thing I wish it had was a phone in it and I would be down to one.

is the best pocket pc , because combine windows with all the feature of the Garmin GPS, all in yours hand, calendar, words, contacs, notes, templates and more.