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.