Review Garmin was the first company to release a PDA with an integrated GPS receiver, the Palm OS-based iQue, and the M5 is its first Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition version. As soon as I opened the box and started playing with the device I realised that this was a GPS/PDA combo that meant business, writes Benny Har-Even.

Some of the PDAs with GPS built-in have had disappointing build quality but the Garmin was quite different. It feels solid enough in the hand to deal with the rigours of transportation. No doubt this comes from Garmin's wealth of knowledge of how GPS units are used. While most people will use the M5 exclusively in the car, it does have a pedestrian mode, enabling you to use it on a walkabout. Garmin has also attached a cover to the unit affording the screen some protection when its in your bag.

Garmin has cleverly recessed the GPS antenna into the back of the unit. Releasing a catch on the side flips the aerial up and automatically launches the GPS software. Unlike GPS/PDA combo makers Mio and Acer, Garmin has bundled a cradle. It's no poor flimsy affair either and is made of a very solid metal base that looks impressive on the desk.

The specification's not too bad for a PDA. Other GPS-enabled PDAs have proved underpowered but this one features a not-too-shabby 416MHz Intel XScale PXA272 processor and a dedicated 48MHz ARM7 GPS co-processor. Certainly route calculation and on the fly recalculation times were acceptable. However, while driving, the location cursor did lag more noticeably than my TomTom Go, with the result that on one occasion I took the wrong road off a roundabout.

Bluetooth is a welcome inclusion but perhaps some may have preferred Wi-Fi. You could add the latter using the M5's SD IO slot. SanDisk's combined WLAN and memory cards would be best - the built-in 64MB of RAM will not hold much in the way of detailed map data. The battery is removable and located behind a sliding door while the soft reset button is on the underside, accessible using the chunky stylus.

The screen is 320 x 240, rather than the full VGA offered by some new, top-end units. It was up to par quality-wise, though, with the screen being colourful and certainly less grainy than the Acer's. _At the top of the screen there's a row of large quick access icons and there's a handy shortcut link that provides system status that lists all running programs and provides quick access to power and memory settings. Other nice touches include a vibrating alarm.

When you first power up the iQue you'll find a base map of the UK, but to get any detailed any information, such as smaller roads and Points of Interest you'll need to install the data from the three CDs that are included. Doing this is undoubtedly one of the most painful parts of using the iQue, due to an unnecessarily long and complicated registration process. Maps are included for the whole of Western Europe and it makes sense to install all of these to your PC at once. You can then select the maps you need and send them to your iQue as required, either to it's local memory or to an SD card. The whole of the UK and Ireland comes out to 167MB, so you'll want to budget for an SD card. To fit all the map data on at once you'll need a 2GB card, and these are available for around £160.

The iQue's route planning software is split into several different applications. QueMap is the main mapping app that displays your route and your location. Only a top-down, 2D mode is offered, which is a shame. Most of the time a 3D view isn't strictly necessary, but it does make a difference in certain situations, to see more clearly where you're going.

The 'Where Am I' button in QueMap will tell you the name, address, latitude and longitue of you're current location, along with the nearest intersections. You can then add this to 'My Locations' - essentially a list of favourite places.

At the top of the screen your speed, distance to next turning, time to turning and arrival time are all indicated clearly. The settings are set to kilometres but can easily be changed to miles. The amount of detail shown can be adjusted too. As you approach turnings a clear female voice provides instruction and a detail of the turn is flashed up. Unlike the TomTom Go, the M5 doesn't repeat the instruction as you approach a junction, so I found that I had to turn the stereo off and concentrate more than I was used to.

QueFind lets you to search for addresses in a variety of ways. You can search by city, street and post code up to four digits, and hitting the search button will bring up a list of correlating locations. This works well if you know the street number but isn't so great for businesses that doesn't have one. However, this is a problem that afflicts most systems. Alternatively, you can use the comprehensive Point of Interest database, but be prepared to spend some time working out how it categorises things.

For example, Under the Car Dealer sub-category I was looking for Dagenham Motors in Potters Bar, and while the M5 listed several there wasn't one shown in that town. I then switched to searching via 'Near Current Location' and there it was, though listed as Potters Bar Ford, rather then Dagenham Motors. It even provided the phone number, which would have saved the cost of a call to Directory enquiries had I found it earlier. The motto is, the place you're looking for is probably there if you're flexible about your searches.

If your Pocket Outlook contacts are stored in the correct format you can send it directly to the QueFind application to plot a route, though this method won't distinguish between the work and home address and go for the first one listed. It will do so however, if you choose the 'Add to My Locations' option.

QueTurn provides a step-by-step description of your journey once you've plotted it but it's a separate application. It would have been preferable if this was integrated into the QueMap screen.

The options for routing are very good, enabling you to choose between faster times or shorter distances. There's even an 'off road' option for mums who want to take a more direct route on the morning school-run. The software will also optimise routes for vehicles such as taxis, delivery cars, and even cyclists and pedestrians. A custom mode enables you to select the level of major, medium and minor roads you choose.

Route recalculation when missing a turning was smooth and efficiently handled. One nice touch: the software will switch automatically to night time viewing mode according to the time of day.

The in-car set up is pretty good, with a suction-mounted cradle that neatly holds the iQue in place. Garmin has solved the problem of poor PDA speakers by supplying an external speaker that slots into the car power socket. This distorts when played too loud but it's a good solution. It also carries power to the PDA so you have to have the cable running over the dashboard.

However, there are two reasons why I wouldn't want to part with my TomTom Go. Firstly, you can't add custom POIs, which for me is a major loss - the speed camera database is too just too valuable. Secondly, twice in a couple of weeks the unit locked up and on the second occasion I had to reinstall all the map data. If this happens out in the field you could be left going back to a map.

That aside, I was very impressed with the iQue. The software takes a while to get used to, but once you have it's a powerful GPS tool and a PDA that you'd like it even if it didn't have in-built GPS. The only real downside is the price, with most resellers offering it for around £500. This isn't cheap but when you consider the quality of both hardware and software it's actually excellent value.

Verdict

It's pricey but the iQue M5 is worth it. The hardware is sturdy, the specs reasonable, the GPS software is powerful and the integration with Windows Mobile is elegant. You'll need to budget for an extra card but if you do you can take all of the UK with you, so to speak, on the best GPS/PDA combo currently available.

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