I have installed a Garmin Ique 3600 in my Element and I must say that it works great!

I mounted the Ique on a portable CD player mount that I picked up at Fry's electronics - it consists of a flexible metal pole with a small mount or shelf on top (not the large shelf for the CD player). The mount is attached to the end of the center console that faces the subwoofer - So the Ique is right between the seats at about arm rest height.

I added the car adapter, I ran the wire down the middle of the dash and under the carpet floor mats to the center console. I also added a remote antenna, it is magnetically mounted on the roof by the back hatch, the wire runs easily along the inside left side of the Element between the flooring and the side to the center console.

This device works perfectly! You can get one online at several merchants - I got mine at www.GPScity.com. With the purchase of a 256mb SD card, the total cost for everything I described is about $650. The SD card lets me download all the detailed cities for CA, NV, AZ, OR, WA, CO, UT, ID and MT as well as some of NM - that's about 8 states of detailed info on one 256mb card!

It has great features, works as well as my wifes Lexus navagation system and for $650, blows away everything else on price! It all has all the basic features of a Palm PDA, so you can store addresses in it and instantly have it plot a route to the address!

I highly recommend this product to anyone interested in a resonable cost navagation system for thier Element!

Would you mind sharing some pictures of your system showing how you ran the wires?

Thanks!

I am inches from going this route but not using an external antenna. Id love to see picts of what you have!
Also think a 512 mb SD card is only about $40 more and you could easilly store maybe all the left coast that way! Besides who would want to ever goto the L~East Coast!

Sorry, I don't have picture capability.

You really need the external antenna, the built in one takes much longer to lock on to the satellite signal and is prone to dropping it. I could only get a max of 4 satellites to track with the internal antenna (at best), I get an average of 8 with the external antenna! (their are 12 GPS satellites) Plus the internal antenna does not get a WAAS signal anywhere near as well, that signal gives you much better accuracy!

The 512mb card is not recommended by GPScity - they say is does not work correctly in the Ique 3600. I don't know what they mean by this, they just state that on their website.

$650 ?. For $120 you can run the Delorme GPS USB right off a laptop computer with a bigger color screen. Many already have laptop computers. My car is also a work tool. Having GPS trip planning and access to customer files all-in-one, is perfect for me. The laptop sits on a stand similar to how police cars have their laptops mounted. It's good to have options.

>Delorme GPS USB right off a laptop computer with a bigger color screen...
>... The laptop sits on a stand...

That's one thing I really, really like about the Element - enough room to be able to do stuff like this. Check the driver's position on any other SUV and they've filled every conceivable nook and cranny within reach with stuff they decided you need. Just drives me nuts! :?

Now that you have your GPS, you should put it to good use and get into the exciting world of geocaching. It's really a lot of fun. Basically a form of treasure hunting and it can take you to many interesting places.

http://www.geocaching.com

Couple more questions for ya:

1 - How is the sound quality? Does it plug right into the Aux jack or do you have to rely on the sound coming from the iQue?

2 - The size of the screen on the iQue, is it large enough to see the road names clearly when doing a quick take? or do you have to really focus in order to read the names while driving?

Thanks

Couple more questions for ya:

1 - How is the sound quality? Does it plug right into the Aux jack or do you have to rely on the sound coming from the iQue?

2 - The size of the screen on the iQue, is it large enough to see the road names clearly when doing a quick take? or do you have to really focus in order to read the names while driving?

Thanks

The sound is from the Ique speaker, it is not run thru the AUX jack. The sound is OK, due the close position of my mounting to the driver, I can hear it ok.

I feel the screen is big enough, one of the nice features is that the Garmin Ique 3600 will zoom in when a turn is coming up in the route mode, or if you just have it on while driving the approaching street is listed at the top of the screen, I find it more than big enough, especially since it is mounted close instead of up on the dash.

I like the idea of using a laptop, but I don't already own one so that choice would have been too expensive.

Maybe I mentioned it in the other thread (???) but anyway, if volume is a factor, get the auto nav kit. There is a speaker in the cig lighter adapter, and with the volume up it'll knock you out of your seat.

I'm also pretty sure it would work with the AUX jack (normal stereo out plug), but that means that you get to listen to the iQue instead of music. Do you really want that? The fascination with "In... point... two... miles... turn... left." goes away about the second or third time. :?

I have both my iPOD and PocketPC with GPS routed through the AUX input so that I can listen to music AND hear the navigation instructions when necessary. I adjusted the volume of my PocketPC to be a bit louder than my iPOD so that the audio comes through the music loud and clear simultaneously.

[quote:19a48c1f6a="jimxenus"]I have both my iPOD and PocketPC with GPS routed through the AUX input so that I can listen to music AND hear the navigation instructions when necessary. I adjusted the volume of my PocketPC to be a bit louder than my iPOD so that the audio comes through the music loud and clear simultaneously.[/quote:19a48c1f6a]

Are they just y-adaptered together, or are you using a mixer?

Do you notice any problems with your mp3 player's audio quality while it driving both the head unit and into another amplifier? Myself, I'd be concerned about audio problems and/or equipment damage...

-brendan

I used a relatively inexpensive Y-adapter (under $4) but high quality and there is only a slight reduction in overall volume. You really don't notice it until you unplug one of the devices, then you will hear the volume increase just a bit.

I don't think this setup would cause any serious problems with the head unit since it is only audio coming through. I think as far as the amplifier is concerned, audio is merely a signal and whether it is "mixed" shouldn't make any difference.

Now if you tried that with video, then watch out, your video screen would really be messed up!

[quote:9866ad5699="jimxenus"]I don't think this setup would cause any serious problems with the head unit since it is only audio coming through. I think as far as the amplifier is concerned, audio is merely a signal and whether it is "mixed" shouldn't make any difference.[/quote:9866ad5699]

I was more concerned about the output stages of the two devices you were tying together in parallel to feed the head unit.

-brendan

Well, you got me there. Anyone else out there knowledgeable about this stuff that can shed some light in this situation?

All I know is that so far, I have been using this setup with no ill effects.

I was more concerned about the output stages of the two devices you were tying together in parallel to feed the head unit.
No concern. You're not talking about a lot of power in either, and a fairly large tolerance for low impedance (the result of paralleling the two output stages).

If I were really worried, I'd build my own Y cable, putting 4 ohms of resistance in the center leads of each channel to both devices and then call it a day. :?

I know I just tacked on to a very old thread but I just picked up a Garmin iQue 3600 GPS/PDA at a garage sale. It came with a bunch of accessories and only cost $20. ...but it didn't have the setup disk. Anyone have one or a copy? I have no voice directions and need to reload the voice files from the setup disk. Garmin has been of marginal help.

would any of this work for what you're needing?

http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=010-00264-00

It's all I could find for the Garmin iQue 3600

would any of this work for what you're needing?

http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=010-00264-00

It's all I could find for the Garmin iQue 3600

I've downloaded some stuff from that page and have the basic Palm stuff working on my Mac but I need a setup disk to get the voice files back on the iQue. Thanks for helping though. E owners are the best.