Scribble Neoprene PDA Case Review

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Product Requirements:
Device:
Almost any Pocketable PDA

Scribble, longtime makers of hard cases and accessories for the Psion line of
PDAs, has created a slightly different than usual case that uses neoprene and
comes in bright cheerful colors. If you are still looking for an
inexpensive Christmas gift for a PDA lover, you might want to consider this soft
case.

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I was presented with the festive red (with black trim) version, which makes the Scribble perfect for
inclusion in this holiday recommendation. You can also purchase this same style case
in purple, blue
and charcoal gray, each trimmed in black.

The Scribble has a clean and simple design, uncluttered by anything other
than a metal logo plate on the front, and not one, but two rather large
matte silver zipper pulls. I thought the zipper’s size as a whole was a little excessive, but otherwise I am
pleased with the form and function of this case

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As you can see, this is a book-style case. Your PDA will attach with a
huge

strip of Velcro (my only major objection) to the inside right of the cover, while the
left side is available for keeping your ID and up to four business or credit cards
handy. A long slash pocket behind the ID area is perfect for stowing away
receipts or bills. There are also two elastic loops in the case’s spine, perfect
for storing two batteries if your PDA requires them.

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The left side, which also forms your PDA’s screen protection when the case is
zipped shut, is reinforced with a plastic insert. While this does not make the
Scribble crush-proof by any stretch of the imagination, it does offer
suitable protection from ordinary knocks and dings that might occur. I would
have to advise against dropping your PDA while in the Scribble, although it
should be adequate for short drops (like from a foot or two) at the most.

The Scribble does not add much weight to your PDA at all – only 4 ounces (113g).
It will add a little bit of bulk if you are carrying a smaller PDA, such as the
Palm m500 series, but on the more standard sized PDAs, you shouldn’t be too bothered
by the size.

I tried putting several PDAs in the Scribble, including the iPAQ 3600
and 3800 series, the Sharp Zaurus, the Hewlett-Packard Jornada 565, the Palm
IIIc, the Sony Clie 710c, and the Palm m505. I found that they all fit quite well, although it was
not possible to include a sleeve with the iPAQ while in this case.

Here are some pictures of the new Zaurus SL-5000 in the Scribble case. Of course, when
you have the keyboard extended, the case is no longer quite long enough! ;0)

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The Scribble Neoprene PDA Case is a good gift idea for someone that likes a splash of color
and doesn’t mind adding a chunk of Velcro to the back of their PDA.

Price: $23.95 (depending on price fluctuations of
US Dollar to British Pound)
Available in red, purple, blue
and charcoal gray, each trimmed in black

Pros:

Fun, bright colors that help take the monotony out of carrying a protective
case
Adequate screen protection from dings and dents
Fair price

Cons:

Uses Velcro to attach case to PDA
Double
Zippers seem excessively large

 

Product Information

Price:23.95
Manufacturer:N/A
Pros:
  • Fun, bright colors that help take the monotony out of carrying a protective
  • case
  • Adequate screen protection from dings and dents
  • Fair price
Cons:
  • Uses Velcro to attach case to PDA
  • Double
  • Zippers seem excessively large

53 thoughts on “Scribble Neoprene PDA Case Review”




  1. Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
  2. Great review!

    Can’t wait till you get your hands on the Garmin iQue..

    About the SPIII being expensive, if you do some searching on the web you tend to get a lot better prices than the RRP…

  3. Originally posted by Judie
    [B]
    If you will click the $999 MSRP at the end of the review, it takes you to http://www.pricegrabber.com. 😉
    [/B]

    Exelent, didnt see that yet 🙂

    FYI I did a quick search and found one for $650.. so quite a big difference 🙂

    Also Garmin has some kind of policy that webstores cant advertize certain product below the RRP, but they can sell it below RRP so sometimes you need to email the website to get the real price.

    For example the iQue has a RRP of above $550 but you can find them online for around $450..

  4. Hi Judie, I enjoy your reviews [most of the time] but I’m really tired of hearing about your “2003 Ford F-150 SE HD SuperCrew” This is the 2nd time you have mentioned it. Its bugging me because I know the majority of people who visits this site can’t afford a truck of that price. Why can’t you just say a new Ford Pickup? Now, I’m not saying Fords are bad, I have a 2002 Ford F-150 Lariat. I’m sure you mean well, but some people might take it the wrong way. Anyway, thats all I’ll say. Keep up the good work 😉

  5. I can understand where you are coming from, but since I love my truck and I am making payments on it for the next 500 years, I figure I am going to talk about it a bit. Besides – I got a great deal on it! No where near retail, in fact – I probably paid about the same as you did on your truck when you bought it last year…and no, I don’t have a cousin that owns a dealership. 🙂

    Judie :0)

  6. Originally posted by Ford F-150
    Hi Judie, I enjoy your reviews [most of the time] but I’m really tired of hearing about your “2003 Ford F-150 SE HD SuperCrew” This is the 2nd time you have mentioned it. Its bugging me because I know the majority of people who visits this site can’t afford a truck of that price. Why can’t you just say a new Ford Pickup? Now, I’m not saying Fords are bad, I have a 2002 Ford F-150 Lariat. I’m sure you mean well, but some people might take it the wrong way. Anyway, thats all I’ll say. Keep up the good work 😉

    Mmmm sounds like you are jealous.. 😉

    Judie is just very happy with her car, I think that is great for her.
    Think of it as a big gadget 😉

    Even if I could afford a car like that (btw how much are they?) I wouldnt but a truck. But if Judy likes it, fine…

  7. Sorry Judie, I guess I sorta flew off the handle. I just thought some people might take it the wrong way. Anyway, cool review about the GPS. I noticed you planned a trip from Houston to Austin. I live just outside of Houston. But since we are on the subject of GPS, I own a Garmin Etex Legend that I use a lot in my truck. My father just bought the Garmin V for use in our motorhome. He has 3 GPS systems anyway, I don’t know why he needs another…Oh well, its his money. Check out ebay right now, just search Garmin, and it will bring up all kinds of cool accessories. Anyway sorry for the outburst.

    P.S, this is for “ToolKit”. Just to satisfy your curiosity, first, no I’m not jealous about Judie’ truck. Second, Her truck would cost about 44K RETAIL, but it sounds like she got one heck of a deal. Third my truck cost about 34K RETAIL, but I got it for only 19K.

  8. just curious, and maybe I missed it in your review, but I had heard that the Garmin had received knocks for the fact that it can be slow in re-drawing, such that you can already be past your turnoff before you realize (in tight circumstances). In addition, it takes some time in recalculating your route if you accidently go off it. What was your experience with this?
    Also, how was the volume on the voice directions in your truck (which I assume is noisier than some sedans)

  9. Lack of reviews notwithstanding, it seems that the iQue might end up being the way to go. Figure that it has similar capabilities as the Streetpilot, a better text entry system, a bigger display, an industry standard memory card format…and a fully functional PDA to boot! It’s also considerably cheaper!

    I’ll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs until Julie and Judie get their hands on one for a review!

  10. Ford F-150 – This goes to show you what our economy is like right now, that I could get such a good deal…well, plus the fact that Steve is a no-holds-barred kind of auto negotiator, and I let him handle the purchase. 😉

    Capt Kanga – it does take a little while to re-route, but it didn’t seem any longer than it took with the Destinator GPS that I reviewed. I just figured it was about standard. There would be a couple yards of lag, but I didn’t miss any turns because not only was there a voice promt, the street to turn on would be written in large letters at the top of the screen. The voice prompts were extremely easy to hear. My truck may not be as loud as some, but my stereo is generally louder than it should be when I am driving along – but I could hear “her” telling me where to go just fine.

    fnj – we are getting excited about the iQue, too. 🙂

    delquardo – uhhhhh, I plead the 5th. 😉

    Looks like there is a new Garmin coming out that may be easier to program and have an even bigger screen (and a bigger price tag) – but it is still transportable: http://www.garmin.com/products/sp2610_2650/index.jsp

    Hopefully I will be able to review this one, too.

    Judie :0)

  11. My dad has one of these, and we used it in the UK to get from one point to another. I set it up, as he was driving, and everything was great. Of course, he wasn’t paying attention to the instructions, so naturally he turned off one road too early. I thought we’d have to redo everything, but the Garmin AUTOMATICALLY recalculated everything without missing a beat. I thought this was the coolest feature. Even when you mess up, it still manages to get you there.
    Woud I get one for over here, sure, if they weren’t so darn expensive.

  12. Originally posted by Judie
    [B]
    Looks like there is a new Garmin coming out that may be easier to program and have an even bigger screen (and a bigger price tag) – but it is still transportable: http://www.garmin.com/products/sp2610_2650/index.jsp

    Hopefully I will be able to review this one, too.

    Judie :0) [/B]

    Note they are getting out of the proprietary memory card arena by using standard CF memory.

  13. dequardo,

    If the Garmin hadn’t been in the center console on the trip to Houston, the max speed would have been 123 mph 😎

    Steve

  14. Hey now! I broke 120 on that trip – and I am the one that got a speeding ticket for 93 in a 70 last year. 🙁

    Anyone know of any really great radar detectors that I should review? 😉

    Judie :0)

  15. Yes. Valentine One is the ‘gold standard’ and historically ‘the best’. I would VERY much like to see an unbiased comparo between the V1 and BEL’s top line units. This would be very interesting to me and I hope to others.

    I personally use a BEL 960 Vector and love it.

    Mike

  16. Thanks Steve. I have looked at those in the past. I just question how truly unbiased they are. I suppose we could wait for Consumers Union to test them-yeah right!

    FWIW, two of my brothers-in-law were talking about this very topic recently and they swear by the latest Escort Solo2 model.

    Mike

  17. Sorry to hear you got a Ford…

    Myself, I’m a Toyota fan and I couldn’t love my 2003 Toyota Tundra I got a week and a half ago more than I do. Now, it has over 500 miles on it and I love driving it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

    As for the GPS I see it as a way of getting lost with style. It is not always accurate, but it would be nice to have. The unit I’d love to see reviewed is the Emtac Bluetooth GPS Receiver with a Palm device with Bluetooth, and a Pocket PC with Bluetooth to see how well it works. I’m considering getting it for my TG50 and hopefully my soon-to-be HP iPaq 2215.

  18. T1000X – I know exactly how you feel about your Tundra, one of our ranch trucks is a T-100. Even with 120K miles on it, it is always reliable and rides like a new truck. When it is time to replace it, we will so so with a Tundra. With that said, I still like my F-150 better. 😉 haha 😉

    Let us know what you think of the EMTAC, if you get one before we get a review unit.

    Judie :0)

  19. The Tundra is an excellent truck, especially with the V8 Lexus motor that is in it.

    We would have bought a Toyota if they made a Supercharged four door Harley Davidson Edition that produces 340HP and 425 ft/lb of torque.

    I have done a few simple mods and it now produces 350HP and 435 ft/lb of torque with more to come….

    It’s nice having one of the fastest vehicles on the road:D

  20. I can attest to the performance of both radar units… I bought my 8500 from the sharper image a while back it was a very good radar but you will never know how important the Direction finder is unitl you use…

    IMHO… it worth the extra $150!!! The first weekend I had it I was going over an overpass in on the freeway. I had just passed a cop pulling someone over and I started to speed up again when I noticed my V1 was still registering a bogey in front. Normally with any other radar, you would just assume that the cop has his front radar still turned on, and you could ignore the warning.

    With the V1, I was able to know the there was another unseen bogey in front slow I keep it at a reasonable speed and within a mile I pass the second cop.

    The V1 also has a remote display that is awesome! I placed the remote offset to the right above my steering wheel on my jeep’s dash. I drive a manual wrangler so with my left hand on the wheel I have an unobstructed view on the remote display. I have upped two photos to show what i’m talking about.

    There are however two reasons why I did liked the 8500 over the V1.
    1) the 8500 has a much better automatic muting inaccurate bogey’s. After 5secs? it will lower the volume for you. I supermarket auto door opener gets really annoying when you drive by it. The v1 is horrible at this.
    2) 8500 has a text readout so at night I’m still able to figure what type of radar/laser that has caught me. I’m not too sure what the reasoning is but the V1 has a leds next to silk screened letters. This is fine in the day, but not good at all at night. Some you might say that should listen for the different types of sound… Oh to heck with that…

    I want a text readout on my V1 or voice!
    If you have any questions about either let me know! I love talking about toys!

    I have a Sp3. I hope the new 200mhz processor on the new Garmin 2150 will make the screen refresh better. When you place the unit in Maxium detail mode it takes forever for the screen to refresh the map detail. I consider an ique but NAH!!! I’m getting one of those new Treo 600’s! i much rather have a Palm/ cell vs a Palm/ GPS combo!

    hey Judie… you didn’t ever tell me that you are near houston. The next time you are in the SW area on Houston near sugarland. I’m the manager of the Radio Shack on West airport and 59S. Near the Sam’s Club

  21. Originally posted by huze24
    [B]The Tundra is an excellent truck, especially with the V8 Lexus motor that is in it.

    We would have bought a Toyota if they made a Supercharged four door Harley Davidson Edition that produces 340HP and 425 ft/lb of torque.

    I have done a few simple mods and it now produces 350HP and 435 ft/lb of torque with more to come….

    It’s nice having one of the fastest vehicles on the road:D [/B]

    OK, you got a lot of power, but what about handling?
    A Pickup isn’t really designed for racing…

  22. Tool,

    Going waaayy off topic here, the Harley Ford F-150 is designed for racing in a straight line (1/4 mile), not on a road course. It is lowered 1″ and has 20″ rims with Goodyear low profile high speed tires and high performance shocks on it. It handles quite well for a 5,000 lb truck. It could still outhandle most cars on a road course though.

    The sister truck to the Harley is the Ford Lightning, it has the same motor, tranny and suspension as the Harley but is a two door version and hence, a lot lighter. With just a few mods that would cost no more than $1-2K, the Lightning can acheive 11-12 second 1/4 mile times and the Harley 12-13 second 1/4 mile times.

    I’m sure you’re aware the Lightning 1/4 mile times would beat ANY production sports car on the road, including the Z06 Corvette ($53K), Viper ($75K), Porsche 911 Turbo ($120K), etc. Those cars cost 2-3 times the price of a Ford Lightning ($33K) or Harley ($39K).

    This isn’t your father’s pick up truck. I’m a member of a Harley F-150 website and we have two members that live in Sydney that have the same truck we do. There are atleast ten 2003 Harley Davidson F-150’s in Sydney, Australia that I am aware of. If you happen to pull up next to one at a light, rev your motor and see what happens.

    To be better informed, read these reviews on the Ford F-150 Harley and Lightning and their high performance capabilities;

    http://www.truckworld.com/Truck-Tests/02-2002F-150HD/02-harley.html

    http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/2002/ford/harley/roadtest/page1.html

    http://edmunds.com/used/2002/ford/f150/100002498/roadtestarticle.html?articleId=78384&tid=edmunds.e.roadtests.content…Ford*

    http://www.elepent.com/review.php?nr=529

    http://www.commondriver.com/t01foligh0414.asp

    http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jk/03lightning.htm

    http://www.elepent.com/review.php?nr=238

    http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=3236&n=157,275&sid=275

    Steve

  23. Originally posted by huze24
    [B]Tool,

    Going waaayy off topic here, the Harley Ford F-150 is designed for racing in a straight line (1/4 mile), not on a road course. It is lowered 1″ and has 20″ rims with Goodyear low profile high speed tires and high performance shocks on it. It handles quite well for a 5,000 lb truck. It could still outhandle most cars on a road course though.
    [/B]

    Unfortunately most road I drive have bends and curves…
    While drag race capabilities are cool in a fast and furious kind of way, they are also pretty pointless IMHO.

    Originally posted by huze24
    [B]
    I’m sure you’re aware the Lightning 1/4 mile times would beat ANY production sports car on the road, including the Z06 Corvette ($53K), Viper ($75K), Porsche 911 Turbo ($120K), etc. Those cars cost 2-3 times the price of a Ford Lightning ($33K) or Harley ($39K).
    [/B]

    did some research and found this website:
    http://www.syclone.freeserve.co.uk/rivals.htm
    Didnt see your lightning in the list though 🙁 But I think the Mc Laren F1 and the (also missing) Ferrari Enzo will still beat it..
    At a much higher cost I agree…
    <edit> the F150 is in the list (the 1999 model but it is not nearly as fast as you claim..

    Originally posted by huze24
    [B]This isn’t your father’s pick up truck. I’m a member of a Harley F-150 website and we have two members that live in Sydney that have the same truck we do. There are atleast ten 2003 Harley Davidson F-150’s in Sydney, Australia that I am aware of. If you happen to pull up next to one at a light, rev your motor and see what happens.
    [/B]

    Haven’t seen any of them (hardly any of the american F series trucks here, mostly ford and holden utes or toyota 4WDs.

    I’m sure the F150 will be faster than my Forrester (which is probably half the price). But on a point A to B race I’m sure a Impreza STi or a Skyline will blow the F150 out of the water…

    Don’t get me wrong, I agree the F150 are cool cars, I just cant see them as sports cars…

  24. Uh-oh ToolkiT, looks like we may have to move this topic to the General Discussion area or to Private Message:cool:

    The Lightning motor was redesigned in 2001 so the 1999 figures are dated. Here is another website with more accurate info;

    http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/2001/ford/lightning/first_drive.html

    In this article a stock 2003 Lightning runs a 13.7 in the quarter mile and has a 146mph top speed which would move it up that list quite considerably. The Harley probably isn’t included on the list because it wasn’t equipped with a Supercharger until last year (2002).

    http://www.trucktrend.com/roadtests/pickup/112_0306_spdlight/

    I said in my previous post that a Lightning or Harley with $1-2K in performance modifications can acheive 11-12 second 1/4 mile times, that would put the Lightning and Harley towards the top of that 1/4 mile list, pretty impressive company. The majority of the upper portion of that list is comprised of motorcycles, they shouldn’t even be included on a list with cars. Here is the car only list;

    http://www.syclone.freeserve.co.uk/rivals_cars.htm

    I wouldn’t even try to compare a $33K truck to the McLaren F1 that costs $1 Million dollars and the Enzo Ferrari that costs $500K, and good luck finding one of those cars for sale if you can even afford them.

    The Lightning and Harley both are indeed world class sports cars (trucks) and the many links I have provided prove that. Just don’t challenge one to a race, because you may be embarrassed. We have never drag raced our truck, but just knowing we have the ability to blow the doors off most cars whether it be on a drag strip/straight line or a curvy mountain road is quite nice.

    I’ll be happy to continue this topic either via email, Private Message, or the General Discussion area:D

  25. Ikwan,

    The Valentine One is ranked among the Top 5 radar detectors in the world and is a good unit. The Escort 8500 and the BEL 985 are the best though, and at a $100 cheaper than the V1 you simply can’t beat them.

    I do like the direction finder on the V1, that is a helpful feature. Even better is the remote concealed display the V1 offers as an option. If it were included in the $400 price I would seriously consider purchasing it.

    https://store.valentine1.com/store/

  26. Originally posted by Judie
    [B]Boy…did we get off topic here…let’s rein it back in… 😉

    Judie :0) [/B]

    Mea Culpa..

  27. Originally posted by huze24
    [B]Uh-oh ToolkiT, looks like we may have to move this topic to the General Discussion area or to Private Message:cool:
    [/B]

    Nah, lets just agree to disagree on the defenintion of a sportscar..

    The F150 is a very nice piece of machinery though…they are just not my ‘cup of tea’…

    last question what is the power to weight ratio on one of those things?

  28. What is the world coming to? :rolleyes: Do people really need a GPS to drive. I don’t even need one to fly a plane hehehe. But it definatly helps 😎

  29. Originally posted by Masterchief
    What is the world coming to? :rolleyes: Do people really need a GPS to drive. I don’t even need one to fly a plane hehehe. But it definatly helps 😎

    You sound like my wife, she claims she is the GPS system in our car 😉
    She actually does a great job navigating 🙂 (dont tell her I said that, otherwise I never can justify an iQue 😉 )

  30. Tool,

    Sounds good. You got me on the power to weight ratio, haven’t seen those numbers yet.

    Too bad you’re Down Under, I would love to take you for a joyride in the Harley and show you it’s capabilities, I bet you would change your thinking:D

    Take care;)

    Steve

  31. hi,

    i had the garmin spIII in my car before going to an aftermkt pioneer unit. spIII is half the price and portable.

    my pioneer and i imagine most indash units are easier to input data and calculate/recalc sooo much faster. also cleaner install. look mom, no wires.

    again thx for more car gadget reviews! soon ull be talkin underglow kits and turbos.

    lata

    p.s. 1/4 mile in 12-13 for the 2 1/2 ton truck w/ 450tq seems to be overstating a bit. tho, i wouldnt put my pinkslip up against it.

  32. Originally posted by Judie
    [B]Let’s face it…GPS was created so men would never have to ask for directions! :rolleyes:

    Judie :0) [/B]

    LOL… I’ll have to send you a video clip about why men don’t ask directions.

    Seriously, I know my way areound town pretty well. If someone is on the phone asking for directions, they usually hand the phone to me. Using GPS has only enhanced this, but there are times while on the job I’ll have to fix someone’s network at a location I’ve never heard of, and all I’ll get is the address.

    Fortunately, I don’t have to go through the 25+ steps you mentioned on the product I’m testing. Just tap “navigation”, then “find”, then write the street address for the destination. It will map your route about 10 seconds after the GPS is locked.

  33. Originally posted by magmasilk
    [B]

    p.s. 1/4 mile in 12-13 for the 2 1/2 ton truck w/ 450tq seems to be overstating a bit. tho, i wouldnt put my pinkslip up against it. [/B]

    Depends on the gearing, but it is pretty good. I used to run the brackets at Detroit and Milan and got into the upper 12’s in a 2800 lb daily driver. Of course it was bretty laid back (stock short block, cast crank, 5500 rpm redline and automatic), but the whole car cost less than $3000 including the original purchase price.

    Just so this relates somehow to the article, it did not have a GPS.

  34. Altema,

    That was a very good save! 😉 I think Steve is going to start a thread under general discussion (if he doesn’t, I will) so that those who want to continue debating whether this car will beat that truck can continue…fwiw, I just watched a video of a Ford Lightning doing an 11.4 second quarter mile…heady stuff!

    Judie :0)

  35. Judie, how long does it take to create a new route if you go off course? 10, 20, 30 seconds?

    Also, can you select the voice? I prefer a woman’s voice anyways, but was just curious.

  36. Unfortunately, I don’t have the SPIII anymore (I had to send it back 🙁 ), but as I recall, it wasn’t much more than 10-20 seconds for recalculation.

    You don’t get a choice of voices, a woman will tell you where to go. As it should be. 😉

    Judie :0)

  37. Well, I failed…

    I failed in getting the Garmin or the Emtac units, and I also failed in another area.

    My Dad has been looking at new trucks longer then I have (I had pretty much decided many years ago, that if I could get a fullsize truck, it would be the Toyota Tundra) and he got a Ford this past Thursday! GAH! My Mom and I feel like we both failed. I even offered to pay my Dad $5000 cash if he would get a Toyota! My Dad chose the F-150 XLT with Triton V8 engine. A sad fact is my Dad, who is – shall we say – gadget illiterate, will never learn how to use all of the little features of his truck.

    As for my Toyota Tundra, it is one of the new ones with the Lexus iForce V8 engines. It is a great performer, has a smooth ride for a truck, and it has the TRD package but no 4×4. I have yet to take it off-road to see how it will do. I’ve even considered adding a supercharger and see if Toyota would install it so it would be covered by warranty. I may even add a GPS system to it, which one (Emtac, Garmin Pilot series, or Gamin iQue) or how to install it, I haven’t decided. I think I’ll just add a generic PDA pedestal mount with charger for the PDA at an easy eye level, and get the Emtac or other Bluetooth GPS unit when it’s price drops.

    As for Toyota (and back to being completely off-topic), they are releasing on an extremely limited basis full ton Toyota Tundras running 5.5L V8 engines. They look like any other Toyota Tundra. I don’t expect Toyota to sit on their laurels for long. I see them becoming highly competitive against Ford, mainly, and coming out with versions of their Tundras or new models to compete with all Ford truck variations. This includes their own sport truck variant, similar to or better equipped then the Ford F-150 Lightning. Later this year, they are coming out with the Tundra Double-Cab (about time), with a bigger, deeper bed.

  38. Hi Judie,

    I recently bought a Garmin Street Pilot III, Deluxe Package (Nov. 2003), and am very staisfied with the results I’ve had so far.

    I wish I had seen your review of the Street Pilot III before I bought it. The reason for that is, Garmins Instruction manuals are too fragmented and difficult to follow for the uninitiated in high tech Gadgetry. It bounced you back and forth to the point of utter confusion. While I eventually got the hang of it, if I had read your review at the beginning I would have saved a lot of frustration and satisfaction would have come sooner. I strongly suggest that Garmin write their manuals in step by step format for each feature and give the new users the comfort level needed for the common dunce that probably will be their best prospective customers. You seem to have done it a lot better than Garmin did.Bravo!

    I had experienced a few failures of the program to locate several addresses. I learned that my unit was packaged for distribution a few months before the new upgraded “City Navigator” Version 5.0 disk was ready for packaging with the GPS Units. Mine came with Version 4.01. I learned about the upgrade from the Garmin web site and called their Tech Support. They readily agreed to send me the new 5.0 Version at no charge. It made a difference, but there are still some addresses that I could not find a match for and had to resort to settling for a “City” location only. Most of the time you can get through with “City” information only.

    The biggest negatives in my mind are the unit price, a little too expensive, and their Data Card prices are outrageous.

    I learned that the new “2610” uses non- propriety” data cards that are much lower in price and can go up to over 500 MB. The new 500MB card sells for less than half the cost of the
    Street Pilot III 128 MB card. I feel Garmin should give their Street Pilot customers a break on this accessory.

    In spite of the negatives, I’m impressed with the performance of my unit and amazed at it’s accuracy when you have a 100% match. Most of the time it brings me to my destination within 40-50 feet, and tells me which side of the street my destination is on!
    I’ll be using my Street Pilot III for a long time.

    A side note: I don’t think it’s any body’s business what kind of truck you or anyone buys. Your review was on the GPS not the truck. I wonder why the “critic” was so taken back by your including it in the review, maybe a bit of jealousy? No matter, I think the review was great.

    Phil

  39. Why do people keep saying I’m jealous of Judie’s truck? I’m not! I’m glad she has it, if some people are Harley fans, thats great. I just personally thought she mentioned it a bit too much. Why couldn’t she say 2001 Ford F-150? That just me though. Again, I’m tired of people saying I’m jealous. Just to prove it, heres a little on my truck. Its a 2001 just like judie’s, its also a Ford F-150 Supercrew, just like Judie’s. But instead of being a Harley Davidson Edition, mine is a Lariat. And just like Judie’s it has leather too. But this is so off topic, its not even funny. I personally bought one of these Garmin units because of Judie’s review. So, thanks Judie for a great review, and I hope your truck provides you and your family with many years of trouble-free performance and comfort!

  40. Jeez! If it is any consolation to everyone involved, I have since traded my gas guzzling truck for a Mini Cooper S!

    Flame on… 😉

  41. Originally posted by Ford F-150
    A Mini Cooper? Rock on Judie! Do you ever feel like your in the movie “The Italian Job”

    That movie is what pushed me off the fence. 😉 Fun stuff!

  42. Just got a used one. Wondering though – the Garmin GPS 195 & 295 used for aviation have the ability to also show land and marine modes as well as aviation and the units, externally at least, are identical to the Street Pilot III even the input buttons. Is it possible to do the reverse and convert the SP III to also work in the aviation mode?

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