Handheld GPS Reviews

Price:$399.95

Garmin Quest Water Resistant Hiking GPS /Candence Product Reviews

Never Get Lost Again!!!, October 24, 2004

Every now and then — make that every other now and then, because it’s a rare event indeed — a product comes along that solves a problem that has been plaguing man — and woman — for decades, if not centuries. In recent years, these rare breakthroughs have included Combat roach traps, which made those pesky critters a rare sight in even the most infested urban environments, and the pocket hard-drive mp3 jukeboxes enabling you to have your favorite albums with you wherever you go.

Now here come the GPS navigators that make it all but impossible to get lost, not to mention the AFFORDABLE GPS navigators like this fantastic little Quest. One of the guys in my band got one of the higher priced Garmins and was raving about its accuracy. When his Garmin got him right to a place we were playing while the rest of the band circled backroads endlessly, relying on directions that said things like, “go to Smith Road”, without bothering to inform you whether you were supposed to turn left or right on Smith Road or cross it — I knew I had to have one. Better yet, he told me Garmin had a new model that did the same job for half the money.

Well, it turns out that the Quest handles more than the same job the bigger units do. With its pocket size, you can also use it when you’re on foot trying to find a strange address in a strange city (or in the Village, here in Manhattan). Otherwise the only downside of the Quest is that you can’t add memory; the memory built in can handle enough map detail for a large state, but if you were going across country, you would need to bring your laptop with the detailed maps loaded, to download into the Quest as you passed from one region to the next. For those of us who typically travel within our state (or the so-called tri-state area around NYC), however, the Quest has more than enough memory.

Does the little Quest work? It sure does! I snapped it into its cradle, it came to life (it gives you a warning about using it responsibly when you’re driving), and soon it had located and then acquired the satellites it uses to track your position, altitude, direction, and speed. The voice pipes up loud and clear from a speaker hinged to the lighter plug unit, sounding rather like the computer voice on Star Trek, and you can enable or disable a chime preceding the announcement. Announcements are given in plenty of time so you can get in the proper lane, and turns are shown on screen with bright red directional arrows. If you miss a turn (and I did, not once but twice, the street was so poorly marked), the unit says “recalculating” and in a jiffy advised me to hang a uey in a quarter mile, then talked me back through my proper turn.

The display is bright and legible (I can read it, and I am more than 50), and useful information shown includes your current speed (it appears my speedo has been off all these years by more than 10 mph!!!), the time to your next turn, and your estimated time of arrival, based on your progress. The windshield mount works very well, using a suction cup with a vacuum clamp, and articulated joints let you position the unit where it can see the satellites and you can see it without blocking your view of the road. The built-in swing-out antenna seems to work very well; you would only need an external antenna if you had heavily tinted windshields or an in-screen heating system blocking the satellite signals, according to the instructions.

Which brings me to about the only other gripe I have about the Quest, and one for which I almost deducted a star, which is the instructions. Though the hardware and software manuals are well written, this rig cries out for a Quick Start card highlighting a few essential pieces of information, including where to find a useful tutorial on downloading maps into the Quest, which direction is now helpfully buried in an obscure Appendix at the back of one of the manuals. If you’re new to GPS, as I was, expect to spend a long afternoon and evening reading and fiddling, before you get a grip on the technology. Otherwise setup all ran smoothly.

And the Quest got me right to my gig; even better, with the push of one button, it got me home again that night. Now if there’s anything harder than finding a place when you have bad directions, try finding your way home in the dark, attempting to reverse those same poor directions!!! With the Quest, getting home is a piece of cake. I also tried the Quest on foot, and it led me right to my friend’s building in Stuyvesant Town, not an easy place to find for the uninitiated!

Basically I’m telling everyone in the band to get one of these, and if you do a fair amount of driving — and a fair amount of getting lost — I’m telling you to get one too! This is already one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century!

One addendum (written a week later): it turns out that Garmin DOES include a Quick Start card — which they hide in a pocket behind one of the software disks, where you will probably never find it! Unfortunately, except for a chart showing shortcut commands, this card doesn’t tell you the really useful stuff, like what the base maps cover compared to the detailed maps or where to find the map downloading tutorial.

So my comment about the documentation holds — if you start at the BACK of the various manuals and work forward, you might make faster progress learning the system! Nevertheless the unit works so well, you will forgive the slow learning curve the first time the tiny tyke guides you straight home from a strange place in the middle of the night…

I would also like to add a comment about another reviewer’s claim that the voice prompts are confusing to follow. In my experience, the voice prompts have been right on. In fact, every time I’ve approached a confusing intersection, or even a bend in the road, the voice pipes up with “keep [right or left] on [name of road].” Coupled with the big bright turn arrows on the screen, the voice makes it pretty clear where you’re supposed to go; and if you still do make the wrong turn, the unit will re-route you in a jiffee.

Again, I couldn’t be more impressed with the performance of the Quest. It truly does everything the larger Garmin units do except allow for memory expansion, plus it’s pocket-sized so it can help you find your way on foot in a strange city or on a hike…

What you should know, October 28, 2004

I bought the Garmin Quest as a factory GPS system was not available on my car. Also for the fact that it costs about 1/3 of the price of a factory installed GPS system. Overall I am happy with the unit however for anyone looking to buy this unit these are just some things you should be aware of:

1) You cannot just depend on the voice prompts to guide you on your way, you need to also glance at the map. The reason is that it has a limited vocab for voice prompts so it can be confusing. For example many times it says keep left/right when it wants you to go straight. A couple of times I thought it wanted me to turn left when it said keep left. Thankfully it automatically recalculated the route. Answer: anytime it says keep left/right or turn left/right just glance at the map to truly understand where it wants you to go.

2) Similar to the above it doesnt have proper voice prompts for rotaries. If you were to take the second exit on a rotary, the system would say “in x feet keep left then turn right”. Look at the map you will see what you are supposed to do.

3) The screen is small, especially if you want to pan the map looking at alternative routes while in the car. Thankfully it does zoom into an intersection so you can see the lay of the land when you are coming to a turn.

4) I was driving in Manhattan and because of all the tall buildings it would have a hard time locking on to my position. Often it would announce “lost satellite reception”. I ended up zooming into the map with the proposed route and started guiding myself as it lost my location for several minutes. It works much better in the suburbs.

5) The routing system was a bit weird. Even though I set the system to take me from Manhattan to Long Island on the “fastest route” it insisted on taking me through the small streets of Brooklyn instead of the highway. Tweaking the settings from best route (spends more time calculating the route) to quickest calculation (least time spent calculating the route) while still retaining the get me there on the “fastest route” setting finally got me using the highways.

6) So far the mapping has been pretty accurate except for once in Boston it asked me to take a left when there was a no left turn sign. Still to see how often map updates will be made available. New construction will throw the device off.

7) The directory of points of interest is very good. We were able to find all the restaurants we were looking for in New York (it also had their phone numbers so we were able to make reservations).

Overall the device does work and does get you there. It can be a little confusing thats all. It is easy to use and enter data, easier than the Garmin streetpilot. As for losing satellite reception I am sure all small units like this would suffer the same problem. (FYI factory car based systems usually predict your position even if they lose satellite reception (they call it dead reckoning) – but they are much more expensive). The size is great we walked the streets of New York and it took us where wanted to go (you can set it to optimize routes for pedestrian vs car – this way it ignores one way streets). Voice prompts only work in the car not when you are walking as the speaker is built into the cigarette lighter plug.

Still if I had to compare it to a factory car based GPS system I would say its 85% of the product for 30% of the money. Good value!

An Excellent Product, September 28, 2004

This product is what I consider to be a great blend of field-based GPS devices and automotive-based GPS devices. I was initially interested in purchasing a unit that would offer me the convenience of electronic mapping with the ability to route and still be portable and durable enough to be used on an outdoor adventure. A Garmin dealer in my area was strongly recommending an eMap. It had most of the features I was looking for but that product has actually been discontinued, the display is gray scale and the technology for computer interface is at least 4 years old. (I’m talking serial cable connections here.) Still, it was looking like the best option and I was about the pull the trigger and buy when someone walked into the store with a printout of the Quest from Garmin’s website. It was fortunate for me that I was there at that moment because the Quest is exactly what I was looking for.

This device is a smaller version of the StreetPilot series but it’s completely portable and fits in the breast pocket of a dress shirt or pants pocket so it’s great in an urban environment. The battery life is listed at 20 hours between charges and it has a whopping 115mb of internal memory which means you don’t have to mess with data cards. The product ships with Garmin’s City Select v6 and I’ve found the maps to be extremely accurate in the Phoenix metro area. (I think this is a good test of the software since Phoenix is one of the fastest growing communities in the US and we’ve got new roads going in all the time.) The display is full color and can be user modified to meet personal tastes. It also comes with a UBS computer interface cable, suction cup windshield mount/DC battery charger and an AC battery charger for indoor use. (You can find all the technical information on this unit at Garmin’s website.) Oh, did I mention that it talks too?

Like other StreetPilot devices, this unit has a speaker built into the DC battery charging cable but unlike other StreetPilot devices, the Quest has a volume control. The voice technology is very clear and easy to understand and the timing of the directional advice is very accurate. The unit creates routes very quickly and the “find” feature is simple and straightforward. I do a lot of city driving, (approximately 50,000 miles per year) and I’m constantly looking up addresses in my map book. This device not only speeds up the process but also gives me the convenience of displaying a route combined with the ability to find local businesses, restaurants and points of interest along the way. (I can see this device being very handy when planning our next road trip in that we’ll be able to locate places in other cities with relative ease.) The device is also very quick to recalculate your route should you deviate from the one previously created. I’ve found that it can update itself within the space of ½-mile while driving at about 40mph on city streets.
(…)
Overall, I think this device is a great buy for the casual outdoor adventurer and urban warrior.
(…)
I would like to [tell that of problem of] the unit not displaying a full screen compass. Upon further tinkering, I have discovered that not only is a compass screen available but also a bearing pointer screen! These screens become available when you select “off road” as the method for creating a route and are viewable by pressing the ‘page’ button. (Either the compass or the bearing pointer will come up and you can then switch between them by pressing ‘menu’ and selecting the one you want to see.) This unit is now, in my considered opinion, the ultimate blend of urban and rural navigation and a darn fine geocaching device. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Oh, and make that rating a “5 Star” please.

Don’t Let the Small Size Fool You!, April 24, 2005

Within a week I purchased a Garmin Streetpilot c330, a Magellan Roadmate 300 (RM300), and the Garmin Quest. I kept the Quest — it’s not just a better value priced at hundreds less, it’s actually a far better GPS. The Quest is effectively a miniaturized Garmin Streetpilot 2610, one of the best and most full-featured automotive GPS products on the market.

Superior features of the Quest, which borrow heavily from the high end Streetpilot 26xx series –

*Routes*
Most small automotive GPS’s only store points, not routes. When you want to go somewhere, you select a destination, and then the unit automatically calculates a route from your current location. With most models, there’s usually not much you can do to alter the route after that.

However, the Quest allows you to customize routes with “via points” — landmarks you want to pass through on your trip. Then, instead of just saving the various individual points, the Quest allows you to save entire sequences of points as routes.

(While the Roadmate 300 allows you to construct a “trip” as a series of auto-routed destinations, it wil not chain the destinations seamlessly. The RM300 expects the driver to stop or shut the unit off between destinations, or to manually tell it when to proceed to the next point. The Quest’s via points are seamless. It tells you when you’re approaching the via point, and then it automatically continues navigating.)

*Routing parameters*
In addition to using via points, the Quest allows the following inputs:
Avoid U-turns
Avoid Toll Roads
Avoid Unpaved Roads
Avoid Freeways
Avoid Specific Road Segments
Avoid Specific Areas
Route for shortest distance
Route for fastest time
There are also four levels of compromise between “Quickest Calculation” and “Best Route.”

Additionally, the Quest’s included mapping software allows you to tell it how fast you drive on various road types, ensuring “fastest time” calculations that truly are.

For comparison, the Streetpilot c330 can only avoid U-Turns, Tolls, Unpaved Roads and Freeways, and although it offers a choice of shortest distance or fastest time, it offers no control between best route and fastest calculation. What’s more, the c330′s route selections do not seem as well thought out as the routes generated by the Quest in “best route” mode.

*Display control*
The Quest allows you to control the level of detail and font size for different types of display elements, as well as the maximum scale at which each type of element is displayed. The c330 allows you to turn each type on and off, and only provides a global level-of-detail control. The RM300 does not offer any control over the relationship between scale and detail, and in my opinion it generally does not show enough detail until you zoom way in on a point of interest.

And even though the Quest’s display is small, it’s razor sharp and brilliant (with backlighting on; this can be turned off to conserve power when operating on battery).

While touchscreens are appealing, the Quest is surprisingly easy to use without one. Garmin has thoughtfully laid out the eight main buttons, and the most important ones do different things depending on how many times you press them or if you hold them down. And because it’s not a touchscreen, you’ll never be bothered by fingerprints. In my opinion, this unit’s display is less susceptible to glare than the protective coating on many other models, though it’s still not as good as the display on Streetpilot 26xx models.

*A few words about memory*
The Quest only has 115MB available for maps. Since the entire continental U.S. takes almost 2000MB, obviously you can only load a limited area into the Quest at once. However, Garmin has really worked hard to take the hassle out this, and there are strategies that can be used to load maps into the Quest, depending on how you travel. Either way, you can use the Quest for surprisingly long trips without having to reload it.

First, you have to understand that the Quest includes a “basemap” of the interstate highway system. Not much detail, but enough that you should never get lost on a major highway — even when you’ve driven off the currently-loaded map. When you drive past the limits of your detailed map, the basemap kicks in automatically.

The mapping software displays North America as a mosaic of perhaps 2000 tiles averaging about 1.5MB each. Since densely populated areas include more points, the tiles are smaller in urban areas. Major interstates are visible on the mosaic.

If you never travel outside a certain region, you can load that entire region into your Quest for uninterrupted coverage. 115MB can typically hold 3 complete states, less if you include a very dense area like New York City or Los Angeles.

If you’re planning a trip, however, you can select all the tiles along the major interstates you plan on using. I was able to map from Jacksonville, Florida to Los Angeles on my Quest by selecting all the tiles along I-10. Similarly, by mapping a corridor along I-95, even including Baltimore and Washington, D.C., I could go from Jacksonville to New Jersey with about 60MB.

Finally, you can elect to load only the cities or areas where you’re going to be getting off the freeway. Between cities, the basemap provides sufficient detail to keep you from getting lost. As an alternative, you could choose to load only a few significant stops on a longer trip. For example, Lumberton, North Carolina, is a great meal stop on I-95. I could leave Florida with a comprehensive map of New England, and still have room to map a couple of choice towns, like Lumberton, that are on the way.

On the bright side, memory-limited GPS’s come with better PC software. The c330, for example, already has full U.S. maps installed, and therefore comes with no software. Even the top line Streetpilot 2620 has no real PC connectivity out of the box. The Quest’s 128MB obliges Garmin to include some pretty decent software that usually has to be purchased separately.

I also found the Quest’s suction-cup mount to be almost as good as the c330′s, and far superior to the one on the RM300. Its small size allows allows you to mount it in places where a bigger GPS couldn’t go, from both the physical and driver visibility standpoints.

The Quest is a great GPS, with features of much more expensive models. Despite its small size and low price, it blows away many mid-range units. If you want a GPS that can really assist with navigation, you would do well to pass up a lot of more expensive models in favor of the Quest.

Fantastic Compromise, June 22, 2005

It is not every day that a technically complex product works precisely as advertised. But this one does. It is truly the perfect compromise GPS solution. I’ll explain why in a moment, but first let me acknowledge key limitations right up front: (1) the screen is small (2) reception amongst really tall buildings “downtown” is not perfect (3) memory amount has a fixed limit (4) unit requires occasional downloads and computer fiddling (5) user input takes a little practice.

HOWEVER, with that said, this is a really useful and easy to master device and, on balance, it strikes a really good balance amongst the various GPS design trade offs. Key advantages: (1) it is fully featured – literally compares feature to feature with the high end factory units built into new cars, including voice guidance and route quality – I have used it on the dash of a 2005 Honda Oddessey with the OEM unit running for comparison and it gave just as good routes, just as good voice directions, and was fundamentally just as useful. Didn’t have the sexy big built-in screen and its voice was a little less rich sounding than the OEM unit, but heck, it was amazing it compared so well at all considering the price. (2) it is totally portable and battery operated (unlike bigger Garmin units like 2610) which means you can use it in a second car, a rental car, a boat, a bike, on foot in strange city, even on an airplane for fun. Mine lives in the end pocket of my briefcase so I have it whereever I go (3) doesn’t require installation in the car – easy to stick on and pop off (4) retro rotary volume knob is excellent – so easy to turn up or down compared to OEM units which require multiple menus to shut them up when you need to talk on the phone (5) the additional mapping software options from Garmin are excellent – they are not cheap, but you can get a good map for anywhere in the world, you can get topographical maps, you can get nautical maps with channel markers and hazards, etc. Very nice complement to the unit – extends the usefulness considerably (6) it is well made and fun – a little jewel to hold and use for those of us who like gizmos.

In terms of the specific limitations I originally mentioned, here is some additional perspective: (1) the screen is small, but it is crisp, clear, flexibly back lit, and surprisingly legible – even when compared to a big OEM screen – it zooms in and out automatically and when turn is coming it splits and gives big legible arrows and text (plus voice which amazingly, you end up relying on much of the time anyway) (2) reception amongst really tall buildings “downtown” is not perfect, but no GPS is, this is no worse than any other, possibly better considering the adjustable antenna and the remote antenna option (3) memory amount is fixed, true, but it is a generous amount – you can fit a ton of area into it, even if the area includes big cities – really has plenty for 99.9% of users (4) requires downloads and computer fiddling, but the software is much much easier and more straight-forward than old Garmin software (5) user input takes a little practice, but, again, much easier than old Garmin interfaces – all it takes a couple minutes with the book and a few minutes practicing. Once you have entered a practice address, the second time and forward it is really easy and intuitive.

Now, a couple more observations on the memory issue because it gets a lot of discussion in reviews, and I really struggled with it before buying. It might be nice to have a hard drive iwth the whole US and not ever have to load, but (1) those units are much bigger, (2) not portable or battery operated (3) are clunky on the dash (4) cannot be updated with new software, and (5) perhaps most importanly, contain moving parts which in a harsh operating environment like a car (extreme heat, cold, dust, vibration) is just a huge reliablity unknown, especially when you consider hard drives are totally new technology for Garmin. The rugged solid state design of the Quest is quite appealing in comparison. But it does impose a limit on the amount you can load, and it does require you to plug into the computer at least once. However, neither of these issues is a showstopper. If you are technical enough to surf to this review or covet a GPS unit in the first place, you can easily handle it. Unlike old Garmin units which required a serial cable and a PhD in computer science, this is a simple plug-and-play USB routine. Unlocking the maps initially requires you to follow the quick start card, but is not all that tricky. And once you are done with that one-time procedure, all you do is click the maps you want, and drop them right onto the quest where they will stay until you delete them. As for space limitations, 115 Mb is actually quite a bit. I live in Boston so I tend to keep all of the Northeast including all of New England, southern NY, all of NYC, Long Island and Northern NJ loaded at all times. If I am going on a business trip I will throw on the maps for my destination city as well. Takes two minutes. And you can even do it on the plane if you keep the software on your laptop as most people would. But this is not to imply that you are limited to a regional approach. The instructions go into great detail about how you can load a generously “wide” corridor or route all the way across the country. Or any combination, like all major cities, etc. Plus if you do get nailed without your maps, it still has a good base map of the whole world (more detail in North America than elsewhere) so you can still naviate, just without restaurants and detailed street addresses.

So in the end, even though I had some serious misgivings about the memory issue, I have found it to be perfectly convenient and a great trade off in terms of size, price, etc. And it has one less obvious advantage – it gets you to load and become familar with the simple but really useful desktop PC software. You can do a lot with routes, way points look ups and advanced features on the PC and then just drop it right onto the Quest. Not much easier interface for power users than that.

All in all, a fantastic product. Garmin is a little less flashy in terms of their marketing and design than some of the other companies, a couple of whom are getting splashy editorial coverage lately, but they have been at it for a really long time, including in critical environments like OEM airplane equipment and marine applications, they have had a really long time to work out bugs, figure out what is important, improve their units and software, they really know what they are doing at this point, and they make a great product. At the street prices it commands, it is a very good value and a useful tool. Strongly recommended.

Amazing, September 28, 2004

What a powerful unit for such a small size! The Quest fits in the palm of your hand and is great for salesmen. You can walk around an area without getting lost. It give great accurate directions and it’s very user-friendly. With a touch of a button you can locate every restaurant and gas station. The only draw backs are that it can take a few minutes to detect your location (a quick power on/off usually fixes the problem), and it is a pain removing and attaching it from the mounting units. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone, you can’t beat the price compared to any other ubit on the market. Happy driving!

Couldn’t ask for a better product!, March 9, 2005

I recently bought the Garmin Quest for my fiance and it arrived a few days before his birthday. I gave it to him when it arrived so he could have it all figured out by the time his birthday rolled around. Not only had he figured out by the second day he was using it to help him avoid traffic. He is a big “mapping and distance” enthusiast and loves gadgets to help him get where he is going. He has had the Garmin for a little less than a week now and has thanked me every day for “one of the best gifts he has ever gotten.” I read hundreds of reviews before purchasing the Quest and compared them to several others and am VERY satisfied with this purchase.
Cons:
-Don’t expect to open the package and place in your car right away.
-Read. Read. Read the instruction booklet.
-You must charge the Quest for at least three hours before downloading anything.
-You have to download maps from the enclosed CD for the certain areas you want to navigate.
-It takes about an hour after downloading the area before locating the satellites in your area. It will probaly read that you are in Taiwan the first time you turn it on. You have to be outside for it to work for the first time.
-This is really an item that should come with a carrying case so use something nice you have already or purchase the optional optional Garmin Carrying case to protect your new $500 toy.

Now for ALL the EXCELLENT Pros:
- Compact
- The screen is bright, vivid and easy to read. The display lighting even changes to make it even easier for you to see during the daytime and night time.
- The speaker is very audible and the voice commands are extremely easy to understand. It doesn’t sound like some garbled computer that sounds like it just learned english.
- It gives you plenty of advanced notice to turn or keep going in the same direction while driving.
- If you get lost on your planned route or if you decide to turn a different way to avoid traffic, it quickly re-routes to put you back on track.
- It can tell you what is on a certain exit and you can even find places to go at your destination.
-The speedometer is very accurate.
-There is a timer based on how many minutes or seconds it is going to take you to get to your destination based on speed.
- It is very easy to download additional locations you want to navigate… just remember it only holds 115mb of data.
- Battery life is great (20 hrs), it is rechargeable. Just charge it at home when you get in for the night and you will be fine.

There is so much more I say about this product! Every day my fiance finds one more reason for thanking me for getting the Quest. We have fun at home by picking a destination and seeing who can first, I use the MapQuest or Yahoo! maps on the computer and he uses his Quest and he always wins before I even finish typing in the direction. He says having the Garmin Quest is like having a MapQuest in the palm of his hand only the directions are 10 times better. This is an excellent buy for the cost and the efficiency. Just take your time reading all the information to avoid frustation and to get the maximum amount of usage out of this product.

Portable and Powerful, December 4, 2004

I did a lot of research as another reviewer did on the Garmin Quest and was wary to buy the unit after I read that there was difficulty locating satelites. I purchased the unit anyway given the reputation of Garmin. I loaded the software and within 1/2 hour I had the unit up and running, local maps loaded and the location and feet above sea level of my home….simply AWESOME! I then used the unit the very next day on a customer visit to a new location. Entered the address and in a couple of seconds flawless directions can back. The actual travel time estimate was within 3 minutes of the estimate! This is a great unit, all the power in a compact unit! Excellent tool for anyone going to different locations on a weekly basis. One of the best features is locating gas stations in the middle of nowhere, select “find”, go to gas stations and up comes a list, miles to destination and then you select and are routed to the location. I can’t say enough about this unit, this one of the best purchases I have ever made.

Best of Both Worlds, April 3, 2005

I have had the Quest for about a month and have used it in several cities (New Orleans, Nashville, Louisville, Atlanta) for both driving directions and as a handheld around downtown areas. It works well in both applications. This is the only unit I found that allows you to do both. Upon startup, it takes between 20 seconds to 3 mintues to find itself. I have actually found that you can “tell it where it is” by indicating your position on a map and it will find itself much quicker. I did this when I flew into New Orleans. Screen is great even in direct sunlight, I wish it was touch screen, but the buttons are easy enough to use. I compared it to the Garmin 2620 and Magellan 700. Both have touch screen and ALL map data preloaded, but neither are portable (i.e. handheld with a battery)and they both cost several hundred dollars more. The 115 MB on the quest is enough to hold the area between central Tennessee up to Louisville KY, and the Metro areas of Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans, Kansas City, Orlando and Dallas, with a few MB left over. I fly to most of these places, so I don’t need the area in between. Which brigs up another advantage of the Quest. It is small enough to fit in my computer bag. The 2620 and 700 are roughly twice as big.
If I were only driving places and didn’t want to take it on a hiking trail or WALK around downtwon anywhere, I would have gotten either the 2620 or the 700. Or if you have NO computer skills (to be able to load maps) you may want to go for the 700 or 2620. Also, apparently the mapping software that comes with the quest has several more million points of interest.

You can even sit in a window seat on a plane and lock enough satlellites to follow you ground track with speed and elevation – really cool!

I got the automotive friction mount accessory and prefer it to the suction mount that comes with the Quest (although the suction mount works well)

Navigation for drivers and walkers…, July 5, 2005

I have had my Quest for about six weeks, and can’t believe I ever lived without it. Garmin’s built a very powerful little unit. I think it is the only car navigation system that has a long battery life, built-in antenna and can be pocketed for walking use. Topo and marine maps are available options. I tossed it in my carry-on bag for a recent business trip and used it to find restaurants within walking distance of my hotel. The downside of a small screen, is also the up side of this shirt pocket-sized unit. The screen fonts and layout are surprisingly easy to read. Putting in addresses and names is perhaps slightly harder than Magellan’s offerings (I’ve used Hertz’s NeverLost) which I think has a slightly better alpha-numeric input system. Otherwise, I think Garmin wins hands-down. The points of interest database is huge and includes a variety of retail stores, in addition to points of interest, restaurants & hotels, among other things. Like other nav units, the database includes shops/restaurant that is out of date, along with all the good stuff. Best to call the phone number listed with the address to make sure you don’t waste a trip. (You can report errors to Garmin via its website.) The software downloading is easy. I have witnessed a few routing errors over six weeks, but very few. The worst was an error on the current exit for the San Jose, CA airport, which I think has changed in the last couple of years. (Silicon Valley is probably a bad place for a gadget “goof” given the high ratio of demanding electronic geeks who live there. But, it is “right” far more times than it is wrong, and it has skillfully taken me through some pretty complex traffic situations.

Although the windshield suction cup mount that comes with it is Ok, I highly recommend the optional “friction” mount. It stays put pretty well underway, and is easily tossed under a seat for security as wel as super easy to move from car to car. I haven’t needed an external antenna at all, since the built-in flip up antenna performs well. Note that the only speaker is in the 12v cigarette lighter adapter, so voice instructions only work in the car, not on foot. If it’s running off battery power, various toned beeps provide the only audible cues.