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appletree

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Everything posted by appletree

  1. There is only one GPSr that is fully functional for car navigation and geocaching and that is the Garmin Quest. Many trail units will autoroute, but they do not have voice prompted guidance in the car. There are many car units that are better than the Quest but they do not have the features necessary for geocaching and are otherwise unsuited to trail use. The purchase price, which is cheap, includes the current detailed road maps and data for the entire US and Canada. The Quest 2 comes with the maps preloaded, but it costs more and is slower with searches due to the mass of data to be checked. The Quest is primarily designed for the car, but it does work great for caching, once you learn how to set it up for off-road use and how to enter a waypoint, neither of which are difficult.
  2. This question has been asked regularly for many years and I am amazed that there is still only one good answer. The first dual-use GPSr was the Garmin GPS V. It was rendered obsolete by the release of the Quest which added color, voice prompts for in-car navigation, fast routing and drawing, smaller size and weight, usb data transfer, and several other improvements. Since then, newer, better hand-held units have come along, but none offer voice prompted guidance which is a minimum requirement for car navigation. Many car units now have better functionality than the Quest, but they lack tracklogging, battery life, waterproof rating, form-factor, waypoint entering functionality, and/or other features essential for geocaching. The Quest is now inexpensive and includes the current version of City Navigator, and it still is the best dual-use unit available at any price.
  3. The Quest works great for car and caching. Battery life is very long, and the display is easy to read. Yes, it is primarily a car device, but it is fully capable as a trail unit. It will find a cache as easily as any other GPSr, although the process of entering coords. and configuring the settings for off-road use, though simple, must be learned. The Quest is especially effective when used with a small external amplified antenna.
  4. The Quest original by Garmin will fit all of your requirements and works great both on the trail and in a car. The price for a new unit, including new maps for all of the US and Canada might be a little more than $300, but you might get a refurbished one for that figure and it should work equally well. There are no other models on the market that have voice prompts and the features necessary for caching. An old model, the GPS V, was designed as a dual-use device and you can get one really cheap but it doesn't do voice and is much less feature rich than the Quest.
  5. Least expensive option that would do the jobs would be a used or refurbished Garmin Quest. It is an excellent choice even at the current price for a new one, considering that the current maps are included. A used unit would have older, but still very useable, street maps. You could also get a Garmin GPS V that would do the job, but the technological advances of the Quest make it a much better choice unless the dollar limit is the critical consideration. In its day, the V was the king of the hill of dual use GPSr's.
  6. Another vote for the Garmin Quest. It has all the essential features for a vehicle unit, and works great as a hand-held for caching, once you learn how to use it for that purpose, which is easy but not self-evident. It is also very inexpensive when you consider the maps and accessories included in the purchase price.
  7. It has been a long time since Garmin released the Quest but it (along with the Quest 2) remains the only real choice for a good dual use GPSr. Many good hand-held models will autoroute, but they do not give voice prompts which are a minimum requirement for a suitable vehicle unit. None of the many excellent automotive models have the battery life, track-logging, waypoint entering capabilities needed for trail use. I am amazed that neither Garmin nor anyone else has come forward with a successor to the line started by the GPS V and continued by the Quests. There must be a market for such a versitile device.
  8. The Garmin Quest and Quest 2 work very well both in the car and for geocaching, although there are better units for either use alone. Remarkably, it has been many years since any new suitable dual use GPSr has been released. The Quest was a significant upgrade to the GPS V, which was the only GPS specifically designed and intended to be used both in the car and on the trail.
  9. Remarkably, only one real choice, Garmin's Quest, or Quest 2. Voice prompted autorouting, small, waterproof, waypoint programmable, track recording, good battery life.
  10. Not sure I understand the question, but if you meant where, not what, I always get a window seat and slip the external antenna between the window shade and the window with the shade just slightly pulled down. I try not to be obvious about it as many flight attendants do not like GPSrs. They rarely see mine, but I usually do get the entire flight track, excluding take-off and landing as I comply with explicit instructions and keep the unit off at the proscribed times.
  11. I have a Quest and I have been very happy with it. It has all essential functions for use in a car, including voice prompts and very quick route and re-routing calculations. It is small, light, and easy to use and read on a trail. It is perfectly adequate for geacaching. The most important thing I would recommend to improve its functionality is to get a small, light weight external antenna, preferably with 3 to 4 ft. of cable. It will improve reception, allow continuous satellite lock and track recording, even with the Quest in a pocket, and permit easy use on a plane (I shove the antenna up under the window shade). I don't have a link but the Elsinga family web page has plenty of useful info about the Quest which is, at the moment, the only GPSr that is well suited for cars and trails.
  12. The Quest is still the only unit that is well suited for car navigation (voice prompts are essential for safety) and caching. Plenty of memory for even very long road trips as you only need to load map segments for destinations and stopovers, the base map will serve for the long stretches in between. There are better hand-held and better in-car models, but amazingly, after all these years, there are no other acceptable dual use models. The price on the Quest original, including the current maps, should be about $315 or less, new. I use mine with an external antenna which greatly improves reception, lets me keep it in my pocket without losing the lock, and has saved the unit from many accidental falls to the ground.
  13. I bought a Garmin Vista about 6 years ago. I loved it, until I started having problems with lines on the screen, then a lose band. I contacted Garmin support an was so impressed with the way I was treated and the way the problems were handled, I concluded that this was a company that was unlikely to fail. I also noticed that in polls on this forum, nearly 3/4 of the responders owned Garmin devices. Based on those two facts, I decided to buy some stock. Then I bought more stock. I will leave it to others to check and see how Garmin stock has faired relative to the broader markets. I have no complaints. I would not presume to predict the future of any stock price, but I have seen nothing to change my opinion about the company. I recently bought more stock during a small dip. It quickly rose substantially. Your results might certainly differ and I might come to regret leaving so many eggs in one basket, but not so far.
  14. There is only one GPSr that is well suited to car and cache and that is the Garmin Quest (or Quest 2). For car navigation, voice prompts are too important and useful to do without. For caching, one needs a small, light, waterproof unit with good reception and good battery life, easy waypoint creation, and an easy to read screen. The Quests, and only the Quests, meet all these requirements. There are newer, better units for either trail or car navigation, but not both. The Quest is also very inexpensive, especially considering the maps and accessories that are included in the purchase price. Reception is good but not as good as the newer units, unless you add an inexpensive external amplified antenna, in which case the reception will be terrific. Again, at any price, only the Quests have voice prompts and can work on the trail for caching.
  15. I have been saying this for much longer than I like but it is still true: the only GPSr that is well suited for car navigation and trail use such as geocaching is the Garmin Quest (and the Quest 2). It gives voice prompts in the car, holds extensive map coverage, routes and recalculates quickly, and is fairly easy to use. On the trail, it has long battery life, is waterproof, small, very light, and easy to use. It is easy to set-up and use for geocaching, but the process is not described in the manual so one would need to check this forum or elsewhere to learn the process. Again, it really is easy, and it works great, and it is very inexpensive. There are better car units, especially the Nuvi line, and there are better hand-held models, but only the Quest is well-suited for both uses.
  16. I powered up my Quest again to see if I was skipping a step in my directions. I did not describe the editing process. Once you call up a location page by either method I described previously, you will have an editable page with the block in the bottom right corner of the page highlighted, either Route To, if you used the rocker pad and pressed OK, or OK if you pressed and held the OK button, then pressed the OK button to save it as a location. In either event, if you press the bottom (down) dot on the rocker pad twice, the coordinates block will be highlighted. If you then press the OK button, you will see the first character of the coordinates highlighted and a selectable number pad in the center of the screen. Use the rocker pad to highlight the desired number or letter, press OK button to select it and highlight the next character. Use the arrows to move through characters that do not need to be changed. When the coordinates are correct, select Done and press OK or just press the Page button. Edit the name, symbol, and other fields in a similar manner. It is easier to do all this than to describe the process. Try it an see if it works for you. Mark
  17. I just looked at my Quest and noticed that there is no place to attach a wrist strap. I have and use the pictured neoprene case. Creating and editing waypoints (locations) is fast and easy as I described, except I did leave out the fact that you must press the OK button again after holding it in to create a waypoint at your current location. The second press saves it and displays the location page ready for editing. When using the other method, moving to a different spot using the rocker pad, then pressing (briefly) the OK button, a location page is displayed ready for editing. When finished, press the Page button or select and press OK.
  18. The Quest will run for up to 20 hours on its LiIon built-in battery. It is easy to enter waypoints, as long as you understand the they are called "locations" on the Quest. Just push and hold the enter button. A new "location" will be created at spot of the most recent fix, and an editable page will be displayed for the new location (waypoint). Highlight and edit the coordinates, symbol, name, etc. to create a waypoint for a cache or other type of "location." You can also create a new waypoint by using the rocker pad to move the arrow to a spot near or at the desired "location." Then press, don't hold the enter button, then follow the steps above to edit the page. The coordinates will be easier to edit as they will be close to the desired numbers to start with. Fast and easy. To recall a waypoint, press find, select "my locations" or "recent," and select the waypoint from the list. Fast and easy. In the off road routing mode, an arrow pointer page is displayed along with the distance. Do not be put off by the fact that the distance is rounded. As you get closer to the destination, the distance displayed becomes ever more precise, eventually down to one foot. As for durability, I do not know of any GPSr that is designed to be dropped. The Quest is small, light, compact, and waterproof. Use a screen protector on all units, and a wrist strap. An external antenna greatly improves the Quest's reception, allows the built-in antenna to be folded down flat, and provides an additional protection against accidental droppage. No need for special concern about durability. The Quest is an outstanding, underrated dual-use GPSr at a remarkably low price, considering all that comes in the package.
  19. The Quest works great for both car navigation and caching, and the purchase price, which is cheap, includes the latest version of the detailed Garmin road maps. Other models are better for hand-held use, but none of them have voice prompted routing in a car, which is a minimum required feature for safe, easy vehicle navigation. There are better car units available but none are even close to suitable for trail use and caching. The Quest really is the only suitable dual use model, and it has been for several years now. It really does both jobs well, although there are a few necessary proceedures for caching that are easily accomplished but not described in the manual (creating and saving waypoints, called locations on the Quest).
  20. Quest is great for caching, and an external antenna will almost certainly eliminate signal issues. It will also eliminate durability issues as the only potentially fragile part is the fold-out antenna and that is not out when using an external. Remember, the Quest is fully waterproof, and a screen protector is a must for any model you do not want to scratch. Sometimes I keep mine in a case when on the trail but more often I do not since I invested in an Invisible Shield screen protector. It stays in my pocket most of the time, attached to a retractable belt clip in case it gets dropped. The antenna stays out, stuck magnetically to a clip on my hat or collar and rarely losing signal, even under heavy cover.
  21. I use the original Quest for caching and trails and in the car. It really leaves little to be desired for both uses. I have a GPS V that was great in its day, but the voice prompts and rapid calculation and recalculations are things I would not do without today. I mount the Quest directly on the steering column where it only obstructs my view of the shift indicator and the bottom of the speedometer, neither of which cause me any problems. In other cars, it sits on the dash with a beanbag mount. I usually use a short external antenna which eliminates all signal acquisition and lock issues. I couldn't be happier with it.
  22. I have a Garmin Quest that I use primarily in the car but also for caching and other off road uses and I have been very happy with it. It comes with CitySelect map coverage for the US and Canada and a free upgrade to the current version. A second unlock code is included so you would definitely be able to load the maps into your 60. The price is very low, and although it lacks some of the newest car navigation features such as touch screen, voice synthesis, and look down view, it does everything one really needs in an auto GPSr. It remains the only suitable dual use model on the market.
  23. My family and I took a similar trip, Amsterdam, Paris, London and surrounding areas, last April. I bought MetroGuide Europe and loaded it into my etrex Vista and my Garmin Quest. I didn't spend the extra cash for CitySelect or Navigator as I was not driving myself so I did not need autorouting. I used the Quest almost exclusively as I preferred the larger color screen. I also used a short cabled external antenna which I would attach to plane, train, cab, and bus windows with a small suction cup. It was fun checking the speed of the EuroStar, but not while in the Chunnel, of course. The Quest is a great little GPS for in cars or out, and the price is remarkably low. I did not bring the mounting bracket for the car, but I did bring the plug-in charger and the necessary adapters, although most places we stayed had a US type outlet in the bathroom intended for electric razors that worked fine with the charger. I never came close to using up the battery charge, and I kept it on, with the backlight off, whenever I was not in a building. I still enjoy reviewing our tracklog. I did not log any caches on the trip but I have used the Quest for geocaching other times and it works great, no problems at all once you learn how to create waypoints, which are called "My Locations" on the Quest. I am also in Ohio, Cincinnati area, so if you are nearby and would like to see my set-up and maps, e-mail me at appletree1@earthlink.net
  24. The Grand Canyon is magnificent, but it is different from most hiking areas. There are only 2 trails into the canyon from the South Rim and they are shared by hikers and mules. The mules go down the Bright Angel trail which is in the valley created by Garden Creek. After spending a night at the Phantom Ranch across the river at the bottom of the Canyon, the mules and their passengers ascend the South Kaibab trail to the South Rim. Hikers can go part way down either trail as far as they like. A trip to the river and back in one day is nearly impossible. For a day hike, the Kaibab trail has a major advantage. It follows a ridge much of the way, offering spectacular views most of the way down and back. A convenient destination/turn around point is Cedar Ridge, a beautiful spot geologically and vegetatively different from the preceeding portion of the trail. There are also maintained toilets there. If you hike the Bright Angel, your views will be much more limited due to the topography. You cannot get lost on either trail, but there are places along the Kaibab where you could step off a cliff if you are really careless. I hiked in March and ice covered the trail in shady sections near the rim. At Cedar Ridge, the thermometer read 70 degrees. Take the GPS along. It will show you how far you have to go on the way down if you have the right maps (USA Topo or Natl. Parks West), or how far to go on the way back even if you do not as you will be following your own tracks.
  25. That is correct. The contrast does not self correct, but will change as the screen temperature changes, darker when it is hot, lighter when it is cold. Fortunately, it is easy to adjust manually.
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