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There is no wiring involved. The Quest snaps into a bracket that attaches to the windshield with a suction mount. A power cable is permanently attached to the bracket and ends in a standard car lighter plug with a small speaker and volume control incorporated into it. Plug it into the lighter or accessory socket and the Quest turns itself on and starts working. Set up time - ten seconds. Popping the Quest out of the bracket for use out of the car - 2 seconds. All of the parts described are included, as is a second bracket with a wall plug for using or charging the Quest indoors (rarely if ever needed). If you do not like the suction mount, it is easy to detach it and replace it with one that fits into the bean bag or stick on mounts. I use my Quest mounted on my steering column in front of my speedometer, which I can still read.

This is the antenna I like best: http://kawamall.com/pd_one_piece_pda.cfm#, but I also have a Gilsson that works fine but is a bit larger and heavier. The cable on the kawamal antenna is much longer than I like, so I cut and splice to get a 3ft cable. One can just coil the excess. As to how the antennas compare with the built-in, I rarely lose signal with the built-in and almost never with the external. I think a large part of the problem is position. If you hold the Quest in front of you and look down at it, you will be blocking far more of the satellite energy than the trees. With the external antenna on my hat or shoulder, no problem. As for the voice prompts, I vary the accent occasionally. Try Brittish English. Also, push and hold the speaker button on the Quest and a volume control display will pop up. Use the rocker pad to make it louder or softer without having to reach for or look at the speaker/plug while driving.

I have a Quest and I think it is an excellent unit for caching and other hand-held uses. It is definitely designed primarily for in-car navigation and it is great in that role. However, it is small, light, waterproof, easy to carry, read, and put in a pocket. When the off road routing option is selected, a navigation page with a compass and direction arrow is available for those who do not like working from a map. Reception is good with the flip-up antenna, but much better with an amplified external antenna, which also lets me keep signal lock and track recording with the Quest in my pocket. The built-in LiIon battery lasts a very long time. There are better hand-held units for caching, but none that have voice prompts when used in a car, include the maps in the purchase price, or cost so little overall. The Quest is a great dual purpose GPS, and, in my opinion, the only good choice for a dual use unit as I think voice prompts are too valuable to miss for auto navigation and the compass page is important for caching. The external antenna is important, but cheap and easy to use.

I have a Quest and I think it is great for geocaching and trail use in general. It is also an excellent in-car unit which is, without question, its intended use. All units designed for use in the hand lack voice prompted navigation in the car which I think is too valuable a feature to pass up. All other voice prompting units are nearly or totally unsuitable for out of vehicle use and caching. The Quest is small, light, waterproof, easy to read and operate, and has excellent battery life, and the low purchase price includes the maps for the US and Canada. Although it is not necessary, using an amplified external antenna greatly improves the reception and allows me to pocket the unit until I need to look at it without losing signal. To use the Quest for off road activities such as caching, remember to set the routing preference to off road, which allows the Quest to show a compass page when navigating to a cache or other off road destination. I really do not know of any serious limitations to the Quest either as a car system or a trail unit, especially with the external antenna.

Actually, the answer is yes, but only with a re-radiating antenna. I use one with my Vista and it works great! It lets me put the antenna in a place where it will not be blocked as I lean over the GPS.

I generally get good reception with my Quest, but when I want great reception, even under trees, I use an amplified external antenna ( http://kawamall.com/pd_one_piece_pda.cfm#) in an exposed location, on my hat or the back of my collar for example. If you are leaning over and looking down at a Quest in your hand, you will be blocking the built-in antenna to a substantial degree.

I have a couple of those antennas, one Garmin external antenna, and two of these: http://kawamall.com/pd_one_piece_pda.cfm# which I greatly prefer due to the smaller size and lighter weight. They are also a little less expensive, but the cable is very long so I cut and spliced it at 3ft. for trail use with a small steel clip on my hat or collar for the magnet to grab. I have another cut to 6ft. for the car. I use them with my Quest and they are great, almost never a signal problem, even in heavy cover.

Consider a Garmin Quest for about $335 or Quest 2 for about $525. They are easy to use, give voice guidance in the car, work fine as a hand-held for caching or out of vehicle travel, and they include current detailed US and Canadian maps. For more money, you can get some new and fancy features like voice synthesis and look-down viewing, but a Quest will do everything your wife would need, and give the hand-held option no other talking unit offers.

I have the Quest which I use for car and trail and it is great for both. I also have a GPS V which was great in its day, but the voice prompts are so much more helpful than beeps and needing to glance at the screen that I really think they are "essential" technology at this time. For trail use, I always use a small, light external antenna with the Quest and I rarely lose lock, even in deep cover. I am also able to put the GPS in my pocket and just take it out when I need to look at it, while it maintains its lock and records my track the whole time. The price of the Quest includes the current detailed street maps for the US and Canada which you would need to purchase separately with the 60 and all other hand-held units, except the GPS V.

I have the Quest which I use for car and trail and it is great for both. I also have a GPS V which was great in its day, but the voice prompts are so much more helpful than beeps and needing to glance at the screen that I really think they are "essential" technology at this time. For trail use, I always use a small, light external antenna with the Quest and I rarely lose lock, even in deep cover. I am also able to put the GPS in my pocket and just take it out when I need to look at it, while it maintains its lock and records my track the whole time. The price of the Quest includes the current detailed street maps for the US and Canada which you would need to purchase separately with the 60 and all other hand-held units, except the GPS V.

If you want a unit to use in the car, you really do want voice guidance (spoken directions). If you also want to use it for geocaching, you have only 2 choices – Garmin Quest or Quest 2. I much prefer the Quest, and I doubt you will find the 2 in your price range. The Quest is a great GPS for both in car and on trail use, but it is much better as a hand-held if you add an external antenna, which is cheap and easy to do.

One antenna factor that has not been mentioned but might be as important as the type of antenna or the processor is the placement. I use an external antenna with my Quest and I mount it on my hat or the back of my neck and I rarely lose signals, even in deep woods. I use the same antenna with a re-radiating unit with my original Vista and again I rarely lose signal lock. With either unit held close to my body or clipped to my belt while walking in the woods, I often lose signal lock. I think small, light, external antennas with short cables would go a long way toward solving reception problems, even with older devices.

Consider the original Garmin Quest. Because it lacks some non-essential features of newer models, the price is very low (about $315 new) and that includes the current version of the road mapping software. It autoroutes quickly and well with voice guidance, color screen, USB interface, large memory, included long-lasting LiIon battery, mounting hardware and cables. For caching or other hand-held use, it is very small and light, waterproof, and easy to use. It gets good reception with its flip-up antenna, but is much better if you add a small, light external antenna (extra but cheap). With the antenna on my hat or collar, I never lose signal, even in deep forest cover. I would never want to be without a voice-guiding, auto-routing GPSR in the car, and for now, the Quest and Quest 2 are the only such units on the market that are also well suited to hand-held use and geocaching.

I purchased MetroGuide Europe and loaded the relevent areas into my Vista and Quest for a trip to Amsterdam, Paris, London and nearby areas last Spring. The maps and both units were great, but the Quest is much nicer due to the color screen and the external antenna jack, which I use anytime I am not in a car (eg. train, plane, or on foot). Metroguide doesn't autoroute, but a GoTo line is fine, especially as I wasn't driving. I particularly enjoy uploading my tracks to a computer and seeing where I was. When I got home, I found that Garmin had just released a new version of MetroGuide Europe, which they sent to me at no charge.

I am pretty sure the 60 units can take an external antenna. I keep my Quest in my pocket, tracking my hikes by means of a small, light, inexpensive antenna attached magnetically to a small clip on my hat, collar, or other convenient exposed site. I do not walk while looking at the GPS, I'm not that talented. I take it out periodically to see where I am and/or where I have been.

I have a Quest 1 that I use for car and trail. It works great. On the trail, I use it with a Glisson neoprene/clear vinyl case and a small, light, external antenna that sticks magnetically to a small steel clip on my hat, collar, or other convenient exposed site. In its case, built-in antenna folded down, antenna cable as a saftey line, it would be hard to damage a Quest. Most of the time, it stays in my pocket. It will easily do all of the tasks you described, and would hold all of the maps you would want. The internal battery lasts a very long time unless you keep the light on for many hours rather than just when you want to look at the screen. Probably not good for 4 days of mostly on with no car time to recharge, but fine otherwise. For me, the voice prompts are a very big deal, making in car use much more pleasant and easy. I would strongly advise trying a voice unit on a drive before deciding not to go that route. If you buy a Quest rather than a Quest 2, you will save about $100 and, if you decide later that you also want a unit that is primarily designed for trails, you will have a second unlock code with which to load CitySelect road maps for the entire US and Canada into the other unit, no extra charge. Not so with the Quest 2.

Check out the Quest or the Quest 2. These are the only color GPSRs that have voice prompted autorouting and are fully functional for hand-held use on trails or for geocaching. Considering that the heavily discounted price includes the latest street maps for all of the US and Canada, and an internal long-lasting Li-ion battery, they are a great deal. I prefer the original Quest over the 2.

The cable, cradle, and plug are not normally separable, so I will be very surprized if you do not receive the complete combination. Please let us know.

I have the Quest original and the processor seems very fast, especially compared to my older Garmin units. One problem unique to the Quest 2, especially Europe, is that so much data is loaded into the memory and for some tasks, like POI look-ups, all of the stored data must be searched every time, even a fast processor can seem slow. Even if fully loaded, a Quest 1 has a small fraction of the data to examine in any given search. If less of the available map storage space is used, searches are extremely fast, but there is no way to load less than the full coverage area into a Quest 2.

I use my Quest 1 primarily in the car, but also for hiking and geocaching. I find it completely satisfactory for both uses. There are some new features for navigation in newer units, such as voice synthesis for street names, touch screens, overhead views etc., but none of those are really necessary, and the units that have them are unsuitable for use on a trail. Units designed primarily for hand held use all lack the voice prompts when used in the car. I wish I could save individual tracks on the Quest, but other than that, it is a great hand held unit.

Garmin Quest or Quest 2. Works great as a handheld for geocaching, especially with an external antenna attached. Much better for in car navigation due to the voice prompts. Even though it has been out a while and lacks some of the newest features, it is the only unit with voice navigation that can be used as hand-held for caching and hiking.

Check this out; it has everything you might need or want to know about the GPS V. http://www.elsinga.org/gps5faq.html

Right angle for sure. Also, I have a Gilsson and it works fine, but I also have a different brand that is smaller, lighter, and works at least as well. Also a little cheaper. see here: http://kawamall.com/pd_one_piece_pda.cfm#

The Quest (or Quest 2) is really the only reasonable option. I have a GPS V and I still use and like it. It was king of the hill for a while after it appeared, but the faster processor, usb interface, color display, included Li ion battery, windshield mount, and voice prompts more than justify the price difference. Several new features have appeared in units released since the Quest but unlike those that appeared with the Quest, 60C, and etrex C series, none have rendered the Quest obsolete. Voice prompts are so useful as to render beep only units substandard. But the Quest is small, light, and easy to use in the hand and on the trail, especially if one adds a small, light, external antenna. With one, you can keep a solid lock in heavy cover with the GPSR in a pocket most of the time.

The most important hidden cost for any GPSR is the map software. You can use one without a map or with the included basemap and it will be adequate for finding a geocache. However, GPSRs are so powerful and handy that it is a real shame to use one only for playing an admittedly terrific game. Most units do not include detailed maps in the purchase price. 2 exceptions are Garmin's GPS V and Quest. Both are fine units at very reasonable prices, but the Quest is much newer and has many important improvements. Check them out before you settle for a cheaper but minimally capable unit.