Garmin Quest

[+plank]

I am ready to retire my Garmin V. I will probably buy the 60CS but the Quest intrigues me. Does anyone have one yet? I need a review from a geocaching perspective.

[+TheOfficeMaven]

Plank,

 

I have a Quest. Is there something specific you want to know about it?

 

Here's the highlights of a blurb I posted in another thread that talks about the Quest and the 60C(S):

 

I think the Quest is an outstanding GPSr for use in auto-routing as that's its specialty. You really can't compare the Quest and a 60C(S) as they are both made for different audiences. While both of them have common/similar features, they each have their own specialties. The Quest has some really cool features for auto-routing that the 60C(S), 76C(S), and Legend/Vista C can't dream of matching (such as voice prompted guidance, advanced route planning, setting detours, creating custom road/area avoidances, etc., etc.). On the other hand the 60C(S), 76C(S), and Legend/Vista C have some really cool features that the Quest can't dream of matching (such as the dedicated geocaching mode, all of the games, availability of an electronic compass and altimeter, etc., etc.).

 

Thus, IMHO, the two units fill very different needs. If you use your GPSr for auto navigation most of the time, then get the Quest. If however you use your GPSr for geocaching, hiking, etc. most of the time, then get the 60C(S), 76C(S), or Legend/Vista C. If you're on the fence between the two, then buy one of each like I did.

 

Edit: While one certainly could use the Quest for geocaching, that's definitely not its strong point as it's not really setup for that. It doesn't have a dedicated geocaching mode, the compass page is hard to access (in its default configuration), and it doesn't really work well with tracks (I don't believe that it even has a way to save tracks).

 

Although, one of the nice things about the Quest is that it allows 30 character length waypoint names and 100 character length waypoint notes/descriptions which is quite an improvement over the 10 character waypoint name length limitation and the 30 character waypoint name/description length limitation in the 60C(S), 76C(S), Legend C, and Vista C.

Edited September 22, 2004 by TheOfficeMaven

[+plank]

OfficeMaven, you gave me plenty to think about. I use my current GPS V mainly for road maps and travel, geocaching second. I was concerned with the Quest's 1. durability 2. screen size (too small to read?) and 3. external speaker (what does it look like and how does it work?). I am sure I will have to buy all new mounting accessories. The cost scares me. I just purchased City Select v6 so I wish it wasn't included.

I love my V and want the closest replacement.

[robertlipe]

Do note that Quest is not supported by the USB-aware GPSBabel (and ergo, GSAK) Studying the dumps, it looks like basic communications are OK, there's the "mere" need to add a couple new waypoint types. It's probably only a day's worth of work or so. You'll have to play the Mapsource shuffle on these until someone with a unit does the work or can provide me with access to one.

 

I haven't heard enough requests for Quest support for me to start passing the plate to buy one for the project yet...

[+TheOfficeMaven]

Plank,

 

I was concerned with the Quest's 1. durability

 

The unit looks pretty durable to me. Not quite as durable as the 60C(S) looks, but it does appear to be just as durable as the 76C(S) and/or the Legend C/Vista C. I've only had mine for a couple of weeks now so I can't say for sure (i.e. I haven't dropped it yet or anything like that). I'm not too worried about it though as it looks great. Also, the unit is water proof/resistant to the same specifications as the other Garmin units (I have no idea if it floats though).

 

2. screen size (too small to read?)

 

Actually, the screen size is great. It's the exact same size as the screen on the 60C(S) and the 76C(S) only it's turned in landscape mode. This is great for viewing text on the screen as there's a lot more screen real-estate available to the text in landscape mode than there is in portrait mode like on the 60/76C(S). I prefer the portrait mode of the 60/76C(S) for hiking & caching, but the landscape mode of the Quest is perfect for auto navigation (although it would have been cool if they would have made it interchangeable like the V is). I really like the size of the screen and I don't have any trouble reading it even from my dashboard while driving.

 

Edit: Also, the Quest has a special coating on the screen that really helps to reduce glare that the 60/76C(S) doesn't have. It's noticable better than my 60CS when sititng on the dashboard on a sunny day. There's a sticker on the screen that must be removed before using the Quest that reads:

 

"This lense is coated with a special anti-reflective coating which is very sensitive to skin oils, waxes and abrasive cleaners. CLEANERS CONTAINING AMMONIA WILL HARM THE ANTI-REFELECTIVE COATING. It is very important to clean the lense using an eyeglass lens cleaner which is specified as safe for anti-reflective coatings and a clean lint free cloth"

 

3. external speaker (what does it look like and how does it work?).

 

Personally, I wish the speaker was internal. However, the unit does offer beeps (just like the 60/76C(S) and the Legend/Vista C) when auto-routing without the external speaker attached (although the tones aren't customizable as they are on the other non-voice units). The external speaker is just like the one on the old Street Pilot III units, only it's much smaller/more compact. It's part of the 12/24V power cord that is permanently attached to the unit's suction cup mount. The volume control is a rotating wheel on the side of the speaker itself (as opposed to being on the GPSr unit itself like it is on the SPIII). It offers plenty of volume even while driving with the windows down or with the radio turned up. With the speaker integrated into the power cord and the suction cup mount, the whole thing is quite compact and very easy to move from vehicle to vehicle.

 

Also, as a side note, it's absolutely amazing at how much better auto-routing is when the voice prompting is included. I didn't realize how much I missed it (after I got rid of my SPIII) until I used the Quest. I had been auto-routing with my 60CS and my Vista C, but it really makes a huge difference. It's hard explain, but the small things like knowing which lane you have to be in, exactly where the final destination is, etc. is much easier with the voice prompts. I know it sounds silly, but until you experience both, you won't really know what I'm talking about.

 

I am sure I will have to buy all new mounting accessories.

 

It actually comes with the suction cup mount (which works great!) and so there's no need to buy anything else. It even comes with an AC adapter for using the unit indoors (or just for charging - and the unit also charges the battery while it is plugged into the 12/24V suction cup mount as well).

 

The cost scares me.

 

Actually, the price is right in-line with Garmin's other units (and probably a bit better) if you consider what you get with it. The unit includes 115 MB of internal memory, the internal rechargeable battery, the suction cup mount (with 12/24V power cord and speaker), the AC adapter, and an unlocked copy of City Select North America v6. Try to buy a 76C with all of that and see what it comes out to. Probably a lot more than the $500 street price you can get the Quest for.

 

I just purchased City Select v6 so I wish it wasn't included.

 

Yeah, I did the same thing. However, if you use the second unlock code from your existing CS NA v6 purchase on the Quest, you can then keep the unlock coupon that comes with the Quest and only unlock it once Garmin releases CS NA v7 (in about a year). That way you'll get the upgrade for FREE and that will save you at least $75! That's what I'm going to do.

 

I love my V and want the closest replacement.

 

I don't know much about the V other than what I've read about it here, but it sounds like a really nice unit. I never considered it because it wasn't available in color (i.e. I bought a SP III instead). However, I'm more than sure that you'll be 100% delighted with the Quest as long as you go into it knowing that its specialty is auto-routing.

 

I hope this helps some...

 

Edit: BTW, the best way to find out more about the Quest is to read its user's guide. Garmin has it posted up on their web site for free download. You'll actually need to read it a couple of times to get everything out of it. It's really amazing all of the things it can do. Also, you should download the manual for the 60C and/or the 76C as well and compare the features by reading through the guides. That way you'll really get a good idea of what the two units have to offer and how they are different/similar.

Edited September 23, 2004 by TheOfficeMaven

[+TheOfficeMaven]

Do note that Quest is not supported by the USB-aware GPSBabel (and ergo, GSAK) Studying the dumps, it looks like basic communications are OK, there's the "mere" need to add a couple new waypoint types. It's probably only a day's worth of work or so. You'll have to play the Mapsource shuffle on these until someone with a unit does the work or can provide me with access to one.

 

Yes, this is true. While it would be a nice bonus to have USB support for the Quest in GPSbable (and hence GSAK), I don't find it at all necessary. The Quest wasn't really made for geocaching, but if you'd still like to use it for that purpose (which is fine), then simply exporting the waypoints (or "My Locations" as they are called on the Quest) from GSAK to MapSource and then using MapSource to load the waypoints into the Quest via USB is supper easy and super fast (plus it gives you the added bonus of being able to get an overview of all of your caches on the bigger maps in MapSource).

 

I really don't see the need to ever add USB support for the Quest into GPSbable given the fact that the Quest is really an auto-routing unit and not a caching/hiking unit. i.e. I don't think the time and effort it would take to do so is worth the outcome when it's super simple to just take the one extra step of using MapSource (which comes free with the unit anyway - as does the USB cable).

 

Edit: Personally, I'd much rather see the time spent on trying to get the cool custom waypoint symbols available in the new colored Garmin units (including the Quest, 60C(S), 76C(S), and Legend/Vista C) to work properly with GPSBable/GSAK. Now that would be worth the effort (and I for one would even be willing to pay for such support).

 

Just my $0.02...

 

Edit: BTW, if you're going to use the Quest for geocaching, then you need to go into its "Routing Setup" screen (under Settings) and change the "Route Preference" setting from its default value of "Faster Time" to "Prompted". This way, when you opt to route to (i.e. go to) a cache, the unit will prompt you for the route method and you can choose "Off Road" (which will give you the compass screen).

Edited September 23, 2004 by TheOfficeMaven

[SergZak]

Thanks for the great info OfficeMaven. Looks like I'll be getting a Quest when Darrel at TVNAV gets some more in (I take it you got yours from him since you're an early bird with the worm).

 

A couple of questions for you...

 

Is it possible to mount the Quest in it's bracket without having the power cord connected to the bracket and just run off of the internal battery? What I'd like to do (after I experiment with the power cord plugged into the lighter socket) is to simply charge the unit at home before trips (I don't take many long trips) and have it ready to simply pop into the bracket and go. What I don't like is having anything plugged into the cigarette lighter with cords dangling around. What I'll eventually end up doing is a direct wire job to the fuse box, bypassing the cig plug and running the wiring up under the dash to the unit.

 

How easy is it to simply "pop" the unit into the bracket? Sounds like its a bit of a chore from what I've read in your review. Has it gotten any easier or have you found any shortcut since your review?

 

Thanks,

 

SZ

Edited September 23, 2004 by SergZak

[robertlipe]

then simply exporting the waypoints (or "My Locations" as they are called on the Quest) from GSAK to MapSource and then using MapSource to load the waypoints into the Quest via USB is supper easy and super fast (plus it gives you the added bonus of being able to get an overview of all of your caches on the bigger maps in MapSource).

 

The same can be said of the 60C/60CS units. At one point, I was getting 20-30 requests a week to add USB support for them - and that was before 76C/VistaC/SummitC shipped.

Edit: Personally, I'd much rather see the time spent on trying to get the cool custom waypoint symbols available in the new colored Garmin units (including the Quest, 60C(S), 76C(S), and Legend/Vista C) to work properly with GPSBable/GSAK. Now that would be worth the effort (and I for one would even be willing to pay for such support).

 

What do you expect it to do when the firmware eats the icons on a write from the host? Is this unique to the 60's or do the other units do the same thing?

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...0entry1010824

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...0entry1075077

 

I just rechecked the 69CS with 3.50. My testing shows that the firmware doesn't allow the custom icon #'s to be written by the host.

 

You can hand craft a GPX file with any icon you like. Let's call it "cicon.gpx":

 

<?xml version="1.0"?>^M
<gpx>^M
<wpt lat="0" lon="0"><name>8255</name><sym>8255</sym></wpt>
<wpt lat="0" lon="0"><name>7680</name><sym>7680</sym></wpt>
<wpt lat="0" lon="0"><name>cicon6</name><sym>custom 6</sym></wpt>
</gpx>

Erase all your waypoints. Create one by hand with a custom icon from the keypad. Now write these to the unit and read them all back:

gpsbabel -i gpx -f cicon.gpx -o garmin -F usb:

gpsbabel -i garmin -f usb: -o gpx -F ciconout.gpx

 

Look at the symbols in ciconout.gpx and at the symbols in your unit. Does your unit allow writing icons from a program? If not, go tweak Garmin's firmware guys. (Feel free to point out that using more than one icon in this way means the geocaching mode doesn't work for any but the ONE icon you pick. )

 

But I did just throw "custom 1" through "custom 24" into the tables so they'll show as _something_ on a read. How we get from "custom 6" to "headless chicken" remains a puzzle. As I suggested in that other thread, if an artistically inclined person were to offer a standardized icon set that didn't violate Groundspeaks copyright in a format that could be used with ximage, it could be hooked up by the users now and we could create a standardized icon set.

 

In light of the firmware issues, what do you think we should be doing any differently?

Edited September 23, 2004 by robertlipe

[+TheOfficeMaven]

Thanks for the great info OfficeMaven.

 

You are most welcome. I'm just glad that I could help is all.

 

Looks like I'll be getting a Quest when Darrel at TVNAV gets some more in (I take it you got yours from him since you're an early bird with the worm).

 

I actually got mine from gpsnow.com. I signed up on their e-mail notification list and just happened to be home when their e-mail came in. The units they had didn't last but a couple of hours and they were all sold out. They offer a great price of $499.95 and only $12 for 2nd day Fed Ex shipping. They filled my order the same day I placed it and I had the unit by the second day as promised. I'm very impressed with their company.

 

Is it possible to mount the Quest in it's bracket without having the power cord connected to the bracket and just run off of the internal battery?

 

Alas, I'm afraid not. The cord is permanently connected to the bracket and so it can't be removed.

 

What I'd like to do (after I experiment with the power cord plugged into the lighter socket) is to simply charge the unit at home before trips (I don't take many long trips) and have it ready to simply pop into the bracket and go. What I don't like is having anything plugged into the cigarette lighter with cords dangling around.

 

I agree that doing it that way would be nice. I'm not sure why Garmin choose to permanently fix the cord to the bracket (other than cost). Also, the power cord contains the external speaker for the voice prompts, so if you don't use it, you won't get the voice prompts (and so Garmin probably figured that you'd always use the cord anyway).

 

I'll eventually end up doing is a direct wire job to the fuse box, bypassing the cig plug and running the wiring up under the dash to the unit.

 

That can be done, but you'd have to cut the end off of the power cord on the bracket. They are expensive to replace since they contain the bracket, speaker, and the power adapter all in one (i.e. I think they run around $75). Thus, you don't want to mess one up.

 

How easy is it to simply "pop" the unit into the bracket? Sounds like its a bit of a chore from what I've read in your review. Has it gotten any easier or have you found any shortcut since your review?

 

Actually, it's quite easy to pop the unit into the mount, but popping it back out is not so simple. I keep the bracket mounted in my vehicle all the time and I just pop the unit in and out whenever I park the car. As I mentioned, it's very easy to pop it in, but it a bit of a pain to get it back out. I think that Garmin could have added a lever or something to make it easier to release the unit from the carrier. As it is now, you really have to force up on the unit to get it out of the bracket and it can be hard to do so in the small area around the dashboard (i.e without taking the suction cup mount off of the windshield each time - which I don't like to have to do).

 

I hope this helps some...

[SergZak]

Alas, I'm afraid not. The cord is permanently connected to the bracket and so it can't be removed.

 

Hmmmm...that throws a wrench into my spinning gears. It would also make for a very expensive replacement since the bracket, wiring, and speaker/cig power connector are all one unit...ugh

 

To avoid cutting the stock power cable for a direct wire install, Radio Shack sells a cig socket with bare wires on one end. I'll just wire that into the 12v fuse panel and plug the Garmin power cord right into the cig socket. That way I can route the cable under the dash and mount the speaker assembly (under the dash also) where it can still be heard...as long as that wiring is concealed. Clean and invisible installs are what I like.

 

The GPS V was a bear to get out of it's mounting bracket but it was fairly easy to put in. After a while, I got used to it and it was pretty much not a problem....hopefully the Quest will be similar.

 

Thanks again,

 

SZ

Edited September 23, 2004 by SergZak

[+TheOfficeMaven]

Robert,

 

The same can be said of the 60C/60CS units. At one point, I was getting 20-30 requests a week to add USB support for them - and that was before 76C/VistaC/SummitC shipped.

 

Yes, if you'll recall, I had quite a voice about this very topic in this forum. To this day, I still don't think that the USB support in GPSBable was necessary (at least for GSAK users that is). In my opinion, it's just as easy to do it via the MapSource export. I guess that it was a "must have" feature though since EasyGPS has USB support and so GSAK had to have it too.

 

What do you expect it to do when the firmware eats the icons on a write from the host?

 

Yeah, that sucks for sure. Don't get me wrong here as I'm definitely not blaming you (i.e. GPSBable). I'm more than sure that Garmin's firmware is the culprit as it usually is (and not to mention all the problems you've had with their undocumented formats). I only meant that I feel that time would be better spent trying to figure out a hack for the custom waypoint symbols (or riding Garmin's butt about the problem) than trying to implement USB support for the Quest (and the Street Pilots) as it's just not worth it.

 

In light of the firmware issues, what do you think we should be doing any differently?

 

I suppose there's nothing else that can be done other than getting everyone to submit a formal complaint to Garmin about the problem. It really makes no sense for them to give us the ability to have custom waypoint symbols and then not be able to support them in exports/imports (heck not even their own MapSource program supports them I believe!).

 

Also, even if it gets implemented by Garmin (which I doubt), there's still the whole problem of not being able to assign different custom icons/symbols for different cache types. I talked about this in some of my other posts:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=0entry994384

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=0entry993353

 

Anyway, sorry if I came off wrong with my original post as that wasn't my intent (i.e. I didn't mean to blame you or GPSBable about the problem).

[+TheOfficeMaven]

To avoid cutting the stock power cable for a direct wire install, Radio Shack sells a cig socket with bare wires on one end. I'll just wire that into the 12v fuse panel and plug the Garmin power cord right into the cig socket. That way I can route the cable under the dash and mount the speaker assembly (under the dash also) where it can still be heard...as long as that wiring is concealed. Clean and invisible installs are what I like.

 

That's a GREAT idea! Kudos to you for figuring it all out.

 

The GPS V was a bear to get out of it's mounting bracket but it was fairly easy to put in. After a while, I got used to it and it was pretty much not a problem....hopefully the Quest will be similar.

 

Yes, I'm sure it will. Also, it may get easier over time as the unit works/breaks in to the mount.

 

Good luck with your quest for a Quest.

[wtex55]

Found a terrific case for my Quest---

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...125523?v=glance

 

 

Front to back fit is perfect-room on the sides for your fingers--loop on the back of the case to wear on your belt although the case will certainly fit in a pants pocket.

 

My only criticism of the Quest is the difficulty of accessing the satellite page. Hopefully, the next software update will take care of that.

[+TheOfficeMaven]

Found a terrific case for my Quest---

 

That's great! Thanks for sharing. I've been looking for a good case for my Quest as well.

 

My only criticism of the Quest is the difficulty of accessing the satellite page. Hopefully, the next software update will take care of that.

 

Yes, I find it just plain silly that Garmin didn't include a way to customize the page order on the Quest like they did on the 60C(S), 76C(S), Legend/Vista C, etc. The Quest includes some really nice button press/hold shortcuts for accessing some of the more common pages, but I find myself forgetting them all the time. I'd much rather just be able to press the Page key on the unit multiple times and step though the pages I want to see (like the satellite page, compass page, route options page, etc.).

 

Like you, I'll be hoping that such a feature is included in a future firmware update.

[robertlipe]

I suppose there's nothing else that can be done other than getting everyone to submit a formal complaint to Garmin about the problem. It really makes no sense for them to give us the ability to have custom waypoint symbols and then not be able to support them in exports/imports (heck not even their own MapSource program supports them I believe!)

 

Since it looks like the issue is with the firmware, I don't see Mapsource being to get around it any more than we can until one and maybe both Garmin s/w products are revved.

Also, even if it gets implemented by Garmin (which I doubt), there's still the whole problem of not being able to assign different custom icons/symbols for different cache types. I talked about this in some of my other posts:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=0entry994384

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=0entry993353

Those are pretty good summaries of the situation.

 

Anyway, sorry if I came off wrong with my original post as that wasn't my intent (i.e. I didn't mean to blame you or GPSBable about the problem).

 

No problem. I just wanted to be sure I understood your request because with things as they are, I don't really know what else we can do since these icons are "read-only" from the host. We pass them through by number and, as of last night in response to this thread, by name as "custom 1" through "custom 24" (do any models support more than 24?) so if they ever release a product that allows this to work sensibly, I think we're there.

 

Annoying Garmin sounds like the best plan.

[+TheOfficeMaven]

(do any models support more than 24?)

 

Yes, the Quest supports up to 64 custom waypoint symbols.

 

Annoying Garmin sounds like the best plan.

 

I totally agree!

[+Tail of Two Cachers]

I am ready to retire my Garmin V. I will probably buy the 60CS but the Quest intrigues me. Does anyone have one yet? I need a review from a geocaching perspective.

I'm kind of in your boat. The more i think about it though, I believe i'll go with something for driving such as the Garmin 2610 (which isn't a LOT more than the Quest if you can find a deal). And I'll keep the V for caching.

[+TheOfficeMaven]

All,

 

Just for kicks... Here are a couple of photos I found of the Quest in another GPS Forum (i.e. the photos are NOT mine). They show how small (and cool ) the Quest really is:

 

 

Edit: Links removed per request by TheOfficeMaven. -Hemlock

 

Edit: Images removed per the request of the copyright holder. -Elias

Edited September 28, 2004 by Hemlock

[+plank]

Thanks to all for the excellent information! I ordered my Quest today! -Plank

[+TheOfficeMaven]

Plank,

 

Congrats!

 

You're absolutely going to love it. I still laugh like a kid in a candy store every time I turn mine on and I've already had it for a couple of weeks now.

[+elsinga]

Yes, the Quest supports up to 64 custom waypoint symbols.

But xImage only downloads one...

 

edit: stupid me... I only selected one...

Edited September 25, 2004 by elsinga

[WestofToronto]

Here's a question I had about my Quest, and the very useful and prompt reply from TheOfficeMavin:

 

Thanks for all the useful info on Quest. I just got mine a week ago and

haven't left it alone since. What a beautiful machine.

One question if you don't mind. The manual, on page 8, shows 4 editable data

fields on the map page, whether in driving or routing mode. My unit only has

three, a large direction field (N,S,etc) at the top (actually seems to have

combined two smaller fields), and two smaller fields. Only the two smaller

fields are editable.

Is there a factory reset procedure to get the 4 fields back? Garmin support

was not helpful.

Thanks

 

Congrats on your new Quest. I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying it. I

absolutely love mine!

 

Anyway, the problem you are having is because you have the "turn pointer"

(i.e. direction arrow) setting turned on. When the turn pointer is switched

on, it takes up two fields on the map page. Thus, you'll need to turn it off

if you want to see all four fields on the map page. You can do this by going

to the Settings page (i.e. press the "Menu" button twice), selecting the

"Map Setup" icon, and on the "Layout" tab of the Map Setup page that

appears, set the "Turn Pointer" field to "Off".

 

That should do it...

[+TheOfficeMaven]

All,

 

Just as an FYI, I'd like to let you in on a problem I'm having with the person that runs the GPSpasSion.com forum. He has now banned my IP address from accessing his forum and has complained to my ISP. Well, it turns out that he got ticked off with me posting links to his pictures on the GC.com forum (i.e. the ones shown above of the Quest sitting on the store demo shelf with him holding his cell phone up next to it). He states that I breached "netiquette" and "common sense" by posting the links to his pictures on GC.com (even though I posted a direct link back to his web site and the forum topic where the pictures came from).

 

Anyway, I just wanted you all to know what kind of a jerk the guy really is (and let you all know what has happened just in case I get banned from GC.com as well for some strange reason). It has been fun helping everyone out, but I guess that folks just don't appreciate my help and so my time is probably better spent doing other things (according to the users of his site, they are in total agreement with him and I'm the bad guy here). Thus, I won't be spending my time sharing information on GPS units anymore as it's just not worth it to me.

 

BTW, here's the conversation that transpired on his web site and I'll let you decide for yourselves (please note that I may have been a bit harsh, but I just couldn't believe how petty this guy was being as my intent was to only help everyone in the two forums by sharing information on the new Quest):

 

1. My response to one of the user's questions on the GpsPasSion board:

 

inigo montoya,

 

I've actually had my Quest for a few weeks now and I absolutely love it. If you're interested in looking at a thread I've been participating in over on GeoCaching.com, it might help you out some as there is also a lot of discussion on the Quest there:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=80809

 

As for the battery life in the Quest, so far, I've not had the chance to run it out of battery juice even after using it for more than about 8 hours at a time (with the backlight on). Thus, I imagine that if you turn the backlight out that you would indeed get very near 20 hours of use out of it.

 

Also, the Quest only comes with a suction cup auto-mount included, but I do know that Garmin has a handle-bar mount available for it (if not now, then real soon).

 

Lastly, if you take a look at my thread up on GC.com, you'll see that I personally feel that the unit is best suited for auto-routing, but if you load TOPO maps or BlueChart maps on it, it will indeed work well for hiking, off-roading, boating, etc. (and the unit is water proof/resistant to typical Garmin standards (i.e. up to 3 feet for 30 minutes) - although I have no idea if it floats or not).

 

I hope this helps some...

 

2. GpspasSion's response to my post:

 

Thanks for the info and link, one on my concerns with the Quest is the lack of a touchscreen. I've used the iCN630 and TomTom GO quite a bit and the touchscreen on the latter makes a world of difference when it comes to ease of use.

 

hum...do NOT link to the full size pictures with a link thrown in as an afterthought! All the content of this site carries a copyright and what you're doing is in breach of this and this is not ok per netiquette and common sense either. What you can do is link the thumbnails with a link to here for the full size pictures. Please fix this ASAP.

 

3. My response to GpsPasSion:

 

Oh come on now gpspassion... Are you really that petty??? I provided a direct link back to your website in the message where I posted the links to your precious photos (thus, you'll probably see more traffic on your web site in the next month from that one link than you would see in 6 months without it).

 

I'm absolutely flabbergasted that you would state this. I tell you what, if you don't want the photos up there, then change the links to them as I'm not going to do it. Other than that, you can contact GC.com directly and ask them to remove them from the thread. Or better yet... Sue me!

 

You got to be joking. If this is the way you run your forum, I won't be part of it any more.

 

Good grief!!!

 

4. After that, I was banned from the site and here is his response (I can still get on his site even though he attempted to ban me):

 

Fine - since you take pride in stealing my work and bandwidth by hotlinking and insult me to boot I will be taking the appropriate steps. Expect to be hearing from cox.net anytime soon.

 

Edit: Am I really stealing his work??? Come on now... Didn't I state that the pictures were not mine to begin with and didn't I give credit to his site with a direct link back to it and the forum topic in question. Oy!

 

And you can read the rest of the posts (where his user's support his decision to ban me) within the topic here:

 

Edit: Link removed by author (see my comments below)!

 

WHAT AN ABSOLUTE BABY! OY!

 

If I was wrong in the way I posted his photos and linked back to his site, well I apologize for that, but he didn't have to be such a jerk about it. All he had to do is ask me (politely) to rectify the problem and I would have. Instead, he blatantly insults me by stating that I have no common sense and by telling me that I only linked back to his site as an afterthought. In my opinion, that's not a very professional way of running a public forum (or treating someone who was only trying to help out his users). I'd never treat my customers like that. If I made a mistake, that's one thing, but to act the way he did was totally inexcusable in my eyes.

 

Oh well, I'm over it. I just wanted everyone here to know what happened.

 

Edit: As you can see, GpsPasSion has now requested that the photos be removed from GC.com. Thus, I've also requested that the links be removed as well as I see no reason to give credit to his site when he's too petty to allow the photos to be posted here. Unbelievable!

Edited September 28, 2004 by TheOfficeMaven

[+plank]

 

Thus, I won't be spending my time sharing information on GPS units anymore as it's just not worth it to me.

 

Too bad, your advice helped me a lot. I got my Quest in yesterday and it is great. I even bought it from the website you recommended.

[SergZak]

You gave me lots of good info as well and your write-up on the Quest was very well done and informative. You should stick around...

[Doug in Texas]

Thought I would add my 2cents worth. I just got a Quest unit the middle of Sept. I have used it in town in both Denver and Austin Texas. I also used it between these areas driving back to Texas from Denver. I'm impressed with it in the car. It's better than I exepected such a small unit was capable of. Easy to operate and use. I bought this unit so I could use it for trips we do with our business. I also wanted the ability to take it "off road" on occasion. I considered the 60CS but got the Quest because travel by vehicle is my main use. I travel for my business to different cities.

 

This past weekend, I managed to talk my wife into going for a little walk in the park to "treasure hunt". She went along with the idea as a good sport so I could play with my new toy. By the end of the day, she was holding the unit and telling me which way to look for the cache. We even went back to one we couldn't locate in the morning and found it with a flashlight after dark. We went home and re-read the online cache info sheet. We found the unit to be very accurate and right on most of the time, even under the thick trees. It did work very well for our inexperienced purposes. The dog was exhausted by 3pm so we dropped her at home and went for some lunch then we went after another locate site.

 

My observations...

 

Autorouting on this unit is fantastic. Voice guidence is top drawer. Detour feature worked great. Missed turns reported quickly and a new route is given within 15-20 seconds in most cases. Newly built up areas are sometimes not as well covered because the maps are not filled in as well.

 

It seems to do everything I need to do to locate a cache. We found 4 out of 4, although we had to revisit the first one. We have never done any geocaching before. I have only used it navigate highways and city environment prior to this day.

 

The exterior of the Quest GPS case is slippery... with no carry strap. I worried all day that I would drop it on a rock. I went to Frys yesterday and got a zip shut camera case with a neck strap. It fits like a glove and although I have not used this in the field yet, I expect it will help.

 

Seemed to track well under the trees, although it is slower to react to turns etc when I was in heavy cover. We found that triangulation worked best when it was sensitive to the cover overhead. Coming at the area from more than one direction helped us narrow our search. Setting it to prompt for route type between: Fastest, Shortest, or Off road routes made it easy to go from car to park and back again.

 

Screen is bright and easy to read even in sunlight. Battery life is great too. I have played with it indoors for hours looking at settings, configuring, and showing it off to others etc. and still had plenty of power. Our day out in the woods didn't seem to drain it either, we did put it into the dash holder while navigating to the next location.

 

I don't have enough opportunity to geocache so I expect the Quest will work fine for my purposes. If I find enough time to do this regularly, I'll want a real outdoor type GPS in the future. Right now, I have the best of both worlds.

 

I would like a mount that is easier to get the unit into and out of the car. The plastic bracket holds the unit well, but my concern is over the long haul how this will hold up. I would also like to be able to attach a strap to the unit for out of car use and safety.

 

If you plan to do more auto travel than outdoor field use, this is a good choice to get both worlds.

 

That's about 2cents worth,

Doug in Texas