yet another what gps thread

I have decided that i need a GPS but which one? The choice seems to be between the rather flash but expensive tomtom rider or the garmin quest which is a lot less expensive. i dont need any flash functions, just to be able to find UK addreses and use it in the car in france. i was curious how people get on with the quest. do you use it with an autocom or do you just look at the screen to see the direction? I am familiar with the tomtom operating system but is the quest easy to use and can it work from post codes? i would appreciate your views if you have used one or both the quest has the advantage of being £130 or so cheaper but has no sound (without autocom i assume) whereas the tomtom seems ready to roll and includes mounting kit.

The big advantge the Quest has is the PC mapping/planning software called Mapsource. The Quest can't use UK postcodes per se. You don't need to connect a Quest to the bike's electrics - it will run all day on it's internal battery. You listen to a Quest via an "Autocom" or run a wire direct from it to your helmet speaker/earphone for as little as £20

Much much more info available on this subject via the search button

I'd say that the TomTom is superior in terms of on unit functionality but is let down by a design flaw in the cradle. The more recent Rider V2 has addressed this although a few users are reporting some problems with the improved cradle.

The Quest is a no nonsense GPS, no extras such as postcode search, proximity alerts for scamera sites etc. However, as mentioned above the use of the PC Mapsource program makes it a very attractive proposition for recreational bike use. One factor to consider with the Quest is the limited fixed memory, this means you can only load a finite amount of mapping data. You can load enough for the whole of the UK or a European tour of limited range (depends on a/ how far and b/ if you'll be coming back the same way). Spain and back is possible but UK to Spain to Rome and back to UK via Switzerland would be too much. I have a Quest and am happy with it for my purposes, yours may differ though.

With the rider you can do route planning using MS Autoroute or Google maps and then convert the route to an ITN file but Garmin Mapsource is the neatest solution.

The main reason I would recommend going with Garmin is the customer support which is exceptional especially when compared to TomTom.

The choice seems to be between the rather flash but expensive tomtom rider or the garmin quest

Click to expand...

First time I have seen the Rider described as flash. I have a Mark 1 and a Mark 2 and although they are OK for A to B navigation they are pretty crap for anything else.

I originally had a Rider Mark 1 but got fed up with its limitations after a couple of months sdo gave it to wife and bought a Garmin 2720 which, then was about the same price. The Garmin is streets ahead (pun intended). The Garmin is vastly better for planning routes with waypoints, it has better options for setting destination (the Rider way of moving around the map to pick a destination is totally aweful) and Tomtom have nothing that comes close to Mapsource PC software.

When the Rider gave up the ghost Tomtom replaced it but thyey took two months to do it. I complained to their CEO and was given a Rider II as a gift and an apology. Now the Mark 1 sits in a drawer, my wife uses the Mark 2 but I still use the Garmin.

Kritou said:

............The Quest can't use UK postcodes per se........

Click to expand...

My Quest 2 uses postcodes.

Some people don't like the Quest 2 because it doesn't update the screen very quickly; but it has never been a problem for me. It's great having easily 8+ hours battery life; all of Europe on it and it goes in your pocket. Try before you buy!

I tend to use GPS as a guide and for locating my position if I get totally lost - I generally prefer good maps in preference to slavishly following a sat nav when touring.