Can We Clarify the Quests Memory Size??

[Grizzly]

Hi Guys,
I noticed today in the "For Sale" section someone looking for a Quest, and the old story of 115Mb memory versus 256Mb memory came up in the posts - now I have had TWO Quests for a couple of years now and think it's a great unit - but these differing stories of map memory size keep appearing from time to time in this forum, can anybody clear things up once and for all??
I stick to the 115Mb limit when loading maps, that's why I have TWO units - to cover long trips. I've always assumed the units have a 256MB memory in total, but only 115MB is available for down-loadable maps and routing
- am I right or am I talking crap??? . The only mention in my handbooks of map memory is page56 - 115Mb (US models), and page58 Specs - 115Mb of uploadable map storage.
Could someone clear this up once and for all?? - I've had more than 115 Mb loaded before but have sometimes hit problems with "routing data"? so I just stick to 115Mb now, but it would be great to know the "facts" from someone who really knows

Cheers....................Grizzly

 

[Fanum]

The American unit comes with 115mb internal memory....the Atlantic base map version (the UK one) comes with 243mb.

 

[Grizzly]

Ok - But How Can You Tell??

Ok, so I've had another look at mine.
One of mine, on start-up, shows the blue Quest intro screen with Garmin at the bottom, this bit at the bottom then changes to Atlantic Autoroute 1.0 etc. This unit also says "made in taiwan" on the serial no. label under the antenna.
The other one shows the blue quest start-up screen with Garmin etc at the bottom and this DOESN'T change to Atlantic Autoroute at any time!! also the serial no. label under the antenna also says "made in taiwan" but has
"CAN 210" above the made in taiwan.
So, presumably the 1st unit is a Europe unit with 243Mb for maps which is good to know. But the 2nd unit - is it a North America unit? what does the CAN 210 mean?, is there any other way to check? What makes things more confusing is both my Quests have been replaced by Garmin due to problems with "firmware" downloads - and although Garmin have always been very helpful and generous, it would appear the replacements may vary??
Apologies, Fanum, for going into all this detail, but it is a area which seems to cause a bit of confusion and mystery on the forum from time to time and it would be great to have it clarified properly

Cheers.....................Grizzly

 

[Bumpkin]

As I understand it the European version has 256MB but, as Fanum says, only 243MB is available for use. This is probably due to the basemap taking up some space.

I usually run my Quest close to the maximum limit with all of the UK and a chunk of northen France. Don't seem to have any problems.

both my Quests have been replaced by Garmin due to problems with "firmware" downloads - and although Garmin have always been very helpful and generous, it would appear the replacements may vary??

If they've given you a US version in replacement for a European version then I would get onto them tout suite. The use-ability with the 115MB is even more hampered with that than the 243MB.

 

[Fanum]

(EDIT....ON THE QUEST ITSELF, NOT IN MAPSOURCE ON THE PC) Go to the menu, then settings.......go to the bottom and select map info....that will show you what version of what maps you're running.....turn the map(s) off, then go back to the normal map screen......look at England ...if it has most of the main a roads and motorways on, the unit has the Atlantic base map in it.

Zoom right out and compare with America....mine only shows four or five major cities and no roads.......

If it's got the Atlantic base map on, you should have 243 mb memory to play with......

To confirm, just selct 240megs of mapping in Mapsource and send it to the unit......it will over write what's already on the quest and should fit......(select the map tab of the screen and look at the bottom to see how big the maps you've selected are)


PS don't forget to go back in to settings,map options and turn on the maps or next time you use it, it will only show the basemap

 

[Grizzly]

Cheers Fanum

Right, checked basemaps as you've suggested (should have thought of that myself eh?) and both units have the the Atlantic Basemap - so that means both units should store 243MB of downloadable maps and routing .
I must admit I think it's a bit ridiculous Garmin's handbook etc for the Quest is not more helpful - they state 115Mb with no clarification about Atlantic Basemap ( ie Europe). I take it the difference is purely due to the North American Basemap file being much larger
Anyway, many thanks, hope this has helped others, as well as me!!

Cheers.................Grizzly

 

[Bumpkin]

I take it the difference is purely due to the North American Basemap file being much larger

Even though we always pay far more for practically anything than our colonial cousins in this case we do actually get more. The US Quest only has 128MB total memory whereas the European Quest has 256MB. The rationale behind this is that the population density in Europe, and hence the road density, is far greater than the US. Because of this and the way that the Garmin mapping data is stored most areas of the States have very little in the way of data per sq mile and hence less in terms of memory requirement.

 

[BurnieM]

Rationale has nothing to do with it.
It is what the Garmin distributor (in this case Garmin themselves) asked for in each country.

Australian Quests prior to May 2005 had 115 MB and post May 2005 had 243 MB
City Navigator Australia v5 (2004) was 60 MB
City Navigator Australia v6 (2005) was 132 MB
ie GME, the Australian distributor, thought they would be hammered if you could not load all of your home country.

I cannot see the logic of Garmin ever releasing a 115 MB Quest in the US but they did....

 

[Bumpkin]

I cannot see the logic of Garmin ever releasing a 115 MB Quest in the US but they did....

And despite plenty of users there expressing their dismay when they found out the European model had twice the capacity AFAIK there has never been a 256MB model in the US