Quest or a Street Pilot?

[harrisn]

Hi all, i am a GPS newbie and need some advice, dont wont to spend a fortune as i probably wont use it that much, dont really do huge distance ride outs or anything so dont need anything to fancy. Will also be used in the car every now and then.

Off for a four day ride out in september for a mates 40th birthday, covering germany (nurburgring) and a couple of other places so it would be handy if i could use it over there, will be used on my GS11 and also may strap it to the Harley every now and again

Anyway i have narrowed it down to either a secondhand streetpilot III or a Quest, so which one is the better??

thanks

 

[Mutley]

The Quest is best

The Quest will do everything you want it to:

It's simple to use, and is a current supported model.

It runs from batteries (with a good 12+ hours battery life) or can be run from an accessory socket, so it's really versatile when moving from bike to car to different bike.

You can use it on foot so it's great when you are being a tourist too.

It's small so it fits all bikes, although it zooms in when you programme a route so the small screen isn't an issue.

Buy one, you'll not regret it. I've had mine for about three years and never needed anything else

 

[nud1e]

Quest

Quest, not Quest 2, is the best piece of kit. Works well on and off the bike, display may be a bit small for some but I use it as a reference guide except when close to turns. Don't use the audio, as I find it distracting and the Quest is an aid to navigation and not a substitute for commonsense.
Quest is very convenient, can be put in your pocket when off the bike.

 

[Fanum]

There's a whole generation of difference between the SPIII and the Quest.....the Quest is hugely better, faster, smaller, lighter, easier to use etc etc.

Don't get a Quest2, but as said above, a Quest1 will do everything you need a GPS device to do.

Check Ebay...they're going for 80 quid now, but do make sure its a 243mb European version

 

[harrisn]

new or second hand?

Ok so a quest it is, have seen them on ebay but am tempted to get one from GPSW as they are under £200 including the ram mount, the ones on ebay are going for about £80-£100 add on the price of the ram mount and im only £50 off a brand new one with a warranty etc.

Is it worth saving the £50 for a second hand one?

 

[Fanum]

Ok so a quest it is, have seen them on ebay but am tempted to get one from GPSW as they are under £200 including the ram mount, the ones on ebay are going for about £80-£100 add on the price of the ram mount and im only £50 off a brand new one with a warranty etc.

Is it worth saving the £50 for a second hand one?

TBH probably not, as you'll get the latest software and the full warranty with a new one.

For £50 I'd buy new

 

[HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED]

GPS Dummy

TBH probably not, as you'll get the latest software and the full warranty with a new one.

For £50 I'd buy new

Re the Quest
Sorry in advance if these questions have been asked before. Is it possible to fit an earpiece into it, would I be able to load enough road maps/routes for a trip from the north of England to mid France in one hit, how much if any disadvantage is there in the Quest not having post code navigation.

 

[Bumpkin]

Re the Quest
Sorry in advance if these questions have been asked before. Is it possible to fit an earpiece into it, would I be able to load enough road maps/routes for a trip from the north of England to mid France in one hit, how much if any disadvantage is there in the Quest not having post code navigation.

To attach audio you'll need to be using the Garmin Quest Cradle or the RAM QPAC, the latter is available as a bundle deal from GPSW. You can hook this into an intercom system like an Autocom (with the correct leads) or just plug in an ear-piece. I've built a twin speaker system into my Arai using bits sourced from Maplin for less than £15, works well up to legal speeds and can be heard above but clarity might mean a glance at the screen for confirmation is required.

Trips to mid France wouldn't be a problem, with more ambitious touring though (circular routes rather than there and back are worse) you'll be running out of memory in which to store the mapping data.

The issue of post code navigation is only an issue if you suddenly decide you want to go somewhere when you're out on the road. The Quest has a somewhat quirky means of address searching that's not too bad once you get used to it but it's far from perfect. I tend to just ride for recreation so my routes are planned back at home using MS AutoRoute (more intuitive and has post-code search), I convert these into Garmin .gdb format and then check in MapSource before transferring to the Quest.

 

[HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED]

The Fog has mostly lifted

Many thanks Bumpkin, this info pretty much answers all my questions, not quite sure about the MS to Garmin conversion though. I do have Map Source OS North of England which includes road maps will I be able to use that jobby in conjunction with the Quest.

 

[Bumpkin]

I do have Map Source OS North of England which includes road maps will I be able to use that jobby in conjunction with the Quest.

Not sure if that's routeable

Be aware that the QPAC audio out is via a 2.5 mm jack socket, you will need a converter (Maplin's) to use this with a regular passive headset/ear-piece which normally have a 3.5 mm jack. The Garmin cradle, on the other hand, utilises a 3.5 mm jack socket for the audio out.

 

[jonnie comet]

Not sure if that's routeable

Be aware that the QPAC audio out is via a 2.5 mm jack socket, you will need a converter (Maplin's) to use this with a regular passive headset/ear-piece which normally have a 3.5 mm jack. The Garmin cradle, on the other hand, utilises a 3.5 mm jack socket for the audio out.

...Or, just buy a QPAC with the correct 3.5 mm jack.....GPSW do 'em both...

 

[mutant_matt]

There's a whole generation of difference between the SPIII and the Quest.....the Quest is hugely better, faster, smaller, lighter, easier to use etc etc.

Don't get a Quest2, but as said above, a Quest1 will do everything you need a GPS device to do.

I looked into the Quest and Quest2 (and SPIII, 26/27/28xx series too) and ended up with the Quest (1). The Quest uses the old chipset and the City Navigator maps. The Quest 2 uses the new(ish) chipset and the City Navigator NT maps (which as I understand it are compressed). In my experience, the SRiF3 chipset is vastly superior to the old one, and is able to hang on to a signal when the old one has long given up (I even have managed to use SiRF3 based units inside my house (not a chance with the Quest 1)). I believe the poor (speed) performance of the Q2 vs Q1 is the same hardware having to work a lot harder (the Q2 has to uncompress the maps) and also it does post code search, so has more to do.

I agree that the Quest 1 is great, but, it doesn't do post code lookup, which is a shame and sometimes, it can loose it's signal when the Quest 2 would not, but overall, I'd recommend the Quest 1 over the Quest 2 (surprise surprise).

If I was spending my money now though, I'd go for the Zumo without question, it's just so much better than either Quest, but sadly wasn't released when I got the Quest.

HTH!

Cheers,

Matt

 

[andyclift]

Check Ebay...they're going for 80 quid now, but do make sure its a 243mb European version

Be careful about buying second hand on eBay. If it has already been registered with Garmin and/or you don't have the unlock codes for the maps you could have an expensive door stop.

It's not just a Garmin problem. When Tomtom (evetually) replaced my wife's Rider I could not load the extra, legally purchased, maps as the device code for the new unit was different. Took a couple of weeks to get it sorted. I wonder how long it would have taken if it had been bought second hand.

 

[Bumpkin]

...Or, just buy a QPAC with the correct 3.5 mm jack.....GPSW do 'em both...

Oh... Was reading the spec for the QPAC from the GPSW site, didn't realise that there were two versions one with 2.5mm the other with 3.5mm jacks, you live and learn.

 

[HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED]

Street Pilot

I looked into the Quest and Quest2 (and SPIII, 26/27/28xx series too) and ended up with the Quest (1). The Quest uses the old chipset and the City Navigator maps. The Quest 2 uses the new(ish) chipset and the City Navigator NT maps (which as I understand it are compressed). In my experience, the SRiF3 chipset is vastly superior to the old one, and is able to hang on to a signal when the old one has long given up (I even have managed to use SiRF3 based units inside my house (not a chance with the Quest 1)). I believe the poor (speed) performance of the Q2 vs Q1 is the same hardware having to work a lot harder (the Q2 has to uncompress the maps) and also it does post code search, so has more to do.

I agree that the Quest 1 is great, but, it doesn't do post code lookup, which is a shame and sometimes, it can loose it's signal when the Quest 2 would not, but overall, I'd recommend the Quest 1 over the Quest 2 (surprise surprise).

If I was spending my money now though, I'd go for the Zumo without question, it's just so much better than either Quest, but sadly wasn't released when I got the Quest.

HTH!

Cheers,

Matt

So how does the 2610 fit into all this re usability, memory & speed etc, I am aware its obsolete but can still be sourced.

 

[mutant_matt]

So how does the 2610 fit into all this re usability, memory & speed etc, I am aware its obsolete but can still be sourced.

Well, I discounted the 2610 because:

1. It's huge (and I have a sports bike)
2. It doesn't have a battery so can't be used off the bike or car
3. It was at the time, the expensive option

In most other comparisons, it and the Quest are pretty much the same. I can't say how useful it's been to have the internal battery of the Quest (I use it occasionally for walking, I use it off the bike for various tasks which saves time). The one small advantage of the 2xxx series is you can get a 2GB CF card and have the whole of the Europe maps on the card, so never have to do what you do with the Quest which is, upload the maps you need for your European trip, which is no big deal really.

I just don't think any of the 2xxx series are worth it any more.

HTH!

Cheers,

Matt

 

[andyclift]

I am a very satisfied user of a 2720 Street Pilot so can't really comment on 2610 except it has a bigger screen than a Quest and it does not have a vulnerable sticky up antenna. As my 2720 is only ever used on the bike or in the car I have never found the lack of an internal battery to be a problem.

 

[prul]

I'm verry happy with the quest. Allso handy to walk around with

 

[harrisn]

At last i have bitten the bullet as it were and bought myself a quest! also gone for a ram mount and cradle (from GPSW) will see how i get on with it before i buy the qpac, have a autocom already which i listen to my Ipod on all the time so would be nice to also have the GPS connected, off for a 2,5k trip at the end of september across France Germany switczerland etc so it should come in handy!

Thanks all you quest owners for the advice!