Quest or Quest2

Riktus

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Guys
I am in need of a little advice I have been scouring the land for good offers on Garmin GPS after listening to loads of people saying how good and reliable the Quest is that is what i am going for.
However can some nice person tell me "in plain English" the main differences between the Quest and the Quest2 because both can be had for reasonable money at the moment.
All that stands out to me at the moment is Q2 has more detailed maps of rest of Europe and 7 digit post code finder - but are there any downfalls. Would realy appreciate your opinions before i blow some cash.

Thanks in advance
Rik

P.S i have searched the threads but couldnt find anyone talking about the differences and pros and cons of each model - is there anyone out there that has had both models?
 
The Quest 2 has more memory and all the maps are preloaded so you don't have to download new map sets for different trips. Having said that, I've just done 2850 miles through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy and the Quest 1 held all the maps for the entire route. The Quest 2 also has a postcode search but I personally don't need this feature.

I wouldn't pay the extra money for the Quest 2.
 
Riktus said:
All that stands out to me at the moment is Q2 has more detailed maps of rest of Europe

The maps are exactly the same, Q2 just holds them all in one go.
 
Both of them come in essentially the same outer case, i.e. the controls are the same and so is the screen. this may be a bad thing if your eyesight is so poor you shouldn't be riding a bike anyway :rolleyes:

On the plus side the Quest 2 has a bigger memory (I think it may work from cards) and can have the whole of Europe on it at one go. The Quest 1 is full up if you have the whole of the U.K. plus the French coast across The Channel. This means you have to plan longer European routes carefully so you have a corridor to ride down (not really that hard in practice as it gives you a few tens of miles to play with and you still have the base map if you stray too far).

On the down side the Quest 2 allegedly has really slow re-draw times. This means that as you move across the screen it takes forever to move the map along. This is BAD, especially in town when junctions come up all the time.

I have to say I only have a Quest 1 and I'm paraphrasing other's opinions here. My Quest 1 is perfectly adequate for most of the time - including weeks away in Europe. I'd only buy something else if I had a considerably bigger budget.
 
I think if you know roughly what route you'll be taking through Europe the Q1 will do the job very well. Even if you don't the base map will always get you out of trouble by getting you to the nearest town...just won't tell you where the fuel/hotel is.
As for the post code search...it might be a nice feature....but I use my Quest for First Responding and can enter enough of an address quickly enough to allow it to get me where I need to be. You'll work around limitations if needed.
 
I've had both and if I were to buy another it would be a Quest 1. Yes, the Quest 2 has a bigger memory (not on cards) so it has all of Europe pre-loaded but the slow redraw rate is not just an allegation. Both Quest 2's I've had suffered from this and they also lost satellite lock at the drop of a hat. Passing by a single tree would do it. The slow redraw rate is more of an issue though. I lost count of the times when I could watch myself literally riding off the map on the screen. Recalcs would regularly take in excess of a minute to accomplish and that's just not on, especially in town. If you've never had a GPS before you may not realise just how bad these issues are.

Screen size wasn't an issue for me and the buttons are easy to use in summer gloves (winter gloves are a bit more hit and miss though).

Quest 1 :thumb

Quest 2 :nono

Best thing about a Quest 2 is you can nag Garmin into swapping for something else.
 
In these PC days, I think I have to challenge your comment about eyesight. If a myopic person wants to ride a motorcycle, then that it is clearly their right to do it

And there's probably even an EC Directive that says so.
 
Thanks Fellas
The information you have given is extremely helpful - not only will it be cheaper for a Quest 1 it sounds like for biking it will be a better model.
Someone asked the question about using GPS already - I do but it is PDA based so I want something more bike specific so that it is waterproof and hardwired.

Once again Thanks
Rik
 
With all that advice and the money saved...surely a site sponsorship?? :nod
 
Best thing about a Quest 2 is you can nag Garmin into swapping for something else.
You might be lucky but don't count on it I purchased my Q2 in January it was replaced because it would not pick up Sats and would freeze a lot for no reason I got a new quest sent to me mid June went round Europe the redraw and Sat reception was so poor that it was worse than having no GPS at all in some instances. Phoned Garmin with above issues and they will not replace it despite the fact that they have withdrawn the units in parts of Europe with known problems and despite the fact that I told them they have replaced the unit for other people (not having a go at you Twotter you were treated properly by Garmin as should others) their excuse to me about the slow recalk redraw is that I will just have to put up with it as its known that the Quest2 is slow a pity they did not put this disclaimer on the box it came in. I am not the only one to get shody treatment from Garmin read posts on other sites including link I posted on this forum earlier this week. There are other problems with the Quest 2 in that when you download routes from mapsource there is a lot of hidden data sent and it does not hold half as many routes as it should and trys to trunicate. So in short no don't buy a Quest 2 infact I even offered my Quest 2 to Garmin for a Quest 1 even though I would be adrift money wise and they can't have much faith in the Q2 because this was also rufused. I am now taking up the fight with GPSW and await a letter from them.
 
Twotter said:
Quest 1 :thumb
Quest 2 :nono
Best thing about a Quest 2 is you can nag Garmin into swapping for something else.
Same experience as MrTwotter, the Q2 has better spec than Q1 on paper but, mine was very slow and lost sat-lock continually. I got it exchanged by Garmin for a 2720 which works a treat, no complaints with the calculation speed on that!! :thumb
 
bigbob1 said:
Charlie-B and Twotter did you guys go to Garmin in person or did you phone them?
Hi BB,
Sorry to hear of your problems with a Q2. Not all of them are trouble, some owners report no probs and happy routing all around Europe. Not our experience however, its too slow on a bike, more suited to hiking!!

Have a look at this thread... my experience with Q2...
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78355&highlight=quest

I did not bother with the retailer, waste of time, went straight to Garmin.
I rang Garmin UK in Romsey on their cheaper landline number... 01794 519944.
Call them tonight, get their office hours on the recorded message, (think its 8.00am) and get on the phone to them at opening time. Have a book and a pot of tea handy, I waited 50 minutes to get through.

Once through, Cust Servs man was very helpful and admitted straight off that Q2 was "a bit slow..." :rolleyes: I outlined the slow speed, hanging screen, loss of sat lock and that I did not want a repair/fix on mine as I was sending it back to them as unfit for purpose. I would however be interested in an upgrade to a unit that simply worked better. You will get a return ref. number.

Box the unit up, (helps if you've still got the box and bits!), send it recorded with a covering letter outlining the constant problems and that you want an upgrade. Be polite but clear.

I was prepared to make a contribution to an upgrade if asked as I was expecting a 2610 like Twotter. In the event and to my pleasant surprise, they were very proper and sent me a 2720 in 10 days as a straight exchange.
HTH and good luck. :thumb
Let us know what happens.
Charlie
 
Twotter said:
I've had both and if I were to buy another it would be a Quest 1. Yes, the Quest 2 has a bigger memory (not on cards) so it has all of Europe pre-loaded but the slow redraw rate is not just an allegation. Both Quest 2's I've had suffered from this and they also lost satellite lock at the drop of a hat. Passing by a single tree would do it. The slow redraw rate is more of an issue though. I lost count of the times when I could watch myself literally riding off the map on the screen. Recalcs would regularly take in excess of a minute to accomplish and that's just not on, especially in town. If you've never had a GPS before you may not realise just how bad these issues are.

Screen size wasn't an issue for me and the buttons are easy to use in summer gloves (winter gloves are a bit more hit and miss though).

Quest 1 :thumb

Quest 2 :nono

Best thing about a Quest 2 is you can nag Garmin into swapping for something else.

It's weird that some people say the Quest 2 has really slow re-draw - I have been impressed with how quickly it does keep up with what's going on around town. Maybe it is connected with the loss of satellite reception that you experienced - I guess that if it keeps losing the signal (even briefly) then it will be lost and take a while to find itself again - sounds faulty to me. The only time I loose the signal on the road is in long avenues of trees - once into clear sky it recovers in seconds.
 
bigbob1 said:
There are other problems with the Quest 2 in that when you download routes from mapsource there is a lot of hidden data sent and it does not hold half as many routes as it should and trys to trunicate.
Yes, this is a serious limitation - but the situation is the same for Quest 1. Neither of them can hold very many routes. The spec says "up to 50" but often 15 routes is enough to reach the limit.

Worse is that the Quest 2 is VERY unstable when filled with many routes & waypoints. Locks up all the time. The Quest 1 seems to be much more reliable. :type
 
Twotter said:
I've had both and if I were to buy another it would be a Quest 1. Yes, the Quest 2 has a bigger memory (not on cards) so it has all of Europe pre-loaded but the slow redraw rate is not just an allegation. Both Quest 2's I've had suffered from this and they also lost satellite lock at the drop of a hat. Passing by a single tree would do it. The slow redraw rate is more of an issue though. I lost count of the times when I could watch myself literally riding off the map on the screen. Recalcs would regularly take in excess of a minute to accomplish and that's just not on, especially in town. If you've never had a GPS before you may not realise just how bad these issues are.

Screen size wasn't an issue for me and the buttons are easy to use in summer gloves (winter gloves are a bit more hit and miss though).

Quest 1 :thumb

Quest 2 :nono

Best thing about a Quest 2 is you can nag Garmin into swapping for something else.

Abolutely correct!! I had a Q1 sold it for a :mcgun Q2 and regretted every moment of ownership! I now have a 2820 and am smiling again!... :thumb
 
bigbob1 said:
Charlie-B and Twotter did you guys go to Garmin in person or did you phone them?

With the first Quest 2 we were near Southampton for a family wedding so we took the opportunity to nip over to their premises (nice they put themselves in as a waypoint). Caught a chap going into work who was very helpful. After explaining the problem he replaced the aerial and ensured it had the latest firmware (it did).

The problem didn't go away so on our return home we called Garmin (always expect an hours delay on hold) and they swapped it for another Quest 2. I used it on a trip to Belgium and France in early June but it was just as bad so on my return got back on the blower.

Once speaking to one of the customer services people they were very helpful and seemed to be very aware of the problems I had experienced. The initial proposal was a repair but that was refused, as was another replacement unit. They then offered a Quest 1. I countered with a Quest 1 & an i3 (for the missus in the car, as I would have lost too much money on the experience) which they agreed to. Had a think and changed my mind as I really wanted the features of the Quest 2 so argued for a 2720. This was just before the 2610 was discontinued so they refused a 2720 and offered a 2610 instead. Knowing this to be a reliable unit and knowing I could get a memory card to preload all the Western Europe maps I went for this option.

Now bearing in mind we didn't buy the Quest 2 from Garmin (the seller refused to accept it back) I thought they were very good in sorting me out. All of this took a number of phone calls to get arranged but I now have a GPS which I trust and which works.
 
I will put the Quest 2 to a serious test in the next couple of weeks on a trip to the South of France. I have planned the routes on my PC and have about 10 downloaded to the device. I have down this is the UK before with no issues at all, I'll see if it behaves in France. Will report back with the results.

One thing that I always do is keep the Mapsource software updated on my PC and download every new FLASH upgrade for the device. The main problem I have found with it is that it takes a long time to learn how to use it properly - the user interface is not very intuitive (for an Electronics Engineer anyway) and the manual isn't much better, but once I got my head around how it worked it has to date performed faultlessly.
 
Twotter said:
With the first Quest 2 we were near Southampton for a family wedding so we took the opportunity to nip over to their premises (nice they put themselves in as a waypoint). Caught a chap going into work who was very helpful. After explaining the problem he replaced the aerial and ensured it had the latest firmware (it did).

The problem didn't go away so on our return home we called Garmin (always expect an hours delay on hold) and they swapped it for another Quest 2. I used it on a trip to Belgium and France in early June but it was just as bad so on my return got back on the blower.

Once speaking to one of the customer services people they were very helpful and seemed to be very aware of the problems I had experienced. The initial proposal was a repair but that was refused, as was another replacement unit. They then offered a Quest 1. I countered with a Quest 1 & an i3 (for the missus in the car, as I would have lost too much money on the experience) which they agreed to. Had a think and changed my mind as I really wanted the features of the Quest 2 so argued for a 2720. This was just before the 2610 was discontinued so they refused a 2720 and offered a 2610 instead. Knowing this to be a reliable unit and knowing I could get a memory card to preload all the Western Europe maps I went for this option.

Now bearing in mind we didn't buy the Quest 2 from Garmin (the seller refused to accept it back) I thought they were very good in sorting me out. All of this took a number of phone calls to get arranged but I now have a GPS which I trust and which works.

Bloody hell - after that negotiation, how'd you fancy heading out to Beirut or Iraq?

Al :D
 
Thanks Charlie B and Twotter managed to get hold of Garmin today and unit now on the way back to them for them to check and hopefully replace with something else I did a covering letter and said I would even accept a Quest 1 as long as it does what it says on the box. HMR thanks for your input re trunicating routes did not know this was an issue with Q1 if I get one will do the same as I did with Q2 which is download all the waypionts I need and make the unit do the routes 1 at a time from the sequential waypoints I put in the Unit.Engineer good luck with your trip to south of France hope you have better luck than me with yours but more important enjoy the roads esp route Napolion the three Gorges and esp the Maritine Alps apart from getting the piss taken out of me from the map readers among us we had a great time

cheers Bob
 


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