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Dustyjacket
| | Posted on Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 06:48 pm: | 
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I use a Meridian Color with DirectRoute - on the boat, in the car, and on my bike. (and geocaching) |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 10:02 pm: |
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Thanks for the info... I will think about trying the Meridian. Thats a heck of a trusting offer.
The frustrating part is that it looks like the 330 I have (also on loan, go figure) is darn similar to the meridian, the big difference being that i can't run DirectRoute on it.
Though maybe once I get to try the mapsend software, I won't need to. The "road view" is all I really need.
The Meridian Color or Explorist do look like the best bang for the buck... until you factor in the cost of the Magellan Routing software (a $100 add on). Then the Garmins with the "turn by turn" options start to look attractive... if the default garmin software works well, which is another unknown.
I think the answer in a nutshell is that I am not going to be able to get what I want for much less then $400... which is enough to motivate me to try and get the 330 working well enough to get me through a couple seasons until the next generation devices come out (at which point the mapping and turn by turn stuff will probably become part of the baseline models)...
I'll keep thinking, and post what succes I manage to get... thanks for the advice folks! |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 10:15 pm: |
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Wow. Just looked at the Garmin Quest. If I could swallow the $369 price, the unit is exactly what I was looking for (and more), and looks like it includes mounts, DC adapters, and all software.
Thats a lot of money, but that unit looks perfect...
How does the PC based routing software work for the Garmin packages? Anybody used it? anybody like or dislike it? |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 10:17 pm: |
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DOH!
Looks like some other company liked the Quest as well 
http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes_gear/accessories/Product.asp?Menu_ID=2&ProductL ineID=1&CategoryID=7&ProductID=4058 |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 10:36 pm: |
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Hey (sorry to keep bugging everyone)... it looks like (for the most part) the Garmin GPS V is pretty darn close to a Quest (for what I want) except it has much less memory, and is monochrome.
But it looks like they are going on eBay for $150 or less (if you are patient) with software...
I think I found my sweet spot. Wait until I get one before y'all start bidding |
Timbo
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 12:40 am: |
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Hey Reep,
I have not checked this thread in a while.
Hope you have found one that works for ya.
The explorist xl is working well for me, especially the TOPO 3D software it runs. It's great for dirtbike riding.
I bought the explorist because it can do a couple different things well. It's great to have on and off road, I just switch maps.
Timbo |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 08:58 am: |
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Timbo - Reep bought a Quest, we'll probably be getting a report on it when he finishes agonizing over the details of where and how to mount it. Oh the joys of a new toy!
As an aside, I recently got to take a closer look at a Garmin 60Cx and I may not be a Magellan user any more after my next GPS purchase. That has the latest SiRF III chipset and speed and sensitivity is much improved. Also the screen is sharper and brighter than my Magellan Color.
The real "Magellan killer" for me is the autorouting software. It does automatic route recalculation, will take multiple destination routes (allows better routing control), and you can save your routes and destinations for reuse.
The Garmin 60/76 "x" series use microSD cards for storing detail maps so Garmin has finally caught up Magellan and closed out their major shortfall in the area of memory limitations. These also have what appears, at first glance, to be a very effective process of automated selection and switching of any of the details maps of any type (road, topo, marine, etc.) that are on the microSd card.
There are still things that bear watching and need to be considered in comparing these to the Magellans.
The "x" series have some software glitches (lockups when coming out of tunnels is one) but I'd be surprised that software updates don't fix those in the upcoming months.
I'm still not sure that the expanded memory is as user accessible or friendly as the Magellans. And I don't care for the sealed Lithium battery packs that replace the AA's cells for power. They are more expensive and less handy in use. But the power in those is key to the better display.
microSD cards are a little more expensive than SD now and are not available in 1Gb or 2Gb sizes yet. But prices are coming down and cards are getting bigger so they will probably be priced about the same as SD cards within the next year.
Magellan is losing the "features" war on both hardware and software. And also losing a lot of loyal customers on their hit or miss approach to software updates and customer support.
Were it not for having to replace all my holdings in two Magellans, three optional mapping packages, and a number of SD cards, I would be seriously considering a shift to Garmin at this time. I'll probably make the decision later this year or early next year.
Jack |
Timbo
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 07:01 pm: |
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Hmmm...Interesting info Jack.
Seems to me that GPS navigation is going to become nearly as common as cell phones in everyday use with our vehicles (almost is already).
As this happens, I expect we will see great improvements in features and ease of use as companies compete for marketshare.
Perhaps more multiple use units. Can you imagine a GPS/Phone/Camera/Walkietalkie/PDA/Video/MP3 player, or combinations thereof?
I know some of this can be done already, but I'm thinking of a unit that's made that way from the get go to work in sync with all other features.
Just think, it might be kinda cool to be able to take a high-res picture with your handheld GPS and then it could show you, at a later date, where on the map it was taken.
Just think, fifteen years ago, if you had told someone that mobile phones (remember that's what they used to call them) would one day be smaller than a deck of cards and be able to take pictures AND video and access the internet? Most people would have laughed at you and thought you were crazy!
OK, enough rambling from me. Sorry.
Timbo |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 07:50 pm: |
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Stand by for proper report, but in a nutshell, if you want to do road navigation, a refurbed Garmin Quest ($309 from megagps.com) is amazing.
I will review it and post pictures and all, but the thing does everything I wanted better then I hoped, and a bunch of stuff I thought impossible on a small unit at this price point better then I would have thought possible.
It's optimized for on road use, so it might not be for everyone, but boy am I impressed.
Pictures soon (including my mount made from an old shelf bracket). |
Court
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 07:54 pm: |
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>>>>mount made from an old shelf bracket
What relationship, precisely, are you to Bomber?
Eager to see the report.....speaking on behalf of poor navigators everywhere. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 09:05 pm: |
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Hey! Who told you I just about lopped off a finger with a drill press! Bomber, are you going to let Court get away with abusing you that way? |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Friday, September 22, 2006 - 04:22 pm: |
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Just an update to an old thread...
The Quest is still working well in most regards, but there is a significant flaw that people probably ought to be aware of.
The electrical connection that goes through the hinge joint to the flip up antenna failed on mine.
It failed right as I was in the last 72 hours of prep time for the "road trip of the year", so my only choice to have a functional unit was to attempt a repair. I got it working, but at the cost of knowing I was technically invalidating my warranty.
I got it cobbled back together for the trip, but at the cost of a non-movable antenna. It was only at that point (DOH!) that I realized I could just get the external antenna for $30 and hook that up and be back up and running.
The inspection of my dissected unit showed a pretty poor design for that hinge (IMHO).
I contacted Garmin, explained what happened, hoping they would honor the warranty anyway. I understand if my modifications broke a unit that they are not obligated to fix it, but hoped that when my modifications bypassed a crappy design element that failed, that they would still honor it. They offered me a discount on the repair (which I will keep private out of respect to them), but not enough to make me feel better.
My expectation as a consumer would be that they inspected what I did, and if I didn't break anything that was not already broken and repairable (as I clearly did not) that they would honor my warranty. They didn't, which is their legal right, and they offered something, which I appreciate, but ultimately I do not feel like I was treated fairly.
I was treated legally though. I knew the risk I was taking when I cracked the seal and soldered the bypass.
All is not lost for the Quest and Quest owners. Buy the $30 external antennae, which will get you much better reception anyway, and put it discretely on the bike.
Run the Quest on your bike with the built in antenna flap secured down where it won't vibrate towards failure. Leave use of the built in antennae in the flip up position for car (lower vibration) / handheld use.
It's one more connector to add/remove for installing / removing the unit from the bike, which is not insignificant. It's another $30 as well (probably less on ebay), which is also not insignificant.
The Quest probably still makes sense (barely, and at the moment) in terms of bang for the buck for some people, but it is by no means the clear cut slam dunk it used to be (IMHO). It puts some of the Magellen units back on par (which looked nice but tended to be more expensive once you factored in the software).
Feel free to ping me offline for questions. I am not interested in turning this into an anti-Garmin crusade. Other then this significant problem, which I have some responsibility for, I could not be happier with the Quest. Ultimately though, they did not treat me anywhere near the way I treat my customers. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 07:04 pm: |
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(Update to this thread, which I finally stumbled back on looking for something else....)
While Garmin still did not do me any favors, and could have helped me with a single sentence or 1 extra page in their manual, there is a very simple way to fix the problem I had, without major disassembly or any soldering. Others have had fantastically good experiences with Garmin Tech Support. Mine was not bad, just not fantastically good.
Put the Quest face down on the table in front of you. Take out the rightmost two screws, and lift off the small plastic end cap (note this does not remove the back cover, just a little bezel that sits to the right of the flip up antennae).
Remove that plastic "stop" piece.
Firmly but gently pry the flip up antennae to the right. It should "snap" out.
Clean the connector (both male and female) with isopropyl alchohol (the more pure the better) or contact cleaner.
That should fix your problem. Snap antennae back in and reassemble. Nothing to it. |
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