Garmin Quest vs. More $$$

[Heineken77]

Hello Everyone,

Today I just purchased a Garmin Quest for $699 CND + Taxes at my local Best Buy. From all of the reviews I have read, this is a solid unit, very accurate and with the most up to date maps for the Canada/Toronto area.

However, when I went into Best Buy to purchase this unit, they had a Roadmate 700 on selling, and when it was all said and done I would have been almost double the price I paid after taxes and credit fees in order to pick that unit up.

Now, the guy told me I had 30 days to play with it, and if I chose to, I could bring it back in within that 30 days in order to upgrade to the Roadmate 700.

I run a service business, and I am driving all over the city daily. I'd say 99% of my travel will be in Toronto and around the municipalities surrounding Toronto. I also want a unit that is accurate, has the latest maps with map updates in the future, with the fastest routes, and capable of inputting 9 destinations and it maps out the best route to take from 1-9 and end back at 1 with the least amount of travel. A unit that will serve it's purpose.

I have read that the roadmate 700 currently does not allow for multipule destination input/waypoints...however the 760 does. Now, the question is...is double the cost worth the money to put out for a more advanced unit, or does the Quest pretty much do the same that all the others do?

Can anyone with experience give me the pros and cons, and opinions on whether they would stick to the Quest if they were in my shoes, or would they shell out double the money in order to get the roadmate 760?

Any support would be GREAT as this is a big purchase for me at this time, and I put my trust in this forum's hands.

Respectfully Yours!

[Skippy]

The Quest is a good unit but I don't know if it's the best thing for your needs.

The limitations are:

The screen is fairly small. Garmin's software makes pretty good use of the small space but if I was on the road all day, every day then I would want something with a bigger screen. The portability of the Quest is nice though, you can just slip it in your pocket rather than leaving an expensive bit of kit sitting on your dash.

The address input is a little bit tedious. More expensive systems have larger, touch screeens for faster address input and faster CPU's for quicker route calculation.

It can't take multiple addresses and automatically optimise them into the fastest route.


You can enter multiple stops as Via points, but it won't optomise them for you. You could pre-plan the route on your PC using Mapsource and upload it to the Quest but this assumes that you don't make any detours on the way.

Sorry, I don't know anything about the Roadmate. There are lots of PDA based systems to consider too, but they don't seem to be as solid as the Garmin units, in my humble opinion. Don't buy CoPilot - it's junk.

Try the Quest for a while and then go back to the shop for a demo of the higher end or PDA based units and see what you think. You may find that the Quest is adequate for your needs or you may yearn for a higher end model with faster address entry and route calculation.

If you drive in heavily built-up areas (very tall buildings) then ALL GPS systems will have problems with loss of Satellite lock. The really good ones (eg Street Pilot 2620) have "Dead Reckoning" which helps out when in difficult conditions.

As for maps, you will find map errors in all systems. Check with Garmin to see if you have the latest maps, they may do a free upgrade if you don't.

Finally, take a bit of time to get used to ANY GPS system. I can guarantee that it will have mapping errors and generate the occasional strange route - you have to learn to ignore the unit and follow your instinct when it tells you to do something illegal/daft and let it recalculate the route automatically. Think to yourself, "If my GPS tells me to jump off a cliff, will I?".

Good luck!
_________________
Gone fishing!

[Heineken77]

Hello there,

Thank you very much for that reply! Just a couple more questions if you don't mind

1) Is the Garmin StreetPilot 2610/2620 generally regarded as a better unit than the Quest aside from the screen size?

I read on the Garmin site that the Quest does offer multiple route calculation. From: http://www.garmin.com/products/quest/

Auto sort multiple destinations to provide an efficient route for deliveries and sales calls

2) Also, between the 2610 and 2620...would you recommend going with the 2620 or do these harddrives die after awhile?

3) Does the Garmin 26xx series have more POIs than the Quest, and are POIs upgradeable?

4) What is the general concensus between Mapsource City Select (used by Quest) and Mapsource City Navigator (used by StreetPilot) in terms of which is better/more detailed. Keep in mind I live in Toronto Canada. Or are they essentially the same product?

Thank you very much!!

[elsinga]

I don't know what Quest we are talking about, but my Quest does a good job optimizing via's... And that's also described in the manual...
_________________
Robert Elsinga =8- )

GPS V FAQ Quest FAQ
Home @ N 52"55.812', E 05"51.509'

[krusty_clown]

The 'optimise vias' menu option can be a little tricky to find.
When you have your route selected (Highlight it in the route list and press [OK], press [Menu] and select [Optimal Via order].

HTH.

[Skippy]

[Heineken77]

Hello Everyone

Thank you very much for your replies!!

So I guess now the only questions I have left are:

1) Can't the 2610 be upgraded with Points of Interest using the software found here: http://www.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/poi.jsp Or is this a whole other bottle of wax??

2) Is the Magellan Roadmate 760 better than the 2610..and seeing as it's due out very soon should I buy that instead? Guess I'm at a point wanting the 2710, however with it due out in such a long time, I would like to get the best at this price range now. What are the maps like by magellan for Canada in comparison to the Garmin maps?

3) Do both the Roadmate 760 and StreetPilot 2610 know the times of streets that are not allowed left turns for example at certain times?

Thank you very much once again!!

We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
Have you considered making a donation towards website running costs?.
Or you could disable your ad-blocker for this site. We think you’ll find our adverts are not overbearing!