Garmin Quest Water Resistant Hiking GPS /Candence
| Overall rating: |
|
Portability meets capability in the pocket-sized Garmin Quest™. This easy-to-use unit is loaded with the high-end navigation features from our most popular GPS navigators, and best of all, it’s portable. So, you can use it in multiple vehicles — or slip it in your pocket for handy street-level directions when you’re navigating on foot.
Features
- Pocket-sized 12-parallel-channel GPS+WAAS receiver with automatic routing and turn-by-turn directions
- 115 MB internal memory for loading MapSource detail; includes built-in Americas autoroute base map
- Trick tracking computer includes odometer, stopped time, max speed, average, and more
- Sunlight-readable, 256-color, 2.2-by-1.5-inch TFT display; USB interface for quick data transfer
- Runs for 20 hours on rechargeable lithium-ion battery; 4.5 x 2.2 x 0.9 inches (W x H x D); 1-year warranty
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 9 x 5 x 0 inches
- Weight: 0 pounds
Stupedously excellent
I Have been using Garmin Quest for the last 2 years. I think I am experienced enough to write a review for the product. This is a small, yet powerful, potential and very nice GPS that never let me down any time. I drive a lot, interstate driving and intercities driving incusive, and use my Questy regularly. It is ultimately portable, bright enough to view at any time of the day even during bright sun shine. The system gets ready in a matter of 4-25 seconds. I mentioned the maximum of 25 seconds since it took this long time twice so far (once in Cape May,NJ and the other time in Niagara falls,NY. Rest of the times, it always started in less than 10 seconds.
Portability is a plus. Reroute is pretty fast and I would say instantaneous. As soon as I miss a turn, it gets ready with new direction very fast in a matter of couple of seconds.
Takes a very small space to mount or store and is a very imporatnat and relaible asset I have ever bought.
I will recomend this product for any one who is seriously thinking of a GPS with full featureqs, great quality, comfortable size yet superbly fast.
Thanks Garmin and this is a studd for your products
Good signal for one year, and then…
I bought this item for more than a year already. It was and still is a good GPS that 90% of the time directs you to the right place. You just need sometime to get used to the command. The best thing to do is to first find a familiar place with this GPS and see how it directs you to the destination. However, I give it a three star because it is losing reception after one year of use for whatever reason. It used to only lose signal when I travel inside cities that have a lot of tall buildings. Now it just lose signal randowly and more frequently. Although I fix this problem by buying the external antenna, but I can only give a three star.
Very happy with the Quest
First let me say that this is my first GPS, and was clueless as to which unit to buy. I completely relied on reviews posted on Amazon to help me learn about GPS from other owners. I wanted a unit that would be used more on the trail and kayaking then car use. But I needed a reliable unit for driving, I can only afford one unit. The Quest is small and fits a foward pocket on my backpack. Its waterproof for use on the kayak. Its recgargeable enough for day use. Only drawback appears to be it will not allow you to switch batteries on the trail. The battery is a lithium-ion battery which has a life of 8 hours of continuous use. After that recharge. So you have to concider that on your hike. The price is great, and the “city navigator” DVD I’ve inputed works fine. I paid only $216 for a factory “reconditioned” unit, and this unit also included the “city navigator” DVD, which is a must. The internal map that come in the unit is too basic, does not show streets, only main highways and interstates.
So again the best thing about this Garmin Quest GPS is its compact, accurate, well made, a good value and expandable with 115 MB of memory. Could this be the best multi-tasking gps made? Maybe.
Life Saver
I bought this for my wife as a Christmas present and she loves it. She uses it all the time. It has saved us from going out of the way a couple and even when we couldn’t see road signs it guided us in the right direction. Another great attraction is it’s ability to find points of interest even if you don’t have an address. All around it is a great value for the money.
Garmin Quest – A Hybrid GPS
You really need to do your research before buying a GPS. I’ve owned the Garmin Quest for almost three years now and I love it. It has features that you just can’t find in the touch screen models. First off it’s waterproof. I also use this GPS when I go boating and it almost always gets splashed with water. It has a breadcrumb feature that allows you to see where you’ve been. Great for boating, hiking, or exploring unmarked country dirt roads and you need to find your way back. It has an internal battery that will last 20 hours on a single charge. As with all GPS’s there are some downsides to it. The screen is a little on the small side compared to today’s models. It takes longer to enter in addresses than with a touch screen model. And you do have to plan your trip carefully and load the maps you’ll need before you start your adventures. (The Garmin Quest II Handheld GPS Navigator comes with all the maps preloaded. It didn’t exist when I purchased my Quest.) Because of these downsides, I’ve recently purchased the Garmin nüvi 650 Personal Travel Assistant for North America for my wife. It has a very large touch screen (wide screen version) which makes it easier to input addresses than the standard size touch screen GPS’s (such as the Garmin nüvi 350 Pocket Vehicle GPS Navigator with Maps for North America). It has all the maps preloaded so she won’t have to think about loading any. It’s not waterproof, but she will never have a need to use it outside of a car. It doesn’t have the breadcrumb feature that we love, but you just have to learn to accept there are limitations with all GPS’s. Just do your research and purchase the one that’s best suited for your needs and budget.
one of the most frustrating purchases ever
I took it to Portland Oregon and the device was worse than worthless. Example: it said I was 500 feet from my destination, then I turned into a parking lot and then it said I was 8 miles from my destination. Another example: I was headed to the airport and following the instructions. It said I was 20 minutes away; then it said, “re-calculating route” and I was 38 minutes away. I had to stop at a gas station and get directions. At least 10 times I was following the instructions and then it says `recalculating route”. I have more examples, but you get the idea. I bought it online and realized how bad it was after the return policy expired and so I tried to return it to Garmin, but they wouldn’t take it. I didn’t want to sell it because it works so badly, so I gave it to goodwill and wrote on the box that it is a `toy’. Do yourself a favor and buy something better.
The one of the best gadget I’ve ever had….
this is one of the best gadget I have ever had, very portable, waterproof,very bright sharp screen,very accurate, excellent battery life,
the price was excellent for the quality, features.
I had this fantastic device for 3 years I am sometimes still learning about how to fully utilize this device, this has a lot of differnt ways to show you the direction. Men are usually good with directions so u may not need voice guidence sometimes u just need to glance a brief map with highlighted path,or u just need typed directions all depend the way needed
but nothing is perfect. This device doesnt response quickly in a busy downtown area so you might have to give it a little time to recalculate.
when I tried to buy this product I read a lot of amazon’s customer reviews
they all make their point they about 90 percent right. The reason why I am giving 5 stars are despite of it’s shortcomings(128mb builin memory)
When u get used to how it works u will learn to love this product. This is the very fist GPS I ever had but I dont think i need any better GPS.
This also has all the attractions, parks,restraunt, u practically dont need yellowpages, but like any electronics u can use basic functions but this amazing device is much more than that, don’t let this small screen fool you because small screen is good enough for u. I can go on with all the details but I can almost gurantee u that u will not regret it.
Lasted 17 Months…now what?
Well, I enjoyed this unit while it lasted. Now it works for a few minutes before it eternally says “Lost Satellite Reception”. Since Garmin charges $150 to repair it, I’ll be getting a new one. This shouldn’t have happened. I only use it a few times per month!
Shoulda gotten the extended warranty!
Garmin Quest GPS
I really like this unit. It is fairly easy to use and easy to read. I bought it for two reasons…it is weatherproof which is great for use on the motorcycle, and it was much, much cheaper than the Azuma model which sells for $600.00. I got this as a factory reconditioned unit and it was like new with all the peripherals, window mount, charger, etc. I only had two problems. The setup disc is a DVD, not a CD so my stone age computer wouldn’t play it but my friends laptop saved the day. Secondly, there is no inexpensive power cord that I can connect to my RAM motorcycle mount. Garmin makes a cycle mount, but I don’t like it as well as the RAM so I have to run it on battery power on the bike which limits its use and range. RAM makes a power cord, but it cost $113.00…a bit steep. In the car…IT WORKS GREAT. The window mount/power cord/speaker is loud and clear with adjustable volume. AND the support from GARMIN is terrific. They responded to numerous email inquiries promptly and were very helpful. All in all, for only $200.00 and change, this was a great bargain, and I recommend it.
Great little nav
Now I’m a bit of a GPS nut and a Garmin fan – I have the nuvi 360 in my commuter car, and gave the i3 to my directionally-challenged college student son. I recently bought a motorcycle, and mounted the nuvi on it – was disappointed in the readability of the display in bright sunlight, and nervous about getting caught in the rain.
Got the Quest after some research, and think it’s perfect for motorcycling. The display is nice and bright even in full sun, and it’s waterproof! Got a Garmin motorcycle mount that can be wired to the bike and to a helmet headset, although haven’t gotten around to doing all that yet; for now just running it on the internal battery (great battery life) and visual commands.
Each of my nav units serves well; the nuvi is definitely easiest to use, the i3 is very simple for someone like my son who only uses it occasionally and doesn’t want to bother learning all about GPS, and the Quest is awesome for the motorcycle – the ability to pre-program routes with multiple waypoints is great for Sunday morning loop rides to out-of-the-way places.
Nice GPS for the Money
Very nice product, but the routing seems to take you on all kinds of side trips no matter what your settings. I’ve used this in a small aircraft, in a personal vehicle, handheld, and in my work vehicle to track my location and movements.. I would buy it again.
MAPS HOPELESSLY OUTDATED MAKE THIS USELESS!
I have had a quest for about 6 months now and find this a very frustrating unit to work with.
Recently went on a trip to California from Arizona and all went well until I got to California. Although I had maps loaded for the location I went to (Sacramento) the maps were outdate by as much as 2 yrs.
Here in Arizona where I live south of Phoenix there have been a lot of new developments and there’s a loop that’s been completed and in existence for about a year and a half and it doesn’t show on the map.
Garmin will go to great lenghts to ask you to report the issue but will not do anything to resolve it.
This is pretty much useless as the area I drive around has been much developed but there are no street or road displays anywhere on the most current version of the map.
FORGET GARMIN!
RUN AWAY from this product unless you want to be frustrated out of your mind.
Great all around navigator
My first GPSr’s where Garmin V’s, which were a little dated with slower processor, black screen, small storage capacity etc. I did like the horizontal format though, so was attracted to the Quest. I have had this unit for 2 years, and it has performed flawlessly. The screen is superb, and the controls are easy to use. The unit is so small it is easy to pocket. The only negative I can think of is the built in rechargable battery, which can’t be swapped out on a hike. The battery has good life, but on multi-day back packs this unit stays home. A 60C is better for multi-day treks and has the same great screen. The quest mounts better in a car though, and can talk to you in that sexy Garmin lady voice. It is a nice little navigator, and comes with the full North America road maps.
Garmin Quest problem to boot up
If you have problem to boot your Garmin Quest recently, don’t panic, your system is fine. The only problem is that Garmin’s technical support sucks, they should have let us know what have happened.
I was trying to use my GPS system this morning and it cannot boot up. After hours searching on internet and i found nothing. I finally found my manual and read it through again. There is a reset keys combination — hold power key and In key at the same time. It will reset the unit and it can boot up. However, if you turn it off, it won’t come back. You still have to reset it next time.
I got some feeling this has to do with the day light savings time. You know, this year’s day light savings time started on March 11th. I went to Garmin’s website try to find if they have software updates for the unit. Unfortunately their Webupdater software always got an error when I tried to install it(sucks). I then found out their latest software for the unit is 4.0 and was released on Aug 07, 2006 and I already have it on my unit.
Now I realized I might need change something in my unit. I went to Menu -> Time Setup and found out the time is still not changed to day light savings
time. After some thoughts, I finally figured out the problem. I had the
Daylight Saving as auto. Since the unit’s software still keep the old rules
about the Daylight Savings time, the time on the unit is 1 hour late than the time on satellite. I guess this actually cause some confusions and the unit got locked up everytime you use it.
The good news is after I changed the Daylight Saving to “Yes”, the time become current and i don’t have problem to boot it up anymore.
If you have the same problem, today is your lucky day. I spent couple hours and finally figured out the problem and I am really happy about it. I almost went ahead to buy a new one and hope this information will help you as well.
Quest
The Garmin Quest is a great GPS, I use it on my motorcycle and in my car without any problems. The only disadvantage it has is difficulty in entering addresses while driving. Which isn’t really a big deal if you’re patient. Excellent product.
Good product
2/09 – I got this unit over 2 years now and it’s still working good. The internal battery is holding well of charge, no issue for a long day hike. The only problem is the map with Garmin still far behind to its competitors, the current map still outdated compare to other bands!
This is a good unit for mounting on the boat with its track-back feature, never got lost in a big confusing lake. I used the velco tape to mount the GPS on the boat, the origenal mount just could not handle the wave much!
3/08 – A year later review, this GPS is still going strong, and I finally got a boat and mount it on the Speedometers, it display where I was in the lake and where I heading to, no need a marine map! Also, I got a SUV and had switch between cars, it works well and the battery can hold for a long time. But the new high way & new community has expanded, so will wait until the local major highway are done before I order a new map DVD.
I have this GPS for 6 weeks, it’s so good exceed my expectations. The con is the limited memory size of 115 MB; I live in NC, can load it with whole NC, SC and WV. If I need to cross country trip, I can either bring my laptop or its based map already included all the inter-state high way and major local roads as well or just re-load those cities along my path. And other is POI – don’t expect they are up to date info, treat it as part-time yellow page.
The pos are I used it on my car lower left corner of windshield and pretty much hide the core around the steeling column, most passengers won’t even notice it including myself. I also used it when hiking in state parks with the antenna closed and in a camera bag hanging on my waist belt. It received signal most of time except under the high tall trees area. With that I don’t worry about how to get my way back.
I just brought the RAM mount and will use it on my motorcycle soon; the Ram mount itself works so good, can adjust to any direction you wanted just like a joy stick to me and no need to worry the GPS get drop off from the bike, it’s so tight by turning the button up. In the future, I might use it on my boat if I got one, will expected it shows me where I am on any lake.
Amazon is good and this was my first purchase from them, it had 30 days price guarantee and refund some money to me after I purchased and the price dropped a bit.
Great Directions
I travel a lot to unfamiliar locations and this product has been a great time saver. It’s so much easier to use than directions from programs like Mapquest, etc. It’s allowed me to regularly find locations and complete work assignments in half the time workers without a GPS guidance system have taken.
Good Color Display !
This a good GPS with 256 colors display. It has all the features of a most expensive GPS with a small price.
saved our trip
I rate this 5 stars. it is the perfect navigator saved us in DC last year! We would have never found our way out. Anyway my only complaint maps are not preloaded. We have to load them each time we go to a different region. Otherwise Perfect Item!
Small Gadget, Big Wow
I bought this as a Christmas gift for my wife. She’s not a techno-type, so I was a bit concerned. There’s no need – it’s easy and intuitive. I don’t think she’ll ever travel without it, and it seems nearly impossible to get lost if you’ve plotted a course. The only negative is that when we attempted to install the map software, we were advised that a newer version was available online. This is a HUGE download, so you may have problems if you’re not on broadband. However, you can call customer service, and they’ll mail you a CD. Don’t hesitate to ask them to expedite the order, they’re very cooperative.