Garmin Quest 2 Portable Weatherproof Handheld GPS with MapSource City Maps
If you’re looking for a powerful companion to lead the way on your next road trip or your next trip across town, the Garmin Quest 2 is worth a serious look. With a brilliant 256-color display, and a massive points of interest database, the Quest 2 has all the basics covered. Plus, with a weight of just 5.5 ounces and a width of 4.5 inches, the unit is compact and transportable, Navigating to nearly six million preprogrammed points of interest is quick and easy. The Quest 2’s trip…
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Ok here is an expert review. I looked at speed in recalulating, speed in changing directions, voice and brightness. I give all a 4 to 5 rating.
1. The unit is slow recalulating, infact at times my GPS V was faster. Here is the trick. The memory(hd) is super large in this unit and all maps are install. All you have to do is go into the maps and uncheck the maps you do not need. I live on the east coast therefore I unchecked all westcoast, midwest and canada. Did speed test now unit is Twice as fast as my GPS V. Simple… When you need the other maps loaded just go in and check them.
Vocie is clear and loud. I am looking for a way to install into a fm modulator.
Screen is bright.
This unit is small and compact and works for me, I have a GPS 3plus, GPS V and now Quest 2 and use them all on diff. vehicles. and ATV. I recommed the Quest 2 over the 1 no need to carry a laptop anymore. Better then the Streetpilot and faster if you uncheck several unused maps.
I bought this because even though I never have had difficulty reading maps, it is a royal pain to do it on a motorcycle! I have the Quest II mounted on the handlebar by the left grip (’91 BMW K100RS) with the RAM mounting system. Though it is has an integral battery, I opt to power it by the motorcycle battery, because I like to leave the background light on all the time at night when driving. I bought the Garmin motorcycle accessory mount for this which provides power and audo connectibility.
I was a little concerned at first when I saw the screen size, ’cause I thought it a bit small, but it is not a problem. When it is time for a turn, the screen zooms in and increases the type size so it’s no struggle at all to read. However, I also have the audio hooked up to my AUTOCOM Intercom system so I also hear the voice alerts. Very impressive. It tells you (both visual and voice) well ahead of time that you will have a turn coming up to the right, so you then have more than adequate time to move over into the right lane. The next audio alert allows much time for braking and signalling. I look at the screen to confirm (I’m just that way), and it’s never been wrong yet. I took a trip to Asheville (NC) this weekend and punched in the address for the restaurant we wanted to go to, and when it was time for dinner I hit “find” and it routed correctly through three freeway changes, tricky on-off ramp routing and one-way streets to basically a back-alley address. Incredible. I know that even with great map-reading skills a master navigator couldn’t have done the same so efficiently with the kind of maps most of us carry (state, not city, maps).
If for some reason the map CD is not included in the box (because the map is preloaded on the unit they say), contact Garmin and they will mail you one (free). Advance route mapping is so much easier on your computer than trying to do it on the unit itself. This is especially important for motorcycle riders who usually do not want to go from point A to point B in the most direct manner (we like the scenic routes).
I’m into maximum bang for the buck. This is it. You can spend twice as much, but why?
UPDATE 7/13/07:
I still love this unit. Yes, prices are coming down on other (fancier) units, but what makes this still a winner is that you can use it with the internal battery as well. Example: Mount it in a car or on a motorcycle like normal (powered by 12 v adapter to have voice audio guidance available). At end of days journey, take GPS only inside hotel and use again (internal battery power) when you’re wondering where the closest Chinese restaurant is that you can walk to. Go to restaurant, realize you need to visit ATM, whip GPS out of pocket and use it to guide you while walking to the ATM machine that’s listed as being .28 miles away. Personally, I like being able to do all that with one pocket-sized, reasonably priced GPS.
We purchased the Quest II as a 2nd unit because we like our Quest I so much. Quest II is a *big* disappointment for one simple reason — it’s too slow. Garmin tech support says Quest II is 10-15% slower than Quest I due to the larger memory chip; we ran side-by-side comparisons with both versions, and our experience was more like 200-300% (we even tried another Quest II w/ same results). The Quest II is frequently late in announcing/displaying directions when there is a sequence of closely-spaced instructions; when you miss a turn in a city (where there’s lots of data), the recalculation is too slow (it announces/displays instructions *after* you’ve passed the street to turn on, even when traveling at 5 mph); the screen redraw in a city is also very slow, sometimes so slow that you can’t see upcoming streets and landmarks until it’s too late. We offered recorded video to show to Garmin, but they simply acknowledged the performance and suggested that we purchase the Quest I instead. So we did. You should, too. The new features in the Quest II don’t come anywhere close to making up for the poor performance, but the Quest I is a great unit: small footprint for pedestrian use, voice instructions and reasonable screen for car use, int’l and topo maps available, etc.