Bargain Garmin Quest sat-nav

[Boxered]

Dixons are selling off their stock of Garmin Quest at £199 inc vat

too late for me, I paid £329 eight weeks ago

you won't find it on their website, but if you call your local store you will get it at the clearance price, 2 of my mates have just secured one each from different stores. you'll have to be quick, cos when they're gone.......well you know the rest

Steve

[BMWBob]

I was in Halfords last Friday and noticed they were also selling them at £199.

Garmin have announced a MkII version of the Quest so I assume dealers are clearing their stocks of the original version. Regards Bob

[sandbar]

.

Do you think that it is coincidence that they have both decided independently to sell off the old stock at the exact same price?

sandbar

[Blackal]

£199 I paid double that, a year ago. I don't think the Quest II is that much of an improvement other than grid-referance search facility - I think has the same memory

At £199 - that has to be a bargain!

Al

[skiddy boxers]

I've been looking at the Quest recently. It seems impossible to find it in the high street / retail park outlets and the best price I can find on the net is £296.95 with V7 mapping. Used ones seem to sell for well over £200 on Ebay.

Although recently discontinued, I've found a company on the net with a supply of new Garmin Streetpilot III deluxe at £299.99 with v6 mapping.

I like the idea of being able to plan routes on the pc which the Streetpilot can definately do but I don't know if the Quest has this facility?

Any thoughts from you guys on which would be the better buy.?

Cheers
Nick

[Blackal]

Hi,

The Quest is ready to use out of the box, but for full benefit - install the supplied software on your PC and use that to insert all your destinations/points of interest/preferred routes. You can do it all on the Quest, but it is a doddle on the PC.

I'm a great fan of the Quest, and unless you have a large bike, it is an ideal size when used with a clutch-cover Ram-mount.

For the money - nothing comes close. You can get USA maps at reasonable cost off Ebay too.

Al

[adamski49]

Nick

The SPIII is old technology with the Quest being the newer of the two units it has a faster processor - better for off-route recalculations.

Also, just to annoy you, Dixons, PC World etc have been knocking the Quest out for £80 as the Quest2 is the new kid on the block.

If you can hold off a little bit there should be some bargain Quest units for mte main GPS suppliers.

Adam

[skiddy boxers]

Thanks guys

If you can plan routes on the PC and download to the Quest then that helps to make my mind up.

From reading the thread some time ago I've trawled PC Worlds, Dixons, Halfords, etc etc but can't even find a Quest let alone one at £80.

I think I'll hang on a bit longer as I don't fancy paying £300 for the Quest if it's likely to be discounted heavily soon.

Nick

[cc mac]

Anyone got a picture of one fitted?

[skiddy boxers]

Check this thread for some good photos

http://www.boxertrix.com/phpBB2/viewtop ... t&start=30

Nick

[Huw]

Both my bikes (R11S & K12RS) have Quest brackets on them but although I seem to be the only dissenting voice about I'll get my 2p worth in!!

I do NOT recommend the Quest as a motorcycle sat-nav. All Garmins are going the same route of the 6 contact points sitting/resting against 6 sprung copper coloured points on the bracket. There is no rubber covering to prevent water getting down the back to these contacts and motorcycle vibration causes the contact to "break" as the bike is being ridden. The result has been flickering screens, power on-off causing internal battery use and, most recently arcing within the bracket on the "K" which has destroyed 2 of the contact points leaving the bracket as no more than a hanger for the Quest which runs 3 hour max on the internal battery!! I'm still waiting a response to my e-mail to Garmin but.....

If I knew how to post pictures in here I'd take the digital camara and show you but if you are doing decent mileage I'd look at the TomTom rider or any other alternative to Garmin.

Ride safe....Huw

[skiddy boxers]

Sounds Like you've had a problem there Huw.

The Tom Tom Rider is too expensive for the limited use it will get on my bike.

My primary use is in the car and I'm thinking of running the quest off it's own battery whilst on the bike without the voice directions. So I don't think the problems you've encountered HUW should be an issue for me.

With a stated 20 hour battery life (don't believe it but that's what it says on the tin) it should be more than enough for a days riding between recharges.

Has anyone else had the same problems as Huw or got any thoughts on using the Quest on the bike from the internal battery.

Nick

[Paul]

Huw,

Sorry to hear about your Quest problems. I haven't experienced the same issues with my Quest, but then again I don't put in the high milage that you do. Are your cradles permanetly live, or do you wire them into a switched circuit so they are off when the ignition is off? Do you cover the cradle when you remove the Quest to stop it being rained upon? I use my cradle as a handy Crash Helmet stand when I'm out and about, which has the advantage of keeping the weather off the contacts.

Try 'phoning, or better yet, visiting Garmin when you're next way down south. I have always found their customer service excellent and they replaced my first quest when the antenna went tits up. I'm fairly confident that they would replace your unit and mounts if you return them.

Cheers,

Paul

[adamski49]

Huw

The backlight is the killer. Try turning it off in daylight and set it to 50% and 30 seconds for when it gets dark - this should be enough to get your directions.

I get 20 hours use out of mine without the backlight and could just about get away with charging it every other evening when we toured France last year.

Can't help with the power issue as I haven't bothered connecting it up.

HTH

Adam

[Blackal]

I haven't had the power-off problem so far (using the Official Garmin mount for the Quest) but there was a "Fade to Black" problem with it before until I upgraded the software to the latest version (downloadable from Garmin's site).

There is a specific button-sequence that reboots the Quest if you do suffer the above, but the real answer is to install the latest operating system.

Whilst a larger screen and buttons are always usefull - the physical size of the quest allows it to fit almost any bike.

Al