I know GPS have been deb ated in all the forums, but I could use some advice. I want to pick up a GPS unit this week but I'd like one that (if possible) I can use on the bike, in the car or even on the boat (although this isnt really necessary). Oh and I dont really want to spend a fortune either, some thing "cheap" ($150-300) if possible. Any suggestions?

Also, does anyone know of places that might sell refurbished or last seasons model? Iassume those would be the best deals.

 

I own a Garmin Quest and for your needs it may be perfect. It is small (fits in a shirt pocket), high quality, and can also be loaded with nautical charts or topographical charts if you hike. It is designed for car, boat, motorcycle or walking. The unit mounts in a Quest Handlebar mount ($20 or so) and you can run it on the internal battery for a full day without a charge. Using the internal battery makes it easy to use - just click it into the mount and you're done. No electrical connections needed. As a final piece of good news the Quest is tested to be waterproof when submerged for an hour. I've used it in rain and it works perfectly.

Also, at night, when the display doesn't reflect without sunlight, you can adjust the internal screen to display at 5-10% intensity. That is plently of light on a dark night and allows you to use the GPS without any problems. Using the backlight will cut into battery time, but I've ridden for hours with the backlight on and no problems.

One note - there are two Quest models, the original and the Quest 2. The original is the one to get. The Quest 2 includes all the maps of the US, a handy feature if you travel non stop across the US but not needed for local rides. On the original Quest I've loaded all data for North and South Carolina, including all stores, gas stations, points of interest, etc., and have room to spare. More importantly the Quest processor isn't the fastest available since its a few years old. If you get the Quest 2 it takes longer to compute destinations and to recover if you miss an exit or make other changes when riding. It is also more money and doesn't provide any added functionality other than extra map data built in.

I bought my latest one from an EBAY seller with over 8500 sales and a 99.9% approval rating. He claims to be a refurbished Garmin dealer. The unit arrived and was in perfect condition, worked flawlessly and included all the factory items including the latest map software. The EBAY seller that I bought from still sells the Quest and you can find it here for $159 plus shipping, the best deal on the net for a reliable dealer and high qualty GPS:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Garmin-QUEST-Del...QQcmdZViewItem

 

I've had a GPS on the bike and in the truck for a number of years now and enjoy having it around. Recently I upgraded to a Garmin Zumo 550 and have to say it's the best all around, multi purpose unit I've seen. It's actually designed for a bike, and comes with two cradles ..... one for the bike and one for the car/truck. The bike cradle comes with the mounting hardware to do a handlebar mount. The vehicle cradle comes with a suction cup windshield mount. The vehicle mount has a speaker and mic built in for using the bluetooth connection to your cell phone if you want, turning it into a hands free phone. When I say multi-function, it is that. It has an MP3 player as well as interface for XM, Weather, and traffic radion built in. To use the XM/Weather/Traffic, you'l have to add a rather expensive antenna that incorporates the receivers for those services, but they work well. You can add a memory card to the unit to hold a LOT of music for th MP3 Player. On my Ultra, it's a piece of cake to run the audio cord from the unit to the plug on the dash and route the music, etc. through the bikes audio system.

Now, to the GPS unit itself. It's top drawer and the best I've had, although my last one wasa Street Pilot so upgrading to most any current unit would have been a huge step up. The unit comes preloaded with all the maps, etc. so there is no additional loading to do except for adding custome POI's (points of interest) to the unit. There are a number of discussion boards for the units and a lot of free POI downloads. I've got all the Harley dealerships in the US, every Hooters in Texas, Pilot truck stops, and on and on. It has some great built in features that I really like, but some of the other newer units may do the same. It has a fuel monitoring feature where I set the trip meter to remind me when I have gone 125 miles. When it hits that mileage, I get a window reminding me and then a small gas pump icon on the screen. If I touch the icon, it brings up a list of all the gas stations in the area, and what direction they are from my current location ... nice to know. If it's getting late and I need a place to stay, I can search the data base for lodging, by name if I want (Motel 6, Hampton, whatever) or just ask in general and it will bring up a list of everything in my area, along with addresses and phone numbers. Riding down the road looking for say a Wendy's? Look up food and start to spell out Wendy's. It will show you where the closest is. Plan and enter the routes right on the GPS, or do it on the PC at home and download them to the unit. It holds a LOT of routs and trips, etc.

Do a search for the Zumo and check out some of the forums ... lots of info and reviews. Personally, I love it (as though you couldn't tell). It's not the cheapest by any stretch, but it let me reduce the number of things on my handlebars from three down to one.

 

Thanks guys. the Zumo looks sweet but at $600+ its a bit more than I want to spend. The Quest looks interesting for such a cheap price ($159 + shipping), not quite state of the art but sounds like it can do what I need and is cheap. Do you guys know anything about the Garmin Nuvi 200?

 

Heres some pictures of my Quest 2 mounted on a RAM mount if you would like to see one mounted to the handle bar.I prefer the Quest 2 I use it in the truck as well as on company travel so having the built in maps is a convienence to me. It works well in day light and at night and to me a big selling point is it is water proof, and runs for hours on an internal battery.

Mark.

 

Based on your advice I went with the Quest 2. I liked the idea of the built in maps, POI's and more memory. I really like the unit (only used in the car so far) but I do widh the processor was a bit quicker and a larger screen would be nice in the car when you are alot farther away then when on the bike. But overall I would say Im satisfied for sure and at $259 + shipping from EdgeGPS you cant beat it with a stick!

 

The Garmin, Nuvi in the 200 or 300 series, with the RAM mount should come in below or just over $300. Works awesome...

 

I use the Nuvi 200 but had to make my own mount for the bike. Maybe Ram has one now, I dont know. It works very well on the roads and is easy to see both day and night.

 

How about the Magellan CrossOver GPS 2500T? About $250-$275