GPS

[High_Side]

Some of my best rides ever were when I WAS lost......
I'd still love to have one, but I'll still make a point of taking wrong turns 1000km from home.

[Jakaman]

cb360
Thats the one that GPS websites keep telling me to go with, the Garmin Quest! Now let me ask you of your opinion on this issue. One comes pre-loaded and is pretty pricey. The other seems to be the same only it has to have maps loaded in before your trip. Is this a complicated issue. I take it is has only so much memory so if I want to go from Ohio to Maine, I would load in the maps of the states i;ll be traveling thru? THen if I want to go South to Florida I'd erase the maine trip maps and put in what was needed to get to Florida. How hard is all this downloading and erasing? THen again I'd rather be savey about how to do the downloads so when future upgrade maps come out I know how to do it. BTW thanks for your help I think i've narrowed it down to one of these two units.
Acorn

[CNF2002]

Jakaman its been a few years since I had a handheld GPS, so I cant recommend any specific model now. The nav unit I have now came with the jeep.

[flynrider]

What am I missing?

On trips, its great as it tells you your route, ETA, gas stations and shops/restaurants along the way. Its a useful tool if you have the cash to spend on it. You may not use it everyday, but you'll wonder what you did without it. Get one that will be easy to read with a big display but easily transferrable between any of your vehicles.

Fair enough. I guess I'm you could call me a luddite when it comes to gadgetry I've found great value in using GPS in rental cars in a strange city, but most of my riding is done either in my own town (where I've lived for 24 yrs.) or out on the backroads of the western U.S. and Canada, where you'd have to work hard to get lost (not that many roads to choose from).

[cb360]

cb360
Thats the one that GPS websites keep telling me to go with, the Garmin Quest! Now let me ask you of your opinion on this issue. One comes pre-loaded and is pretty pricey. The other seems to be the same only it has to have maps loaded in before your trip. Is this a complicated issue. I take it is has only so much memory so if I want to go from Ohio to Maine, I would load in the maps of the states i;ll be traveling thru? THen if I want to go South to Florida I'd erase the maine trip maps and put in what was needed to get to Florida. How hard is all this downloading and erasing? THen again I'd rather be savey about how to do the downloads so when future upgrade maps come out I know how to do it. BTW thanks for your help I think i've narrowed it down to one of these two units.
Acorn

Loading the maps is not a very big deal. It can be a little confusing at first, but if you have any technical competency at all and read the manual it won't be difficult. The fact is that the quest has a lot of memory (twice as much or more as the 60cs which still has plenty - map segments aren't all that large so you can load several at once) and if you generally stay in a one or two state area you'll never need to change the maps. But you'll have the capability to do so if you take the unit on vacation or business somewhere - then you load the new maps in just a few minutes. If I were you I'd go with the quest - sounds like you want it mostly for driving and want voice prompts. If you aren't gonna be hiking a lot there's really no reason to buy a true handheld that has a lot more hiking-related features. Plus, after maps and such, the 60cs will end up costing you over $100 more. From where I'm sitting you should go with the quest. Amazon and tigergps among others usually have the best prices. I'd avoid ebay in this case. Map software has to have an unlock code to be loaded onto the unit. There have been several cases of people buying used maps on ebay only to find there wasn't a valid unlock code. Of course that shouldn't be the case for something selling as NIB. Good luck - let me know if you have more questions.

[Jakaman]

Thanks for all the replies, I think i'm going with the Quest....now I have to find a good reliable place to buy it. I try to buy locally if the prices aren't that much higher. It keeps the money in the community and benefits local employment. Next choice is Quest or Quest2, damn these decisions never end! :lol:

[Jakaman]

High Side,
You come to my town and get lost and it may be the last place you ever get lost! Some places not to good know about and worse to end up there. :(

[High_Side]

High Side,
You come to my town and get lost and it may be the last place you ever get lost! Some places not to good know about and worse to end up there.

Generally speaking, I avoid big cities like the plague when out on the bike so the only time I get scared is when I can hear banjos over the sound of my Vance and Hines pipes. Good advice though I have had my sheltered Canadian-boy eyes opened a few times when in the States so I think I know what you mean.... *just because the road parallels the interstate, does not mean that there is not a serious-getto 1 block away. "lock the doors and don't stop for nothin' honey"

[Jakaman]

I happen to work smack in the middle of the biggest and worst project in my town. I go to work at 4:30 in the morning, you wouldn't believe the drug traffic at that time. I don't interfere with their business (I figure why should I, the cops don't :lol: ) and they don't bother me (so far) But I do keep my 45 cocked & chambered in my open tank bag. You hear gunfire all day long. They need to make some software for the GPS 'Spots to avoid getting killed'. Country boy or not, nobody is generally prepared to get shot at.

[Hammersfan]

The January issue of Cruiser Rider has a long article about a particular GPS , can't remember which brand it was though.