John Diakonis Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I'm trying to figure out what unit would be a a good one to start with and learn about gps.I've been seeing a lot of Street Pilot IIIs out there and wondered if they have any short commings. It's a tough market out there. A Quest 2 may possible be the most ideal but too much money right now. Auto routing, home button, voice prompts,the ability to get you back on course if you made a detour are some features I'd want.Am I asking too much as far features go for a used unit? I'd have it piped into my earplugs so a large screen isn't a big deal, at least I don't think it would be. Any recommendations of any I should consider and any I should stay away from? I'm also not doing many long trips, mostly within Michgan and the street level mapping would be used for getting to customers.TIA Link to comment
Paul_Burkett Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 The Garmin SP III is a great unit that does everything that you just mentioned, it is not as fast as the new units and they are not making updates to the programs, that way you will opt for newer units. But it will work well and get you to any place you need to go, within reason. Link to comment
Toml Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 oh boy... you're gonna geta lot of opions now. If you like the Quest II, check out the Quest. Basically the same unit for a lot less money. The one drawback is that it has limited memory. But since you say you usually don't go on long rides, that probably won't be a problem. I can fit all of New England and a lot of NY in mine. It's small size also allows you to mount it higher on the bike, closer to your line of sight for driving. IMO this more than compensates for the smaller screen because I don't have to look down and it doesn't take as long to visually get my bearings. Well, okay, I've never tried the larger units. So I'm extrapolating... Link to comment
RBertalotto Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 I've owned five different GPS units for my Boat, Motorcycle and Hunting. All work pretty good. I recently bought a Garmin 2720 and I'm here to tell you they just don't get any better! Period! EXTREMELY easy to use....you don't even need to look at the owners manual. VERY fast, it calculated an entire cross country trip in 20 seconds. No need to hook it up to a computer to download anything. It's all in there from the factory, although updates from Garmin require a computer hookup, but it is very easy to do. The screen is a nice size and easy to read. The touch screen feature is a great way to go if wearing gloves. I've used three types of gloves from winter weight to summer and it works fine with all of them. The voice promts are amazing. I hooked it up to a set of ear-buds and I don't even have to look at the unit to get to my destination. It clearly tells you of upcoming turns, directions, etc. In very clear english or seven other langueges. But the best feature is the ability to have the unit select a route avoiding all major roads and using only backroads. It takes you on roads you never knew existed. Lots of fun. It costs about $750 on the internet, but in my estimation, well worth it. Link to comment
RonStewart Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 My thinking is that if you don't like the 2720 early on you'll be able to resell it for a decent price, so why not start out with one of the best? You may find a lesser device frustrating and get turned off gps altogether. mho fwiw Link to comment
Paul_Burkett Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 I think tht the 2720 has about all of the features that one could want, except that it is not waterproof. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1866425,00.asp I know that if you are the typical rider from this site, you will do a lot of riding in inclement weather. One good rain stom could take a good GPS and make it into a one pond piece of un-warrantieable junk. (my 2 cents) Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 2720..... except that it is not waterproof. According to the Garmin web page it and the 2730 are both rated to IPX7 (1 meter for 30 min). That's the same as my 276C and believe me it has seen a lot of rain. Stan Link to comment
velomoto Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 I think tht the 2720 has about all of the features that one could want, except that it is not waterproof. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1866425,00.asp I know that if you are the typical rider from this site, you will do a lot of riding in inclement weather. One good rain stom could take a good GPS and make it into a one pond piece of un-warrantieable junk. (my 2 cents) Paul, The 2720 is listed as "Case: Rugged; fully gasketed to IPX-7 waterproof." in the Garmin manual and also on some review sites: Linky: 2720 Review I don't recall the details of "IPX-7" but believe this is pretty much the standard of most GPS units on the market. Perhaps PCmag made a typo or assumed the unit was not waterproof as Garmin does a good job hiding this "feature". BTW - IMHO the Garmin manual leaves MUCH to be desired. It's useful for getting started but learning about advanced techniques and capabilities are outside the scope of this manual. Cheers, Greg Link to comment
UberXY Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Just a note on weather resistance of Garmin. I had about a dozen drops of gasoline hit my 376C during a fill up (don't ask) and the up/down/left/right arrows don't work as well as they used to. Sometimes takes repeated presses of both down and right to get to respond. Link to comment
Paul_Burkett Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 While reading the link that is in your post, there is in red print "motorcycle", I clicked on the link and it could not go there. I also saw that there have been changes made to the 2720, so it seems that waterproofing may have been one of those changes. I stand corrected. Link to comment
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