Great product, compact design, so-so manual

I purchased this for an upcoming road trip and have been testing (playing with it) for a week now. I'm really pleased. It has done everything I was expecting it to do.

First Impression

The unit is smaller than I expected. The whole thing is only about 4.5" by 2.2", and less than an inch thick. The antenna flips up from the back so when folded it fits nicely in a pocket to take with you. The screen is smaller than a credit card but don't let that sway you from getting this. It's a sharp, clear screen.

In The Box

You get the Quest unit, two CDs, two manuals, an AC charger, and a vehicle DC adapter with a speaker. The DC power cord runs from the speaker to a vehicle window suction-cup holder. You also get a USB cable to transfer data between the PC and the Quest and back. (You can transfer data back to the PC as needed. For example, if you select a restaurant on the Quest to be included in your frequent points of interest, you can upload that information to the PC for back up. The Quest doesn't do a "synchronization" like a PDA but it's still a nice feature.)

The Quest comes loaded with major roads so you can navigate immediately if you want. For detailed information you need to load detailed maps from a PC.

Software

Installation was quick and straight forward for both the PC and the Quest. Within 1/2 hour I had loaded the software and all the maps we'll need for our road trip. The Quest only has 115 Mb of memory with no expansion slots so you can't load the entire US with details. Still, we're traveling through 5 states and have all the cities and detail we can use.

The software that comes with this is the setup guide for the Quest, and Garmin's City Select North America detailed maps. I checked the Garmin web site for updates to the unit software and was able to download and install it without trouble. The City Select offers an update CD if you purchase the unit after a new version has been released. I was able to register for the update over the web quite easily too. I found it interesting the mapping update CD has been "released" but isn't shipping yet. There is a two or three month delay between the release date and the shipping date.

Using the Quest

The Quest seems to acquire the satellite signals usually within 30 seconds or so. We selected some local stores and had it plot a course to them from our home. We intentionally missed some turns and it recalculated a new route without a problem.

The screen is bright and easy to read. As it started to get dark, it changed to "night mode" automatically. The screen reversed all the white and black and was still easy to read.

This also powers down 30 seconds after being removed from an external power source. With lithium batteries, it is supposed to have 20 hours of navigation ability, much more than any other units I considered.

The mapping software has an incredible amount if information loaded. Restaurants, movie theaters, ATM machines, parks, police stations, etc... With that much data, it's to be expected that there will be some errors. We found a favorite Chinese restaurant listed under the French restaurants, probably because it has Bistro in the name. There were also some businesses listed that have been out of business for a few years.

Garmin offers a place on the web site for users to submit updates and corrections for their maps.

Downsides - the manuals. They are only so-so. They give you examples on how to use the Quest, such as find a point of interest (food, entertainment, etc...) but they don't have much other information. One menu option I found was "Re-enable Smart Tips," but Smart Tips are never discussed in the manual nor are they listed in the Index. I can't tell what it does yet. The manuals need to be better written and more detailed.

Getting it in and out of the AC and DC adapters takes some skill and/or muscle. It certainly won't fall out on its own!

Overall, if I had to make the decision all over again, I'd get this unit. It's not perfect but it's really close. Any flaws are with the mapping data, not the unit itself. My wife is really happy with it which will make the trip that much better.