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Thanks for the responses, they encouraged me to go with the 300 knowing that the Wherigo should be usable even if it isn't perfect. Also seeing that there is at least one Wherigo programmer nearby (I'm on North York) means I should get to use it. Thanks again!

I've been reading a lot of bad things about the Oregon series Wherigo software. Most of these posts were pretty old. I've seen that some Wherigo fixes have been released so I'm looking for comments on whether theWhereigo functionality in the Oregon series (looking at 300 in particular) is worthwhile or if it's still useless. Any info would be appreciated to help me decide if I should go with the Dakota 20 or Oregon 300. Thanks!

I guess for me the main concern is the compass. I've never used a GPS with an electronic compass, but I've heard that the 3-axis capability is a nice feature. The Oregon 300 doesn't have this.

Good question. I am getting them mostly for geocaching to start with anyway, but maybe eventually for hiking and stuff like that too. I don't see it replacing my audo GPS at this point. . Thanks!

Hi all, A local store has the Dakota 20 and the Oregon 300 for the same price. I'm just looking for opinions for people as to which would be the recommended choice. . From what I've read through the forums, the main differences seem to be... . 1) Dakota screen isn't as bright 2) Oregon compass is more jumpy and isn't 3-axis 3) Dakota screen is smaller so you don't see as much of the map at once 4) Oregon has a shorter battery life . I don't really care about the picture viewer on the Oregon. . Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. . Thanks!

Thanks everyone for all your responses. It did sound like it would be very nice to have, but I wasn't sure if they worked well in the real world. From the responses it sounds like they're not perfect but worth having. Now the next step will be deciding which unit, although I have gotten a lot of good info from this discussion. Thanks!

Hi Briansnat, Actually I have just been through the Magellan support hell and is really the reason I am still undecided. I like the price and features of the Magellan compared to the Garmin, but am afraid of the tech support. Basically I have a basic Roadmate 1212 which allows me to also load geocaches as POIs. It works fine. It recently started locking up and acting weird not long after I updated the firmware, so I called them and they agreed to replace it for me. So far so good. The replacement one finally arrived and I found it had old firmware and maps on it...older than the one I sent back for replacement. I ended up having to call about 7 or 8 times and talked to 3 different supervisors. The first supervisor said he would send me the maps right away. This was great, except he never did. A week later I called again and eventually talked to a different supervisor who offered to upgrade me to a better model, but he wouldn't guarantee they wouldn't come with old maps. I said no, so he said he'd check with the first supervisor and call me first thing the next morning. He never called back, so I ended up calling again. The last supervisor was great and agreed to send me the map updates right away and I got them a few days later. However it was a battle trying to get to that point. Now I've updated the firmware again (crossing my fingers, it's needed for the updated maps) and things seem ok so far but I haven't really tested it too much. So basically I actually like my Magellan GPS, but I don't know if I'll start seeing the same problems or not, and I'm afraid of the tech support. Don't know if Garmin would be any better though.

Thanks for all the responses! I think I'll stick with one with a compass. I haven't seen much of the Delorme stuff here in Canada. So far I think I'm focussing on the Magellan models or the Garmin Dakota 20, I guess depending on the prices I can find.

Thanks for the comments. The reason I was asking, is that in the same price range, I have been looking at the Magellan Triton 500, or for a bit more the Garmin Oregon 200 with the Garmin Topo software. The Garmin is obviously the nicer unit, but the Triton has the 3D electronic compass and is less money....it's a dilemma. . Thanks!

I've been considering getting a GPS mostly for geocaching, and one of the features which sounds like it would be handy is the electronic compass. My understanding is that it will show you your destination relative to where you are pointing the GPS, even as you turn around when not moving...is this correct? I guess I'm just wondering if in the real world the electronic compass is really worthwhile or if maybe they don't work as well as I'm thinking they would/should. Thanks!