My Garmin Oregon 400t

[+Ratsneve]

The OR seems to work from what little I have done with it. It came with 2.2 software and I've upgraded that to 2.3 but am holding off on 2.4 until "2.5" comes out.

 

After coming from the CO and getting pretty use to using it one handed my first impressions of the OR are that I don't like the touch screen as much--but I think this would be expected at this point.

 

I successfully "accidentally" after careful preparation set the OR into 13" of water for around 5 minutes while running. At the bottom of the tub it lost satellite contact. I tapped it gently in all different positions at depth to let water seep in where it should and then carefully drained and tapped and dried off the outside. The battery compartment was totally bone dry.

 

I actually had a minor concern when I first installed the batteries because the foam strip on the cover rests on these batteries and the cover didn't appear to go down quite as far when locked and there was slight resistance to the cover edge being totally flush. Also of note here is a tiny clear pin hole in the cover. I could see light through it but in fact is is well sealed and of no concern. But I had to laugh all the same.

 

After installing the MicroSD 24K U.S. Nortwest Topo and disabling the 100K Topo base map I noticed that when I was zoomed out to beyond the 20 mi increment the 24K map stops drawing...the map field is blank. Actually, if you wait long enough they will draw out I suppose but it takes to long to be practical when you want to roam around. The 100K base map doesn't seem to have this problem--nor when both are enabled.

 

I'll be loading and registering the unit and City Navigator 2009 shortly I hope.

 

The other thing I haven't figured out yet is the red pin that shows up wihen I tap and/or start moving around the map. I haven't learned what it is good for? And if I don't want it I can't get rid of it until I move back to the location mark...but if I don't want to move back there doesn't seem to be any way to explore without the pin floating around.

 

Yet another thing I haven't figured out to do is if there is a moutain icon or place icon and I want to display what the mountain or place name is it has so far been very tedious getting the pin (apparently) on an icon to register what it is.

 

Time to play more...

[+g-o-cashers]

After installing the MicroSD 24K U.S. Nortwest Topo and disabling the 100K Topo base map I noticed that when I was zoomed out to beyond the 20 mi increment the 24K map stops drawing...the map field is blank. Actually, if you wait long enough they will draw out I suppose but it takes to long to be practical when you want to roam around. The 100K base map doesn't seem to have this problem--nor when both are enabled.

 

That's because the preinstalled maps contain the basemap and the 100K topo maps. If you disable the preinstalled maps you disable both basemap and topo map which means if you zoom way out you'll notice that map screen performance gets worse and eventually you'll get a white screen. Normally if the basemap is enabled it would take over at this point depending on your map detail setting. There shouldn't be any reason that you can't leave Topo 2008 enabled with the 24k maps -- I'm guessing they are visible over the 100k maps? BTW, you'll see the same behavior with CN 2009.

 

The other thing I haven't figured out yet is the red pin that shows up wihen I tap and/or start moving around the map. I haven't learned what it is good for? And if I don't want it I can't get rid of it until I move back to the location mark...but if I don't want to move back there doesn't seem to be any way to explore without the pin floating around.

 

The pin is how you select anything on the map page. To get rid of it hit the return arrow on the bottom left of the screen. You can pan the map without activating it. Just drag the map, don't tap. Once the pin is active the button at the top of the screen gives details on what is under the red pin. Taping that button will allow you to activate a goto to that location.

 

Yet another thing I haven't figured out to do is if there is a moutain icon or place icon and I want to display what the mountain or place name is it has so far been very tedious getting the pin (apparently) on an icon to register what it is.

 

To fine tune the location of the pin drag the map under the pin don't try to relocate the pin.

 

GO$Rs

[+benh57]

Thanks for the review.

 

I think people are unjustly afraid of the Oregon. It's really a great unit, IMO.

 

2.4 has been fine for be so far. But i don't care about barometer or tides.

[+Ratsneve]

Thanks for the review.

 

I think people are unjustly afraid of the Oregon. It's really a great unit, IMO.

 

2.4 has been fine for be so far. But i don't care about barometer or tides.

If it is a review it is an honest one and it isn't finished.

 

I think people are justly afraid of the Colorado and Oregon... They need lots of polish (the CO and OR) unless you would rather just accept technology as is whether it all works right or not or accept Garmin's weak excuses of "just minor problems". I wish someone in Garmin would start rolling heads and redefine and rehire quality assurance.

 

Begin rant...

I'm too depressed to work this Oregon further right now...maybe by Friday I'll get more sorted out with Garmin's sucky technical support. They left me hanging with City Navigator changed over to the Oregon all right and a state loaded into the Oregon and assured me everything was fine but it wasn't. They screwed it up just like they did last time and I've banged my head against the wall already for forgetting what I learned last time. The Oregon won't unlock the map so even though it is there it is useless. Last time, now that I remember it to late, I had to call Garmin, wait a half hour to get the first line of support and then wait another 40 minutes to get the software tech support... I have Friday to look forward to doing that all over again now.

 

I HATE GARMIN! I long for the day when I might get things working well enough to tell Garmin to go @#$% themselves--they are generally clueless about the Colorado and Oregon product problems.

 

For the fourth time I found myself explaining what was wrong with the Carabiner design for why it would not slip on the unit without a certain adjustment or modification first...and for the fourth time the guy understood and said I was right (but Garmin, not the poor phone tech, could car less.)...and for the second time they are sending me out a free carabiner replacement but who knows how it will fit. End rant...

 

The PN-40 is just daring me to drop down in screen size and base map quality... Should that have been part of the rant?

Edited September 11, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+benh57]

Yes it has some flaws but the more i use it the more i get used to it and like it.

 

Garmin has the best tech support of any GPS manufacturer. Trust me, no matter how bad you think it may be Magellan and Delorme are worse.

 

Just as one example, Garmin is very generous about sending out free replacement parts and units.

[+Team Chinook]

Ditto on my second Colorado.

 

Yes it has some flaws but the more i use it the more i get used to it and like it.

 

Garmin has the best tech support of any GPS manufacturer. Trust me, no matter how bad you think it may be Magellan and Delorme are worse.

 

Just as one example, Garmin is very generous about sending out free replacement parts and units.

[stevesurf]

I'll be loading and registering the unit and City Navigator 2009 shortly I hope.

Great post; glad it is indeed waterproof. How do you plan on installing 2009 when only the update is available? Do you have the full version of City Navigator NT installed? I tried installing the update, but it failed as I don't have the full version.

[+Ratsneve]

I'll be loading and registering the unit and City Navigator 2009 shortly I hope.

Great post; glad it is indeed waterproof. How do you plan on installing 2009 when only the update is available? Do you have the full version of City Navigator NT installed? I tried installing the update, but it failed as I don't have the full version.

Well, as you may tell from my later not so great post getting City Navigator 2009 to work on the Oregon is a big failure so far. In my case where Garmin knows that I was forced to change GPSr's because of their failure and because Garmin has the defective units it isn't like I'm trying to install City Navigator on two units. Unfortunately in these cases Garmin is the one who has to jump through some hoops while standing on their hands and like most problems I've confronted them with with two COs and this OR the first tier of support continues to be less then helpful.

 

Believe it or not I was told by the first software tech who actually _straightened out_ an identical problem with unlocking City Navigator in my new Colorado that the updated City Navigator 2009 I had installed (present) in MapSource was all I needed and it has its own short key code--not the 25 digit code the guy today gave me. This first guy that straightened it all out the first time did something at his end, I think I entered the shorter key code he gave me for the 2009 update at my end, and all of a sudden the map sent the GPSr unlocked and worked. Maybe both the original and the update CN have to be unlocked to the new GPSr and the guy today only unlocked the 2009 update? I do have the full original version of course but since when the 2009 update is complete in MapSource you do not have to keep the 2008 present in MapSource. BTW, just to show you how little the guy today or I know of this whole process I noticed that after I entered the new 25 digit code that supposedly unlocked everything and allowed transferring the Oregon CN map to the OR GPSr that the comment field next to the CN map installed still showed the old CO s/n and ID, while a previous entry map above this that indicated it was not installed or unlocked when I looked through its properties contained the new 25 digit code I had just entered. The map that said it was installed and unlocked had a different 25 digit code. No explanation could be made for this disparity but I was assured everything was okay.

 

First thing Friday morning will be my next try to get a software tech to straighten this mess out again.

[+flarbear]

For the fourth time I found myself explaining what was wrong with the Carabiner design for why it would not slip on the unit without a certain adjustment or modification first...and for the fourth time the guy understood and said I was right (but Garmin, not the poor phone tech, could car less.)...and for the second time they are sending me out a free carabiner replacement but who knows how it will fit. End rant...

My CO had the carabiner that needed to have the strap reversed to fit on well, but when I got my OR the carabiner fit on just fine. I'm pretty sure that it was already installed in the way that lets it go on smoothly - and it went on even more smoothly than the modified carabiner goes onto my CO.

 

Then I had to replace the first OR for an air pocket under the protective cover that was giving me touchscreen problems. New OR had a good carabiner that went on easily as well.

 

Then I had to replace it again for crashing when I squeezed it. My 3rd OR came with the same old backwards strap on the carabiner that wouldn't go on without a lot of force. Luckily it was easier to reverse this time and it now slides on just fine. This strap also seems to be slightly too tightly sewn on the carabiner end such that the carabiner doesn't slide around on it very well - it binds and usually at an odd angle that I want/need to correct. :-(

[+Ratsneve]

My CO had the carabiner that needed to have the strap reversed to fit on well, but when I got my OR the carabiner fit on just fine. I'm pretty sure that it was already installed in the way that lets it go on smoothly - and it went on even more smoothly than the modified carabiner goes onto my CO.

 

Then I had to replace the first OR for an air pocket under the protective cover that was giving me touchscreen problems. New OR had a good carabiner that went on easily as well.

 

Then I had to replace it again for crashing when I squeezed it. My 3rd OR came with the same old backwards strap on the carabiner that wouldn't go on without a lot of force. Luckily it was easier to reverse this time and it now slides on just fine. This strap also seems to be slightly too tightly sewn on the carabiner end such that the carabiner doesn't slide around on it very well - it binds and usually at an odd angle that I want/need to correct. :-(

It is a mixed bag over the carabiner luck. No doubt many have reversed the nylon strap and avoided the problem. I choose as part of my $600+ with maps investment to try to force Garmin as much as I can to fix even the little problems.

[+Ratsneve]

I just want to mention here that two have emailed me about "alternate means" to unlocking maps without bothering Garmin. I want you all to be aware that I have long been aware of these possibilities posted in Usenet binaries especially but gave up these means years ago. I just want to make it clearer that these other means would not have to be periodically mentioned if Garmin would once again PLEASE TRAIN YOUR phone technical support people to know how to properly transfer registrations and map unlock codes OR TO TRANSFER the call to those who _can_ handle the problem instead of wasting _my_ time.

[+Vegas Gamblers]

For the fourth time I found myself explaining what was wrong with the Carabiner design for why it would not slip on the unit without a certain adjustment or modification first...and for the fourth time the guy understood and said I was right (but Garmin, not the poor phone tech, could car less.)...and for the second time they are sending me out a free carabiner replacement but who knows how it will fit. End rant...

My CO had the carabiner that needed to have the strap reversed to fit on well, but when I got my OR the carabiner fit on just fine. I'm pretty sure that it was already installed in the way that lets it go on smoothly - and it went on even more smoothly than the modified carabiner goes onto my CO.

 

Then I had to replace the first OR for an air pocket under the protective cover that was giving me touchscreen problems. New OR had a good carabiner that went on easily as well.

 

Then I had to replace it again for crashing when I squeezed it. My 3rd OR came with the same old backwards strap on the carabiner that wouldn't go on without a lot of force. Luckily it was easier to reverse this time and it now slides on just fine. This strap also seems to be slightly too tightly sewn on the carabiner end such that the carabiner doesn't slide around on it very well - it binds and usually at an odd angle that I want/need to correct. :-(

 

I traded my CO for the OR and I am extreemly happy. I just tried the carabiner and it did not fit without forcing in on the unit. Thanks for the tip of reversing the strap, it work great.

[+Ratsneve]

For the fourth time I found myself explaining what was wrong with the Carabiner design for why it would not slip on the unit without a certain adjustment or modification first...and for the fourth time the guy understood and said I was right (but Garmin, not the poor phone tech, could car less.)...and for the second time they are sending me out a free carabiner replacement but who knows how it will fit. End rant...

My CO had the carabiner that needed to have the strap reversed to fit on well, but when I got my OR the carabiner fit on just fine. I'm pretty sure that it was already installed in the way that lets it go on smoothly - and it went on even more smoothly than the modified carabiner goes onto my CO.

 

Then I had to replace the first OR for an air pocket under the protective cover that was giving me touchscreen problems. New OR had a good carabiner that went on easily as well.

 

Then I had to replace it again for crashing when I squeezed it. My 3rd OR came with the same old backwards strap on the carabiner that wouldn't go on without a lot of force. Luckily it was easier to reverse this time and it now slides on just fine. This strap also seems to be slightly too tightly sewn on the carabiner end such that the carabiner doesn't slide around on it very well - it binds and usually at an odd angle that I want/need to correct. :-(

 

I traded my CO for the OR and I am extreemly happy. I just tried the carabiner and it did not fit without forcing in on the unit. Thanks for the tip of reversing the strap, it work great.

I wish people who just got Colorado and Oregon units wouldn't be so extremely happy with them right off the bat. But I am glad reversing the strap worked well enough for you. Did you still send Garmin an email to let them know?

[+Ratsneve]

Although my fears came true talking to Garmin technical support I was ultimately successful after around 3 hours of lost time waiting on the phone and/or jumping through hoops that didn't work, in reaching the inner sanctum software department. There is a different world at Garmin... The guy in short order cleaned up all the accumulated mess prior to and including last Wednesday in registering my new Oregon and unlocking City Navigator 2009 properly. As before and as I suspected he did the lion's share at his end which the regular phone support continues to fail miserable at. I cleaned up the unlocked maps section in MapSource and entered a brand new 25 digit unlock code for City Navigator 2009. Unit registration now only shows the Oregon (the Colorado references are gone). And Maps at MyGarmin just shows City Navigator 2008 and 2009 with the correct codes.

 

On top of that I got my refund posted finally so I'm now only out $40. With any luck the Oregon could last a long useful time for me--we'll see. You'd think at this point I'd be all happy with Garmin but I've wrung myself ragged through Garmin's wringer so much I'm going to remain very reserved about any recommendations. I should still report results of a number of problems hopefully resolved now once they are checked here and I hope to return then to the Map Challenge thread when I feel in better control.

Edited September 13, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+Ratsneve]

After installing the MicroSD 24K U.S. Nortwest Topo and disabling the 100K Topo base map I noticed that when I was zoomed out to beyond the 20 mi increment the 24K map stops drawing...the map field is blank. Actually, if you wait long enough they will draw out I suppose but it takes to long to be practical when you want to roam around. The 100K base map doesn't seem to have this problem--nor when both are enabled.

 

That's because the preinstalled maps contain the basemap and the 100K topo maps. If you disable the preinstalled maps you disable both basemap and topo map which means if you zoom way out you'll notice that map screen performance gets worse and eventually you'll get a white screen. Normally if the basemap is enabled it would take over at this point depending on your map detail setting. There shouldn't be any reason that you can't leave Topo 2008 enabled with the 24k maps -- I'm guessing they are visible over the 100k maps? BTW, you'll see the same behavior with CN 2009.

 

The other thing I haven't figured out yet is the red pin that shows up wihen I tap and/or start moving around the map. I haven't learned what it is good for? And if I don't want it I can't get rid of it until I move back to the location mark...but if I don't want to move back there doesn't seem to be any way to explore without the pin floating around.

 

The pin is how you select anything on the map page. To get rid of it hit the return arrow on the bottom left of the screen. You can pan the map without activating it. Just drag the map, don't tap. Once the pin is active the button at the top of the screen gives details on what is under the red pin. Taping that button will allow you to activate a goto to that location.

 

Yet another thing I haven't figured out to do is if there is a moutain icon or place icon and I want to display what the mountain or place name is it has so far been very tedious getting the pin (apparently) on an icon to register what it is.

 

To fine tune the location of the pin drag the map under the pin don't try to relocate the pin.

 

GO$Rs

I'm getting much better at this now and your guess or hint somewhere else that I will end up liking the touchscreen looks more promising.

 

I'm leaving the base map on with either the 24K Topo or CN on top of it and all seems swell.

 

Moving a map icon/location to the pin for identification when far off is much easier with the touchscreen BUT fine-tuning the location to the pin tip I've often noticed gets the jitters. Many times I let go only to discover that the icon/location is still off of the pin by a hair and I have to try again. You can actually see it jumping around slightly. Anyone else notice this and have you discovered any tricks to making this quick and fool proof? Thanks.

[+Ratsneve]

I installed the 2.5 update this afternoon and all seems well so far.

 

Noticed that at update 2.3 probably the Trip Odometer was moved to where the Odometer use to be located. This was probably a good move since the top two fields are not selectable. I suppose the Odometer will become a gauge as to how many total miles you have traveled with your Oregon. Who will reach 1,000,000 miles first?

 

I calibrated the touchscreen once noting the instructions on how in the back of the manual. (Note: In the case of the manual its revision date agrees with the online PDF revision date. Up to a couple weeks ago the Colorado manual wasn't so lucky--and maybe still isn't?) Anyway, today I noticed that I was having trouble getting the satellite page when I hit around the battery and satellite strength displays. I discovered that if I hit further down between the satellite strength and "Garmin" I'd get the page every time. I repeated the touch screen calibration again holding the unit in my left hand as I prefer and recalibrated the screen. The results seem perfect now. The only preculiar problem with the screen so far is keeping it from jumping around so much when I'm trying to ID something on the red pin tip.

Edited September 14, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+Ratsneve]

Why in the world can't you delete Recent Finds? Is this a reasonable request for Garmin to change? What happens here? Does it accumulate only 20 Recent Finds and the oldest rolls off when the next arrives?

Edited September 14, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+Ratsneve]

So far waypoints I set periodically from one location in my house are staying within a 20 foot diameter. I think this was pretty much what the Colorado did here too. I haven't been watching the GPS Accuracy much but it is currently showing 19 feet. At this location, by a window I'm getting 10 satellites--9 are WAAS. Satellite 51 doesn't seem to be around--why does that one interest some?

 

Haven't done any geocaches yet. On one recent drive the track was around 100 feet off the road using the Topo U.S. 2008 base map. I added the Topo U.S. 24K - Northwest and the error of that same track decreased down to 10 feet. I then disabled the 24K and enabled City Navigator 2009. The error over the same track seemed a little better but not by much. Does this make sense? It seems like the 24K and CN are okay but the base map Topo is a little to far off? I'll check this some more.

 

PS... These errors were not noted on the fly with each map but were estimated from the track after the trip was finished on each map. I'm not sure if this was a very accurate way. During the actual trip the 24K Topo was used exclusively.

 

PPS... An hour later I notice all the WAAS "D"s had dropped off and then one minute later all ten "D"s were back. I've never seen any accuracy change that I could relate to WAAS or not. Its accuracy increase so far is negligible in Oregon.

Edited September 14, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+Ratsneve]

Well, I just found the location marker wandered off ~60 feet SSW of its normal 20 foot diameter cluster. I set a couple waypoints at this erroneous location. Also noted that my elevation had dropped a couple hundred feet or so which is very unusual to see off that much. What really nails it for me I think is that I cycled the power and now everything is back to where it belongs. The marker is inside its cluster and the elevation is back up 200 feet.

 

I think this is a problem.

 

I'm going to set up the unit for a barometric pressure trend while turned off on battery and see how it looks in the morning.

[+Ratsneve]

Well, I just found the location marker wandered off ~60 feet SSW of its normal 20 foot diameter cluster. I set a couple waypoints at this erroneous location. Also noted that my elevation had dropped a couple hundred feet or so which is very unusual to see off that much. What really nails it for me I think is that I cycled the power and now everything is back to where it belongs. The marker is inside its cluster and the elevation is back up 200 feet.

 

I think this is a problem.

 

I'm going to set up the unit for a barometric pressure trend while turned off on battery and see how it looks in the morning.

I've had the unit on for over an hour this afternoon and the location marker appears stable.

 

**I wish this blue arrowhead was transparent with a precise "ground-zero" mark on it.**

 

Anyway, the big news is that tracking barometric pressure over night seems to really work great. The graph has nice trend variations in it... I don't know how accurate the data is though. At the start 1:48 AM, 9-14 the pressure reads 30.12 and reached a high at 10:15 AM of 30.18 dropping down at 12:37 PM to 30.07.

 

Now, the bad news... Prior to tuning the unit off and after turning it back on this morning the pressure graph was erratic with a large pressure drop down and recovering part way back up before turning the unit off and a large pressure increase up and recovering part way back down after the unit was turned on. These observations are like spikes that do not return to the previous base line pressures and none were present during the time the unit was turned off. I'm not likely going to track these barometric problem(s) further with Garmin. I'm sick of this issue and don't care to often what the pressure is doing...

Edited September 14, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+Ratsneve]

I continue to have wild spikes on occasion where the track has gone off several hundred feet even. Since the track left is a straight line with no apparent return path unless it has been exactly on top of the spike I don't think this type relates to the marker wandering or drifting.

 

I have been able to watch some of the drifting or wandering occur and they too can go off a couple hundred feet it seems. The marker seems to settle at its new location quite happy it is where it thinks it should be. From trails it has seemed to wander back and fixed itself but more often then not I've discovered the drift and cycled the OR and this has always brought the marker back where it _really_ belongs. I know this because I've created a cluster of WPs--my own style of WP Averaging if you will. Because cycling fixes the location error I am assuming at this point that it does not relate to GPSs constellation changes but rather something else that irks the GPSr.

 

Currently I'm trying to run a set of Ni-M-H batteries out while the unit is turned off but taking barometric pressure readings... This feature seems to work well in and of itself and the results look very good and similar to the results over a period of time when the unit is turned on, BUT... The transistions between cycling usually produce barometric spikes or erroneous movement in the graph when monitoring the barometric pressure. When monitoring the ambient pressure I haven't seen these spikes produced with the cycling. Unfortunately, when one of these spikes does take place a new pressure base line settles in that is not the same. So although you can see what the pressure trend rising or falling may be I can't tell what the actual pressure might really be.

 

There may be a different or better way to calibrate or reestablish the actual pressure but I don't know what it is? Should I leave the elevation as fixed or a variable and what does that mean? Should the pressure be barrometric or ambient--and what does that mean? ADDED: I leave calibrating barometric pressure/elevation on Auto. Since I normally travel up and down on routes I normally leave the elevation on variable (not fixed).

 

I've noticed that after taking screen shots with the Oregon when you return to the menu or some other yet unidentified screen or turn the unit off the screen shot feature is automatically deactivated--a good feature but I need to learn what does this.

Edited September 16, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+g-o-cashers]

Turning off the unit disables the screen capture.

 

GO$Rs

[+Ratsneve]

Turning off the unit disables the screen capture.

 

GO$Rs

Thank you for that confirmation. I must assume then "normally" that one would deactivate screen capture via the menu when done capturing or else there is some sort of conflict of sorts between capturing and going to the page to adjust backlighting and/or locking the screen?

[+g-o-cashers]

That is correct, you can do only one or the other.

 

GO$Rs

[+Ratsneve]

For the fourth time I found myself explaining what was wrong with the Carabiner design for why it would not slip on the unit without a certain adjustment or modification first...and for the fourth time the guy understood and said I was right (but Garmin, not the poor phone tech, could care less.)...and for the second time they are sending me out a free carabiner replacement but who knows how it will fit?

I got the free replacement carabiner today for the Oregon. It was much better in two respects... the end of the strap didn't stick out half as far but would still interfere a little when installing. And this protrusion was not sewn or melted at its end so I could trim off almost 1/8". Now none protrudes at all and installing and removing the carabiner is a piece of cake. I can set this asside and move on to more interesting problems.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+dgoebel]

Newbie posting here with my impression of the Oregon 400T I just bought at local BB

with a ....40% off certificate.... Then got the 10% off on a Garmin purchase of

City Nav NA 2009 installed it with just the nearest 10 states or so.

We're not far travellers, and are Geocaching to get me off the couch and out

in the weather, The hunt is the fun for me...

 

I'm VERY Happy, and the software and maps worked like a charm. Have tracked

to a cache using both Automotive and Geocaching modes a couple times already.

 

BTW, my carabiner clicked on great.. Working on a RAM mount for my scooter

next...

 

As a newbie, I do appreciate hearing all (ALL) the details you more experienced

folks pass along in the forums. The last handheld GPS I used was back in my

USAF days over 5 years ago. What a difference....

 

Anyway, what additional maps would you all recomend? (Minnesota area and

surrounding states).

[s20055]

Not that I'm a big fan of conspiracies but if your experiences with Garmin weren't so one-sided...makes me think you treated the waitress unkindly and she passed that on to the cook, who honked a loogy in your hamburger after he scraped it up off of the floor. Of course, she smiled kindly when she delivered it and made sure to check on you a short while later to see if there was anything else she could get you.

 

"Have a nice day and thank you for coming!" she says with a cute smile and sugar in her tone. You leave feeling like you got the best of her, but she returns to the cook and they give each other high-fives in the kitchen. You're still wondering about that subtle, not quite so right, aftertaste in your mouth that you attributed to the diet soda you drank.

 

Of course, that would never happen. Not at Garmin, and never in a restaurant.

[+Ratsneve]

Not that I'm a big fan of conspiracies but if your experiences with Garmin weren't so one-sided...makes me think you treated the waitress unkindly and she passed that on to the cook, who honked a loogy in your hamburger after he scraped it up off of the floor. Of course, she smiled kindly when she delivered it and made sure to check on you a short while later to see if there was anything else she could get you.

 

"Have a nice day and thank you for coming!" she says with a cute smile and sugar in her tone. You leave feeling like you got the best of her, but she returns to the cook and they give each other high-fives in the kitchen. You're still wondering about that subtle, not quite so right, aftertaste in your mouth that you attributed to the diet soda you drank.

 

Of course, that would never happen. Not at Garmin, and never in a restaurant.

The simply awful thought crossed my mind once. Now I prefere to think of it all this way: "the luck of the draw", poor in-house beta testing and quality control, and for myself being way to anal about the technology. Many things I relish on one could overlook and ignore or miss seeing all together--that wouldn't make any of the problems disappear. In an imperfect world one might be very happy with what one's got.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+Ratsneve]

Another weird problem and some nice things to say about Garmin...

 

Has anyone else noticed that inserting and removing batteries on the Oregon is a notch tougher then the Colorado? Well, when I removed a dead set the other day one of the battery terminals broke off and went flying--never did find it, but it was easy to see what was missing, and my fourth CO/OR was unusable.

 

Now for the good news. I called Garmin early in the morning and got through in maybe ten minutes. The phone tech was sorry to hear what had happened and immediately started an RMA. I elected to temporarily pay for the new unit so it would start shipment that day. So for all the bad things I hold against Garmin they play fair and square and are quick about other things. Thank you Garmin...

 

I went into the local REI store and met with their GPS Master. There is nothing better then a hands-on discussion with a GPS expert. We exchanged some questons and difficulties, thought it wasn't necessary for me to attend the class he holds periodically, and said just to come by and ask any questions I had in the future.

[+Ratsneve]

I got my replacement Oregon. I had a long conversation with an experienced GPSr user who has convinced me that the Oregon really works fine and doesn't need WPA with the sensitive fast receivers nor WAAS in the Northwest at least since I never see any accuracy difference. My satisfaction now understanding and accepting maybe a 30 foot diameter accuracy zone and no longer getting bent out of shape if the pointer goes off over a hundred feet from momentary propagation errors which can be fixed by moving the GPSr around--not leaving it stationary--or cycling the power means I can start enjoying using and enjoying it.

 

I've also discovered using a stylus on the screen is the cat's pajamas. It's nice that you can use fingers if that's all you have left but a stylus _really_ makes life easy and leaves the smudges off the screen. Garmin should market a nice soft case with room for several battery sets and styli--but rounding the end of a toothpick works great.

 

For the Oregon Zoom Levels are you all using Auto or have you felt needing to tweak these zoom levels differently from Auto?

 

What about Detail? What level have you settled on or do any of you change these options as the need arises?

Edited September 28, 2008 by Ratsneve

[DaveInWNC]

I found another trick to help with the Oregon carabiner attachment. I used Krazy Glue to glue the strap tightly to the plastic so that the strap won't twist when I'm trying to hook/unhook the unit out in the field. It's held for two day-long hikes, but I don't know how permanent the fix will be.