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Is it safe to buy an Oregon yet ?


Super-T

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Have read through here and seen a number of issues, some minor and some rather less so, with the Oregon.

I am looking at buying the 300 (because here in Aus, the 400 has marine maps and the 300 has land maps, and I don't need marine).

 

I have to replace my Vista which has gone missing, and am looking at the Oregon, but don't wish to play Guinea Pig to find the problems and wait for them to be solved.

Minor things I can live with, but things I've read here such as massive swings in reported position, and inability to accurately determine if you are moving or not, concern me enough to want to be sure it's the right thing to buy.

 

I personally think that the Colorado looks like it would be much tougher and more robust. It also appears to have better reception which is good for me living in mountainous heavily forested areas, and considering the only problem I ever had with the Garmin was when I fell off my mountain bike and landed on it, maybe tough would be good. The vista even fell off a car roof at 70km/h onto the tarmac, and still kept going strong, so I know Garmin units are pretty robust little things, but.....

I've also had my fair share of touch screen PDA's, and am less than thrilled at the thought of going camping, hiking, and caching, with a touch screen anything.

But since that won't be it's only use, and probably less than 1/3rd of the reasons I'm buying one, there are so many other factors to consider, that make me lean towards the Oregon as my next unit.

I do a lot of caching, but will also want to do the occasional road navigation when interstate or in unfamiliar territory.

I do a lot of 4wding, and will want to be able to explore a track I've never been up, and know that I can find my way back down it if I have to.

Probably it's most common use will be the caching, and paperless isn't vital to me, as I own and use an iMate with Cachemate on it. It would take out a number of steps and the handling of two items to do the job, but it's not sufficient to make me choose the Oregon just on that feature.

 

The wikipedia article on these units raises some fairly reasonable frustrations. The threads here have raised some more. But then the general feeling I get from ALL the threads and info I've been able to round up, is that it's generally a great GPS unit.

 

I believe we are now up to firmware upgrade 2.5 or greater, and so am wondering with that many upgrades, has the Oregon become reliable enough to be the replacement for the Vista I once had ?

 

Specific answers as to why or why not would be great.

And thank you in advance for taking the time to help, as I can't easily spend $540 Australian, so need to make this the right choice first time.

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I have an Oregon 200 and a Colorado 300.

 

The Oregon is just a much more polished and finished unit. My only complaint is the rather dim screen in some conditions. All the kinks that caused me any concern are working now and I have never experienced the "drift" issue that others have seen. On my Colorado, I starting seeing the drift a few weeks ago and it was some rather significant error. I was real happy with it until that moment. Can't recommend the Colorado until they do something about that.

 

Overall, however, I just like the look, feel and operation of the Oregon much better.

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Like with most Oregon users, my experience is limited. I bought my 400t in late August. We found five caches the next day as a test, and our caching partners were so impressed they also bought one. The four of us traveled to the Northwest US for a few days last week and did some caching there. We each loaded 1,900+ caches and quite a few waypoints, and off we went. The Oregons worked flawlessly.

 

I often carried mine in a shirt pocket (I do have screen protection) and it was easy to get at and to use. I'm right handed, but do virtually all the screen work with my left thumb - sometimes a small problem due to large thumb.

 

Accuracy was great - although not always perfect. I was in an old-growth forest for one cache. It was extremely dark due to thick tree cover but I easily found a cache there.

 

I also had little problem viewing the screen. I found visibilty in bright sunlight (at the right angle) to be very good.

 

We didn't use tracking - that will come later.

 

For us, the paperless improvements were very helpful. It's a good thing too because I took my PDA for backup, didn't use it at all, and it promptly disappeared. I understand the Colorado is the same or nearly so as far as paperless caching is concerned.

 

Hope this helped. I realize that there are different experiences and different viewpoints; but it was great working with the Oregon.

 

To quote StarBrand:

Overall, however, I just like the look, feel and operation of the Oregon much better.
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I have both the Colorado 400t and Oregon 400t and have been happy with them. The only issue of note for me is screen brightness - for the Oregon I have the backlight on alll the time ( a battery hog ).

 

However, I have to ask, if paperless caching is not important to you, why are you even looking at the Oregon? Have you considered the 60CS/60CSx? I have that one ( 60CSx ) as well and, before the Colorado/Oregon came out, was very happy with it. I love the paperless caching, that's why I went for the Colorado/Oregon.

Edited by nicolo
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I have both the Colorado 400t and Oregon 400t and have been happy with them. The only issue of note for me is screen brightness - for the Oregon I have the backlight on alll the time ( a battery hog ).

 

Is this to say the Oregon screen brightness is even worse than the Colorado? If so that's pretty bad considering how bad the colorado is compared to the etrex/60/76csx models.

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Have personally used the Colorado along with a 60csx and have played for some little time with an Oregon.

The 60csx has the brightest screen by some way , then the Colorado and finally the Oregon in most light conditions.

I feel the difference between the 60csx and the Colorado to be a lot more than the difference between the Colorado and the Oregon in general readability in most light conditions.

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Just a couple of comments (opinions).

 

First, I concur with Nicolo about the 60CSx if you don't want paperless. It's cheaper and in many circles considered the premier caching GPS.

 

Secondly, screen brightness limitations are very much a personal decision. I wish the Oregon was brighter. It does not measure up to it's predecessors. That being said, when I bought my Oregon I told the clerk that my decision would be based on several factors. Screen brightness was a deal-breaker. They let me take it outside in the bright noontime So California sun. When I got outside the backlight was off. The screen was dark until I moved it a little and I could see everything perfectly and wondered what all the fuss was about. I then turned on the backlight—and promptly went in and bought it.

 

I have the backlight set for 30 seconds. If it goes off, a light touch brings it back.

 

Again, I do think the brightness issue is personal and I would not argue with anyone who disagrees with my choice. I recommend that, if possible, you try it yourself before buying.

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Yep for sure, the backlight issue is personal. For hiking I never had any issues with the colordo because usually you could turn/tilt the unit into the sun to get good visibility at some angle. Aside that the extrex/60csx had brighter screens in the same light, but I never had a problem seeing the screen on the colorado.

 

In my case though I also wanted to use the unit on the mountain bike, and when it's mounted on the bike you loose the option of tilting/turning the unit so it gets the best visibility so a bright backlight is a big issue for that use.

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I sent my Oregon back because i could not view the screen while driving to the cache sites..i did love the paperless feature...i found the accuracy an issue as well.....guess im spoiled by my 60csx

 

Plug it into external power in the car and the screen is very bright. They have highest backlight when on external power.

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Hi Super-T. I am located in Australia as well. Let me give you an Australian perspective. We have a Vista HCX and wanted a second GPSr as the son and I tended to get separated from the wife and daughter during hikes and geocaching tips. From Internet research, I was leaning towards the 60CSX as it seems to have less complaints.

 

However, being a technophile, I feel that not getting the latest gadget is a step backwards. Like yourself, I posted a query on the Geocaching Australia forum and got very good responses from Australian users in favour of the Oregon 300. I decided that I needed to see it for myself to convince myself that the Oregon is usable.

 

The local shop was kind enough to allow me to take the Oregon out into the sun. I had my HCX with me to compare. I was happy with the accuracy of the Oregon. The screen turned out not to be a problem. In fact, I normally have the backlight off. I only needed the backlight when it gets dark. I did not experience any problems that was described within this forum and am very happy with the unit. Firmware 2.5 that came out last week seemed to have resolved the obvious bugs. Someone came up with a Wherigo cartridge that does waypoint average (very clever).

 

As had been said before, go and see the unit for yourself before deciding.

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I just got my new OR after 3 defective CO's. Difference between OR and CO is day and night. The OR is so much better it is hard to believe one company produced both units.

 

Did a caching run today and the OR was just as accurate at the 60CSx. I need to do more testing before I would say it is as good as the 60.

 

Screen management and transition is beautiful. Caching operations are much more intuitive than the CO. And data entry is a dream. Even better than the 60.

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Thanks for posting this thread Super-T. I am in exactly the same position as you are as far as needing to replace my Vista, which became terminally ill this summer.

 

I've had a chance to use the 60csx and have been planning on purchasing it; however, as mentioned above by Roaming Man, I'm also a bit leery of getting into a unit that is nearly three years dated... I understand that it is a benchmark of sorts, but I'm a gear junkie, and would prefer to take advantage of more recent tech if it's panning out.

 

Does anyone know if the 2.5 firmware update takes care of the 2.4 issues regarding the barometer and tide tables?

Edited by Melack
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Wow, thanks for the great replies.

Unfortunately, I don't know of a local shop that sells the Oregon here in Canberra, and with my horrid shifts, I'd be hard pressed getting to go look anyway, so have had to base a lot of my decision making on the net.

The place I am looking at buying from is in Queensland, and I'm in Canberra, so for those not in Australia, let's just say, I can't exactly duck into the shop to have a look at it.

I think I'll place my order in the morning.

Screen brightness may prove to be an issue, but I manage with my PDA ok, I just often have to remove the sunnies and angle it a little, and if that's the case with the OR, then so be it.

Paperless isn't necessary as I have the PDA, but it is definitely a PLUS as handling TWO items while hiking to the cache, and reading BOTH in bright sunlight, while not falling over a log or cliff, is always a tad challenging. So to be able to do both on the one unit, whilst not crucial, is certainly going to be a bonus.

 

I appreciate all the useful and helpful real life information.

You've very much helped me to make my decision.

Funny how the moment you no longer have a GPS unit, you suddenly start getting hundreds of "the ump has published ..... " messages in your email. Were you all so worried that I'd get the FTF that you put off publishing all your caches until I had no way to go get them :D

Well, look out, cause I have some serious catching up (or is that caching up) to do once the OR arrives here in the mail.

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Well, rightly or wrongly, I bit the bullet and ordered it.

 

Bit peeved that the maps I purchased for the Vista, aren't allowed to be registered to this unit, even though I'm the one user, and they will be on only one unit.

 

By the time I bought all the options, it could have been VERY expensive.

As it was, the original $539 Aus, sure blew out fast. Was well over $800 by the time I finished adding what I considered just basic items (windscreen mount, power cable, and maps).

For future toys I'd consider the hard carry case since I've broken a vista by falling on it when out caching, but my budget ran out :huh:

 

Will keep you informed of my experiences with it, but am looking forward to it arriving.

Might have to take a few days off just to go and play.

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Well, so far I love it, and it seems accurate enough, but I should NEVER have listened to the so called "experts" that sell them, and gone with my gut instinct.

My instinct told me that it would not be tough enough for geocaching, and so I asked the store about the Colorado instead, and got told that the OR was every bit as tough as the CO.

WRONG, very very wrong. I've done just 4 caches, and had it just 3 days, and already while scouting around a likely tree, have had a branch put three deep long scratches on the screen just while it was hanging on my belt on the supplied carabiner.

This unit should NOT be used for anything but drive-by caches. If you do some of the harder ones, I can't say I can recommend the unit. Very disappointed.

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Whoa, I've got to step in here and make a comment about the oregon screen vs the 60csx/etrex screen. For a start all the screens are dull, compared to the HCx which can double as a torch in it's own right. However...

 

Let's forget about the screen brightness because that is not what the Oregon/Colorado screen is all about.

 

The Colorado/Oregon is the next generation super hi resolution display that renders not just text but maps and roads at a higher level than a Nuvi. So if you use your Colorado or Oregon for driving then the readability compared to the 60/eTrex is incomparable.

 

As has also been mentioned when plugged into an external power source the Oregon/Colorado is massively bright. But it's not the brightness that is impressive it is the amazing display. Sure the 60CSx is plenty usable for driving but compared to the Colorado it's utter crap. It cannot display hi res text neither can it render faux 3D maps.

 

So when comparing the 60 to a Colorado/Oregon don't get stuck on brightness. And if you intend to use it as an incar nav system then there is simply no comparison.

Edited by gallet
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Well, so far I love it, and it seems accurate enough, but I should NEVER have listened to the so called "experts" that sell them, and gone with my gut instinct.

My instinct told me that it would not be tough enough for geocaching, and so I asked the store about the Colorado instead, and got told that the OR was every bit as tough as the CO.

WRONG, very very wrong. I've done just 4 caches, and had it just 3 days, and already while scouting around a likely tree, have had a branch put three deep long scratches on the screen just while it was hanging on my belt on the supplied carabiner.

This unit should NOT be used for anything but drive-by caches. If you do some of the harder ones, I can't say I can recommend the unit. Very disappointed.

You would have had the same scratches on a Colorado or even a 60CSx or eTrex. The factory screens just aren't that tough. Aftermarket screen protectors such as the Zag InvisibleShield work great, though (but they might slightly impact the already-poor screen visibility).

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You would have had the same scratches on a Colorado or even a 60CSx or eTrex. The factory screens just aren't that tough. Aftermarket screen protectors such as the Zag InvisibleShield work great, though (but they might slightly impact the already-poor screen visibility).

 

My Vista seemed to be pretty tough. It's screen had very very few marks on it after several years of hard caching. In fact it didn't even mark the screen when it fell off the roof of the car at 70km/h (I'd put it up on the roof while it got satellite lock, and forgot about it).

I would assume the CO would have a screen at least as tough as the Vista. Solid plastic has to be more resistant than the softness of a touch screen, which I can only assume have allowed the broken tips of the dry old branch to dig in and push a scratch across the screen, which the hard screen of a CO (or the Vista) would have allowed the branches to just slide across leaving little damage.

 

Either way, I'll be having to do something about it, as there's obviously no way it can continue to be used now until it gets some serious reinforcing. I just regret that I didn't make that a priority, as I really did believe their assesment of it's toughness as the plastic SEEMS tough when you look at it and feel it, but of course any soft surface is going to be at more risk, and I should have gone with my instinct on it and protected it straight away.

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But don't expect a nice graphic screen with moveable crosshairs like the 60CSx or eTrex HCx or even the eTrex Venture, no, the fantastic colorado screen just gives you the numbers as if you selected the 'Show High/Lows' option. Apparently Garmin couldn't give a rat's about the software.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you for this thread! My etrex legend is just about shot, and I'm considering buying a new GPS. I had some discussion yesterday with some fellow geocachers about the Colorado 400t which I was considering because I wanted to go paperless. Most I talked to said the Colorado was horrible and they were unhappy with their purchases. I was told to go out and just buy the 60CSx and a PDA. Well, I don't want to have to go and buy two things...my whole purpose was to buy one unit to load once with my caches. I'd rather be out geocaching than sitting in front of the PC connecting cables to load a GPS and then a PDA!! I'm going to stop off at the store today and get a look at the Oregon, and I think I may just be coming home with one today!!!

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Thank you, thank you, thank you for this thread! My etrex legend is just about shot, and I'm considering buying a new GPS. I had some discussion yesterday with some fellow geocachers about the Colorado 400t which I was considering because I wanted to go paperless. Most I talked to said the Colorado was horrible and they were unhappy with their purchases. I was told to go out and just buy the 60CSx and a PDA. Well, I don't want to have to go and buy two things...my whole purpose was to buy one unit to load once with my caches. I'd rather be out geocaching than sitting in front of the PC connecting cables to load a GPS and then a PDA!! I'm going to stop off at the store today and get a look at the Oregon, and I think I may just be coming home with one today!!!

 

I always love this sort of response... There is very little difference between an Oregon and a Colorado. Mainly just a different interface and slightly different ways things are presented. Other than that they are the same thing.

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There is a monsterous difference between the CO and the OR.

 

The CO has chronic waterproof problems to the point where Garmin has replaced many many units and are now re-designing the back cover. The OR is lock solid in terms of waterproofing.

 

There is a number of issues with the CO that do not exist with the OR. For example, every time you turn the CO on you have to reset the backlighting. The OR remembers the setting from power cycle to power cycle.

 

I have never experienced location drift with the OR. I went through three CO's before Garmin admitted it had problems and gave me an OR. All three CO's showed location drift. Often I would be driving on one street and it would show me on a parallel street.

Edited by Tequila
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Aside from the touch screen the biggest differences for me have been the track manager and how geocaches are integrated with other functions in the unit. I realize not everyone plays with tracks but if you do the OR's track manager puts the CO's track handling to shame -- the ability to display and colorize multiple tracks and the partial track save and reversal features work really well on the OR. I was hoping the CO might pick up this support but with every new CO release that hope diminishes. I also find the geocaching work flow slightly easier on the OR because of it presents map page of the cache before you navigate to it which allows you to easily select parking locations based on child waypoints or using the map.

 

Then there's the drift error which still hasn't gone away. I tested my new Colorado over the last two weeks and out of 9-10 tests I've seen 5 location errors over 100', two of them were over 300'. For me it's a trust thing at this point. I have no idea why I see it more frequently than others do but under tree cover it happens to me way too much.

 

GO$Rs

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Thank you, thank you, thank you for this thread! My etrex legend is just about shot, and I'm considering buying a new GPS. I had some discussion yesterday with some fellow geocachers about the Colorado 400t which I was considering because I wanted to go paperless. Most I talked to said the Colorado was horrible and they were unhappy with their purchases. I was told to go out and just buy the 60CSx and a PDA. Well, I don't want to have to go and buy two things...my whole purpose was to buy one unit to load once with my caches. I'd rather be out geocaching than sitting in front of the PC connecting cables to load a GPS and then a PDA!! I'm going to stop off at the store today and get a look at the Oregon, and I think I may just be coming home with one today!!!

 

You'll love it for geocaching, just spend the $13 extra dollars and buy a zagg invisishield or some sort of sturdy case for it to protect the screen a bit.

For paperless caching, it's a dream compared to a PDA with Cachemate, and a seperate GPS unit which was how I used to have to do it.

 

The more I get to know it, the more I like it. Last night I found you can arrange the items on the main menu so that your most commonly used ones all appear on the front page of the menu, that has taken a few steps out of moving from compass to map and back.

You can also put the pointer into the data fields on the map, and that way can use the map page alone for more of the cache hunt. And with profiles, it means that you can set the geocaching profile up that way, and not have it set up with a pointer when in a profile that doesn't need a pointer.

 

Would love to turn back time and not scratch mine, or find a way to remove them or minimise them, but will definitely be buying an invisishield one way or the other, as it protects the screen and the entire device.

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Personally, i think the Colorado complainers have bad units.

 

1) Watertightness. I've thoroughly tested mine and it is completely leak proof. My understanding is this was a limited early unit problem.

 

2) "Drift" (It is not the correct term). I've seen three occasions in 6 months and hundreds of thousands of track points. If you are saying 50% of the time, there is something seriously wrong with your unit or test methods. From my observations the Oregon is less sensitive than the Colorado ALL the time.

 

3) Track manager. This is VERY OBVIOUSLY a bug, so I'm sure it will be fixed.

 

4) Geocaching work flow. I find the Colorado MUCH better. The Oregon requires way to much going in and out to get where I want to go.

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2) "Drift" (It is not the correct term). I've seen three occasions in 6 months and hundreds of thousands of track points. If you are saying 50% of the time, there is something seriously wrong with your unit or test methods. From my observations the Oregon is less sensitive than the Colorado ALL the time.

 

Maybe so, but how many Colorado's does one have to try before getting a good one? That alone is reason enough for me not to recommend the model. I would agree that the Oregon is a little less sensitive than the Colorado when the Colorado behaving normally, but it is predicable which counts for a lot.

 

GO$Rs

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Maybe so, but how many Colorado's does one have to try before getting a good one? That alone is reason enough for me not to recommend the model. I would agree that the Oregon is a little less sensitive than the Colorado when the Colorado behaving normally, but it is predicable which counts for a lot.

 

GO$Rs

 

It is just that a "few" of you make it sound like it is very common. I carefully review all track logs and for me it is very, very rare. I also have many friends with Colorado that have never noticed the problem.

 

Since it is obviously a calculation error, perhaps it happens more in certain locations, so where you live it is more repeatable??

Edited by Red90
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I have been very happy with the performance of my Colorado. But I am mightily jacked off about the appalling software.

 

No, appalling is too nice a word, it's an insult to ones intelligence and I frankly find it astounding that it does not even have a graphic tide screen like even an etrex venture can display. Never mind about the idiotic non implementation of the software buttons.

 

As a simple single example, when auto routing you should be able to press the dedicated option button to 'stop navigation' or 'recalculate' but instead you have to drill down into the menu system. This non use of the option key goes all the way through the controls. Worse than that is that it appears that Garmin have no interest at all in fixing it. It's ludicrous, infuriating and unbelievable. But it does have a very nice display for routing and displaying contours.

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Personally, i think the Colorado complainers have bad units.

 

1) Watertightness. I've thoroughly tested mine and it is completely leak proof. My understanding is this was a limited early unit problem.

 

2) "Drift" (It is not the correct term). I've seen three occasions in 6 months and hundreds of thousands of track points. If you are saying 50% of the time, there is something seriously wrong with your unit or test methods. From my observations the Oregon is less sensitive than the Colorado ALL the time.

 

3) Track manager. This is VERY OBVIOUSLY a bug, so I'm sure it will be fixed.

 

4) Geocaching work flow. I find the Colorado MUCH better. The Oregon requires way to much going in and out to get where I want to go.

 

I dare you to post a picture of your Colorado fully submersed in a fish bowl. That is well within the limit of what it is supposed to be capable of.

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2) "Drift" (It is not the correct term). I've seen three occasions in 6 months and hundreds of thousands of track points. If you are saying 50% of the time, there is something seriously wrong with your unit or test methods. From my observations the Oregon is less sensitive than the Colorado ALL the time.

 

Maybe so, but how many Colorado's does one have to try before getting a good one? That alone is reason enough for me not to recommend the model. I would agree that the Oregon is a little less sensitive than the Colorado when the Colorado behaving normally, but it is predicable which counts for a lot.

 

GO$Rs

Wouldn't bother me. I live quite close to an REI. I'd just keep bringin' 'em back till one works. :laughing:

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I dare you to post a picture of your Colorado fully submersed in a fish bowl. That is well within the limit of what it is supposed to be capable of.

 

Will do tonight. No problem. As I stated, I have tested it thoroughly.

 

Be sure and show it powered on. Front and back shots.

Oh brother.

 

Red90, also show a picture with your hand in the fishbowl, holding the GPSr so we know that it's a real GPSr ( preferably link to a video with you using the RnR underwater, zooming in and out ).

 

Maybe some infrared as well, what the hell.

Edited by nicolo
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Oh brother.

 

Red90, also show a picture with your hand in the fishbowl, holding the GPSr so we know that it's a real GPSr ( preferably link to a video with you using the RnR underwater, zooming in and out ).

 

Maybe some infrared as well, what the hell.

 

Heh...and a copy of today's newspaper so we know the hostage is still alive. :laughing:

 

Maybe we need to have shots of the serial numbers as well so we know Red90 doesn't substitute a second unit as part of the test. We also should have the results verified by an independent third party accounting firm.

 

OK, OK...on topic.

 

I'll wait until the Oregon is completely obsolete and then I'll buy one. It will take that long before Mrs. DanOCan will let me spend the money anyway. :laughing: I'm still happy with my 60CSx.

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The 60CSx is still the best GPS by far, in terms of acquiring a signal, keeping it and giving an accurate position.

 

As for the fish bowl, there are several incidents where stores have tried the test and fried the unit. Including a Garmin support rep. That is why Garmin is designing a new cover for the CO.

 

I really don't recommend anyone doing the test. But if you do, don't forget that the Montreal Repair Depot takes 5 weeks to look at the unit and they don't have replacement units in stock.

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