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Get ready the 500 and 550T are coming


tflight

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A side question to all this is their/will their be a Colorado 500 series?

 

Theirs been speculation for months that the Colorado is dead. If no Colorado 500 series then certainly the Colorado is dead. Should know in a few weeks.

 

My guess is NO. I think Garmin learned many valuable lessons with the CO. One day they might be a collector's item...like the Edsel.

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I'll wait for the Oregon 600 with built in mobile phone so that I can log my finds AND upload pictures to the log with it. :rolleyes:

 

But seriously, I've got a friend that on at least one occasion pretended that his GPS was a camera to avoid suspicious looks from muggles. With one of these you don't even have to pretend.

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I'll wait for the Oregon 600 with built in mobile phone so that I can log my finds AND upload pictures to the log with it. :)

 

But seriously, I've got a friend that on at least one occasion pretended that his GPS was a camera to avoid suspicious looks from muggles. With one of these you don't even have to pretend.

Hehe, I do that a lot too... or pretend it's a cell phone because when on a phone you can really do anything. Keep talking in a loud voice and no one will notice you :D

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It'll have to be a pretty dadgum good camera to make it worth while in my opinion. Looking at the body of my Oregon 300 (which is already big and heavy enough as it is) I can't see anywhere a camera of any decent quality could be put.

 

Ok, so I may be a little snobby when it comes to cameras (I have a Olympus E420 and a rational hatred of mobile phone cameras) but I really think if a photo is worth taking, it's worth taking properly. Photos taken with mobile phones are woeful when viewed on anything apart from the equally woeful mobile phone screen, even from expensive 9 billion mega pixel phones (with a lens and sensor smaller than a pin head). There's no way a camera added to another device as a novelty will ever compare to a proper digital camera. And even if its just a quick and dirty geotagged picture that's required, most people already have a camera in their mobile. Even if it can't geotag just snap the photo then snap another of the GPS screen.

 

I'm skeptical that a gps with a camera will be much use to most people, especially considering the extra expense, weight and battery drain it's likely to add.

Edited by hbdgaz
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I doubt anyone thinks it is being designed for award winning photography.

 

As for batteries, the OR is already a pig and we have accepted that. So a bit more drain won't matter.

 

I think it is a neat idea. Saves carrying an extra device and gives the ability to take a picture of the cache hide. Be nice if it has the ability to automatically embed cache information in the meta data.

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That's the main reason I would be interested in it for geocaching. I would like to have the ability to record information as I move through a cache:

 

- Multi cache waypoint information

- Pictures of the cache containers and locations

- Clue sheets, etc.

- Travel bug tag #'s

- Virtual/Earthcache proofshots (hmmm, some shots requiring a picture of you and your GPS might difficult however)

- Benchmark data and locations

 

Normally I use my regular camera to do this but it would be nice not to have to pull out another device and it would a "nice to have" if the photos were geotagged and could be archived with the track data once I was done with the cache.

Edited by g-o-cashers
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I was caching with a friend on the weekend. He had a Magellan that had a camera, flashlight, mp3 player, digital voice recorder.

 

Pretty much everything but a GPS. :ph34r:

 

Exactly what I was thinking. When I was GPS shopping, the Magellan looked pretty cool until I read all the horror stories online and in the forums. Lets hope Garmin is not headed down the same path.

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I was caching with a friend on the weekend. He had a Magellan that had a camera, flashlight, mp3 player, digital voice recorder.

 

Pretty much everything but a GPS. :ph34r:

 

Nuts to you Tequila! :unsure: If I recall correctly my Triton 2000 managed to guide us over a km of bushwhacking and I have the geotagged pictures to prove it. And a few of them include you so you might wanna be careful of what you say least these photos be released over the 'net! :(

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I was caching with a friend on the weekend. He had a Magellan that had a camera, flashlight, mp3 player, digital voice recorder.

 

Pretty much everything but a GPS. :ph34r:

 

Exactly what I was thinking. When I was GPS shopping, the Magellan looked pretty cool until I read all the horror stories online and in the forums. Lets hope Garmin is not headed down the same path.

 

Yes, horror stories abound regarding Magellan but they now have new owners. Their latest firmware for their Tritons make these truly remarkable units with the glaring exception of street routing. But for that I use a Nuvi 750 with GSAK macro. New Triton FW is to be released this spring. FYI, I have both a T1500 and T2000 (the latter adds a 2 mp camera and 3 axis electronic compass) and haven't had problems with either of them.

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I was caching with a friend on the weekend. He had a Magellan that had a camera, flashlight, mp3 player, digital voice recorder.

 

Pretty much everything but a GPS. :ph34r:

 

Nuts to you Tequila! :unsure: If I recall correctly my Triton 2000 managed to guide us over a km of bushwhacking and I have the geotagged pictures to prove it. And a few of them include you so you might wanna be careful of what you say least these photos be released over the 'net! :(

 

Hell hath no fury like a beetle scorned..........

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I was caching with a friend on the weekend. He had a Magellan that had a camera, flashlight, mp3 player, digital voice recorder.

 

Pretty much everything but a GPS. :ph34r:

 

Nuts to you Tequila! :wacko: If I recall correctly my Triton 2000 managed to guide us over a km of bushwhacking and I have the geotagged pictures to prove it. And a few of them include you so you might wanna be careful of what you say least these photos be released over the 'net! :unsure:

 

:( busted!

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Care to share your sources?

 

No, sorry. But here are some other "predictions" from past threads...

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=119016&hl=

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=112222&hl=

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=139488&hl=

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=197388&hl=

 

These things are always subject to change - but I guess we'll see what happens.

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Any idea on a release date? I ask because I just ordered the 400t. I am going to send it back and wait till the new models are released. It would be fantastic to know how long I'll be sitting on my hands.

 

one other thing and you may not believe this because we've been wanting this forever... but the word is 3-axis...

 

and nothing about colorado.

Edited by JKML
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one other thing and you may not believe this because we've been wanting this forever... but the word is 3-axis...

 

and nothing about colorado.

 

I wonder how useful this is seeing how even with the 2 axis most people tell you to turn it off for accuracy.

Accuracy of what? The GPS signal? The Electronic Compass has nothing to do with accuracy, just direction. However, a tri-axial just makes it easier without having to hold the GPS flat.

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one other thing and you may not believe this because we've been wanting this forever... but the word is 3-axis...

 

and nothing about colorado.

 

I wonder how useful this is seeing how even with the 2 axis most people tell you to turn it off for accuracy.

Accuracy of what? The GPS signal? The Electronic Compass has nothing to do with accuracy, just direction. However, a tri-axial just makes it easier without having to hold the GPS flat.

 

what he said ^ With the OR 300 it does alert you a LOT to hold it flat. I'm going to be sorely tempted to get the 500.

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Has anyone seen a picture of the back of the unit showing the camera lens?

I found this one in one of the links:

6baa90b0-23f7-4ba1-ac32-585e58ed1b7d.jpg

The driving force behind my buying an Oregon 300 was the ability to have cache page data in the unit, so I wouldn't need to drag a PDA or reams of paper with me in the woods. Adding a camera to the device frees me from having to drag one of those as well. From that perspective, I see this as a plus. I'm not as concerned about the relatively low resolution of the camera. I wouldn't expect them to cram a 15 megapixel device in there. I like that they are upgrading their compass, and the screen's visibility. I'll have to wait till I see some user comparisons to see if it's worth buying. Garmin's price on the 550T is $600. Add another $100 for street maps and the price is way out of my budget.

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Ok, so this will not be very thorough because I was rushed but I actually had my hands on a 550t today at Geowoodstock. I was able to have the 400t and 550t side by side. The screens did look different, but the cords on each were six inches long so I could not get them out in the sun. My wife said the screen on the 400t looked more "pearly" than the 550t. I took some photos with the camera and it was not bad. I did not look at the Firmware installed, like I said I was rushed, but the overall look of the screen does have me inspired to make the jump from my 400t. Again, I was rushed so I was not able to check out the compass, basically because I forgot. I know this in not much but I was excited just to get my hands on one.

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A side question to all this is their/will their be a Colorado 500 series?

 

Theirs been speculation for months that the Colorado is dead. If no Colorado 500 series then certainly the Colorado is dead. Should know in a few weeks.

 

Garmin actually said at CES this year (somewhere around last February) that the Colorado series was being discontinued in favor of the Oregon. I don't know if they actually announced this in any official capacity, but more than one person at the Garmin site confirmed this.

 

Larry

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Garmin actually said at CES this year (somewhere around last February) that the Colorado series was being discontinued in favor of the Oregon. I don't know if they actually announced this in any official capacity, but more than one person at the Garmin site confirmed this.

 

Larry

 

Larry,

 

Were you there and did you hear this directly?

 

If not, can you share where you heard it?

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