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garmin gps -- oregon?


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Ok...after days and days of researching I am narrowing down my purchase field.

 

I am new to both gps'ing and geocaching but I know that I would get good use out of a good system, so I'm not limiting myself by cost. Also, I've never used a gps before, but I am a pretty smart cookie so I don't NEED anything dumbed down for me....but if dummied down works the best...then I'm all for it :D

 

I really do want an all-purpose unit....but leaning towards the active side of things, so that's why I'm headed towards the Oregon -- either the 300 or the 400t. I want topo and city maps. I've done a few searches for free maps, and I'm just a little new so I'm not sure if they'd fit my needs (I'm in Southern Minnesota and travel predominantly from MN, to ND, to across MT.) I will also be traveling overseas and other random places, so I do want some good expandability...and paperless is really attractive to me.

 

I've also heard about some issues with the Oregon...screen lighting, hiccups, etc....

 

I also want an easy to use unit, so that's what's got me turned on to the touch screen.

 

I just don't want to regret my purchase if I spend a good chunk of cash. I'v also looked at the Colorado and the PN-40, so anything I can hear from actual owners of all of these gpsu's would be great. I've read so many reviews I might just go blind.....

 

Is this a no-brainer...should I just go with the Oregon? If so, which one? If not....what else?

 

Any thoughts, advice for this newbie???

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What you have heard about issues, is absolutely correct. I too was aware of them, but decided I could live with them. After a month of use that turns out to not be the case - at the moment I am trying to get it traded for a usable unit, but if not successful I'll just use it as an expensive paperweight.

If at all possible, test it yourself before committing to buy it. Or get a no-questions-asked return policy and be prepared to use it.

All that said, several people are satisfied with the Oregon, you too could be one of them. You just can't tell without hands-on experience.

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REI is famous for their 'no questions asked' return policy, you'll pay full retail, but you can always return or exchange it for another unit. I did this when I bought the PN-40, tried it for a month, it was just too much work to use, so I returned it and got an Oregon. I've been really happy overall, there are still some issues, but they seem to be solving the problems expeditiously. The new Lowrance unit looks like it might be pretty nice too.

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REI is famous for their 'no questions asked' return policy, you'll pay full retail, but you can always return or exchange it for another unit. I did this when I bought the PN-40, tried it for a month, it was just too much work to use, so I returned it and got an Oregon. I've been really happy overall, there are still some issues, but they seem to be solving the problems expeditiously. The new Lowrance unit looks like it might be pretty nice too.

 

I was going to suggest REI as well. Even if they don't carry all the GPS units you want to try, if you're interested in the Oregon, get one at REI and if its shortcomings are too great, then you can move on to the next one.

 

For the record, I love my Oregon. I haven't had problems reading it at all, and I find it's very easy to use. I'm a smarter cookie and can figure out most devices, too. My experience is that it's not so much learning to use the device as it is finding an interface that is responsive and intuitive. This means different things to different people.

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I recommend NOT getting the topo maps on the GPS. In the field, they really have not been worth the extra $100 that I paid for the 400t.

 

If i find myself going on a serious hike that needs the topos, it's better to print the maps beforehand from free online sources.

 

Get the Oregon 300, I say. The slightly smaller amount of internal memory is also not significant.

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PN-40 user and lover here, sounds like you're on the right track with the advanced units, GOOD! It's a bit crazy to see some spend money on a "dumbed down" unit only to find they really love caching and want to upgrade soon afterwards!

 

I won't pretend to know much about the Garmins, I'll simply give my opinion of the PN-40 and let you take that into considerations:

 

Pn-40 is an all-in-one geocaching machine, everything you need comes right in the box! Maps, included! Paperless caching (TRUE paperless), right in the box! This unit will route (although some think not very well, I happen to be very happy with it), is capable of adding aerial imagery, hi-res city imagery, NOAA charts and some other great maps with a $30/year subscription to their map library! Topo 8 just came out, so the PN-40 is even easier to use than before and, the new Cache Register is said to be on it's way in the VERY near future...more caching control than ever before and only available from DeLorme!

 

Some dislike the small screen, but this allows for great viewing under any light condition...I have no problem at all with the size! Some say the battery life is an issue (power kit battery pak lasts upto 8 hours, Duracell HD rechargeables last upto 11+ hours), I have no problem with this either, just carry a spare pair of Duracells in case of emegency!

 

I am very happy with my PN-40 and have noticed more and more coming in and repoting the same with theirs! Remember, the choice you make should make you happy! Research and test any unit you're thinking about...whether at a store or an event where someone has one of the units. An informed buyer is likely a HAPPY buyer!

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This unit will route (although some think not very well, I happen to be very happy with it),

 

No really.. it's terrible. My blind grandmother can navigate better on roads than this unit.

 

The OP wants to travel overseas... the PN-40 can hardly be recommended for that unless you want to spend hours of work plus $$ to make your own maps. Or just use the PN-40 as a non-mapping unit outside the US.

 

So, back to the original question. The 400t has the topos... you can get just as good topos for the 300 for free. The Garmin Topo maps have the DEM shading that make maps look so sexy 3d.. this shading is also used by other garmin maps to make them look just as sexy. Free topos do not contain these data.

 

The only real advantage to the 400t over the 300 is the fact that as the topos are pre-loaded you override the limitation the 300 (heck, any garmin) has on the number (not memory, NUMBER) of map segments that are allowed on the unit or SD card...i.e. you can have the WHOLE of the USA topo on the unit which you can't do on the 300.

 

http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Maps#toc21

 

The Oregon is a great all round unit. Roads to trail, hiking to paperless caching .. you name it. great stability as well, thick and fast updates for the unit and it's very reliable build-wise. It also has great battery life. The screen brightness... go to REI and try it outside with the backlight on and off. Remember you need to hold it flat to use it at it's best accuracy, so have a walk around with it. Bear in mind that in the car it's extremely bright when powered via USB. With the newest firmware I get WAAS lock more often than not. The UI is a pleasure to use with the touchscreen.

Edited by Maingray
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I purchased the Oregon 300 about two weeks ago and I am pleased with it. Ok the screen is not the brightest out of the box, the default setting needs adjusting to improve things then it is ok. Battery life is a bit of an issue but just use rechargeables. The touch screen is great and you do not need to refer to the manual very often to operate most functions. I say go ahead and buy one you will be pleased you did.

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I agree about maps. I bought a 400t and added a CN card. It is real handy when doing drive to then walk to caches. However I was unaware that the CN card doesn't have Canada like the DVD does and I go there once a year for a month. A bit disappointing. Plus they have the new TOPO map 24K for my area which I got and loaded. much better than the 100K on it. If I had it to do over I would get the 300, CN DVD and the current 24K maps (if available for your state, they are working increasing the set) and load what I needed. Of course all this is based on your finances but you are talking about getting both a Oregon and one additional map set so adding one more may or may not make the difference.

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What you have heard about issues, is absolutely correct. I too was aware of them, but decided I could live with them. After a month of use that turns out to not be the case - at the moment I am trying to get it traded for a usable unit, but if not successful I'll just use it as an expensive paperweight.

If at all possible, test it yourself before committing to buy it. Or get a no-questions-asked return policy and be prepared to use it.

All that said, several people are satisfied with the Oregon, you too could be one of them. You just can't tell without hands-on experience.

Hmmm. Once i upgraded firmware on my Oregon, it works just fine. No problems. The screen is fine. As sharp as the 60csx? Probably not. I never had a 60csx anyway so it didn't matter to me. I use it in full sun and have never had a problem.

 

I don't like the touchscreen as much as I had hoped. My fingers must be too fat. I used a pen or pencil and it works fine though.

 

The paperless caching is the clincher for me. Still it was a huge chunk of change.

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I just ordered the Oregon 300, and bought a 2GB memory card to load some free topo maps onto. The last piece of the puzzle is rechargeable batteries. I think I saw in the specs for the 300 that it recommends rechargeable batteries that are greater than 2,500 mAh (or whatever the acronym is, can't remember).

 

Just peeked at a few rechargeable batteries and packs at target, and they vary from 800 to 2,450. Any recommendations on rechargable batteries? Is what I am seeing at the store fine, or should I look a but on the internet to get something more ideal?

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I just ordered the Oregon 300, and bought a 2GB memory card to load some free topo maps onto. The last piece of the puzzle is rechargeable batteries. I think I saw in the specs for the 300 that it recommends rechargeable batteries that are greater than 2,500 mAh (or whatever the acronym is, can't remember).

 

Just peeked at a few rechargeable batteries and packs at target, and they vary from 800 to 2,450. Any recommendations on rechargable batteries? Is what I am seeing at the store fine, or should I look a but on the internet to get something more ideal?

 

I'm using a 4GB microSD card (class 2) because the Garmins don't seem to like the class 4 or 6 as much, but there's no lag in map drawing or cache loading. I have an Oregon 300 with CityNav for all of the US & Canada plus 24K topo (GPSfiledepot.com) for all of CA and 100K Garmin topo for the WA, OR, AZ, NM, TX, UT, CO and NV and it takes up 3.5 GB

 

Also look at the Sanyo eneloops. The ones I use are rated for 2000 mAh and I really like them.

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I just ordered the Oregon 300, and bought a 2GB memory card to load some free topo maps onto. The last piece of the puzzle is rechargeable batteries. I think I saw in the specs for the 300 that it recommends rechargeable batteries that are greater than 2,500 mAh (or whatever the acronym is, can't remember).

 

Just peeked at a few rechargeable batteries and packs at target, and they vary from 800 to 2,450. Any recommendations on rechargeable batteries? Is what I am seeing at the store fine, or should I look a but on the internet to get something more ideal?

I am sure they recommend those for maximum battery life. The mAh measures how long the battery will last. The ones i use are under 2500. They work just fine. They might not last 18 or 12 but they work fine. If I cache all day I might have to change my batteries once. Sometime I forget to turn off my Oregon and it stays on all night with no trouble.

 

Don't worry about batteries unless you only want to have 4 and are worried about changing them. I have quite a few batteries and a good charger so it is not a worry for me.

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This unit will route (although some think not very well, I happen to be very happy with it),

 

No really.. it's terrible. My blind grandmother can navigate better on roads than this unit.

 

The OP wants to travel overseas... the PN-40 can hardly be recommended for that unless you want to spend hours of work plus $$ to make your own maps. Or just use the PN-40 as a non-mapping unit outside the US.

 

So, back to the original question. The 400t has the topos... you can get just as good topos for the 300 for free. The Garmin Topo maps have the DEM shading that make maps look so sexy 3d.. this shading is also used by other garmin maps to make them look just as sexy. Free topos do not contain these data.

 

The only real advantage to the 400t over the 300 is the fact that as the topos are pre-loaded you override the limitation the 300 (heck, any garmin) has on the number (not memory, NUMBER) of map segments that are allowed on the unit or SD card...i.e. you can have the WHOLE of the USA topo on the unit which you can't do on the 300.

 

http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Maps#toc21

 

The Oregon is a great all round unit. Roads to trail, hiking to paperless caching .. you name it. great stability as well, thick and fast updates for the unit and it's very reliable build-wise. It also has great battery life. The screen brightness... go to REI and try it outside with the backlight on and off. Remember you need to hold it flat to use it at it's best accuracy, so have a walk around with it. Bear in mind that in the car it's extremely bright when powered via USB. With the newest firmware I get WAAS lock more often than not. The UI is a pleasure to use with the touchscreen.

 

Sorry, the OP asked for info for the PN-40 as well and I was obliging! As for your assessment of the routing, that's your opinion, I am MORe than happy with the routing as much as I have used it (which is quite often). Please keep your blind granny from behind the wheel.

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Thanks for all the comments and bits of advice. I am an obsessive researcher when I buy a product like this and I just want to make sure I get the best bang for my buck. I think I will just go to REI and try out the 400t as it seems to have what I want/need.

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I just ordered the Oregon 300, and bought a 2GB memory card to load some free topo maps onto. The last piece of the puzzle is rechargeable batteries. I think I saw in the specs for the 300 that it recommends rechargeable batteries that are greater than 2,500 mAh (or whatever the acronym is, can't remember).

 

Just peeked at a few rechargeable batteries and packs at target, and they vary from 800 to 2,450. Any recommendations on rechargable batteries? Is what I am seeing at the store fine, or should I look a but on the internet to get something more ideal?

 

I'm using a 4GB microSD card (class 2) because the Garmins don't seem to like the class 4 or 6 as much, but there's no lag in map drawing or cache loading. I have an Oregon 300 with CityNav for all of the US & Canada plus 24K topo (GPSfiledepot.com) for all of CA and 100K Garmin topo for the WA, OR, AZ, NM, TX, UT, CO and NV and it takes up 3.5 GB

 

Also look at the Sanyo eneloops. The ones I use are rated for 2000 mAh and I really like them.

 

My card is indeed 4GB (not 2). Still in the package, as my Oregon will arrive in a day or two. I ended up getting some Kodak batteries (2400mah) and a charger. They weren't too expensive, but I'll look into the eneloops (the kodak ones may permanently live in my theater room where it will charge remote batteries).

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Oregon 400T upgraded to latest firmware, Duracell 2650 rechargables, 4GB PNY Micro SD Card, full CNNA NT 2010 loaded over the topo 100k and love it.

I wish my cache finding skills were as good as the gpsr has been getting me to the cache areas...<G>.

I have modified the profiles for High visibility using the tips found on the GO400T wiki. My wife and I alternate getting to caches and she finds it just as handy as I do.

By the way, I live in S. central MN and just got back from a couple days trip to SD, found several caches while out there, loved using the 400t

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Ok...after days and days of researching I am narrowing down my purchase field.

 

I am new to both gps'ing and geocaching but I know that I would get good use out of a good system, so I'm not limiting myself by cost. Also, I've never used a gps before, but I am a pretty smart cookie so I don't NEED anything dumbed down for me....but if dummied down works the best...then I'm all for it :)

 

I really do want an all-purpose unit....but leaning towards the active side of things, so that's why I'm headed towards the Oregon -- either the 300 or the 400t. I want topo and city maps. I've done a few searches for free maps, and I'm just a little new so I'm not sure if they'd fit my needs (I'm in Southern Minnesota and travel predominantly from MN, to ND, to across MT.) I will also be traveling overseas and other random places, so I do want some good expandability...and paperless is really attractive to me.

 

I've also heard about some issues with the Oregon...screen lighting, hiccups, etc....

 

I also want an easy to use unit, so that's what's got me turned on to the touch screen.

 

I just don't want to regret my purchase if I spend a good chunk of cash. I'v also looked at the Colorado and the PN-40, so anything I can hear from actual owners of all of these gpsu's would be great. I've read so many reviews I might just go blind.....

 

Is this a no-brainer...should I just go with the Oregon? If so, which one? If not....what else?

 

Any thoughts, advice for this newbie???

 

My advice is simple. Ignore the screen issues you may see around the forums. I think they are unfounded when using the Oregon as a handheld unit in the field, in a car mount (esp. if you use a power plug when in car) or in virtually any other situation.

 

I got 400t but when I bought it there was no price difference in the 400t and the 300. If you can get a better price on the 300, go with that. Buy the City Navigator maps, and use the freeware USGS topos. The topos are 100K on the Oregon (USGS Topos are 24K in most areas). You can get the free topos at www.gpsfiledepot.com

 

I tried the OSM Routable street maps but they are not very good. Missing exits on interstates, bad routes, just not very reliable. I still keep the OSM freeware around for when I'm in a new area as a reference. I used Metrowizzz to convert my older Mapsource maps to routable on the Oregon and use those for normal navigation - which has proven very satisfactory.

 

The touch screen is awesome and easy to use. Even in the face of some menu navigation that is inefficient the touch screen makes it a breeze.

 

Pickup a nice 4Gb MicroSDHC card, RamMount suction mount for the car and a Invisible Shield screen protector and you'll be tickled pink. Of course some good NiMH batteries are good to have handy too. There are plenty of threads on good batteries to get, along with chargers if you just search for "NiMH" or "Rechargeable Batteries".

 

Best of luck. . .

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So ok....what are the free downloadable topo maps like? I'm not opposed to getting the 300 with a 4g card....but how do the free maps compare to the topo maps already on the 400t? I don't want to eventually have to buy those too.

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So ok....what are the free downloadable topo maps like? I'm not opposed to getting the 300 with a 4g card....but how do the free maps compare to the topo maps already on the 400t? I don't want to eventually have to buy those too.

 

I got the 300 (about to be delivered sometime today) and I got a 4GB card. Last night I downloaded free "New Jersey Topo" maps from gpsfiledepot, and got the maps successfully installed into RoadTrip (the mac equivalent of MapSource). The maps are very detailed, and seem to be more detailed than what is included with the 400t. The free topo maps I downloaded seem to be 1:24,000, while the 400t maps are 1:100,000. I think the "major" shortcomings of the free ones is that they don't have the gradual shading that the 2008 topo maps have, and probably don't have the DEM data (can't use the flashy 3d view mode with them). But, the maps are about 4x more detailed, so it seems to be a win win for the free ones. I'm looking forward to seeing how they work on the 300.

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... Obviously you can't fit the whole of the USA topo 2008 data on the 300 due to the map segment limit. The 400t ignores this limit.

Technically it doesn't ignore the limit, it has the same limit on the number of segments as the 300 has. The way the 400t gets around this issue is that it uses a custom set of maps that is not the exact same as the ones from the Topo 2008 DVD. It uses larger and therefore fewer segments to hold the data (but I suspect you already knew this).

 

If you copy the Topo maps from a 400t to an SD card and rename the file to GMAPSUPP.IMG, the 300 can load and use it just fine. Similarly, if you delete the GMAPPROM.IMG file from your 400t, you can't just reload it from the Topo 2008 DVD. There are too many segments, and the data is much larger exceeding the total memory installed in a 400t.

Edited by GeekBoy.from.Illinois
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What is a map segment? How do we control the size? What is the limit on a 400t?

I know a map's max size if 4GB.

 

A map segment is a segment of a larger map. [:)] You don't control the size, unless you are the one creating the map.

 

The Oregon/Colorado limits are (as taken from the Garmin support FAQ):

* Oregon 200: 4,000

* Oregon 300: 4,000

* Oregon 400t: 3,571

* Oregon 400c: 3,546

* Oregon 400i: 3747

* Oregon 550: 4,000

* Oregon 550t: 3,571

 

From this one can infer/deduce that the Topo maps loaded on the Oregon 400t are 429 segments/tiles in size (about 2.6GB file size). The Topo 2008 DVD as over 6000 segments/tiles (and over 4GB space needed)

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What is a map segment? How do we control the size? What is the limit on a 400t?

I know a map's max size if 4GB.

 

A map segment is a segment of a larger map. [:)] You don't control the size, unless you are the one creating the map.

 

From this one can infer/deduce that the Topo maps loaded on the Oregon 400t are 429 segments/tiles in size (about 2.6GB file size). The Topo 2008 DVD as over 6000 segments/tiles (and over 4GB space needed)

 

Good info, thanks.

 

If these are per map then, can I for example load the Topo 2008 Dvd map into two different map files, splitting it?

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Map segments are just like grid squares - only typically larger and not square (they can have irregular shapes based on county boundaries etc.

 

I think the segment limit is absolute - the segments still exist even if in multiple map sets.

 

You could load 1/2 the US as GMAPSUPP.IMG and load the other as GMAPSUPP.IMG.BAK (or .TMP etc.) Then change names by modifying the extensions when you need to be in one region or the other. Only catch is you have to have computer to hook up and make the file name changes in Mass Storage Mode.

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You could load 1/2 the US as GMAPSUPP.IMG and load the other as GMAPSUPP.IMG.BAK (or .TMP etc.) Then change names by modifying the extensions when you need to be in one region or the other. Only catch is you have to have computer to hook up and make the file name changes in Mass Storage Mode.

You have a very good point here, about loading 2 files and using different names. You don't need to have a computer to do the rename though. In order to load the entire country in just 2 segments, you would need to use an SD card for your maps, and if you are using an SD card, then any device that gives you files system level access to the SD card can be used. I have used my PDA for this, I believe I can use my cell phone for this (since it supports micro-SD cards like the Oregon uses). Also remember that renaming a file on an SD card is much easier and faster than loading a large map set from MapSource...

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I created two map sets with mapsource, different US states city nav '08 data, sent a few states to the uSD card and a few to the main memory.

 

The device joined them up into one single map in the setup/map selection.

 

So I guess this wouldn't get by the limitation, unless I used the '08 map for some and the '09 map for some more.

 

How in mapsource can I see the segment count?

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Also put in an 8GB uSD card (A-Data, works ok), currently building a MapSource collection of maps, it says there is 3700 in the selection I made, mostly Ibycus and WA Topo. 3.3 GB file size.

 

It is taking almost 6 hours to build the map set, is this normal?

I have a Core Duo 3Ghz and its really only using a single core.

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I am loving my Oregon 300. I put the free NJ topo maps from gpsfiledepot. Had my first big outing yesterday with it. I am loving the fact that I can read the description and logs right on it, it helped a lot! Plus the being able to mark them as found, as some notes, and have that sync up with website helped me enormously as to what caches I found, in what order, and remembering a bit about each one. I'm going to use fieldnotes more, even if it is just a word or two to jog my memory as to which cache was which.

 

The only thing that bugs me is that when I select a cache to go to, and hit go, it brings me to the map screen. I'd rather it bring me to the compass screen.

 

As to the screen, it was as sunny as it can get, and I turned the backlight off and it was quite readable

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It is taking almost 6 hours to build the map set, is this normal?

I have a Core Duo 3Ghz and its really only using a single core.

No it's not normal. My laptop (2ghz dualcore) needed 20 minutes for 2gb map (building and transfering it). And that was a few maps (topo and routable).

 

How many segments did it have?

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It is taking almost 6 hours to build the map set, is this normal?

I have a Core Duo 3Ghz and its really only using a single core.

No it's not normal. My laptop (2ghz dualcore) needed 20 minutes for 2gb map (building and transfering it). And that was a few maps (topo and routable).

 

How many segments did it have?

I think that it had about 780 segments or 2.483gb of data.

Even if he has 3000 more segments I douubt that it would take this long. Maybe 2-3 hours but six hours?

Edited by Team Veverca
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I think that it had about 780 segments or 2.483gb of data.

Even if he has 3000 more segments I douubt that it would take this long. Maybe 2-3 hours but six hours?

 

Actually I'd be quite happy with 6 hours to build a 3000 segment map. I've seen times in the 20-30 hour range to build map sets with close to 4000 segments. The time to build a mapset gets exponentially higher with more segments. It has very little to do with the size of the maps other than the time to transfer the maps to the GPS/SD card.

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I think that it had about 780 segments or 2.483gb of data.

Even if he has 3000 more segments I douubt that it would take this long. Maybe 2-3 hours but six hours?

 

Actually I'd be quite happy with 6 hours to build a 3000 segment map. I've seen times in the 20-30 hour range to build map sets with close to 4000 segments. The time to build a mapset gets exponentially higher with more segments. It has very little to do with the size of the maps other than the time to transfer the maps to the GPS/SD card.

 

Just finished building the 3700 map segment, its estimates are way off, it says 6 hours, but it really means 16+ hours, it just doesn't count very well.

 

Also, when powering on the GPS, it takes a minute or two, the status on the screen says 'loading maps'

 

When it has loaded up, the City NT 2008 maps (64 maps, 1GB) I loaded previously to the internal 400t's memory isn't selectable, even though it is there. Only the maps in the uSD card were visible, along with the included internal topo.

 

So, all in all, not good.

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Looks like you have a 400t and you've probably crossed the segment limit of 4000:

 

- 3700 in the map your are creating now

- 64 in City Nav

- 429 in the built in Topo maps

 

=> 4193

 

Thanks! I didn't think or know about the 429 for the builtin Topo.

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I am interested in the community opinion of the Oregon accuracy. It appears to have the Etrex antenna vs the Sirf antenna on the 60CSx. And I understand there is no averaging capability when you place a cache to get more accurate coordinates. True??

 

I've been very happy with the accuracy. It seems on average to do about the best my etrex vista would do on its best days. Waypoint averaging is not available on the latest "official" firmware release (2.8, I believe), but there are newer beta releases (2.98) that have it as well as a few other functions. I haven't used the waypoint averaging function yet, but it is there, and this beta firmware seems great and have had no problems.

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I am interested in the community opinion of the Oregon accuracy. It appears to have the Etrex antenna vs the Sirf antenna on the 60CSx. And I understand there is no averaging capability when you place a cache to get more accurate coordinates. True??

 

I haven't used the waypoint averaging function yet, but it is there, and this beta firmware seems great and have had no problems.

Here is when i jump in. I use the averaging program and it works great.
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I am interested in the community opinion of the Oregon accuracy. It appears to have the Etrex antenna vs the Sirf antenna on the 60CSx. And I understand there is no averaging capability when you place a cache to get more accurate coordinates. True??

 

The averaging issue is resolved in the most recent [beta] software update from Garmin. Using that same software update in caching along side my wife, her 60 Cx and my Oregon 400t seldom differ by more than 20 feet. In the most recent cases where we had larger differences, her 60 Cx wold make a sudden "adjustment" placing it in agreement with my Oregon.

 

I haven't compared my Oregon 400t to any known benchmarks, but I have compared it to coordinates taken with my old 60CSx. I had let my old 60CSx average a location in my driveway for a period of about 20 minutes. When it was done, it gave me a set of coordinates and reported an "accuracy" of 4.4 feet (based on the averaging). I had my Oregon average a waypoint in the same location and it reported the same coordinates as the 60 CSx had. The Oregon had averaged it across several days and several different times of the day (for 13 samples) and it only made minor adjustments to the location (usually less than 4 feet).

 

Using geocaches as a "validation tool" is poor at best. Having that in mind, my Oregon has reported "Dist to Dest" of 5 feet or less on the last 7-8 caches I have found when I was standing at the cache location. One thing I have noticed is that using the the [beta] software v2.98 while my GPSr is very accurate, it is reporting it's "GPS Accuracy" as numbers that are normally in the 8-12 feet range, but under some conditions those numbers have been growing to 20-26 feet. It appears as though the GPS Accuracy computation has a ow confidence in the accuracy even though it does appear to be quite accurate.

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I got a lot of good advice in this thread...and just wanted to update that I did get the Oregon 400t. I took it out today for my first cache and it literally plopped me right on top of it! I think I'll be very happy with it!

 

Congratulations! Now you have lots more to learn. Pocket Queries, GSAK, Profiles, Rechargeable batteries etc... Have fun. Oh, and get a screen protector. And of course City Nav for driving... Then there's the maps at gpsfiledepot.com...................

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