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PN-40 vs. Oregon vs. Triton 2000


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Following is a list of the GPS units I have had in the 2 years I’ve been doing this. 60cx, 60csx, Magellan meridian, Magellan Crossover, Magellan Explorist 500 and 600, Garmin Oregon 300, Magellan Triton 2000, and Delorme PN-40. Since I’ve had at one point or another the three newest GPS units (Lowrance excluded, for now) I thought I would write something up on them.

 

I do 95% urban caches. So some of my findings won’t be applicable to you. And that really is the best way to take anybody’s advice on the “best” GPS, they are always talking about the “best” GPS for them. Sometimes the “best” GPS has to do with map features, sometimes form factor, other times it’s chuckleheaded fanboy I hate “fill in the GPS manufacturer here”. With that said here we go.

 

Uploading caches at home:

Oregon (10) - Best implementation drag and drop GPX files into a folder, easy and quick

PN-40 (7) - Difficult using Topo 7. Cons included needing an extra piece of software and charging $10 for cache register.

Triton 2000 (5) – Cons are having to use vantagepoint and because it takes way to long to upload the caches to the unit.

 

Paperless features:

Oregon (10) - Just barely beats out the PN-40 because of the larger screen being able to show more info at once.

PN-40 (9) – Just about as good as the Oregon screen size is downfall here

Triton 2000 (6) – No logs included without using 3rd party software and the hint being the very first thing you see in the description.

 

In the field Interface:

Oregon (10) – The touch-screen user interface of the Oregon is quick and easy to use and customize.

PN-40 (8)- User interface is good, useful and simple. Just not as easy and quick as the Oregon. No backlight keys make it a little tougher at night, but I imagine the more I use the less this will be a factor.

Triton 2000 (6)- Slow and Clunky

 

Street Navigation:

Oregon (9) – Needs voice prompts to get a 10 otherwise really good

PN-40 (7) – Slow to calculate routes, doesn’t recalculate if you miss a turn, and small screen are the downsides. Upside “FREE”.

Triton 2000 (0) – Doesn’t do it.

 

Finding “Ground Zero”:

PN-40 (9) – Very stable and not “jumpy” very often. Puts me near the cache most times.

Triton 2000 (9) - Very stable and not “jumpy” very often. Puts me near the cache most times.

Oregon (8) Little jumpy sometimes and doesn’t keep the satellite lock as well as the others.

 

Maps:

PN-40 (10 North America) (0 Everywhere else). The maps you can get for this unit are awesome and the $29.95 yearly subscription is a great price. Just wonder how long it would take me to suck down every map they have?

Oregon (8) Lack of aerial imagery and cost for maps reason for this score

Triton 2000 (7) Cost of some of the maps, and the complete lack of routable street maps hurt it here.

 

Customer Service: (Just my personal experience, and yes I’ve called and talked to all 3 for different issues)

Delorme (10) – Free upgrade to topo 8 enough said.

Garmin (10) – Very easy and knowledgeable to deal with.

Magellan (3) - Head meet brick wall

 

Value:

PN-40 (10) With the included maps the PN-40 is the best bang for the buck

Oregon (8) Cost of unit and maps hurt it a little here.

Triton 2000 (5) Just not worth buying.

 

Score Tabulation:

Oregon (73)

PN-40 (70)

Triton (41)

 

Conclusion:

 

You can’t really go wrong with either the PN-40 or the Oregon. The Oregon has a better interface and is easier to use in general. If you plan on using it a lot for turn-by-turn the Oregon would be the better choice. The PN-40 with it’s included maps and optional aerial imagery makes it a solid choice as well. If you live outside of North America of course you would want to stay away from the PN-40. The Triton is not worth buying.

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Thanks for the comparison. Your comparison strikes me as probably one of the most impartial ones I've seen yet. I just get a feeling that you seem to be willing to give credit where credit is due and of course the flip side is that you seem to be fair on the not so favorable ratings too. Personally I think the rating for the Delorme PN shouldn't have been quite so low on the loading PQs at home category just because of a $10 piece of software, but that's ok since overall I think your evaluation was about as non-biassed as somebody can do. It helps me be even more confident than I was before that for the money I had available I made a very good choice when I recently bought my PN-40. Thanks for sharing your observations! :)

 

Edit to add: Not that anybody has asked me, but on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd rate this comparison a 9.5 and I'll bookmark it to refer others here for a good honest comparison. Again, thank you!

Edited by Michigan Cacheman
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some of your info about the PN-40 is incorrect leading me to think maybe you didn't use it enough to get it set up right. Auto-routing will recalculate, simpe change in the routes options menu. Loading caches can be done simply and freely through T8, no added $10 needed. Also, GSAk is now supported. However, for a mere $10, that Cache Register is hard to beat for simplicity in loading PQs!

 

Other than that, not a bad write-up!

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I thought this a good comparison, too--and I liked that you included the Triton 2000 in it, too.

 

Roddy already pointed out that the PN-40 can be set to recalculate if you get off the route (knowing all the nooks and crannys in these devices' firmware could take a lo-o-ong time). But in the interests of complete information, I would add that due to the slow rate of calculation, oftentimes this can be problematic if you're driving, as the re-calculated route may need re-calculation again (and again and again) by the time you get the new route. Lacking the ability to tell the PN-40 to avoid u-turns, this can especially be a problem when it wants to send you back to the missed turn.

 

Also, another plus for the Oregon on the maps is the availability of some good-quality free maps at such places as gpsfiledepot.com.

Edited by embra
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You mention maps bearly, but there is a huge different.

For Garmin you get Bluechart,Topo and City Navigator.

No other brand of GPS do have nearly as many maps as Garmin has around the world. ID to have sea chart for the whole world, Topo for many country, street maps for large part of the world.

You can also get/make custom maps for Garmin.

Edited by jotne
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How great a value is the aerial maps on the small GPS screens? I have the capability on my Blackberry but don't use it often because the screen is two small to get useful detail in the field.

 

Just curious who is using this feature and how they use it.

 

I also have the Oregon 400T.....I am very happy with it..

Edited by off-camber
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I think the aerial imagery did look good on the PN-40. It 's a very bright hires screen, albeit small. When in your hand, it was easy enough to use. A ways from your face, while driving, not so hot.

 

The same aerial imagery I feel would suffer on the Oregon (if it was available) with the duller screen on batteries.

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The 2 most important features for me are:

 

Batteries. I love AA's and hate rechargeables.

Power while on dash of car. I would love to see whats on the screen, but I yank it out of the holder 100 times a day. Magellan used to have a great charging dash unit where the unit just snapped in and lit up when the contacts were made. A plug in type would be bad, and the Oregon screen is invisible without power.

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How great a value is the aerial maps on the small GPS screens? I have the capability on my Blackberry but don't use it often because the screen is two small to get useful detail in the field.

 

Just curious who is using this feature and how they use it.

 

I also have the Oregon 400T.....I am very happy with it..

I use it for hiking and find it quite useful. With the topo overlaid on it, it's invaluable to me as another facet of information to utilize and make good decisions on it.

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How great a value is the aerial maps on the small GPS screens? I have the capability on my Blackberry but don't use it often because the screen is two small to get useful detail in the field.

 

Just curious who is using this feature and how they use it.

 

I also have the Oregon 400T.....I am very happy with it..

Hi. Your question about how helpful aerial imagery can be on a small screen is a good one. On the aerial imagery if I've got it zoomed out so I can see several square miles at a time then yes, it's hard to see detail since there is too much detail being crammed onto a small screen. However, if you want to zoom in to say only a few square blocks visible on your screen then it really is very easy to see the detail and benefit from it. Is it necessary for caching? No, like most of the bells and whistles that geocachers use anything more than an arrow pointing toward ground zero and the distance to ground zero is just extra fluff and not really "needed".

 

That being said though it's a very nice bell and whistle. Think of all the people who get excited when they can view cache locations on Google Earth. Well it's the same thing just on a smaller screen. If it helps you try thinking of it this way, it's no harder to view aerial imagery on a small screen than it is to view maps. If you're zoomed out real far a map is hard to read and if you are zoomed in close then the detail is much easier to see. The same exact principle applies to aerial imagery.

 

After seeing it in person I'm so thrilled with it that I would be willing to pay $100 for a years worth of downloading. In case you're wondering if I'm exagerating I can assure you that if Delorme upped the price from the current $30 yearly charge up to $100 I'd pull out my wallet and not just pay the $100, but I'd smile while doing it! Personally I'd never want to cache in a city environment without it. As you can see from the difference in how TotemLake uses his primarily in a country setting and I personally prefer to use it in a city setting we both use the same exact tool to achieve goals that are completely different. How cool is that? I think that says a lot for it!!!! In my opinion Delormes got a real winner on their hands with having the aerial imagery available for such a small yearly fee! :D

 

Edit to add: Another advantage of the aerial imagery is that using it with Delorme's PN series GPSr's it's very easy to switch on and off. So for my preferences if I'm in the city I turn it on and then when I go caching in the country I turn it off. :D

Edited by Michigan Cacheman
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some of your info about the PN-40 is incorrect leading me to think maybe you didn't use it enough to get it set up right. Auto-routing will recalculate, simpe change in the routes options menu. Loading caches can be done simply and freely through T8, no added $10 needed. Also, GSAk is now supported. However, for a mere $10, that Cache Register is hard to beat for simplicity in loading PQs!

 

Other than that, not a bad write-up!

 

I made the adjustment and will be taking it out tonight. I'll miss a few turns on purpose to see how well it autoroutes. I'm just surprised it's not default. I know T8 will load them, but it's not as simple as on the oregon. And you would have to have T8 on a computer. As long as I have a usb cable I can load a PQ from any computer. The $10 isn't that big a deal it just strikes me as odd to charge for it. I may move that up to an 8 after I use it some more. But anything higher would be devaluing the ease of the garmin implementation.

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Nice rundown, how are the units construction wise?

 

All three seem to be solidly built. Of the three I would say the garmin seems the least rugged, just because the rear door is a little flimsy compared to the other two. The Delorme with the twin screws on the battery door and the heavy rubber probably "feels" the sturdiest. The Triton is in between. But Like I said the build quality on all are good, not something I would take into consideration when choosing.

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Good writeup. What version of firmware for Oreon? Compass jump has been very well addressed in (non-Beta) 3.2. I've used the OR300 for over 2500 caches, never seen it lose lock outside.

 

 

I was more referencing the fact that sometimes I'd reach ground zero with the oregon and then instantly I'd be 14 feet from ground zero. Happens with all the units, just a little more with the oregon than the other two.

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some of your info about the PN-40 is incorrect leading me to think maybe you didn't use it enough to get it set up right. Auto-routing will recalculate, simpe change in the routes options menu. Loading caches can be done simply and freely through T8, no added $10 needed. Also, GSAk is now supported. However, for a mere $10, that Cache Register is hard to beat for simplicity in loading PQs!

 

Other than that, not a bad write-up!

 

I made the adjustment and will be taking it out tonight. I'll miss a few turns on purpose to see how well it autoroutes. I'm just surprised it's not default. I know T8 will load them, but it's not as simple as on the oregon. And you would have to have T8 on a computer. As long as I have a usb cable I can load a PQ from any computer. The $10 isn't that big a deal it just strikes me as odd to charge for it. I may move that up to an 8 after I use it some more. But anything higher would be devaluing the ease of the garmin implementation.

The cache register does more than just load the GPX files. It pulls the PQ directly from GC.com. Something nobody else does except the iPhone. So there likely is a licensing fee involved. As you said, the cost is minimal but it is in line with the iPhone app charge. You might also want to take into consideration the time it took to develop and test it. DeLorme is not in it for the charity. They do have to answer to the bottom line.

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Following is a list of the GPS units I have had in the 2 years I’ve been doing this. 60cx, 60csx, Magellan meridian, Magellan Crossover, Magellan Explorist 500 and 600, Garmin Oregon 300, Magellan Triton 2000, and Delorme PN-40.

 

Dude, I just have to ask... NINE GPS units in TWO years? Are you flush with disposable cash or just incredibly hard to please or something?

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Batteries. I love AA's and hate rechargeables.

 

Are you saying you hate rechargeable AAs? I used to as well with the older batteries that would wear out quickly and not hold a charge when being stored. Since getting Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable AAs, I'm sold! These batteries are awesome. They last forever (20+ hours in my 60CSx) and are designed to hold at least 85% of their charge in storage after one year. Don't know if the 85% thing is true, but the old rechargeable batteries would be long dead by then, even while not being used at all. I've had mine for several months now and have been specifically checking the charge level on the ones not being use. So far, so good! B)

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Following is a list of the GPS units I have had in the 2 years I’ve been doing this. 60cx, 60csx, Magellan meridian, Magellan Crossover, Magellan Explorist 500 and 600, Garmin Oregon 300, Magellan Triton 2000, and Delorme PN-40.

 

Dude, I just have to ask... NINE GPS units in TWO years? Are you flush with disposable cash or just incredibly hard to please or something?

It's a hobby, that's what it is.

I have relative that it into model RR - do you think that he has only one boxcar?

Now, about ham radio guys......

10-4, Roger that,

Over and out. B)

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It's a hobby like Jay Leno has twenty cars.

 

Jay Leno has a LOT more than twenty cars. And, that's called a COLLECTION. Again, irrelevant analogy and I asked the OP, NOT you. B)

 

Collecting GPS units? Well, okay then if that's someone's "thing" in a "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs" way, I guess.

Edited by scotthsi
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I got 4 TVs but only watch one at a time.

 

Big deal. I have 4 bathrooms and one a**.

 

Do you take those 4 TVs out in the field to use all at the same time? What's your point? And, quit answering for the OP. That's "original poster" for you, since you didn't get it last time.

I am not a moderator, but scotthsi, you really need to watch your language and behavior in this forum. We do not call names and berate other users here.

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I got 4 TVs but only watch one at a time.

 

Big deal. I have 4 bathrooms and one a**.

 

Do you take those 4 TVs out in the field to use all at the same time? What's your point? And, quit answering for the OP. That's "original poster" for you, since you didn't get it last time.

You know I'll 2nd the post that says you need to learn to play nice. In your very short time here I've seen you be extremely rude to not just this gentleman who is highly regarded by not just me, but many others on this forum, and I've also seen you be very rude to another well established and looked up to geocacher.

 

I personally find your comments to be in very poor taste and I'm rooting for the mods to heave a very heavy brick in your direction. I find your comments to be extremely offensive and if you want to fit in and get along with folks then learn to leave the sarcasm away from here. B)

Edited by Michigan Cacheman
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I got 4 TVs but only watch one at a time.

 

Big deal. I have 4 bathrooms and one a**.

 

Do you take those 4 TVs out in the field to use all at the same time? What's your point? And, quit answering for the OP. That's "original poster" for you, since you didn't get it last time.

I am not a moderator, but scotthsi, you really need to watch your language and behavior in this forum. We do not call names and berate other users here.

 

THANKS!! I thought I was the only one who saw that as rude and uncalled for...

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As a reminder to bring it back around again, here's the OP. I don't agree with some of it, but then I'm partial to a particular one. Still good effort and a lot of work for the OP. Argue the point, but don't ruin it!

Following is a list of the GPS units I have had in the 2 years I’ve been doing this. 60cx, 60csx, Magellan meridian, Magellan Crossover, Magellan Explorist 500 and 600, Garmin Oregon 300, Magellan Triton 2000, and Delorme PN-40. Since I’ve had at one point or another the three newest GPS units (Lowrance excluded, for now) I thought I would write something up on them.

 

I do 95% urban caches. So some of my findings won’t be applicable to you. And that really is the best way to take anybody’s advice on the “best” GPS, they are always talking about the “best” GPS for them. Sometimes the “best” GPS has to do with map features, sometimes form factor, other times it’s chuckleheaded fanboy I hate “fill in the GPS manufacturer here”. With that said here we go.

 

Uploading caches at home:

Oregon (10) - Best implementation drag and drop GPX files into a folder, easy and quick

PN-40 (7) - Difficult using Topo 7. Cons included needing an extra piece of software and charging $10 for cache register.

Triton 2000 (5) – Cons are having to use vantagepoint and because it takes way to long to upload the caches to the unit.

 

Paperless features:

Oregon (10) - Just barely beats out the PN-40 because of the larger screen being able to show more info at once.

PN-40 (9) – Just about as good as the Oregon screen size is downfall here

Triton 2000 (6) – No logs included without using 3rd party software and the hint being the very first thing you see in the description.

 

In the field Interface:

Oregon (10) – The touch-screen user interface of the Oregon is quick and easy to use and customize.

PN-40 (8)- User interface is good, useful and simple. Just not as easy and quick as the Oregon. No backlight keys make it a little tougher at night, but I imagine the more I use the less this will be a factor.

Triton 2000 (6)- Slow and Clunky

 

Street Navigation:

Oregon (9) – Needs voice prompts to get a 10 otherwise really good

PN-40 (7) – Slow to calculate routes, doesn’t recalculate if you miss a turn, and small screen are the downsides. Upside “FREE”.

Triton 2000 (0) – Doesn’t do it.

 

Finding “Ground Zero”:

PN-40 (9) – Very stable and not “jumpy” very often. Puts me near the cache most times.

Triton 2000 (9) - Very stable and not “jumpy” very often. Puts me near the cache most times.

Oregon (8) Little jumpy sometimes and doesn’t keep the satellite lock as well as the others.

 

Maps:

PN-40 (10 North America) (0 Everywhere else). The maps you can get for this unit are awesome and the $29.95 yearly subscription is a great price. Just wonder how long it would take me to suck down every map they have?

Oregon (8) Lack of aerial imagery and cost for maps reason for this score

Triton 2000 (7) Cost of some of the maps, and the complete lack of routable street maps hurt it here.

 

Customer Service: (Just my personal experience, and yes I’ve called and talked to all 3 for different issues)

Delorme (10) – Free upgrade to topo 8 enough said.

Garmin (10) – Very easy and knowledgeable to deal with.

Magellan (3) - Head meet brick wall

 

Value:

PN-40 (10) With the included maps the PN-40 is the best bang for the buck

Oregon (8) Cost of unit and maps hurt it a little here.

Triton 2000 (5) Just not worth buying.

 

Score Tabulation:

Oregon (73)

PN-40 (70)

Triton (41)

 

Conclusion:

 

You can’t really go wrong with either the PN-40 or the Oregon. The Oregon has a better interface and is easier to use in general. If you plan on using it a lot for turn-by-turn the Oregon would be the better choice. The PN-40 with it’s included maps and optional aerial imagery makes it a solid choice as well. If you live outside of North America of course you would want to stay away from the PN-40. The Triton is not worth buying.

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I should have seen it sooner.

A total troll, not a geocache found.

 

I've found plenty from this site. Just never took the time to log my finds because, after finding the cache, that part isn't that important to me. ;)

 

Could we please get back to the topic? It would be nice if you'd not sidetrack this thread further, especially if your derailments are as obnoxious as your last series... B)

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As a reminder to bring it back around again, here's the OP. I don't agree with some of it, but then I'm partial to a particular one. Still good effort and a lot of work for the OP. Argue the point, but don't ruin it!

Following is a list of the GPS units I have had in the 2 years I’ve been doing this. 60cx, 60csx, Magellan meridian, Magellan Crossover, Magellan Explorist 500 and 600, Garmin Oregon 300, Magellan Triton 2000, and Delorme PN-40. Since I’ve had at one point or another the three newest GPS units (Lowrance excluded, for now) I thought I would write something up on them.

 

I do 95% urban caches. So some of my findings won’t be applicable to you. And that really is the best way to take anybody’s advice on the “best” GPS, they are always talking about the “best” GPS for them. Sometimes the “best” GPS has to do with map features, sometimes form factor, other times it’s chuckleheaded fanboy I hate “fill in the GPS manufacturer here”. With that said here we go.

 

Uploading caches at home:

Oregon (10) - Best implementation drag and drop GPX files into a folder, easy and quick

PN-40 (7) - Difficult using Topo 7. Cons included needing an extra piece of software and charging $10 for cache register.

Triton 2000 (5) – Cons are having to use vantagepoint and because it takes way to long to upload the caches to the unit.

 

Paperless features:

Oregon (10) - Just barely beats out the PN-40 because of the larger screen being able to show more info at once.

PN-40 (9) – Just about as good as the Oregon screen size is downfall here

Triton 2000 (6) – No logs included without using 3rd party software and the hint being the very first thing you see in the description.

 

In the field Interface:

Oregon (10) – The touch-screen user interface of the Oregon is quick and easy to use and customize.

PN-40 (8)- User interface is good, useful and simple. Just not as easy and quick as the Oregon. No backlight keys make it a little tougher at night, but I imagine the more I use the less this will be a factor.

Triton 2000 (6)- Slow and Clunky

 

Street Navigation:

Oregon (9) – Needs voice prompts to get a 10 otherwise really good

PN-40 (7) – Slow to calculate routes, doesn’t recalculate if you miss a turn, and small screen are the downsides. Upside “FREE”.

Triton 2000 (0) – Doesn’t do it.

 

Finding “Ground Zero”:

PN-40 (9) – Very stable and not “jumpy” very often. Puts me near the cache most times.

Triton 2000 (9) - Very stable and not “jumpy” very often. Puts me near the cache most times.

Oregon (8) Little jumpy sometimes and doesn’t keep the satellite lock as well as the others.

 

Maps:

PN-40 (10 North America) (0 Everywhere else). The maps you can get for this unit are awesome and the $29.95 yearly subscription is a great price. Just wonder how long it would take me to suck down every map they have?

Oregon (8) Lack of aerial imagery and cost for maps reason for this score

Triton 2000 (7) Cost of some of the maps, and the complete lack of routable street maps hurt it here.

 

Customer Service: (Just my personal experience, and yes I’ve called and talked to all 3 for different issues)

Delorme (10) – Free upgrade to topo 8 enough said.

Garmin (10) – Very easy and knowledgeable to deal with.

Magellan (3) - Head meet brick wall

 

Value:

PN-40 (10) With the included maps the PN-40 is the best bang for the buck

Oregon (8) Cost of unit and maps hurt it a little here.

Triton 2000 (5) Just not worth buying.

 

Score Tabulation:

Oregon (73)

PN-40 (70)

Triton (41)

 

Conclusion:

 

You can’t really go wrong with either the PN-40 or the Oregon. The Oregon has a better interface and is easier to use in general. If you plan on using it a lot for turn-by-turn the Oregon would be the better choice. The PN-40 with it’s included maps and optional aerial imagery makes it a solid choice as well. If you live outside of North America of course you would want to stay away from the PN-40. The Triton is not worth buying.

 

I agree, I wish some would mature and stop thier off-topic posting.

 

The boldened part has been my experience as well, my PN-40 is quite stable compared to ANY unit I've used before, including the OR 300! However, the observation that the OR is "a little jumpy" seems a bit of an understatement in my experiences... My PN-40 rarely takes me in circles and hardly ever starts me on the drunken bee dance unlike the OR 300 I owned (I must disclose though, I felt something was wrong with my OR 300 and it was returned as defective).

 

Truly not understanding how screen size devalues the PN for paperless caching, I think this is an erronious penalty given to DeLorme. Screen size certainly doesn't hurt the paperless feature...for me at least. And, before someone states they need to wear glasses to read the screen...really? Seriously? How can you read a paper or other print that is comparable??

 

And, as I stated before, nothing can be simpler than the PN for loading PQs....a $10 fee or not! That value is too low, should maybe be as high or higher than the OR since it IS the easiest to load onto (the PN that is).

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Nice rundown, how are the units construction wise?

 

All three seem to be solidly built. Of the three I would say the garmin seems the least rugged, just because the rear door is a little flimsy compared to the other two. The Delorme with the twin screws on the battery door and the heavy rubber probably "feels" the sturdiest. The Triton is in between. But Like I said the build quality on all are good, not something I would take into consideration when choosing.

Thanks, I was looking into getting something on the heavy duty side, that's why I ask. Maybe a trip to REI should be in store.
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