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Oregon 550t (UK model) had to be returned!


stingray67

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I just bought a 550t (im in UK) and upgraded it to the latest v2.70 firmware. I use the OSGB 1:50k Southern England miroSD with it.

 

Initial Problems:

 

1. The route calculation failed 50% of the time.. when calculating routes 550t displayed error message "Error in Calculating Route"

 

2. When I go into the Wherigo function, and play the tutorial, the unit will freeze. Only by remving the batteries can I then start to use the unit.

 

3. On many occasions my OSGB 1:50k map (on microSD card) would not load when pressing the Maps icon from the mani menu. Could only see the Internal Map.

 

The unit was not reliable enough for any proper use. I decided to upgrade to the Beta v2.71 firmware! A drastic move! This is what happened:

 

1. Solved the routing problem!

2. NEW PROBLEM: GeoCaching Profile corrupts. Then other Profiles started to go missing!

3. Wherigo Problem still hangs unit

4. Unit on several occasions refused to start.. stuck on GARMIN screen

 

so what did i do: well after saying a few colourful words I called Garmin to ask them if they could send me V2.70 (u cannot downgrade unless you ask Garmin direct!). This INITIALLY seemed to solve all the above problems... THEN..

 

1. The Wherigo function started to FREEZE the 550t again..

 

More colourful words and.. I RETURNED THE UNIT! Waiting for a Replacement.

 

Q. Did you have any of these problems? Garmin didnt know about any of them .. apparently!

Edited by stingray67
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It doesn't sound like any of your problems are hardware related, so I expect that you will have the same ones when it comes back, unless it has different firmware, in which case you will just have different problems. The Wherigo player on the Oregon is notoriously bad, for starters.

 

I have a Colorado and while routing is reliable and the Wherigo player can complete more cartridges than the Oregon, it isn't 100% reliable. The problem of getting stuck on the Garmin screen is common - usually the button will turn it off, but sometimes the batteries have to come out. And the batteries always have to come out with many other types of system freeze - Garmin doesn't seem to have taken the decision to use a proper operating system under the bonnet yet.

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It doesn't sound like any of your problems are hardware related, so I expect that you will have the same ones when it comes back, unless it has different firmware, in which case you will just have different problems. The Wherigo player on the Oregon is notoriously bad, for starters.

 

I have a Colorado and while routing is reliable and the Wherigo player can complete more cartridges than the Oregon, it isn't 100% reliable. The problem of getting stuck on the Garmin screen is common - usually the button will turn it off, but sometimes the batteries have to come out. And the batteries always have to come out with many other types of system freeze - Garmin doesn't seem to have taken the decision to use a proper operating system under the bonnet yet.

 

Thank you for your reply sTeam. It's a shame really especially having come from using my reliable 60CSx. I bought the 550t as it used OSGB as mentioned. However, since my problems on this unit were pretty serious, i don’t think all Oregon users are experiencing the same problems... if that were the case, I’m sure Garmin would have pulled the product by now?

 

If my replacement unit acts the same, I will video the problems and post it on YouTube.. Ill let everyone know here. Ironically I'd tagged the 550t for a Video Review on YT in the up coming weeks... should be interesting!

 

Thanks again.

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It doesn't sound like any of your problems are hardware related, so I expect that you will have the same ones when it comes back, unless it has different firmware, in which case you will just have different problems. The Wherigo player on the Oregon is notoriously bad, for starters.

 

I have a Colorado and while routing is reliable and the Wherigo player can complete more cartridges than the Oregon, it isn't 100% reliable. The problem of getting stuck on the Garmin screen is common - usually the button will turn it off, but sometimes the batteries have to come out. And the batteries always have to come out with many other types of system freeze - Garmin doesn't seem to have taken the decision to use a proper operating system under the bonnet yet.

 

2nd unit... Oregon saves tracks but cannot show them in the Track management list!! This is bloody ridiculous! Profiles have gone corrupted again!

 

Im getting my money back.. have had no time to video these problems (sorry!). 2 Oregon 550Ts both with MAJOR problems. V2.70 & Beta v2.71... made no difference! Now the unit doesn’t even upgrade to v2.71!

 

Going back to my 60CSx. Forget Oregon.. Seems too undeveloped.

Edited by stingray67
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I would try to reset the machine to default settings and remove that microsd card.

It seems to be the common issue to both units.

Its very unlikely that you would get two bad units showing the same symptoms when nobody else is reporting them afaik.

 

Try using the GPS without the MicroSd card and just use the basemap or some other maps in a different card for awhile to see if theres any difference.

Edited by ZeMartelo
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I would try to reset the machine to default settings and remove that microsd card.

It seems to be the common issue to both units.

Its very unlikely that you would get two bad units showing the same symptoms when nobody else is reporting them afaik.

 

Try using the GPS without the MicroSd card and just use the basemap or some other maps in a different card for awhile to see if theres any difference.

 

on test...

Edited by stingray67
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I would try to reset the machine to default settings and remove that microsd card.

It seems to be the common issue to both units.

Its very unlikely that you would get two bad units showing the same symptoms when nobody else is reporting them afaik.

 

Try using the GPS without the MicroSd card and just use the basemap or some other maps in a different card for awhile to see if theres any difference.

 

on test...

 

Hmmm!

 

I noticed my microSD card had a .GCD file on it meaning that when I turned the unit on there were TWO operating system files trying to run!!! I guess I must have installed the GCD file to the wrong location when I upgraded to the Beta v2.71?! Deleting this file on that location has corrected (more or less) all of the problems I mentioned earlier. Im now back to v2.70 firmware.

 

However..the problem of Routes disappearing remains when moving data to and from the device. Is anyone experiencing similar problems?

 

What im doing - Sending Routes to my 550T:

 

I use MemoryMap (latest version) and a 1:50k OSGB map and export my walks (routes) by right-clicking on the route line displayed on the map; this sends the gpx file to the GPX folder on the D:/ Garmin drive. - This shows my routes in the Route section of my 550T as it would normally.

 

Retrieving Tracks Ive recorded on the 550T and displaying them in MemoryMap:

 

I have been doing this two ways:

 

1. Going to the Garmins GPX directory and simply copying out the track (gpx) file and then importin gthis into MemoryMap.

 

2. Selecting GPS from the main menu, then Import, then Tracks.

 

The second way 'nearly always' deletes other stored routes and tracks on the 550T!

 

Is this characteristic of v2.70?

 

Why do I use MemoryMap? Because as I have the 1:50k OSGB on my 550T I like to see the same map on my PC when planning routes etc!

 

Any constructive info from other users would be helpful... thanks

Edited by stingray67
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