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Garmin Oregon 450 or 450t? please help me understand


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Ok my finger is on the button right now to order the Oregon 450 or 450T

I understand the only difference between the two is the topographic maps in the 450T

 

On Amazon right now and Rei:

The Oregon 450 is $399 and

The Oregon 450T is $499

 

I want help on understanding if the topographic maps are that much of a major difference to spend the extra $100

What advantages do you get using the topographic map option?

 

If it was only a $20 or $30 difference I would not think about it I would just get it, but $100 is a bit much

 

Help me peeps please

 

<_<

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Ok my finger is on the button right now to order the Oregon 450 or 450T

I understand the only difference between the two is the topographic maps in the 450T

 

On Amazon right now and Rei:

The Oregon 450 is $399 and

The Oregon 450T is $499

 

I want help on understanding if the topographic maps are that much of a major difference to spend the extra $100

What advantages do you get using the topographic map option?

 

If it was only a $20 or $30 difference I would not think about it I would just get it, but $100 is a bit much

 

Help me peeps please

 

<_<

 

Buy the 450 and the maps separately if you plan to do any route building on a computer. The price works out very nearly the same.

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What is the Software that you get when you buy the 450t that might help me to better understand the difference

The software (set of maps) you get with the 450t is essentially Garmin's TOPO U.S. 100K product. It's my understanding that it's not identical (the built-in software takes up a bit less memory on the unit and the POIs might be a bit different), but very similar.

 

I bought the Oregon 550t, and I already had the DVD version of TOPO U.S. 100K loaded on my 60Csx, and I can't tell the difference.

 

--Larry

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I have the 550. Because I don't have the built in topos the 3d view and projected elevation do not work. I'm using the OSM and custom maps (which both are great), but not all the 550 features are working.

 

If this matters to you, go for the T version.

 

You get the 3D and Elevation details you're missing if you buy and install the maps which include the DEM data.

 

So if you buy the non-T version and the maps, it's still going to cost roughly the same, but you'll end up also being able to use the maps in Basecamp, on the computer, as well as in the gps.

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I bought a oregon 450 at REI because I will get $40 back in july[you have to be a member for 10% refund]. then I bought the Garmin 24k US topo west dvd at Amazon for $93. the 24k has great detail, most trail and all the roads in my area[even small dirt tracks]. the dvd comes with base camp which is the same map that goes on your computer,which is iteractive with the gps. I live in the NW and did not need a topo for all states. So I opted for smaller coverage a more detail.This system works great for me .This map also has searchable POIs like food & drink places, entertainment, cities, parks, and much more. you can hike all day then find a place to eat near your location.Good luck <_<

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The main difference is the 450T has topo maps pre-installed, the 450 doesn't. The 450T has more built-in memory but most of that is taken up by the topo map.

 

The pre-installed topo map is a relatively low-resolution 100K one. You can buy better maps from garmin for around $100 or you can download free maps from http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/ or other sources online. Your best bet may be to pick up a 450, add an 8gb microSD card ($20 from Amazon), and then load it up with the free maps. If you're not happy with them give the Garmin maps a try.

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The Oregon 450 has about 1GB internal memory with 150MB being used in system. That equals 850MB free internal memory.

 

The 450T has about 4GB internal memory with the preloaded maps taking up about 2.7GB and the system about 150MB. You end up with a little over 1GB free internal memory.

 

The preloaded Topo US 2008 V2 maps are 400 and some segments and the regular Topo US 2008 maps are over 5000 segments. There is a 4000 segment limit. This means you cannot load the entire product on a 450. It’s more like 2/3 of the USA can be loaded. This does not leave any segment room for City Navigator maps. If you want to load all of the Topo US 2008 and all North America City Navigator then you must use the Topo US 2008 V2 preloaded maps on the 450t. If you are ok only loading ¼ of the USA in Topo and City Navigator, then the 450 is for you. You can also preload different geographical areas on several MicroSD cards and change them for the area you are in.

 

When in doubt, check the Oregon Wiki (G10).

Edited by Cacheoholic
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It all depends on what you want to do with the unit. If you are using it for standard GPS navigation on major highways, then you might not need the trails. But if, like me, you're using this for geocaching, then you'll probably want the trail feature from the start, just to give you an idea of the terrain you will be searching in.

 

Be warned: The default mapset that ships with the 450T do not do "turn by turn" navigation, like a Garmin Nuvi does. For that you have to buy yet another map (The North American mapset) and then load in the ones you want.

 

I see that CostCo online is now selling "lifetime" Garmin map updates, for $135, good for the life of your unit.

This requires more research, as I still don't think you get the topo maps with that. You can also install topo maps from USGS for free, with greater detail, although you may have to run them through a converter program, like GSAK.

 

Confusing, isn't it? I spent more than a month before I bought my 450T, but I really love it! For paperless geocaching, it really can't be beat. And you can load maps, .gpx and .loc files etc. either into the unit, or the micro card slot, which really makes it easy to update. Be warned, however, that the largest card you can install is "only" 4gb. :) The unit does not support 8 and 16 gb micro cards yet.

 

Good luck!

 

- mvsopen

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One more thing: If you buy as a member of REI, you will get $50 back at the end of the year. That in itself made a difference for me. Plus the folks at REI were incredibly nice to speak with on the phone. It was the best ordering experience I've ever had.

 

Mvsopen

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Ok my finger is on the button right now to order the Oregon 450 or 450T

I understand the only difference between the two is the topographic maps in the 450T

 

On Amazon right now and Rei:

The Oregon 450 is $399 and

The Oregon 450T is $499

 

I want help on understanding if the topographic maps are that much of a major difference to spend the extra $100

What advantages do you get using the topographic map option?

 

If it was only a $20 or $30 difference I would not think about it I would just get it, but $100 is a bit much

 

Help me peeps please

 

:)

Hi there. I have an oregon 400 which comes with the topo maps and more memory and have often wished I bought an oregon 300 with only a basic background map and less memory. Kind of the same as the 450t vs 450 difference. I usually use free topo maps from http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/ but they do have their

limits. The free maps I have do not show the state park boundary's which I needed today. The garmin topos did. Sadly there are no Garmin 24k US topo maps available for my area so I cannot comment. Driving maps will cost another $100. I think I can work on my maps(custom and others) and help you out. Just email me

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I have the 550. Because I don't have the built in topos the 3d view and projected elevation do not work. I'm using the OSM and custom maps (which both are great), but not all the 550 features are working.

 

If this matters to you, go for the T version.

 

You get the 3D and Elevation details you're missing if you buy and install the maps which include the DEM data.

 

So if you buy the non-T version and the maps, it's still going to cost roughly the same, but you'll end up also being able to use the maps in Basecamp, on the computer, as well as in the gps.

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I bought an Oregon 450, against my husband's advice to buy the 450t. I thought I could do all the free map installs, etc. Well, I'm technologically challenged! I tried to use the 450 for geocaching, but it was not the greatest. I thought about returning it for the 450t, but then I thought I could just buy the $99 Southwest area map from Garmin. We use it for hiking and riding trailroads with our motorcycles. Any advice before I rip my hair out?

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In my opinion, the 100K Topo map that comes with the Oregon "T" models is not worth the additonal cost. I found the 100K Topo on my 550T to be pretty useless and have removed it. I think you were smart to buy the 450. Take the money you saved and apply it towards a map product you will use.

 

There is one advantage that you get with the Oregon "T" models, even if you don't use the pre-installed topo map. The "T" models have more onboard storage, so when you remove the 100K Topo map, you have more space to install another map of your choice.

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I bought an Oregon 450, against my husband's advice to buy the 450t. I thought I could do all the free map installs, etc. Well, I'm technologically challenged! I tried to use the 450 for geocaching, but it was not the greatest. I thought about returning it for the 450t, but then I thought I could just buy the $99 Southwest area map from Garmin. We use it for hiking and riding trailroads with our motorcycles. Any advice before I rip my hair out?

 

I use the Garmin City Navigator map....I get the mini-SD card about $70.

With updated firmware everything works great for caching including 3-axis compass.

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In my opinion, the 100K Topo map that comes with the Oregon "T" models is not worth the additonal cost. I found the 100K Topo on my 550T to be pretty useless and have removed it. I think you were smart to buy the 450. Take the money you saved and apply it towards a map product you will use.

 

There is one advantage that you get with the Oregon "T" models, even if you don't use the pre-installed topo map. The "T" models have more onboard storage, so when you remove the 100K Topo map, you have more space to install another map of your choice.

 

Currently looking at "T" vs. "non-T" Oregons as well.

 

If you assume you don't care much about the built-in 100K maps themselves, is there any advantage to buying the "T" for more on-board storage vs. just buying an SD-card for more external storage? Seems like that would make sense, as it appears that the 100K topos aren't great and I'll likely replace them anyway with 24K (either Garmin or free), plus probably the birds-eye data as well.

 

Is there any concern about total storage capacity? What is typical for regional US Topo Map sizes? Is the SD card capacity more than I'd ever need, making that basically a non issue?

 

Plus, I can always buy the 100K topo from Garmin later if I decide I want it for whatever reason, right?

 

Just want to make sure there isn't some non-obvious reason why the extra on-board storage for the "T" version will be something I'll regret not getting later...

 

Thanks!

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In my opinion, the 100K Topo map that comes with the Oregon "T" models is not worth the additonal cost. I found the 100K Topo on my 550T to be pretty useless and have removed it. I think you were smart to buy the 450. Take the money you saved and apply it towards a map product you will use.

 

There is one advantage that you get with the Oregon "T" models, even if you don't use the pre-installed topo map. The "T" models have more onboard storage, so when you remove the 100K Topo map, you have more space to install another map of your choice.

 

Currently looking at "T" vs. "non-T" Oregons as well.

 

If you assume you don't care much about the built-in 100K maps themselves, is there any advantage to buying the "T" for more on-board storage vs. just buying an SD-card for more external storage? Seems like that would make sense, as it appears that the 100K topos aren't great and I'll likely replace them anyway with 24K (either Garmin or free), plus probably the birds-eye data as well.

 

Is there any concern about total storage capacity? What is typical for regional US Topo Map sizes? Is the SD card capacity more than I'd ever need, making that basically a non issue?

 

Plus, I can always buy the 100K topo from Garmin later if I decide I want it for whatever reason, right?

 

Just want to make sure there isn't some non-obvious reason why the extra on-board storage for the "T" version will be something I'll regret not getting later...

 

Thanks!

 

No advantage to the "t" models, as previously stated. The 100K maps are as much as 300 feet off in major metropolitan areas. Mostly useless.

 

uSD cards up to 32GB can be used, and can be purchased for less than the difference in cost between the 450 and 450t.

 

If you feel the need to use up space with Garmins 100K topo at a later date, you can put that on the uSD card :)

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No advantage to the "t" models, as previously stated. The 100K maps are as much as 300 feet off in major metropolitan areas. Mostly useless.

 

uSD cards up to 32GB can be used, and can be purchased for less than the difference in cost between the 450 and 450t.

 

If you feel the need to use up space with Garmins 100K topo at a later date, you can put that on the uSD card :)

 

Thanks. I guess what I was asking (but didn't specifically ask) was whether there was anything that could *only* be stored in the on-board storage, and therefore adding an external SD card wouldn't help. I thought I had read something somewhere about the way the 100K topos were stored internally on the oregons was special for the "T" series (maybe reduced number of segments?), and that led me to question whether there was anything special about the on-board storage. Sounds like that's probably not the case, but just wanted to double-check. The cost difference isn't much....

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Tracks, waypoints and field notes that you create and save on the Oregon itself will go to internal storage, not to the SD card. However, there is plenty of storage on the non-T units for that. If the T model is only $20 or $25 extra, I might go with the T model just to get the extra storage. If it was more than that, I would pass.

 

In my case I bought a 550T refurb instead of a 550 new. They were the exact same price at the time, so decided to get the 100K maps and extra storage. I thought I might actually find the 100K maps useful, but soon learned they were not. I am not sorry I got the T model, but would be just as happy with the non-T.

Edited by alandb
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If the T model is only $20 or $25 extra, I might go with the T model just to get the extra storage. If it was more than that, I would pass.

 

Thanks. Right now there's about $40 difference on Amazon for the 550/550T, so it's right at that point where it's not clear .... ah well.

 

Get the 450 and use the $40 to buy a one year BirdEye satellite subscription.

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