Free Maps

[+yellajeep]

I am trying to decide on which gps to purchase. the oregon 450? 450t? 550? 550t?. I am told there are several places to downloade free maps could you guys give me some of your favorite places to download free maps. Also if I go for the 450 or 550 and save a few bucks is it worth the trouble of downloading the free maps or forking out the bucks and getting the one with the preloaded maps. I live in New Mexico I want to use it for geocaching and my husband wants to use it on the jeep trails in the mountains.

[+ecanderson]

I am trying to decide on which gps to purchase. the oregon 450? 450t? 550? 550t?. I am told there are several places to downloade free maps could you guys give me some of your favorite places to download free maps. Also if I go for the 450 or 550 and save a few bucks is it worth the trouble of downloading the free maps or forking out the bucks and getting the one with the preloaded maps. I live in New Mexico I want to use it for geocaching and my husband wants to use it on the jeep trails in the mountains.

There's topo maps and routable street maps. Both free, but you'd need to decide what all you want/need on your unit.

 

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com has all the topos you can eat for free at a substantially higher resolution (7.5 degree) than the maps you'd normally get on the T versions (24K vs 100K) from Garmin. They also have links to other sites with various interesting stuff.

 

For routable maps, stick with OSM at http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php.

 

Neither are a hassle to use. If I were in the market for a 450 or 550, it wouldn't have a T suffix.

[-Oz-]

I may be slightly biased but as the poster above said I would forgo the maps and just get the free ones. There is one for new mexico even.

 

If you want autorouting the ones linked to above are pretty good but nothing beats Garmin's City Navigator for true auto navigation.

[+yellajeep]

i have a regular garmin nuvi 255wt to use on regular roads. I only got it this past christmas. So I am new to gps units so thank you for the info. Anything else you could add about either the 450 or 550 would greatly help. Right now I am leaning toward the 550 cause of the camers I was told in another post that if you take a picture with the camera it also records the coordinates of where you took it. My husband thinks that would be handy returning to some of the things we find up in the mountains and later want to take other jeepers to.

[-Oz-]

How good of quality is the camera; I do the same thing but I have to do it manually.

 

I wrote a tutorial on how I put the coordinates on my pictures. Now if the quality of the camera is good enough for you then rock on with it. I use my dSLR or point and shoot and can put coordinates on all of them. http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-...-with-gpicsync/

[+Bacon_God]

I believe it has a 3.2 megapixel camera

[+yellajeep]

How good of quality is the camera; I do the same thing but I have to do it manually.

 

I wrote a tutorial on how I put the coordinates on my pictures. Now if the quality of the camera is good enough for you then rock on with it. I use my dSLR or point and shoot and can put coordinates on all of them. http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-...-with-gpicsync/

 

yes it is a 3.2 megapixel camera

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

This might also be of interest...

 

http://www.outdoor-resources.com/SW_Trails/

[+splashy]

If the lighting is ok so will be the picture taken.

For on the track snapshots, it's very nice.

Coordinates are in the picture, this means you can navigate to the picture.

This is also handy to find your parking spot, even better then a waypoint, because you can actually see where you left your car, or where that nice spot or shop was.

The Gps can save the pictures taken to the SD if wanted.

[+yellajeep]

I was wondering if I take a separate camera take a picture then take a reading and make a note of the coordinates. Is there a way when I get home to download the picture and the coordinates from my computer to the gps

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

No need to make a note. Just be sure to set your camera's clock to be in sync with your GPS. There are lots of programs that will geotag the photos based on the tracklog.

[+yellajeep]

No need to make a note. Just be sure to set your camera's clock to be in sync with your GPS. There are lots of programs that will geotag the photos based on the tracklog.

 

I think I have a lot to learn. Especially when you talk about geotags and tracklogs. Is there a place you can recommend where I can learn these types of things. Also do you think that buying new gps 450 or 550 on ebay is safe there are a few up for auction and they all say new in the box?

[Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide]

No need to make a note. Just be sure to set your camera's clock to be in sync with your GPS. There are lots of programs that will geotag the photos based on the tracklog.

 

I've used RoboGeo in the past, to GeoTag the photos I took with my Canon DSLR, and it had a feature which would correct the offset if the camera didn't happen to have the right time set when the pictures were taken.

 

Very useful because I usually forgot to take Daylight Savings into account and my camera's time would be off.

 

I have an Oregon 550 now and the camera's ok, but nothing to get too excited about, picture quality wise. I generally use a better camera if I want anything more than a quick picture.

 

Being able to navigate back to a photo location is very handy, though.

[+yellajeep]

No need to make a note. Just be sure to set your camera's clock to be in sync with your GPS. There are lots of programs that will geotag the photos based on the tracklog.

 

I've used RoboGeo in the past, to GeoTag the photos I took with my Canon DSLR, and it had a feature which would correct the offset if the camera didn't happen to have the right time set when the pictures were taken.

 

Very useful because I usually forgot to take Daylight Savings into account and my camera's time would be off.

 

I have an Oregon 550 now and the camera's ok, but nothing to get too excited about, picture quality wise. I generally use a better camera if I want anything more than a quick picture.

 

Being able to navigate back to a photo location is very handy, though.

 

thanks

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

No need to make a note. Just be sure to set your camera's clock to be in sync with your GPS. There are lots of programs that will geotag the photos based on the tracklog.

 

I think I have a lot to learn. Especially when you talk about geotags and tracklogs. Is there a place you can recommend where I can learn these types of things. Also do you think that buying new gps 450 or 550 on ebay is safe there are a few up for auction and they all say new in the box?

 

Those units will not be under warranty.

[+yellajeep]

No need to make a note. Just be sure to set your camera's clock to be in sync with your GPS. There are lots of programs that will geotag the photos based on the tracklog.

 

I think I have a lot to learn. Especially when you talk about geotags and tracklogs. Is there a place you can recommend where I can learn these types of things. Also do you think that buying new gps 450 or 550 on ebay is safe there are a few up for auction and they all say new in the box?

 

Those units will not be under warranty.

 

that is kinda bad my husband placed a bid for a 550 on ebay this afternoon for 386.00 i did not know about it

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

That is their formal policy, though I do know there are some authorized sellers who sell through eBay. If its one of those, it would probably be okay.

[+yellajeep]

That is their formal policy, though I do know there are some authorized sellers who sell through eBay. If its one of those, it would probably be okay.

 

Thank you. I sent the seller an email and it is new and has not been registered for the warranty yet she said when if get it I can the register it for the warranty

[+ecanderson]

That is their formal policy, though I do know there are some authorized sellers who sell through eBay. If its one of those, it would probably be okay.

 

Thank you. I sent the seller an email and it is new and has not been registered for the warranty yet she said when if get it I can the register it for the warranty

Just be very sure you get something that looks like a real sales receipt for it, not just a confirmation of an on-line auction win, if that's what it was. Garmin generally won't accept the latter.

[+yellajeep]

That is their formal policy, though I do know there are some authorized sellers who sell through eBay. If its one of those, it would probably be okay.

 

Thank you. I sent the seller an email and it is new and has not been registered for the warranty yet she said when if get it I can the register it for the warranty

Just be very sure you get something that looks like a real sales receipt for it, not just a confirmation of an on-line auction win, if that's what it was. Garmin generally won't accept the latter.

 

no worry thank goodness someone outbid me

[snowfleurys]

Keep an eye out for posts on sales and google prices. The past few months is seams like every few weeks one of the outdoor/camera/electonics stores has had a 'super' deal on a unit.

[+yellajeep]

Keep an eye out for posts on sales and google prices. The past few months is seams like every few weeks one of the outdoor/camera/electonics stores has had a 'super' deal on a unit.

 

thanks

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

There's a $50 rebate on the Oregon 450 and 450t, starting tomorrow...

 

EDIT: It covers the 550 and 550t too, as well as the Dakota series.

 

http://garmin.blogs.com/promotions/2010/03...bate-offer.html

Edited March 31, 2010 by Redwoods Mtn Biker

[+yellajeep]

There's a $50 rebate on the Oregon 450 and 450t, starting tomorrow...

 

EDIT: It covers the 550 and 550t too, as well as the Dakota series.

 

http://garmin.blogs.com/promotions/2010/03...bate-offer.html

 

i checked with amazon and the are an authorized dealer and they have some good prices on 450 and 550. maybe i should post this in a new post so as to help others out looking to buy and save money. you have been a big help

[+TwoBears Family]

shoot, bought my gaarmin like 2 weeks ago (

day late and 50$ short..lol

[+ecanderson]

i checked with amazon and the are an authorized dealer and they have some good prices on 450 and 550. maybe i should post this in a new post so as to help others out looking to buy and save money. you have been a big help

Read the Garmin rebate info CAREFULLY. For some reason, Amazon is specifically excluded.