Garmin Oregon 450t

[+3 little fish]

I am looking into purchasing a Garmin Oregon 450t for paperless caching and have a question....

 

If I purchase the City Navigator SD card....will it pull up street info when I am trying to locate city-based caches. I can see how this would definately come in handy. On all the units that I've looked at (REI, Bass Pro Shop) they don't have anything pre-loaded to 'play around with'. My question is: If I am looking for a cache will it just tell me "300 yards" like my current GPSmap 60CSx (which does not include street maps) or will it pull up the entire street map with the City Nav card in it for most specific coords?

 

Any and all feedback is welcome as I decide which unit is best for me. I tend to do quite a bit of hiking (& realize that the trail maps would not be on the SD card) and also city caching. I figure with the Oregon I could really explore new cities on foot, cache, and hopefully not get too lost.

[+RonFisk]

I am looking into purchasing a Garmin Oregon 450t for paperless caching and have a question....

 

If I purchase the City Navigator SD card....will it pull up street info when I am trying to locate city-based caches. I can see how this would definately come in handy. On all the units that I've looked at (REI, Bass Pro Shop) they don't have anything pre-loaded to 'play around with'. My question is: If I am looking for a cache will it just tell me "300 yards" like my current GPSmap 60CSx (which does not include street maps) or will it pull up the entire street map with the City Nav card in it for most specific coords?

 

Any and all feedback is welcome as I decide which unit is best for me. I tend to do quite a bit of hiking (& realize that the trail maps would not be on the SD card) and also city caching. I figure with the Oregon I could really explore new cities on foot, cache, and hopefully not get too lost.

The short answer is "yes". If using street maps your geocaches will not only show up but it will tell you on what side of the street you can expect to find it. Then it's up to you...

[mannyapolis]

I am looking into purchasing a Garmin Oregon 450t for paperless caching and have a question....

 

If I purchase the City Navigator SD card....will it pull up street info when I am trying to locate city-based caches. I can see how this would definately come in handy. On all the units that I've looked at (REI, Bass Pro Shop) they don't have anything pre-loaded to 'play around with'. My question is: If I am looking for a cache will it just tell me "300 yards" like my current GPSmap 60CSx (which does not include street maps) or will it pull up the entire street map with the City Nav card in it for most specific coords?

 

Any and all feedback is welcome as I decide which unit is best for me. I tend to do quite a bit of hiking (& realize that the trail maps would not be on the SD card) and also city caching. I figure with the Oregon I could really explore new cities on foot, cache, and hopefully not get too lost.

 

Just a suggestion. I would purchases the 450 and not the 450t. The 450t comes preloaded with a 100K topographical map. I would instead purchase the 450 and buy the 24K topographical map on DVD. Then you get higher resolution topo maps plus you can use Garmin's BaseCamp software on your computer to do all of your route planning, etc. Just a suggestion.

[+Triple Crown]

I am looking into purchasing a Garmin Oregon 450t for paperless caching and have a question....

 

If I purchase the City Navigator SD card....will it pull up street info when I am trying to locate city-based caches. I can see how this would definately come in handy. On all the units that I've looked at (REI, Bass Pro Shop) they don't have anything pre-loaded to 'play around with'. My question is: If I am looking for a cache will it just tell me "300 yards" like my current GPSmap 60CSx (which does not include street maps) or will it pull up the entire street map with the City Nav card in it for most specific coords?

 

Any and all feedback is welcome as I decide which unit is best for me. I tend to do quite a bit of hiking (& realize that the trail maps would not be on the SD card) and also city caching. I figure with the Oregon I could really explore new cities on foot, cache, and hopefully not get too lost.

 

Just a suggestion. I would purchases the 450 and not the 450t. The 450t comes preloaded with a 100K topographical map. I would instead purchase the 450 and buy the 24K topographical map on DVD. Then you get higher resolution topo maps plus you can use Garmin's BaseCamp software on your computer to do all of your route planning, etc. Just a suggestion.

 

Another suggestion, don't get the microSD City Navigator, get the DVD version. The whole US & Canada take up less than 2 GB, but you only have 1 microSD slot. With the DVD version you can get your own 4GB or 8GB card and have lots of room for topo's (free 1:24k topos from www.GPSFileDepot.com) and aerial 'BirdsEye' imagery if you so choose...I find the aerial imagery invaluable for downtown caching because you can see which street, which lamp post etc, even if your GPS is bouncing around.

[+cache_r_joe]

I agree with what was said above, with the exception of the fact that I purchased the 450t and love the topos. There are many versions out there for free and some are very good, so it's a personal preference. If you have other maps on the unit, you can switch between them. For example, if you wanted to, you could have the street mapping to get you there, then switch to the topo maps for the hike in.

 

Either way I think you will find the 450 to be an excellent unit.

[+Triple Crown]

I agree with what was said above, with the exception of the fact that I purchased the 450t and love the topos. There are many versions out there for free and some are very good, so it's a personal preference. If you have other maps on the unit, you can switch between them. For example, if you wanted to, you could have the street mapping to get you there, then switch to the topo maps for the hike in.

 

Either way I think you will find the 450 to be an excellent unit.

 

Or you can have both the topo AND the street maps displayed at the same time!

 

For me, the 1:100k topos that come on the 'T' models don't justify the $100 price difference. It IS convenient, but for hiking I really prefer the 1:24k because they have contours every 20' as opposed to every 100'

[+3 little fish]

I am looking into purchasing a Garmin Oregon 450t for paperless caching and have a question....

 

If I purchase the City Navigator SD card....will it pull up street info when I am trying to locate city-based caches. I can see how this would definately come in handy. On all the units that I've looked at (REI, Bass Pro Shop) they don't have anything pre-loaded to 'play around with'. My question is: If I am looking for a cache will it just tell me "300 yards" like my current GPSmap 60CSx (which does not include street maps) or will it pull up the entire street map with the City Nav card in it for most specific coords?

 

Any and all feedback is welcome as I decide which unit is best for me. I tend to do quite a bit of hiking (& realize that the trail maps would not be on the SD card) and also city caching. I figure with the Oregon I could really explore new cities on foot, cache, and hopefully not get too lost.

 

Just a suggestion. I would purchases the 450 and not the 450t. The 450t comes preloaded with a 100K topographical map. I would instead purchase the 450 and buy the 24K topographical map on DVD. Then you get higher resolution topo maps plus you can use Garmin's BaseCamp software on your computer to do all of your route planning, etc. Just a suggestion.

 

Another suggestion, don't get the microSD City Navigator, get the DVD version. The whole US & Canada take up less than 2 GB, but you only have 1 microSD slot. With the DVD version you can get your own 4GB or 8GB card and have lots of room for topo's (free 1:24k topos from www.GPSFileDepot.com) and aerial 'BirdsEye' imagery if you so choose...I find the aerial imagery invaluable for downtown caching because you can see which street, which lamp post etc, even if your GPS is bouncing around.

[Guest]

I have another question that relates to the Garmin Oregon 450t and the city Nav UK and Ireland maps. as of yet i have neither, but am very keen on getting the 450t, and it would be useful to be able to use it as a sat nav too in the car. I know this may sound like a stupid question to some of you, but does the 450t have sound? so when i'm give turn by turn directions its actually spoken or does it just come up as text on the screen?

[+northernpenguin]

It beeps, will not call out street names or say anything human voice like.

[+digitalformula]

I have another question that relates to the Garmin Oregon 450t and the city Nav UK and Ireland maps. as of yet i have neither, but am very keen on getting the 450t, and it would be useful to be able to use it as a sat nav too in the car. I know this may sound like a stupid question to some of you, but does the 450t have sound? so when i'm give turn by turn directions its actually spoken or does it just come up as text on the screen?

 

As said below, it won't 'speak' the street names but it will tell you when to turn by way of a displayed message if using the Automotive profile (if you haven't altered the profile). I've used this a ton of times when navigating to various places by bike - I use Automotive directions for that and don't need it to speak as the visual directions are very good.

[+myotis]

I agree with what was said above, with the exception of the fact that I purchased the 450t and love the topos. There are many versions out there for free and some are very good, so it's a personal preference. If you have other maps on the unit, you can switch between them. For example, if you wanted to, you could have the street mapping to get you there, then switch to the topo maps for the hike in.

 

Either way I think you will find the 450 to be an excellent unit.

 

Or you can have both the topo AND the street maps displayed at the same time!

 

For me, the 1:100k topos that come on the 'T' models don't justify the $100 price difference. It IS convenient, but for hiking I really prefer the 1:24k because they have contours every 20' as opposed to every 100'

 

Actuslly that is not right. City Navigator has a draw priority of 30 which means it covers up everything with a lower draw priority. The topo maps all have lower draw priority than City Navigator so you cannot see them if CN is enabled. Actually, having streets and topo maps at the same time would be a mess on the screen.

 

But you are in luck as there is a solution. Transparent overlay maps have a draw priority of 31 so they draw on top of everything including CN. I travel to CO quite a bit so I have maps at gpsfiledepot.com that will do this. CO transparent Topo (new version coming out in a couple of days) will draw topo lines and hydrology on top of City Navgation. My Trails (new version coming out in the next day or so) will draw the trails as thin red lines on top of CN. My Trails has about 10,000 trails in CO. My POIs will add GNIS data like summits, mines, lakes, etc, to the map. Western Land Ownership will shade the map with the public land ownership. You will see City Nabigator and all the other maps at the same time.

 

Triple Crown does not mention that the T models also provide you DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data which I think is nice in CO. There are several features on the 450 that do not work without DEM data. It is required for shaded relief and 3d view. It will also allow you to click anywhere and obtain the elevation. It will also add an elevation profile to the route you are driving. Likewise, if you use the track manager to follow a track (gpx) of the trail you are on, it will add a elevation profile of your hike. I agree you can get better maps for free on gpsfiledepot.com. But you cannot get DEM data for free. I thought the DEM data was worth the extra $100. But you may or may not think it is.

[+Bullygoat29]

Triple Crown does not mention that the T models also provide you DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data which I think is nice in CO.

 

I have both shaded relief and 3D view. My GPSr is a 550, non T-model.

 

 

 

[+myotis]

What map are you displaying? Garmin's topo maps also have DEM data.

[+Bullygoat29]

What map are you displaying? Garmin's topo maps also have DEM data.

 

I am using a couple of Garmin topo maps.

[+myotis]

That is why you have the shaded relief and 3d. You have to either have the T model or buy a garmin mapset to get DEM data.

[+Bullygoat29]

Gotcha. Can the DEM data be seperated from the map?

[+myotis]

No, it cannot. But the map does not need to be enabled in order to access the data. If you have DEM data on your GPS, it will use it for any map on your GPS. For example, you can load a topo map from gpsfiledepot and the GPS will use the DEM data to show shaded relief on that map.

[+ecanderson]

For those using shaded relief on their Oregons -- have you found that this makes the topo itself harder to read due to the darkened background? Much like trying to read a Birdseye image in less than perfect lighting, I've had problems seeing what's there with DEM enabled. I've gotten to where the shaded relief seems more of a bother than a benefit in the field.

[+dfx]

For those using shaded relief on their Oregons -- have you found that this makes the topo itself harder to read due to the darkened background? Much like trying to read a Birdseye image in less than perfect lighting, I've had problems seeing what's there with DEM enabled. I've gotten to where the shaded relief seems more of a bother than a benefit in the field.

 

Not me, but this area here is mostly flat, so the places where shaded relief does anything noticable are few and far between. In any case, shaded relief doesn't really give you any additional info, it's just eye candy, so I wouldn't worry about just turning it off if it ever becomes annoying.