Oregon 450 vs PN-60

[+gaijinboricua]

Hello everyone,

Currently I have no GPS to do caching with. I was wondering if I should wait for the Delorme PN-60 (to be release in June 10) or purchase a Gamin Oregon 450.

 

Anyoone has some input on it using the PN-40 as comparison?

1. How is the battery on the Oregon 450 and the PN-40?

2. Availabiliiy of maps and price.

3. GPS Accuracy and speed for locking in your curent position.

4. Compass accuracy and issues.

5. How impact proof and water proof are these units?

 

Input is greatly appreciated.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

1. The Oregon is better, but the PN-60 is supposed to be improved in this area.

 

2. There are lots of free maps available for the Oregon (http://gpsfiledepot.com)

[+dakboy]

1) The PN-60 is supposed to have close to double the battery life of the PN-40, which will make it competitive with, if not better than, the Oregon.

 

2) Oregon has lots of free maps, plus Garmin's $30/year Birdseye (jury's still out on that service). PN-60 has the DeLorme Map Library, $30 for all you can eat aerial imagery & scanned 24K topo maps; more data is supposed to be coming up this summer.

 

3) IIRC they use the same GPS chipset & antenna design, so in general the difference should be negligible for consumer purposes

 

4) Electronic compasses have been around long enough they're all pretty much identical in this market segment.

 

5) They're both IPX7 certified, best you're going to find in a consumer handheld.

[+GeoHueb]

If any of your friends or family are waiting for the PN-60 then that would be a big plus as it has the tracking and transfer features. Also do you take remote hikes? The spot messenger service is a great tool.

[+gaijinboricua]

Thanks for the input. I wasnt sure because there was so much input online about people that claim the oregon 450 is great. As I been reading more, it looks like the big problem with oregon gps are the cost of maps as the gpsfiledepot files seem to be missing some features (correct me if I am wrong). The $30 all you can eat map buffet sounds attractive. As for battery, vendors tend to make multiple claims in this regards, so I am not holding my breath on this one.

I guess it all depends on price. I am checking out slikdeal to see what the price difference will be. If the price difference is $100 or more, I might go with the oregon.

 

any input on the software used? Which one is less buggy?

[+CortandTrent]

Thanks for the input. I wasnt sure because there was so much input online about people that claim the oregon 450 is great. As I been reading more, it looks like the big problem with oregon gps are the cost of maps as the gpsfiledepot files seem to be missing some features (correct me if I am wrong). The $30 all you can eat map buffet sounds attractive. As for battery, vendors tend to make multiple claims in this regards, so I am not holding my breath on this one.

I guess it all depends on price. I am checking out slikdeal to see what the price difference will be. If the price difference is $100 or more, I might go with the oregon.

 

any input on the software used? Which one is less buggy?

 

The current Oregon software is stable, at least in my use. I got mine for $290 after the $50 rebate.

 

What features have others said that are missing with gpsfiledepot? I'm currently using a topo map from there and its fine for me. The maps differ with your location though.

[+gaijinboricua]

 

The current Oregon software is stable, at least in my use. I got mine for $290 after the $50 rebate.

 

What features have others said that are missing with gpsfiledepot? I'm currently using a topo map from there and its fine for me. The maps differ with your location though.

 

Well, actually everything is from multiple post I have read, some might have been user error, others might have been problems that got fixed.

The big one I saw was people complaining about the lack of 3D topo and routable features, others complained that the maps where not detail enough. Of course this might all be silly complains.

 

Do you still have the information to get it for $290? was this price before shipping? $290 sounds like a sweet price considering that the PN-60 will be $399. That's about $110 difference before shipping. A price difference like this would surely move me toward the Oregon.

[+Entropy512]

 

The current Oregon software is stable, at least in my use. I got mine for $290 after the $50 rebate.

 

What features have others said that are missing with gpsfiledepot? I'm currently using a topo map from there and its fine for me. The maps differ with your location though.

 

Well, actually everything is from multiple post I have read, some might have been user error, others might have been problems that got fixed.

The big one I saw was people complaining about the lack of 3D topo and routable features, others complained that the maps where not detail enough. Of course this might all be silly complains.

 

Do you still have the information to get it for $290? was this price before shipping? $290 sounds like a sweet price considering that the PN-60 will be $399. That's about $110 difference before shipping. A price difference like this would surely move me toward the Oregon.

In terms of topographic and hydro data, the free maps are roughly equivalent to Garmin's 24k topo maps, which Garmin only sells on a regional basis. Nationwide coverage in a single purchase is only available at "100k" (lower resolution) detail.

 

In terms or road data - The Garmin 100k topo roads are "ok", I can't remember if they're routable. Most free 24k topos are based on an older Census TIGER dataset, which is good in some places and awful in others. Most free maps are not routable, although there is now a routable map set based on OpenStreetMap data. OSM quality varies greatly depending on:

1) How good the original Census TIGER data was (At least OSM uses the latest Fall 2009 TIGER dataset, most of the free topos were generated prior to the release of this set.)

2) How much it has been reviewed by volunteer map editors

 

For road routing, Garmin City Navigator (or a secondary unit, since basic TomToms and Garmin Nuvis cost about as much as CN and will outperform any of the current trail handhelds) is the way to go. DeLorme PNs historically have VERY poor performance in terms of POI/address search and road routing.

 

Garmin supports the Custom Map functionality, which allows you to load any raster map that can be properly georeferenced into the unit (subject to technical limitations on map tile resolution and number of tiles). Loading "user" raster data into a DeLorme unit requires DeLorme XMap, and raster data generated with XMap cannot be distributed to my knowledge. There are a lot of raster data sources not available as part of DeLorme or Garmin's subscription services (such as state-by-state high resolution aerial imagery. As of summer 2009, the best DeLorme offered was USGS aerial imagery which is nowhere near as good as the 1 foot aerial imagery available in many states for free.)

[+dakboy]

Do you still have the information to get it for $290? was this price before shipping? $290 sounds like a sweet price considering that the PN-60 will be $399. That's about $110 difference before shipping. A price difference like this would surely move me toward the Oregon.

List or street? $399 sounds like list price - wait till the PN-60 is released and see what it actually retails for.

[+CortandTrent]

 

The current Oregon software is stable, at least in my use. I got mine for $290 after the $50 rebate.

 

What features have others said that are missing with gpsfiledepot? I'm currently using a topo map from there and its fine for me. The maps differ with your location though.

 

Well, actually everything is from multiple post I have read, some might have been user error, others might have been problems that got fixed.

The big one I saw was people complaining about the lack of 3D topo and routable features, others complained that the maps where not detail enough. Of course this might all be silly complains.

 

Do you still have the information to get it for $290? was this price before shipping? $290 sounds like a sweet price considering that the PN-60 will be $399. That's about $110 difference before shipping. A price difference like this would surely move me toward the Oregon.

 

The store I got mine from is currently sold out. GPScity has it for that price as well though

 

http://www.gpscity.com/garmin-oregon-450.html

[+gaijinboricua]

 

The current Oregon software is stable, at least in my use. I got mine for $290 after the $50 rebate.

 

What features have others said that are missing with gpsfiledepot? I'm currently using a topo map from there and its fine for me. The maps differ with your location though.

 

Well, actually everything is from multiple post I have read, some might have been user error, others might have been problems that got fixed.

The big one I saw was people complaining about the lack of 3D topo and routable features, others complained that the maps where not detail enough. Of course this might all be silly complains.

 

Do you still have the information to get it for $290? was this price before shipping? $290 sounds like a sweet price considering that the PN-60 will be $399. That's about $110 difference before shipping. A price difference like this would surely move me toward the Oregon.

 

The store I got mine from is currently sold out. GPScity has it for that price as well though

 

http://www.gpscity.com/garmin-oregon-450.html

 

Thanks, I went ahead and ordered the Oregon and used the rebate.