Help Me Decide!

[+G & C]

I've been using an Oregon 550 for about 7 months now, and loved every minute of it. No bad experiences at all. Great GPS. But it fried on me, and I am currently GPS-less. I went browsing at REI today, and got to fondle the GPSMAP 62S. Veeeery nice. It is a lot like the Oregon, minus the touchscreen, plus the antennae.

 

I do a LOT of geocaching with my GPS, and a LOT of navigating trails and crosscountry hiking. Not so much navigation via car or anything like that.

 

Would y'all be willing to give me some input? Pros, cons, the head to head? I'd appreciate it, because right now, they're dead even on my desire list!

[sviking]

Still within the 1 year warranty? What do you mean by "fried"?

[+G & C]

Still within the 1 year warranty? What do you mean by "fried"?

 

Related Thread

 

Sadly, no warranty because I bought it in an online auction. Garmins warranty is voided by online auction purchases.

[+bcblues]

If you loved your Oregon, I don't see any reason not to get another. I think it all comes down to wanting a touch screen or buttons (at least now that the screen brightness issue seems to be resolved).

 

For me, using the GPSr on a mountain bike just seems easier with buttons. Plus the screen brightness (IMHO) on the 60 and 62 series is about as dim as I would care to go. The text entry is certainly not all that great with the 62, but it is workable. That is really the only down-side I see to the 62.

[+dfx]

... and minus the camera. if you don't care for the camera, you're in for a 450.

[Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide]

I've been using an Oregon 550 for about 7 months now, and loved every minute of it. No bad experiences at all. Great GPS. But it fried on me, and I am currently GPS-less. I went browsing at REI today, and got to fondle the GPSMAP 62S. Veeeery nice. It is a lot like the Oregon, minus the touchscreen, plus the antennae.

 

I do a LOT of geocaching with my GPS, and a LOT of navigating trails and crosscountry hiking. Not so much navigation via car or anything like that.

 

Would y'all be willing to give me some input? Pros, cons, the head to head? I'd appreciate it, because right now, they're dead even on my desire list!

 

I had a 550 die on me when the power cable got wet in the rain. Fortunately Garmin is replacing it, but in the meantime I bought a 62S and like it a lot. The screen is not as high res, and there's no camera as others have mentioned, but aside from those two relatively trivial concerns, it's all good.

[+t4e]

 

I had a 550 die on me when the power cable got wet in the rain.

 

huh?

[Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide]

 

I had a 550 die on me when the power cable got wet in the rain.

 

huh?

 

What I said. It just died, and so did the nuvi 780 I plugged into the same cable the next day.

[+G & C]

Great input y'all. Thanks. I really did grow to appreciate having the camera on the GPS. When I ran into a large ram up in the hills on a hike a few months back, I'd have never gotten a good pic if I'd have tried to get my camera out of my pack. Plus, it makes taking pictures while geocaching convenient too.

 

The one thing that I did not like about the 62S is that the screen is level with the body of the unit. It's not lower. On the Oregon, there's that lip, so if you drop the unit, the screen likely won't touch the ground. I drop stuff, a lot.

 

But I did REALLY like the buttons and setup on the 62S. And I've heard that reading the display outdoors in the sun is easier than the Oregon, too.

 

Man... this is gonna be a tough one...

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

If you mark (and name) a lot of waypoints, the Oregon is much easier.

[+t4e]

 

I had a 550 die on me when the power cable got wet in the rain.

 

huh?

 

What I said. It just died, and so did the nuvi 780 I plugged into the same cable the next day.

 

i got that, i was just shocked to see you deliberately used a wet cable, and on two units

Edited October 7, 2010 by t4e

[Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide]

 

I had a 550 die on me when the power cable got wet in the rain.

 

huh?

 

What I said. It just died, and so did the nuvi 780 I plugged into the same cable the next day.

 

i got that, i was just shocked to see you deliberately used a wet cable, and on two units

 

I didn't "deliberately use a wet cable on two units". It was plugged into the Oregon during a shower and the Oregon stopped working. The next day I plugged the cable into the 780, but the cable had spent the night inside, in the dry. And the 780 stopped working.

 

So don't make it sound like I was doing this intentionally, knowing it would damage the units.

[MtnHermit]

If you mark (and name) a lot of waypoints, the Oregon is much easier.

mark - definitely not, all the button units use an existing button, press and mark. You must leave the map to mark, plus several presses on various screens to accept the waypoint.

name - for sure

 

On balance, easier as the text gets longer.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

Valid point. Let's just say that text entry is easier on the touchscreen units.