Oregon 450

[+aintnorock]

I've been doing some research, and I think I'm settled on buying the Oregon 450-

 

I'd like to hear your comments, pro or con, if you have one. What do you like? What do you dislike?

 

thanks.

 

carl

[+ecanderson]

Con: None of the touchscreen models from Garmin have screens as bright as the older units in "half-light" moments. In sun, great. In dark, great. In that perfect in-between light, not so great, but workable.

 

Pro: Just about everything else. Nice screen size, nice features, good accuracy (be sure to update the firmware to the current release), good paperless geocaching features.

 

FWIW: Probably best off to save the $100 and pick up the 450 model instead of the 450T, and source your maps elsewhere.

[+Walts Hunting]

Con: None of the touchscreen models from Garmin have screens as bright as the older units in "half-light" moments. In sun, great. In dark, great. In that perfect in-between light, not so great, but workable.

 

Pro: Just about everything else. Nice screen size, nice features, good accuracy (be sure to update the firmware to the current release), good paperless geocaching features.

 

FWIW: Probably best off to save the $100 and pick up the 450 model instead of the 450T, and source your maps elsewhere.

 

+1 Especially about the maps since the T has 100K resolution and you can get 24K resolution elsewhere.

[+aintnorock]

Con: None of the touchscreen models from Garmin have screens as bright as the older units in "half-light" moments. In sun, great. In dark, great. In that perfect in-between light, not so great, but workable.

 

Pro: Just about everything else. Nice screen size, nice features, good accuracy (be sure to update the firmware to the current release), good paperless geocaching features.

 

FWIW: Probably best off to save the $100 and pick up the 450 model instead of the 450T, and source your maps elsewhere.

 

What maps would you have to buy? I'm thinking that the base map will be fine for the little geocaching I do, but am curious as to what additional maps are available. Is the base map a topo? It looks like it in advertising.

 

Thanks

[Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide]

I've been doing some research, and I think I'm settled on buying the Oregon 450-

 

I'd like to hear your comments, pro or con, if you have one. What do you like? What do you dislike?

 

thanks.

 

carl

 

Have we started again?

 

There must be 100 topics with exactly the same question...

[+ecanderson]

What maps would you have to buy?

None. But your basemap may put you on the wrong side of a creek as often as not. Recommend paying this site a visit: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com

[billsfan4eva]

DEFINITELY. Touchscreen and menu (ease of use) is awesome. This crap about not being able to see the screen, ignore it. I think most people just don't figure out that in bright light you need to angle it TOWARD the sunlight. definitely agree on not getting the T model, why get only 100k topos when 24k are out there . . .

[billsfan4eva]

Con: None of the touchscreen models from Garmin have screens as bright as the older units in "half-light" moments. In sun, great. In dark, great. In that perfect in-between light, not so great, but workable.

 

Pro: Just about everything else. Nice screen size, nice features, good accuracy (be sure to update the firmware to the current release), good paperless geocaching features.

 

FWIW: Probably best off to save the $100 and pick up the 450 model instead of the 450T, and source your maps elsewhere.

 

What maps would you have to buy? I'm thinking that the base map will be fine for the little geocaching I do, but am curious as to what additional maps are available. Is the base map a topo? It looks like it in advertising.

 

Thanks

 

basemap definitely not a topo (unless of course you decided to get the T model, then it would come with the 100k topo

[+jindi kid]

Yes definently worth it, get 1 off amazon maybe

[+aintnorock]

Yes definently worth it, get 1 off amazon maybe

 

I ordered it yesterday from Amazon for $311.67 - comes from Beach Camera who had it $4 cheaper, but I like dealing with Amazon - their returns if needed are a lot easier than most places.

[+ecanderson]

I think most people just don't figure out that in bright light you need to angle it TOWARD the sunlight.

I'm pretty sure that most people figure that out, even if accidentally. It's not bright sunlight that's the issue with these units. It's the "half light" situations that are tougher. No sun to provide a great reflective display. Not quite enough backlight to overcome the ambient light even when set to highest brightness setting. Still usable, but not what a person might have been accustomed to in the older non-touchscreen units. In those situations, it's necessary to reduce expectations a bit. In my case, it means I have to toss on my reading glasses. Edited January 11, 2011 by ecanderson

[+Wind Dance]

I just got a 450 a couple weeks ago. New @ $280 + $5 shipping in classifieds on this site. Here is what I have found:

Screen: Readable in all light. But, like every other screen it would be nice if it was brighter.

Customizing screens: Very easy, can even have larger data boxes for those of us with old eyes.

Maps on sd card: You can have multiple maps in the garmin sd card directory as long as they have different names, and you can name then anything as long as they end with .img. I have 2 8gb cards. Both with multiple maps. One has City Nav, all 3 National Parks, and Alaska and HA topo. The other has the continental USA topo broken in 2 parts - East and West. The Oregon sees all of the maps on the first card. I thought the second sd was not recognizing both maps because I was over the 4200 map segment limit. But, today I just read that it could be because the original map has the same name (even though the copies on the card have different names)and so both parts are seen as one map by the Oregon. I will check it out.

Ease of use: Very easy and intuitive.

Signal: I can get reception inside my house away from windows. Like all gps's there is some wavering when trying to get within a couple feet of the location in the deep woods.

Paperless: What a fantastic feature. This is worth anything you pay for it. Simple to load via the geocaching site and simple to access.

Batteries: I was using the cheapest batteries I can find and probably got about 8 hours.

Accessing via computer: Simply. Plugged it in and instant recognition by XP. I did not ry it on my Vista machine because Vista sucks.

I find the back hard to open to access the sd card and battery. But, I would rather have it hard to open then falling off.

Human mode: My non technical wife has a very easy time using it.

Now, I am not saying that the Oregon is better at this than any other make or model. This is just my experience. I have been using GPS in airplanes ever since they came out. Fishing for at least 5-6 years. Cars for about 3 years. And connected to a PC for about 3 years.

And, if you are new the pocket queries on the geocaching site are well worth the $30 fee for a premium account.

[+backroadcachers]

I have one and I really like it. I don't find the screen all that bad. I have never found the screen to be any harder to read than the screen of my Colorado 300. The touch screen is a nice feature, and the size is prefect IMO. I don't have any problems with it, so no cons for me.

[+kwcahart]

I've been using a Garmin 76CX for several years and finally bought an Oregon 450T. The only reason I got the "T" was because it was on sale. I love it, the paperless feature is worth every bit of the extra $$ over the 76CX. I wouldn't go back. I kept the 76CX because it floats and I use it as my kayaking GPS, otherwise it stays in my Geo pack.