Oregon Screen

[+toil&trouble]

We have an Oregon 300, been pretty happy with it, love the paperless caching, really accurate, but lets face it, the screen sucks for bright sunlight. So, anybody who has a 450, or 550, or Dakota 20, can you see it in direct sunlight? Is it worth upgrading, just for the 3 axis compass and screen?

[+arcs]

Short answer - yes - it's (my 550) great in bright sunlight. It's great in dark but it sucks under gray light. Kind of backwards to normal. I've been out with some Magellan (p'too) friends of mine and that's where the comparison was made. In other words - ya can't win.

Compass is nice but not a deal breaker. Like any other compass it doesn't work around electrical fields (eg in your car) but it shuts off when you're moving so it doesn't use power unnecessarily

Edited February 8, 2011 by arcs

[+WaylessWood]

I can't speak for the 300's screen, but I agree with arcs about the screen on the x50 models. I've had my 450 for about 6 months and don't miss the "hold level" message from my old 76. So, for me, the 3-axis compass is a big win.

[+dfx]

450 and 550 screen: yes. In fact much better in direct sunlight than without it. Viewing angle is the key though, so if you use it on a bike mount, make sure it's flexible. The Dakotas have similar screen problems as the older Oregons AFAIK.

[snowfleurys]

Try it with shaded relief set to do not show. The background will be 'white' rather than dark tan.

[+OldA'sFan]

I had an Oregon 300 which I was very fond of. However, the screen did leave something to be desired. Also, I was not overly happy with the compass. The 300 had a tragic death (long story and not the 300's fault), so I got a 450. I LOVE it. Screen is much better than the 300 and the compass by itself is worth the upgrade. Do the upgrade your won't regret it! By the way, there are some adjustments that you can make (see the Oregon wiki) that will help the screen situation a bunch.

 

OldA'sFan

[+jimnsusie]

I have an Oregon 400t and had the same problems with the sunlight. I followed the advice of a previous poster which was the same as the previous post which helped and also downloaded a white background and installed it in the gps. Works great. The white background thing I got the info for it off the forums here sometime back can't remember which thread it was but sure it is still here somewhere. I still have to hold the gps a certain way sometimes depending on the amount of light but all in all it works great now.

[+jeepdelfuego]

We have an Oregon 300, been pretty happy with it, love the paperless caching, really accurate, but lets face it, the screen sucks for bright sunlight. So, anybody who has a 450, or 550, or Dakota 20, can you see it in direct sunlight? Is it worth upgrading, just for the 3 axis compass and screen?

 

We have spent way too much money on GPSr's over the last couple of years. We have had a Garmin Legend (old blue), Legend Hcx, Oregon 200, Dakota 10, Oregon 300, and Oregon 450. We still have the Oregon 200 sitting on the desk (long story), the 300, and the 450. I don't see a huge difference in the worst lighting conditions. Actually, I got used to tilting the screen a bit to see the screens on all of the Oregons. Plus, make sure that you have a screen protector on that is not too scratched up. This really seems to make the biggest difference. The Dakota 10 and 20 have the same smaller screen. It is ,a little brighter than the Oregon x00's. But, it is grainy as heck. My wife loved it because it was small. I wouldn't replace an Oregon with a Dakota unless Garmin changes the display with a higher resolution one. But, if you like its size factor it can be a deal breaker. It was for my wife.

 

I really like the novelty of the 3 axis compass (but, it wore off), the USB 2.0 transfer speeds, and the 5,000 geocache limit on the 450. Of the last three features I just mentioned, I love having the 5k geocache limit the most. It pretty much has allowed me to load geocaches for a huge area which I don't leave too often. It covers the nearby mountains, the desert, and the beaches nearby. Oh, I almost forgot that it also helps to have GSAK and it's polygon search feature. Anyway, I find myself not having to swap out the SD card that much when I am out geocaching because I always seem to have the area already loaded on my 450. With that said, if I already had an Oregon 300, I probably would not fork out the extra money for the features on the 450. Before I got the 450, I got pretty good at moving around gpx files that I had ready to go in a backup directory on the SD card. I would take the card out and use the file manager feature on my smartphone to move the 28 pocket queries in and out of the gpx directory. But, if money is not a consideration in your decision, which would not be the case for me, then go right ahead and try to justify spending $250+ to get an Oregon 450. I hope this helps.

________________________________________________________________________________

If you are interested in why I have bought so many GPSr's, read the following:

 

-Garmin Legend (old blue) - Wife's friend accidentally sold it at a garage sale for $5

-Garmin Legend Hcx - Stolen from the back of my Jeep

-Garmin Oregon 200 - I used the heck out of it! Battery connectors went bad about 1.5 years after I bought it....Garmin replaced it, out of warranty, with a new unit!

-Garmin Dakota 10 - Bought it for my wife because she wanted to go geocaching on her own.

-Garmin Oregon 300 - Bought this one to replace the Dakota 10 that my wife lost...But, I gave her my Oregon 200 instead.

-Garmin Oregon 450 - Bought this one to replace my Oregon 300 because I thought it had been stolen. It turns out that I left it in the backyard of my old house hanging on a tree for about 3-4 months! I Put a set of new batteries in the 300 and it started right up!

 

So, when I found the 300, I gave it to my wife. I got the 200 replaced by Garmin after I had already given my wife the 300. So, the new Oregon 200 has been gathering dust in my desk for almost a year now. Whew, I can't believe I got this story straight.

 

If you got this far, you deserve a cookie! :-)

Edited February 9, 2011 by jeepdelfuego

[+toil&trouble]

Great, thanks for the info. In a couple of months I can retire and my employer will cash out my vacation time, so I will have some extra cash. We will be living full time in our RV, so a new Nuvi is on the list. We love the Oregon but do hate that screen. Looks like I'll take the blunge and step up to the 450t. I use the 300 on my bike as a computer, works great, I don't try to use the map, just the trip computer functions, so the screen is ok. I'll see what I can find on the Wiki about helping the screen, the Oregon Wiki has been a life saver for me, for sure. Yep, we learned our screen protector lesson with our GPS60, so the GPSr always has one from day one. I had a invisible shield on the OR, but swapped it out, it seems to make the touch screen harder to use. What screen protectors do you guys recommend?

[+dfx]

Where's my cookie?

[+toil&trouble]

How about a really big "Thank You!:

[+dfx]

Anyway, I switched to a relatively cheap Scosche iphone screen protector from Walmart, I think it's called KlearKoat. It's very thin and not sticky or soft like the Zagg, but it's not really scratchproof, I already got a small scratch on it. On the upside you get a 3-pack for less money than a single Zagg, it's got very low glare and I found applying it to be much easier. Obviously you have to cut it before putting it on though.

[+arcs]

I use Hip Street cheapo coverings - 12 for 12 bucks at Futureshop or someplace like that,if I remember correctly. You get 2 per sheet with my Oregon. Sure they scratch after a while but they work great - no touch screen issue. I leave it on for a month or 2 then put a new one on.

[yogazoo]

I've had a Zagg shield on my 60csx for almost 4 years now and it still looks like the day I put it on. Zaggs don't scratch and wont scuff (unless you take a sander to it). Put one on and it will protect like new for the lifetime of the gadget. I'm in no way affiliated with Zagg, I've just always been impressed with the quality and therefore sharing my opinion as it relates to screen protection. I have used other protectors on other units and have been pretty happy with the results but the only downside is that they will eventually need replacing as they do scratch. Zagg or not, leaving any GPS screen unprotected is a bad idea unless you don't mind looking through scratches and scuffs to try and view an already challenging screen. It doesn't matter how well you treat your GPS it will get scratches on the screen if not protected.

Edited February 8, 2011 by yogazoo