Oregon 450 vs 450t

[+"grimlock"]

Quick question, i am sure it is covered somewhere in the forums here but i was wondering what is the diff between the oregon 450 and 450t. I am about to drop some dough on a GPS as i have had enough of the iphone one feature i want to find is the ability to enter coords on the fly, in the field if need be.

Thanks

Nate

[+johnvanderlip]

The T means it includes topographic maps.

[+"grimlock"]

ok, thanks

[+PokerLuck]

I had a 400t once, and I found that I didn't use the topo maps very much. I do a small amount of hiking and the topo maps did not have trails marked on them, not in the area where I live, so they weren't very useful.

[+"grimlock"]

Yea I have decided i am going to pick up the 450.

[+myotis]

I have some cut and paste language for when people post the only difference between the T and non T is the built in topo maps:

 

*****

I think there needs to be a FAQ on the difference between the T and regular models. People ask this all the time and usually get misleading advice. Certainly you can get free better topo maps on gpsfiledepot.com. However, the T models also come with 100K DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data which some features require. You can only get DEM data from a T model or Garmin 100K topo or Garmin's 24K topo (which have 24K DEM). Us map-makers have not been able to figure out how to make DEM data to load on your GPS, so you cannot get DEM data from gpsfiledepot.com.

 

While one may still decide the DEM data is not worth the extra money, it needs to be weighed in the decision. I thought it was worth the extra money when I bought my 550T.

 

DEM:

 

To show shaded relief, the GPS requires DEM data. If you have DEM data on your GPS, it will show shaded relief on any map (including the ones from gpsfiledepot.com). However, shaded relief makes the GPS significantly harder to read. However, sometimes it can be nice when looking at a map to see if the trail goes uphill or downhill. You can turn it on if you need it. Without it, usually you can tell which way is up, but sometimes you have to click on topo lines to figure it out.

 

The 3d viewer requires DEM data

 

With DEM data, the GPS will add elevation data to a track you load and follow on track manager. This allows you to view the elevation profile of your trip. However, I use http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/elevation to obtain the elevation profile as the DEM data there is more accurate than the built in 100K. But it is nice to have it just in case.

 

These are the two things I like (and use) the most:

 

With DEM data, the GPS will add elevation data to a car route. So you can see the elevation profile of the route you are driving.

 

With DEM data, you can click anywhere on the map and one of the pieces of information about the site that will be provided is the elevation. While it is based on 100K DEM, it is reasonablely accurate.

 

******

 

One more thing, can anyone without the T model tell me if you have tide prediction (where to menu)? I wonder if this is part of the Topo or built into the unit's software.

[+Wampus-N-Pickle]

One more thing, can anyone without the T model tell me if you have tide prediction (where to menu)? I wonder if this is part of the Topo or built into the unit's software.

 

Yes - the tide prediction is available on the 450 (non-T) (Where To->Tides).