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Garmin Montana 650


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Almost forgot, startup time from the time I press the power button till when I can select something on screen is 18 seconds. The Montana also acquires satellites inside where my Oregon 550 and the 62s I had for a while wouldn't.

 

I'll second the sensitivity claim. The Montana is every bit as sensitive if not moreso than any previous Garmin I've owned (Oregon300, Oregon450, Colorado300, 60CSX, 62, eTrex Vista).

 

Lock is fast, and like bullygoat my Montana picks up satellites in places the others couldn't or wouldn't. At my desk in my basement, my 62 (with famed quad helix antenna) would beep frequently telling me that sat reception was lost. My Montana hasn't "beeped" yet. Under canopy the satellite reception is impressive and every bit as strong as any unit with a quad helix. Garmin did a great job with reception in the Montana.

 

Edited to add: The Auto-Calibration feature has worked flawlessly for me so far. It's nice not having to do "the dance" after every battery change. It's pretty much always been as accurate as can be expected, battery change after battery change.

Edited by yogazoo
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I can't believe until tonight I hadn't looked at a geocache on my Montana. It's amazing how nice the text looks. The screen responds as well as my iPhone and it works gloved which the iPhone won't do. I just still can't believe how great a unit this is. It makes my Oregon 550 look like my old eTrex Legend.

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Sweet, thanks for the info and pics bullygoat29... I'm really close to deciding I can't live without one of these... :)

 

If I do I think I'm gonna check our local REI and see if they are stocking them yet... Maybe I can use my discount card, I think you get 10% off with that... Or Cabela's, I think I have some points there, plus with them I can use in store pickup and save on shipping...

 

Anyone else use it for caching???

 

Someone load up a handful, get out there and provide us with a detailed After Action Report!!!

 

Thank again bullygoat for the info and pics...

Edited by solo63137
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One feature the Montana has that the Oregon XXX doesn't with regards to geocaching (and field work) is the calendar that stores information on each day data is recorded. On day's where data is recorded (Tracks, Waypoints, Geocache Attempts) the calendar page shows a little colored corner on each date. So when you look at the calendar for the month you can see each day data was recorded looking at the whole month on the screen. You can then tap any particular day to see a summary of data you recorded that day. You can then even tap the summary to view a detailed laundry list of waypoints, tracks, or geocaches and you can tap each one to review the particular data. The feature is really nice for data organization and reviewing/editing data by date.

 

I got my bike mount today and installed the hardware on my "commuter" mountain bike. I took it for a spin this evening and I have to say that I fell in love all over again. The night mode is a feature that I sorely missed on my oregon and tonight I realized just how much. The entire presentation is themed darker, the buttons, the map has a black background, the background image is darker (all automatic at sunset). It preserves night vision and is very visually appealing. The Oregon touchscreen had drawbacks for biking and I often used my 62 for bike treks because the buttons were easier and more positively pressed. The Oregon's screen was small enough to make hitting the right spot challenging. Not only are the screen and touch targets larger on the Montana but Garmin seems to have improved the touchscreen itself, making it more responsive, quick, and accurate. Pressing the right buttons was no problem with my Montana and was simply a dream on my bike. Landscape mode made everything look that much better, my eyes didn't have to strain to see the map/data fields. The Montana simply ceases to amaze! It really does make my "old" Oregon 450 look like an etrex legend.

 

Aside from the minor bugs that I'm sure Garmin will address with future firmware updates, it's hard to see how Garmin could improve on the Montana. Once this unit catches on (i.e. lowers in price) it's going to be the new "gold standard" by which all handheld units will be measured, both touchscreen and non-touchscreen. As I've said before, since the Colorado, each unit left something to be desired, lacking some feature or interface function that I could live without but really wished it had. The Montana leaves nothing to be desired. Man I'm stoked!

Edited by yogazoo
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Boy did I screw up.

 

Ordered a Montana 600 from Amazon yesterday, and since I am an Amazon Prime member opted for the $3.99 next day shipping. Last night I returned my GPSMap 62S to REI so I could get Garmin started on transferring the City Navigator and Birdsye stuff rom the 62 to the 600.

 

Amazon shipped last night, via UPS Next Day. But sometime around midnight UPS had a mechanical failure on an airplane and now the Montana is stuck in Ontario California and won't be delivered today. I doubt they will deliver it Saturday either, and certainly not Sunday, so it looks like my cleverness has maneuvered me into a weekend with no GPS at all (well, I have a Nuvi 1690 but it's useless for geocaching).

 

Oh well. Sorry, just came here to whine.

Edited by michaelnel
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Could some of the happy few please check how long the cache description might be?

The Oregon/Dakota/Colorado units cuts everything longer than 8192 chars.

 

Frohes jagen

Hans

 

Do you have a specific cache in mind?

 

No. There are a lot of them out in the wild. Mostly useless MS code blows up the long description.

http://coord.info/GC1H93G might give you an idea.

 

Frohes Jagen

Hans

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The Calendar Feature in pictures:

 

Below you can see the month with an orange corner highlighted on days which data was recorded. When you tap a specific date you will see a list of data items you took on that day.

1310140973.jpg

 

If you tap on the abbreviated list a more detailed list pops up. Notice the date along the top.

1310141037.jpg

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Some more screenshots (thanks to GPSfiledepot for the hosting). The graininess is a result of re-processing from the host site.

 

I have created custom vehicles which, in my opinion, are easier to see than the standard triangle/arrow. Gone are the days of being restricted to that big blue arrow. Creating custom vehicles is super easy but if you'd like the .srf (vehicle) files for these particular ones please send me a PM and I'll get them to ya. The green leaf background in the lower images is also custom and, if you'd be inclined, I can send that along as well.

 

Below are images of my custom smaller, more visible arrow. The topo maps are the ones I've made for Montana that include colorized public land ownerships. The dark red polygons that look like buildings are indeed buildings and come from a USGS shapefile.

1310141355.jpg1310141376.jpg1310141412.jpg1310141437.jpg

 

Notice below that you can customize how many icons show up on the main menu page. Choosing the maximum number like below the icon names get cut. The icons themselves are so visually descriptive that I don't need them.

1310141459.jpg

 

You can set up your unit to display several main menu screens. Hit the right arow along the bottom of the above screen and you get what's below. I set up a "FIND" menu where I can shortcut to several most queried categories.

1310141557.jpg

 

Sun/Moon position in sky.

1310141512.jpg

 

When you setup a proximity alarm you will see a perimeter based on your proximity settings. Only shows at closer zoom levels but really nice!

1310141698.jpg

 

Scientific or standard calculator options.

1310141837.jpg

 

Nuvi dashboard with crow vehicle (included in list of vehicles that come with the unit). You can't see it in this static image but the crow actually flaps its wings as you move.

1310141872.jpg

 

I'd also like to add (without photo) that the auto display of terrain shading disables the shading at a much more reasonable zoom level than on the Oregon/62. It disables at like .3mi or something like that.

Edited by yogazoo
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No. There are a lot of them out in the wild. Mostly useless MS code blows up the long description.

http://coord.info/GC1H93G might give you an idea.

 

Frohes Jagen

Hans

 

a886e298-242c-4c19-8338-28e515d3b299.jpg

 

Here's a screenshot of where that cache gets clipped. If anyone has a free character counter I could tell you exactly what the cutoff is. It's not shown in the picture but any hyperlinks show up as blue text in the description. One really nice feature is the scroll arrows at the bottom of the screen. No more dragging my finger across the screen to read a longer description.

 

Edit: I remembered Microsoft Word counts letters and words. I opened the GPX file and copied what displayed on the Montana to a new file and checked the word count. It was a little higher than 8192 but that could be because I selected more text that was displayed. There was a lot of formatting in that GPX. Cut down on that and you could display a lot more of that cache listing.

Edited by bullygoat29
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"When you setup a proximity alarm you will see a perimeter based on your proximity settings. Only shows at closer zoom levels but really nice! "

 

Only drawback here is, your Gps will shut down, when you come or are near to a proximity alarm. (Traffic cams or worse AT SEA)

This is a HUGE ISSUE, because it also happens while being on sea, here you expect a warning for shallow waters or whatever you have activated, you find out, the gps turned itself off.

 

Today I did sent for the 3th time an Email to Garmin hoping they understand the problem, because until now they told me I have to upgrade the firmware which I have btw and they could have seen it if they actually did read my system.xml that was attached to the email.

Edited by splashy
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Only drawback here is, your Gps will shut down, when you come or are near to a proximity alarm. (Traffic cams or worse AT SEA)

 

Splashy, I've been using the proximity alarm feature and haven't experienced any shutdowns. I'll set one up this evening to test it again.

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On fast drawing the map seems to update about five times per second while driving. I believe its just to give a more uniform flow to the map. I know all the new style GM factory nav units move like its a movie playing on the screen. I believe this is what Garmin is trying to achieve.

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@yogazoo

Where did you get these funny pointers?

 

I modified the 3D Arrow from Garmins website. Once you convert the .srf file to a .png all you need is Gimp to edit the .png and then convert it back to a .srf using the converter. The converter can be found here: http://techmods.net/nuvi/

 

All you need to know when you look at the .png is that there are two rows of images. The images on top are shown in Automotive mode (3D), and the images on the bottom are shown in track-up/north-up modes (2D). I've been experimenting with colors and sizes. If you make the pointer too small it becomes difficult to see. I've been trying to come up with a decent transparent pointer but again, without the solid color it's hard to see. What would be nice is a hollow pointer so you can see the exact location where the track is being drawn but I've not been able to come up with a design that I really like.

Edited by yogazoo
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Somebody just doesn't want me to have a Garmin Montana. As previously posted, I ordered one from Amazon for next day delivery (should have been Friday) but due to some mechanical difficulty on either a plane or a truck, it got as far as Ontario California (near Los Angeles) and just sat there.

 

It was not going to arrive Friday, and UPS seldom delivers Saturdays and never Sundays. I figured I would just order another one from Amazon with overnight shipping and it would arrive Saturday (today), and when the other one arrived Monday I would just send it back.

 

So in the middle of the night I received email from Amazon apologizing that the SECOND unit I ordered from them had not shipped either! So I tried to cancel it, but as usual with Amazon, was unable to cancel it. It is in some weird limbo state where Amazon seems unable to ship it, but they won't let me cancel it either.

 

I'm pretty frustrated with Amazon. Now I have TWO Montana 600s on the way, and since I already returned my 62S, have no GPS at all for this weekend. I may have to actually do something productive instead of geocaching.

 

PS: REI has completely removed the Garmin Montana from their site now. A few days ago they listed the 600, 650, and 650T. Yesterday they had only the 650T listed, and now the only thing a search for "Garmin Montana" brings up is a Topo US 24K card for Idaho/Wyoming/Montana. Wonder what's up with that?

Edited by michaelnel
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Somebody just doesn't want me to have a Garmin Montana. As previously posted, I ordered one from Amazon for next day delivery (should have been Friday) but due to some mechanical difficulty on either a plane or a truck, it got as far as Ontario California (near Los Angeles) and just sat there.

 

It was not going to arrive Friday, and UPS seldom delivers Saturdays and never Sundays. I figured I would just order another one from Amazon with overnight shipping and it would arrive Saturday (today), and when the other one arrived Monday I would just send it back.

 

So in the middle of the night I received email from Amazon apologizing that the SECOND unit I ordered from them had not shipped either! So I tried to cancel it, but as usual with Amazon, was unable to cancel it. It is in some weird limbo state where Amazon seems unable to ship it, but they won't let me cancel it either.

 

I had to cancel my original 650 order from Amazon too. The reseller promised two day delivery AFTER they processed the order which, they stated, could take 3-5 business days. So poof, cancelled that order and went with GPSCity. I ordered on Tuesday afternoon and for $20 I got "Next Morning" delivery by 10am. It went from LasVegas to Helena, MT in a matter of hours as it was on my doorstep by 9:15am. You should have gone with GPSCity, you'd be forgoeing productivity this very minute.

Edited by yogazoo
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Well, I found a great deal on a 650 (not 650T) for only $30 more than Amazon charges for a 600 (and that includes shipping). I figure the camera's worth $30, so I ordered it, and I will send BOTH of the Amazon 600s back if they ever arrive. Amazon does have a great return policy, and I am sure they'll refund every penny on both units.

 

GPS City wants $596 including USPS Priority Mail shipping for a 650, so $555 including expedited shipping is a way better deal.

 

So now I have THREE Montanas on order. ;-)

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Well, I found a great deal on a 650 (not 650T) for only $30 more than Amazon charges for a 600 (and that includes shipping).

Where?

 

Also - I saw that EMS has raised their base price (before tax/shipping) to $499. Guess we wiped 'em out once, and they figure they were leaving money on the table.

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Well, I found a great deal on a 650 (not 650T) for only $30 more than Amazon charges for a 600 (and that includes shipping).

Where?

 

Also - I saw that EMS has raised their base price (before tax/shipping) to $499. Guess we wiped 'em out once, and they figure they were leaving money on the table.

 

It's not on sale anymore. That is the regular price before the 15% off they were offering.

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Hello, I am considering a Montana 650, Can anyone tell me if you can reset the odometer? That is one thing I do not like about my Oregon, You can not reset it.

Thanks.

 

There's the "Odometer" that shows you distance travelled since last master reset. Then there's he "Trip Odometer" which is reset when you choose to reset "Timers, Averages, Etc.". You can reset the odometer on the Oregon, you just have to select the right one. This is the same on the Montana series.

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I modified the 3D Arrow from Garmins website. Once you convert the .srf file to a .png all you need is Gimp to edit the .png and then convert it back to a .srf using the converter. The converter can be found here: http://techmods.net/nuvi/

 

All you need to know when you look at the .png is that there are two rows of images. The images on top are shown in Automotive mode (3D), and the images on the bottom are shown in track-up/north-up modes (2D). I've been experimenting with colors and sizes. If you make the pointer too small it becomes difficult to see. I've been trying to come up with a decent transparent pointer but again, without the solid color it's hard to see. What would be nice is a hollow pointer so you can see the exact location where the track is being drawn but I've not been able to come up with a design that I really like.

 

by hollow pointer do you mean like these?

 

617.jpg

 

614.jpg

 

608.jpg

 

593.jpg

 

590.jpg

 

582.jpg

 

576.jpg

 

570.jpg

 

561.jpg

 

554.jpg

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by hollow pointer do you mean like these?

 

Thanks for posting those pointers. I think many folks would find them great for many uses, however I found them to be less than ideal for my uses. The big red circle with the black bullseye in the middle is great but it's hard to see in certain conditions and map backgrounds and doesn't rotate to indicate heading in North-Up mode, the two compass roses don't rotate to indicate heading, the hollow arrows are difficult to see in cetrain lighting and map conditions, etc.

 

I know these vehciles have been designed for the Nuvi in mind but the Montana units present more varying lighting conditions and map backgrounds (BirdsEye, terrain shading) that some icons become less than ideal for some uses.

 

Don't get me wrong, they're great and I have them loaded as options but they just aren't my default. I think the blue circle with the hollow arrow is perhaps the most useful.

Edited by yogazoo
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Can't reset the odometer on a Montana 650.

 

I haven't observed the "Odometer" during a hard reset yet so perhaps it doesn't reset in the Montana. To me spyderskier framed his question as if he didn't know the difference between the "ODOMETER" and "TRIP ODOMETER". Perhaps he did and I'm not giving him enough credit.

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I do reset the trip quite often but would also like to be able to reset the main odometer. I reset both on my map76 at the beginning of a hike and reset trip part way through to measure distance between lakes or something. It makes no sense to me to not be able to reset the odometer. I do not care about a total distance I have hiked and rode in a car and every thing else.

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Just read this on the garmin forum.

 

"Many of you have requested the ability to load more than 100 jpeg of Garmin Custom Maps onto your GPSes. We were able to increase this limit to 500 on the new Garmin Montana. If you're a heavy user of Custom Map, you might want to check it out.

 

As always, this affects the total number of jpegs inside all the kmz files. The number of kmz file doesn't matter. "

 

I better make up some custom maps!

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"Many of you have requested the ability to load more than 100 jpeg of Garmin Custom Maps onto your GPSes. We were able to increase this limit to 500 on the new Garmin Montana. If you're a heavy user of Custom Map, you might want to check it out.

 

Wow! This is kinda huge. 5 times the area is a big plus! I hope the folks who created G-Raster catch wind of this so I can check a box and have the images render either at a higher resolution or allow a larger area.

Edited by yogazoo
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This morning I loaded my Montana with 11950 geocaches and went out for a geocaching tour. The first thing I noticed is that It was problems to hit the right "button" on the lower part of the screen. E.g. when I tried to zoom with + and -, I got a red pin on the map. I can only zoom if I use the nail at the very bottom of the screen. I have tried to calibrate the screen twice, but it did not help. I find it strange if loading many geocaches has an impact on the screen calibration, but I will try to delete the geocaches to see if that changes anything. I will rather not do a master reset...

Another observation is that the Montana turned itself off several times during a 3 hour tour. This has not happened before when 5000 geocaches (and several thousands of POI's) was loaded.

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