Oregon 450 vs. Oregon 450T

[+petenjo]

I lost my Oregon 300 a couple weeks back. I like the way that it works, so would like to stick with another Oregon. From what I can tell the only difference is that the Oregon 450T comes preloaded with Topo Maps of the U.S. Would I be able to load similar maps from a website from gpsfiledepot or some other similar site? Am I missing anything else?

[+Walts Hunting]

Nope that's it. Just the maps whose resolution is not to good.

[seldom_sn]

Pretty much what Walt said, but the topo map also includes data that will generate hill shading and 3D views. Not much IMO, but a feature some folks value.

[+petenjo]

So are the maps online better than the 450T?

[seldom_sn]

So are the maps online better than the 450T?

GPSfileDepot maps are 24k maps. 24k has higher resolution than the 100k maps that come with the 450t. You can buy 24k maps from Garmin, which are routable. They list for about 125 USD per section of the US. Most of the maps at GPSfileDepot aren't routable, but you can get free routable road maps from garmin.openstreetmap.nl .

[+mooninthesky4]

Just got the 450T and had the same questions. Thought about getting the 450 and buying the 24k map, but decieded on the 450t because it was not as expensive as the 450 and either map (24 or 100). I learned how to make custom maps, not that hard to do, that I use more. Lots of tutorials on YouTube.

[+myotis]

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.

[seldom_sn]

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.

 

Both probably more useful than the 3D view or hill shading.