Jump to content

New Garmin Oregon 600 Series


Recommended Posts

I don't know about that model but Zagg has long been considered the Cadillac of protectors. Although I would wonder if the new screen on the Oregon would have the same problems as the Montana.

 

I had a question about bluetooth. The amazon specs say

 

ANT or Bluetooth technology -wirelessly share routes, tracks, waypoints, geocaches, custom maps and photos between units

 

Can you bluetooth to a computer to move files around?

Link to comment

I don't know about that model but Zagg has long been considered the Cadillac of protectors. Although I would wonder if the new screen on the Oregon would have the same problems as the Montana.

The Oregon uses a glass capacative screen. The Montana is plastic resistive. They are completely different.

Link to comment

I don't know about that model but Zagg has long been considered the Cadillac of protectors. Although I would wonder if the new screen on the Oregon would have the same problems as the Montana.

The Oregon uses a glass capacative screen. The Montana is plastic resistive. They are completely different.

 

Thanks. I have a Zagg on my Montana which I did before the problems were discovered and know i can never remove. Interestingly if go to the Zagg site they no longer list the Montana but you can still buy them on Amazon.

 

Any answer about the bluetooth?

Link to comment

This Gps doesn't need screen protection.

 

Look at this water and knife demo

at 10 min 25 sec

 

Thanks. I wish I could understand German ... like his style :)

 

Andrew

 

After I got the first nick in my screen glass I went home and put a scratch protector on it. Nothing like the field to show how it really is.

Link to comment

Does anyone have any experience with the ScreenPatronus screen protectors for the Oregon 600? They are more expensive than other eBay options so wondering if they are worth the dollars.

Not with the 600, but I use their screen protectors on my eTrex 20.

 

They have saved my screen on several occasions now. I think I am on my third screen protector now, due to the protector getting damaged from keys in one case and stones in another case when I dropped the GPS.

Link to comment

"- Expensive Rechargeable battery that's effectively two AA's taped together to be able to push a button to enable charging. Personally this adds little to no value for me. I use a pair of AA's that tested to 2600mAH that I could go over a weekend of caching w/o coming close to running down, but always carry two pair of eneloop AA's with me as backups for me, and anyone who may end up caching with me. I mean $26 for a pair of NiMH AA's taped together listed at 2000mAH, who are you kidding."

 

Very nice field report.

 

24g5e8p.png

 

300w8as.png

 

Can you clarify...

Have you been using this configuration charging eneloop batteries with an USB cord?

Link to comment

650's in stock at GPS City it looks like. I'm still going to wait for one from REI...

My credit card was charged earlier today at GPS City, but only for the Oregon 650 and not the copy of City Navigator NA I'd ordered at the same time. The maps are back ordered until Saturday. Looks like I'll get to play with the unit without any real maps on it until sometime next week.

 

I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't reserve a copy of the maps for me when they were in stock last week. I ordered the 650 and the maps back on April 17.

 

--Larry

Link to comment

Not with the 600, but I use their screen protectors on my eTrex 20.

 

They have saved my screen on several occasions now. I think I am on my third screen protector now, due to the protector getting damaged from keys in one case and stones in another case when I dropped the GPS.

 

Thanks. It seems folks are pretty happy with them so I think I will get a pair and give them a shot.

 

Andrew

Link to comment

>>>>>After I got the first nick in my screen glass I went home and put a scratch protector on it. Nothing like the field to show how it really is.<<<<<

 

Did you get a nick in your Oregon 600 screen? Just curious ... my 400 screen is pretty beat up and I'm hoping the 6xx will withstand me a little better! (It's 5 years old ... so I'm not too surprised .. probably more surprised that it's not more beat up)

Edited by catluvr
Link to comment

>>>>>After I got the first nick in my screen glass I went home and put a scratch protector on it. Nothing like the field to show how it really is.<<<<<

 

Did you get a nick in your Oregon 600 screen? Just curious ... my 400 screen is pretty beat up and I'm hoping the 6xx will withstand me a little better! (It's 5 years old ... so I'm not too surprised .. probably more surprised that it's not more beat up)

 

My 450 could be called "Scar" for all the scratching that plastic endured. The nick, a very tiny one, is in the display of the 600. It has been duly christened. :laughing:

 

I knew it would, because the real world elements, where I go geocaching, are hard and scratchy. I cache mostly in California, which while some parts are sandy and some are silty, the vicinity of home is loaded with rocks and minerals, including serpentine, which while brittle can sometimes have a sharp edge to a spot.

Link to comment

Anyone with the Garmin Oregon 600t, can you confirm that it only has 300MB available on the device? I can easily run out of this, and I don't want to trust to using a uSD card on it. I'm thinking about going ahead and picking up a 600 instead of the 600t just because it has 1.5GB of available internal memory.

 

According to the Garmin Oregon 6xx Wiki (at http://garminoregon6xx.wikispaces.com/Hardware) the memory in the various models is as follows:

600 - 1.8GB total with 1.5GB free

600t - 3.6GB total with 809MB free

650 - 3.6GB total with 2.6GB free

650t - 7.2GB with 4GB free.

 

These figures are backed up by screenshots, but the t models will presumably vary a bit depending on which country's topo map is installed. The 650 models are still not released yet so the figures must be based on pre-production units.

 

The Oregon 6xx Wiki has a lot of other very useful answers to some of the questions being asked here, and is being created by early users.

 

Chris

 

A word of warning

 

I have had my Oregon 450, now Oregon 600, lose track of my loaded Geocaches. Keeping them on the internal memory means finding a computer to delete then reload them between power down/power up cycle, to clear memory.

 

I find it a very good idea to get a MicroSD card, 8G or better, depending upon your needs for maps, mostly, and keeping maps and pocket queries on it. If it looses track of things you only need to power down, remove batteries, MicroSD card, replace batteries, power up, power down, remove batteries, replace MicroSD, replace batteries and power up again, to recover - something you can do in the field, away from computer.

 

Interesting. I never had this happen on my 400t. I'll keep an eye out on my 600, but everything that I have on my 600, I'll also have on my Samsung Galaxy S4 and my Moto Xoom. I wonder if this issue comes up w/ .ggz files. I haven't had GSAK create these yet, but it seems to be good on a couple 10K+ .gpx files I've got loaded on the 600.

 

During the past week it did it again, while somewhere in the middle of Florida. Most vexing. All I had were the waypoints, which are in a separate gpx file in a PQ, but caches had all vanished. A removal of the MicroSD and reboot and power down and replace of the MicroSD and power up again brought them back. Pretty irritating, but at least when things are kept on the MicroSD this is possible, using internal memory means the end of the caching day.

Link to comment

Yep, I re calibrated several times. Each time I did it would point the right direction and I could watch it twist about 160° from my current heading. At times it would stick and not rotate at all.

 

No good :( I was hoping a simple recalibration would fix the issue.

 

Andrew

Link to comment

Yep, I re calibrated several times. Each time I did it would point the right direction and I could watch it twist about 160° from my current heading. At times it would stick and not rotate at all.

 

Forgive me if this is a silly question but are you sure your compass is turned on? If you have it off the compass will only use the GPS to calculate your direction and often behave as you describe when standing still. Make sure in your "Heading" setup menu that your compass says "Auto".

Link to comment

Yep, I re calibrated several times. Each time I did it would point the right direction and I could watch it twist about 160° from my current heading. At times it would stick and not rotate at all.

 

Forgive me if this is a silly question but are you sure your compass is turned on? If you have it off the compass will only use the GPS to calculate your direction and often behave as you describe when standing still. Make sure in your "Heading" setup menu that your compass says "Auto".

Yeah, I've turned the compass off and on as well as the device. It just sucks that it didn't do this until after upgrading from 2.6 to 2.7

Link to comment

 

A word of warning

 

I have had my Oregon 450, now Oregon 600, lose track of my loaded Geocaches. Keeping them on the internal memory means finding a computer to delete then reload them between power down/power up cycle, to clear memory.

 

I find it a very good idea to get a MicroSD card, 8G or better, depending upon your needs for maps, mostly, and keeping maps and pocket queries on it. If it looses track of things you only need to power down, remove batteries, MicroSD card, replace batteries, power up, power down, remove batteries, replace MicroSD, replace batteries and power up again, to recover - something you can do in the field, away from computer.

 

Interesting. I never had this happen on my 400t. I'll keep an eye out on my 600, but everything that I have on my 600, I'll also have on my Samsung Galaxy S4 and my Moto Xoom. I wonder if this issue comes up w/ .ggz files. I haven't had GSAK create these yet, but it seems to be good on a couple 10K+ .gpx files I've got loaded on the 600.

 

During the past week it did it again, while somewhere in the middle of Florida. Most vexing. All I had were the waypoints, which are in a separate gpx file in a PQ, but caches had all vanished. A removal of the MicroSD and reboot and power down and replace of the MicroSD and power up again brought them back. Pretty irritating, but at least when things are kept on the MicroSD this is possible, using internal memory means the end of the caching day.

 

I had this happen for the first time yesterday. My 600 crashed and then stuck on the power-up (Garmin logo) screen. I removed the batteries and then noticed that all my maps and waypoints (that were on the SD card) were gone :mad: . I tried the trick (remove SD card, power up/down, put SD card back) but it did not work. I had to reload maps/waypoints. I upgraded firmware to 2.7 a couple of days ago...

Link to comment

Anyone with the Garmin Oregon 600t, can you confirm that it only has 300MB available on the device? I can easily run out of this, and I don't want to trust to using a uSD card on it. I'm thinking about going ahead and picking up a 600 instead of the 600t just because it has 1.5GB of available internal memory.

 

According to the Garmin Oregon 6xx Wiki (at http://garminoregon6...es.com/Hardware) the memory in the various models is as follows:

600 - 1.8GB total with 1.5GB free

600t - 3.6GB total with 809MB free

650 - 3.6GB total with 2.6GB free

650t - 7.2GB with 4GB free.

 

These figures are backed up by screenshots, but the t models will presumably vary a bit depending on which country's topo map is installed. The 650 models are still not released yet so the figures must be based on pre-production units.

 

The Oregon 6xx Wiki has a lot of other very useful answers to some of the questions being asked here, and is being created by early users.

 

Chris

 

A word of warning

 

I have had my Oregon 450, now Oregon 600, lose track of my loaded Geocaches. Keeping them on the internal memory means finding a computer to delete then reload them between power down/power up cycle, to clear memory.

 

I find it a very good idea to get a MicroSD card, 8G or better, depending upon your needs for maps, mostly, and keeping maps and pocket queries on it. If it looses track of things you only need to power down, remove batteries, MicroSD card, replace batteries, power up, power down, remove batteries, replace MicroSD, replace batteries and power up again, to recover - something you can do in the field, away from computer.

 

Interesting. I never had this happen on my 400t. I'll keep an eye out on my 600, but everything that I have on my 600, I'll also have on my Samsung Galaxy S4 and my Moto Xoom. I wonder if this issue comes up w/ .ggz files. I haven't had GSAK create these yet, but it seems to be good on a couple 10K+ .gpx files I've got loaded on the 600.

 

During the past week it did it again, while somewhere in the middle of Florida. Most vexing. All I had were the waypoints, which are in a separate gpx file in a PQ, but caches had all vanished. A removal of the MicroSD and reboot and power down and replace of the MicroSD and power up again brought them back. Pretty irritating, but at least when things are kept on the MicroSD this is possible, using internal memory means the end of the caching day.

 

I am very disappointed to hear that the 600 series is having this problem. This has been a frequent problem with my 62s and when it happens, the GPS becomes useless to me. I typically have to connect to my laptop and dump and reload all the GPX files to fix it. Seriously Garmin, you can't fix this problem after all this time??? I had my heart set on the 650t, which I see is in stock now at Cabelas, but now I am rethinking my plan to purchase.

Link to comment

This is no reason to not buy it. Garmins have had this problem for as long as I can remember. Just get a sd card and put the caches on it and when it happens (which isn't that often) follow the long established for recovery.

 

You talk about it happening frequently on your current device. Why haven't you used the well known solution so it doesn't ruin what you are doing.

Edited by Walts Hunting
Link to comment

You talk about it happening frequently on your current device. Why haven't you used the well known solution so it doesn't ruin what you are doing.

 

I have had locking up problems with my 62s when the SD card is installed and besides, why should I pay 1/2 a grand for a GPS that has such a bug. Garmin needs to fix the problem. The same GPX files that stop working on my 62s always open up fine on my various computer applications.

Link to comment

I had my 450 up until last night (when it became permanently lost) and for the past 4-5 months I've had the same locking up issue and sometimes the issue of having no caches showing up even though they are on the sd card. In both instances I do the master reset when powering up the unit and everything works out fine. No need to unload/reload gpx files. The only downfall to the reset is I have to reconfigure my unit and get it back to my own specs but it usually only takes about 5 minutes then I'm ready to go.

 

That being said without starting a new topic I need to get a new unit today and am stuck. I can get a new Montana 600 for $250 or spend the extra for the Oregon 600. I like the idea of having unlimited gpx files on the Oregon but using a mac and the pocket queries I'm not sure what the best route would be when trying to load that many caches without doing a ton of the PQ's?

Link to comment

I had my 450 up until last night (when it became permanently lost) and for the past 4-5 months I've had the same locking up issue and sometimes the issue of having no caches showing up even though they are on the sd card. In both instances I do the master reset when powering up the unit and everything works out fine. No need to unload/reload gpx files. The only downfall to the reset is I have to reconfigure my unit and get it back to my own specs but it usually only takes about 5 minutes then I'm ready to go.

 

That being said without starting a new topic I need to get a new unit today and am stuck. I can get a new Montana 600 for $250 or spend the extra for the Oregon 600. I like the idea of having unlimited gpx files on the Oregon but using a mac and the pocket queries I'm not sure what the best route would be when trying to load that many caches without doing a ton of the PQ's?

 

While the master reset did the job. The off/remove sd card/start/off/put back card/start does it without mucking up all your settings.

 

The best way to get the large amount of caches would be GSAK and use the API to load it up then have it write to the gps.

 

As to wanting Garmin to fix the problem we would all like that but it appears the only to avoid the problem is buy a Magellan.

Link to comment

So I finally got my 650 a couple of days ago and want to start loading as many caches into it as I can. I know this has been posted already but I can't seem to find it. What is the most that I can fit on my GPSr with GPX, and is there a way to start using the GGZ so I can load a lot more?

 

Thanks and Happy Caching

Link to comment

So I finally got my 650 a couple of days ago and want to start loading as many caches into it as I can. I know this has been posted already but I can't seem to find it. What is the most that I can fit on my GPSr with GPX, and is there a way to start using the GGZ so I can load a lot more?

 

Not sure on the limit but as I understand it the latest build of GSAK will if you select the Oregon 600 or 650 as your GPS when you send your caches to the unit send them as GGZ waypoints.

 

Andrew

Link to comment

So I finally got my 650 a couple of days ago and want to start loading as many caches into it as I can. I know this has been posted already but I can't seem to find it. What is the most that I can fit on my GPSr with GPX, and is there a way to start using the GGZ so I can load a lot more?

 

Thanks and Happy Caching

As far as anyone knows, the limit is 2 million and does not matter about the format. The GGZ should help it boot faster, so it may be worth using GSAK if you are adding a large amount.

Link to comment

So I finally got my 650 a couple of days ago and want to start loading as many caches into it as I can. I know this has been posted already but I can't seem to find it. What is the most that I can fit on my GPSr with GPX, and is there a way to start using the GGZ so I can load a lot more?

 

Not sure on the limit but as I understand it the latest build of GSAK will if you select the Oregon 600 or 650 as your GPS when you send your caches to the unit send them as GGZ waypoints.

 

Andrew

 

I'm running the latest GSAK (8.2.0.11) and it's not giving me the option to select Oregon 600 or 650 as my GPSr. So it probably isn't sending as a GGZ either.

 

Edit to add that I found GSAK (8.2.1.199) so I'll see what that does.

Edited by sdkonkle
Link to comment

For all of those with the 650 models, what do you think of the unit? Mine is on it's way here but I'm concerned about the lockups being reported. Was it worth the price you paid or if you had to do it over again would you wait for something else? My Montana would sometimes lock up with a white screen when turning it off. Only a battery pull would get the unit back. It was very annoying and would happen at random but other than that the Montana 650t was pretty solid but it was sold so I need something new. I'm just curious if you guys think the Oregon 650t is worth the $550 price tag.

Link to comment

For all of those with the 650 models, what do you think of the unit? Mine is on it's way here but I'm concerned about the lockups being reported. Was it worth the price you paid or if you had to do it over again would you wait for something else? My Montana would sometimes lock up with a white screen when turning it off. Only a battery pull would get the unit back. It was very annoying and would happen at random but other than that the Montana 650t was pretty solid but it was sold so I need something new. I'm just curious if you guys think the Oregon 650t is worth the $550 price tag.

 

I'd like it if I could get it to work! =( Keeps hanging up.. may be this unit but I'm not very happy. It is my 5th Garmin and never has a new one caused so many problems. If I can't get it going to day it is back in the box and returned Monday!!

Link to comment

So I finally got my 650 a couple of days ago and want to start loading as many caches into it as I can. I know this has been posted already but I can't seem to find it. What is the most that I can fit on my GPSr with GPX, and is there a way to start using the GGZ so I can load a lot more?

 

Not sure on the limit but as I understand it the latest build of GSAK will if you select the Oregon 600 or 650 as your GPS when you send your caches to the unit send them as GGZ waypoints.

 

Andrew

 

I'm running the latest GSAK (8.2.0.11) and it's not giving me the option to select Oregon 600 or 650 as my GPSr. So it probably isn't sending as a GGZ either.

 

Edit to add that I found GSAK (8.2.1.199) so I'll see what that does.

 

 

GSAK gives you the option to send the geocaches to your Oregon 600 as a GGZ file. You are not limited to GGZ files only using GSAK

Link to comment

So how do you get that many caches to put into the 600. at max 5 queries a day you only get 3500 caches a week

You can get 1000 caches in a PQ, so it's 35000 caches a week (not counting overlap from the same caches). But by the end of the week, Sunday's cache listings are already getting stale.

 

The generous cache limit is great for traveling cachers who don't want to worry about adding an extra city or two. It's not so great for people who just need to fill it up.

Link to comment

The photos on the new Oregon 650 are pretty amazing. I actually compared them to my iPhone and they are at least as good in bright light and better in low light in my opinion. Way out in front of the Montana series. A rather dramatic improvement.

 

The focus speed, image processing, and shutter lag are impressive for it's class. I often became frustrated with my Montana when taking photos because it was difficult to tell when the photo actually took. The Oregon 650 is very quick.

 

I'm also happy to report the color distortion from the center to the edges of the photo, as experienced with the Montana, is completely gone in the new Oregon.

 

I took macro shots of a bee today and you can count the hairs on its tiny back. With flower stamens you can actually count the tiny grains of pollen and see details that would wash out on the Montana.

 

The LED flash is very effective at freezing subjects in low or no light. I only wish the Oregon came with a countdown timer so I could set the GPS on a rock and snap a group shot (with myself included).

 

Highly recommended.

Link to comment

The photos on the new Oregon 650 are pretty amazing. I actually compared them to my iPhone and they are at least as good in bright light and better in low light in my opinion. Way out in front of the Montana series. A rather dramatic improvement.

 

The focus speed, image processing, and shutter lag are impressive for it's class. I often became frustrated with my Montana when taking photos because it was difficult to tell when the photo actually took. The Oregon 650 is very quick.

 

I'm also happy to report the color distortion from the center to the edges of the photo, as experienced with the Montana, is completely gone in the new Oregon.

 

I took macro shots of a bee today and you can count the hairs on its tiny back. With flower stamens you can actually count the tiny grains of pollen and see details that would wash out on the Montana.

 

The LED flash is very effective at freezing subjects in low or no light. I only wish the Oregon came with a countdown timer so I could set the GPS on a rock and snap a group shot (with myself included).

 

Highly recommended.

Yogazoo. Brilliant review. Thanks for that. Can't wait for them be be available in the UK.

 

Cheers

 

Nick

Link to comment

Here's the bee shot taken by an Oregon 650. This image may have been reduced or altered slightly by the hosting site. So don't go pixel peeping. Notice the rich color tones, nice bokeh, and accurate color rendition from edge to edge.

 

1370827159.jpg

Edited by yogazoo
Link to comment

So how do you get that many caches to put into the 600. at max 5 queries a day you only get 3500 caches a week

You can get 1000 caches in a PQ, so it's 35000 caches a week (not counting overlap from the same caches). But by the end of the week, Sunday's cache listings are already getting stale.

 

The generous cache limit is great for traveling cachers who don't want to worry about adding an extra city or two. It's not so great for people who just need to fill it up.

 

And you don't need to use PQs to keep all the old stuff fresh, you can use GSAK to refresh caches that are already in a database. I keep my home area (65mi radius of downtown Houston) of ~11K fresh, I've got it split into 2 data bases w/ ~10K in one an the rest in the other. You can perform a refresh from GSAK and it will pull the new data for the caches in the data base (perform the light mode it does 10K per day, do the heavy mode and it's 5K per day. I'm not certain of the diff's may be log files, it grabs the Fav pts when doing this.) So I'm only pulling the latest caches.

 

When searching a new place I do mine by date, and getting them in just under 1K for each date range. In the past I've pulled in large areas of Seattle, Portland, Lakeland and many other area's using this method, can pretty much pull everything from an area in 1-2 days depending how large it is.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...