New Garmin Oregon 600 Series

January 22, 2013

Im more concerned about the map redraw. It doesnt seem fast enough and Im concerned that at somewhat high speed (for ie on a bike) it will not refresh fast enough like the 550 that I own.

Will need to read the reviews to make a decision but I will definitely wait till it comes down to the $300.00 range... Definitely not paying $500.00 for a GPS... Those days are gone.

January 22, 2013

Definitely not paying $500.00 for a GPS... Those days are gone.

Buy it from L.L. Bean. Lifetime warranty for repair, exchange or refund at any time for any reason. :anibad:

January 22, 2013

Definitely not paying $500.00 for a GPS... Those days are gone.

Buy it from L.L. Bean. Lifetime warranty for repair, exchange or refund at any time for any reason.

do tell more

January 22, 2013

Definitely not paying $500.00 for a GPS... Those days are gone.

Buy it from L.L. Bean. Lifetime warranty for repair, exchange or refund at any time for any reason.

do tell more

Go do research above and beyond the warranty I pretty much quoted right here.

2.6k · January 22, 2013

Definitely not paying $500.00 for a GPS... Those days are gone.

Buy it from L.L. Bean. Lifetime warranty for repair, exchange or refund at any time for any reason.

do tell more

Go do research above and beyond the warranty I pretty much quoted right here.

Or R.E.I

2.1k · January 23, 2013

The capacitive touchscreen could be like the on the Nokia 920 which is compatible with all gloves.

See Video Here:

1.9k · January 23, 2013

600 Oregon screen does NOT work with all gloves, said people who did test last week.

Edited January 23, 2013 by splashy

2.6k · January 23, 2013

600 Oregon screen does NOT work with all gloves, said people who did test last week.

Tell us more!

January 23, 2013

Definitely not paying $500.00 for a GPS... Those days are gone.

Buy it from L.L. Bean. Lifetime warranty for repair, exchange or refund at any time for any reason.

do tell more

Go do research above and beyond the warranty I pretty much quoted right here.

Or R.E.I

I like L.L Bean. I'm on the, ahem, "same" pair of hiking boots from the '90s. :laughing:

I bought my Montana 600 from Bean to try it out and returned it because I really didn't want to spend that much. I did it because I could absolutely not find one around here to play with in person. Got a full refund no problem and then bought it right back from them a while later after they dropped the price and they'd sent me a 20% off email coupon. :lol:

Edited January 23, 2013 by sviking

January 23, 2013

Definitely not paying $500.00 for a GPS... Those days are gone.

Buy it from L.L. Bean. Lifetime warranty for repair, exchange or refund at any time for any reason.

do tell more

Go do research above and beyond the warranty I pretty much quoted right here.

Or R.E.I

I like L.L Bean. I'm on the, ahem, "same" pair of hiking boots from the '90s.

I bought my Montana 600 from Bean to try it out and returned it because I really didn't want to spend that much. I did it because I could absolutely not find one around here to play with in person. Got a full refund no problem and then bought it right back from them a while later after they dropped the price and they'd sent me a 20% off email coupon.

I wonder if that works for mail orders too, we don't one in Colorado. Although I have owned several garmin units in my life and not a single one ever broke so I'm not too worried about that.

2.1k · January 23, 2013

600 Oregon screen does NOT work with all gloves, said people who did test last week.

Found the review: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gps.nl%2Fblog%2Findex.php%3F%2Farchives%2F9-Eerste-ervaring-met-de-Garmin-Oregon-600-deel-1.html

It has some very nice photo's as well

Edited January 23, 2013 by yogazoo

2.1k · January 23, 2013

There are 5 custom functions associated with the buttons. Seems to me that even without the ability to use the screen with winter gloves that the user can still access enough with the button shortcuts to switch screens, change maps, mark waypoints, etc. I'm sold.

And I'd like to point out that I was right about the first reviews coming from overseas (where there is no FCC). :rolleyes:

Edited January 24, 2013 by yogazoo

January 23, 2013

Definitely not paying $500.00 for a GPS... Those days are gone.

Buy it from L.L. Bean. Lifetime warranty for repair, exchange or refund at any time for any reason.

do tell more

Go do research above and beyond the warranty I pretty much quoted right here.

Or R.E.I

I like L.L Bean. I'm on the, ahem, "same" pair of hiking boots from the '90s.

I bought my Montana 600 from Bean to try it out and returned it because I really didn't want to spend that much. I did it because I could absolutely not find one around here to play with in person. Got a full refund no problem and then bought it right back from them a while later after they dropped the price and they'd sent me a 20% off email coupon.

I wonder if that works for mail orders too, we don't one in Colorado. Although I have owned several garmin units in my life and not a single one ever broke so I'm not too worried about that.

Of course it works for mail orders. There isn't an L.L Bean around here, either. Everything I buy from them is on-line.

January 23, 2013

I wonder if they'll still have some ridiculous map tile limit like only 4000 tiles on the Montana. You'd think Garmin would release a unit that would let you load ALL of their TOPO US map and have it available for use instead of forcing you to buy a "T" model. :rolleyes:

January 24, 2013

I wonder if they'll still have some ridiculous map tile limit like only 4000 tiles on the Montana. You'd think Garmin would release a unit that would let you load ALL of their TOPO US map and have it available for use instead of forcing you to buy a "T" model.

why would they sell T model then ? :anitongue:

January 24, 2013

I wonder if they'll still have some ridiculous map tile limit like only 4000 tiles on the Montana. You'd think Garmin would release a unit that would let you load ALL of their TOPO US map and have it available for use instead of forcing you to buy a "T" model.

why would they sell T model then ?

Because, if they didn't, you'd still have to buy the Garmin TOPO DVD. Or find it from an, ahem, "alternate source". :anibad:

2.1k · January 24, 2013

"alternate source".

I'm sure when you speak of "alternate source" you mean www.GPSfiledepot.com where tons of free maps are available for download. And it's legal.

Edited January 24, 2013 by yogazoo

January 24, 2013

"alternate source".

I'm sure when you speak of "alternate source" you mean www.GPSfiledepot.com where tons of free maps are available for download. And it's legal.

Uh, yeah...that's the ticket...

January 24, 2013

I wonder if they'll still have some ridiculous map tile limit like only 4000 tiles on the Montana. You'd think Garmin would release a unit that would let you load ALL of their TOPO US map and have it available for use instead of forcing you to buy a "T" model.

I keep hoping that Garmin will figure out that the 1:100,000 scale of the topos on their T models is insufficient for hikers. I would happily pay the extra $100 for the T model if they included the Garmin 1:24K regional maps, which include routable streets.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Triple Crown

January 24, 2013

I wonder if they'll still have some ridiculous map tile limit like only 4000 tiles on the Montana. You'd think Garmin would release a unit that would let you load ALL of their TOPO US map and have it available for use instead of forcing you to buy a "T" model.

I keep hoping that Garmin will figure out that the 1:100,000 scale of the topos on their T models is insufficient for hikers. I would happily pay the extra $100 for the T model if they included the Garmin 1:24K regional maps, which include routable streets.

Someone else mentioned gpsfiledepot.com. That really is a good site. They have extremely detailed TOPO maps of just about every state. The Arizona and Florida ones are very good and I spend a lot of time in both states. Free, too! And legal, as mentioned earlier. :laughing:

2.1k · January 25, 2013

I would happily pay the extra $100 for the T model if they included the Garmin 1:24K regional maps, which include routable streets.

Even if they would bundle the DVD you would have a nightmare with buying the right GPS for your region. The 24K stuff is just too memory hungry. I agree though, at that extra price for the T model, and the fact that most people rarely leave their home state, 100K seems clunky. They might be able to fit it all on a 32GB internal memory but that is likely to be cost prohibitive at the moment.

Eh, great case for just getting the base model and buying the 24K for $100.

2.1k · January 25, 2013

Man, I wish I spoke German. New Oregon video.

This video verifies a "NIGHT MODE"!! About time the Oregons got it.

Edited January 25, 2013 by yogazoo

January 25, 2013

It is dutch, not german

2.1k · January 25, 2013

It is dutch, not german

Man, I wish I spoke German Dutch . New Oregon video.

It might have been a foregone conclusion since the new Oregons borrow their firmware look and feel from the Montana but this video verifies a "NIGHT MODE"!! About time the Oregons got it. It also confirms the collapsible dashboard on the map screen.

Edited January 25, 2013 by yogazoo

1.9k · January 25, 2013

It's more some kind of a day mode, when enough light the screen will dim, coming in the shadow it will lightup again.

I see almost no glare compared to the Montana, but see some software glitches, remember this is a pre model.

Edited January 25, 2013 by splashy

January 25, 2013

It is dutch, not german

fortunately youtube now has built in caption translator. unfortunately it doesn't work that good

2.1k · January 25, 2013

"Bridal Show"? HA! That's hilarious. Thanks for the laugh gulo!

January 25, 2013

"Bridal Show"? HA! That's hilarious. Thanks for the laugh gulo!

btw the video looks great. Of course coming from 60CSX all the new menus looks super fancy to me, but I like how snappy navigating the menus or scrolling down the lists looks.

I am definitely buying Oregon 600 when it comes out (unless they announce something else before then

1.3k · January 25, 2013

"Bridal Show"? HA! That's hilarious. Thanks for the laugh gulo!

Watch the video with translations...makes so little sense it's funny!

January 25, 2013

"Bridal Show"? HA! That's hilarious. Thanks for the laugh gulo!

Watch the video with translations...makes so little sense it's funny!

yeah apply the same formula to any youtube video (even the ones spoken in english)

2.9k · January 30, 2013

...and what are .GGZ files ??

Load caches from GSAK. Or use your favorite program or website supporting GGZ files*.

I use GSAK, and I am still unfamiliar with the *.GGZ file format. Can you share more information? How does it compare to a *.GPX?

I saw the GGZ file statement, that I posted, in the writeup for each model.

That's all I know about GGZ files.

.ggz files sound like another garmin proprietary thing. Probably has some opencaching tie-in.

Pretty slick looking unit though!

That was posted today on Garmin's Opencaching forum...it may shed some more light on the .GCZ format.

"1.My understanding, as stated by Stealth in person, is that the new feature that allows for unlimited caches on the device is a new file type Garmin has worked on. They are not withholding the programming and it will be available for Groundspeak to use, but it will require Groundspeak to do some work on their end to provide the option on GC.com, if they choose to use it. Since it is a Garmin feature, it would also force other GPSr manufacturers to upgrade their software/hardware accordingly to also keep up. It will work with OC.com immediately, but no surprise there. It CAN eventually work on other sites if those sites upgrade software on their end."

Edited January 30, 2013 by Arthur & Trillian

2.1k · January 31, 2013

I'm predicting that the new Oregon 600 series will have a new way of selecting/viewing custom maps, the raster image kind. If the new units can send/receive custom maps wirelessly between units then the whole point of that would be very limited if you couldn't "select" which custom map to view on the unit itself in the field. So if Garmin doesn't drop the silly limit on the custom map size, then perhaps they'll take it a step further by allowing us to have multiple Custom Maps on the unit while allowing us to select, in the field, which one we see on the screen at any one time.

If my buddy were to send me a custom map via wireless in the field (the only place wireless is really needed) and I couldn't select it to show up on my GPS screen in the field, what would be the point?

2.6k · January 31, 2013

...and what are .GGZ files ??

Load caches from GSAK. Or use your favorite program or website supporting GGZ files*.

I use GSAK, and I am still unfamiliar with the *.GGZ file format. Can you share more information? How does it compare to a *.GPX?

I saw the GGZ file statement, that I posted, in the writeup for each model.

That's all I know about GGZ files.

.ggz files sound like another garmin proprietary thing. Probably has some opencaching tie-in.

Pretty slick looking unit though!

That was posted today on Garmin's Opencaching forum...it may shed some more light on the .GCZ format.

"1.My understanding, as stated by Stealth in person, is that the new feature that allows for unlimited caches on the device is a new file type Garmin has worked on. They are not withholding the programming and it will be available for Groundspeak to use, but it will require Groundspeak to do some work on their end to provide the option on GC.com, if they choose to use it. Since it is a Garmin feature, it would also force other GPSr manufacturers to upgrade their software/hardware accordingly to also keep up. It will work with OC.com immediately, but no surprise there. It CAN eventually work on other sites if those sites upgrade software on their end."

Really glad this came out...I was thinking unlimited caches from GC.ccom....I think 1000 is the biggest PQ currently....it could take a long time for GC to provide a single PQ of ALL existing caches.

2.7k · January 31, 2013

Really glad this came out...I was thinking unlimited caches from GC.ccom....I think 1000 is the biggest PQ currently....it could take a long time for GC to provide a single PQ of ALL existing caches.

Groundspeak will never do this.

Groundspeak will not take advantage of Garmins new *.GGZ format, nor any of Garmins Oregon 6xx series GPSr new features.

Groundspeak will actively work in the opposite direction in an attempt to drive geocachers away from Garmin products.

January 31, 2013

Groundspeak will actively work in the opposite direction in an attempt to drive geocachers away from Garmin products.

Why would they try to alienate what's probably their largest demographic, i.e. Garmin users?

2.9k · January 31, 2013

Groundspeak will actively work in the opposite direction in an attempt to drive geocachers away from Garmin products.

Why would they try to alienate what's probably their largest demographic, i.e. Garmin users?

Garmin's alienated a ton of people on their own with their Opencaching antics, so Groundspeak doesn't have to do a thing in that department.

The fatal flaws of this new system are:

1. It is meant to replace a very solid and favorite file system used by many programs and devices seamlessly with unknown tech, and

2. It's nothing more than a publicity stunt. Honestly, is there really a need to load ALL the geocaches out there on one machine, especially given that even 5000 is more than virtually anyone needs at one time?

They are trying to introduce a file standard that just isn't needed.

.

Edited January 31, 2013 by Arthur & Trillian

January 31, 2013

Well, whatever. If they're smart, they'll do EVERYTHING to ensure compatibility with any and all new Garmin units.

2.9k · January 31, 2013

Well, whatever. If they're smart, they'll do EVERYTHING to ensure compatibility with any and all new Garmin units.

Oh they will. As you said, you can't alienate a large section of your users.

3.4k · January 31, 2013

Well, whatever. If they're smart, they'll do EVERYTHING to ensure compatibility with any and all new Garmin units.

Oh they will. As you said, you can't alienate a large section of your users.

Particularly as some of us users will just write a conversion program to move GPX file data to GGZ format. Heck it'll probably only be the work of a few minutes.

Hack We Must

2.9k · January 31, 2013

Well, whatever. If they're smart, they'll do EVERYTHING to ensure compatibility with any and all new Garmin units.

Oh they will. As you said, you can't alienate a large section of your users.

Particularly as some of us users will just write a conversion program to move GPX file data to GGZ format. Heck it'll probably only be the work of a few minutes.

Hack We Must

I like the way you think.

January 31, 2013

Well, whatever. If they're smart, they'll do EVERYTHING to ensure compatibility with any and all new Garmin units.

Oh they will. As you said, you can't alienate a large section of your users.

That's not what Atlas said.

2.9k · January 31, 2013

Well, whatever. If they're smart, they'll do EVERYTHING to ensure compatibility with any and all new Garmin units.

Oh they will. As you said, you can't alienate a large section of your users.

That's not what Atlas said.

Atlas isn't Groundspeak.

Atlas is also an Opencaching Ambassador, too, so there just might be a hint of bias.

.

Edited January 31, 2013 by Arthur & Trillian

January 31, 2013

Atlas is also an Opencaching Ambassador, too, so there just might be a hint of bias.

.

Ah, ulterior motive. I see...

2.7k · January 31, 2013

Oh they will. As you said, you can't alienate a large section of your users.

That's not what Atlas said.

Atlas isn't Groundspeak.

Atlas is also an Opencaching Ambassador, too, so there just might be a hint of bias.

Atlas also has had personal conversation about the lack of cooperation between Groundspeak and Garmin with two of the original founders at Groundspeak, and I can report they made it very clear to me they have bad feeling toward Garmin and will not be cooperating with Garmin in the future.

Now, we will just have to wait and see....

Edited January 31, 2013 by Atlas Cached

2.7k · January 31, 2013

Ah, ulterior motive. I see...

Only motivation is to prepare those reading this thread for disappointment after they realize Groundspeak will not be playing well with future Garmin products.

January 31, 2013

Only motivation is to prepare those reading this thread for disappointment after they realize Groundspeak will not be playing well with future Garmin products.

It can only help Groundspeak to get their stuff running on the new Garmins. And, I'm betting they will. It works on all the currently compatible stuff, right?

And, regarding your "personal conversation", if they don't "get with the times"? Well, I won't be shedding any tears in my beer if they suddenly find themselves irrelevant if/when something else takes over.

Edited January 31, 2013 by sviking

February 1, 2013

Ah, ulterior motive. I see...

Only motivation is to prepare those reading this thread for disappointment after they realize Groundspeak will not be playing well with future Garmin products.

As long as Groundspeak exports GPX and garmin imports GPX I am not too worried. And I am 100% confident this will not change.

Some of the new fancy features not being supported by Groundspeak ? perhaps, but as long as I can load up the standard cache information I'm cool with it. No way I am switching to another system after logging caches on gc.com for 7+ years no matter what other extra features they might have

1.1k · February 1, 2013

It's very predictable what happens when entities get overly paranoid about proprietary "things".

Look at Delorme and Nat Geo.......

3.4k · February 1, 2013

Link here with more detail on the .ggz files:

http://gpstracklog.com/2013/02/garmins-new-ggz-geocaching-file-format.html#more-21125

Not really, just more speculation.

Perhaps the first place to look for samples would be trying to do a download of a cache from OpenCaching and see what the file looks like. I expect that will be available before the new units ship.

2.6k · February 1, 2013

If the 600 won't accept GPX files I won't be getting one anytime soon......dang, it looked pretty good.

New Garmin Oregon 600 Series

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