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Garmin 300 anybody have experience with this model?


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Hello geocaching world! We have been geocaching with a Garmin Nuvi and think we are ready to take the next step. There is someone selling a used Garmin Oregon 300 here in town and it is in our budget. (small, LOL)

 

Is it worth getting for $100 vs an Etrex 20 brand new for another $70? (the etrex 20 is the one that I narrowed down)

 

I haven't been able to really find much from other geocachers about the Oregon 300, a lot about the 450 and 550 but not this one for some reason. How is the accuracy? That is a big concern. Thank you very much!

Edited by onthehuntin702
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Hello geocaching world! We have been geocaching with a Garmin Nuvi and think we are ready to take the next step. There is someone selling a used Garmin Oregon 300 here in town and it is in our budget. (small, LOL)

 

Is it worth getting for $100 vs an Etrex 20 brand new for another $70? (the etrex 20 is the one that I narrowed down)

 

I haven't been able to really find much from other geocachers about the Oregon 300, a lot about the 450 and 550 but not this one for some reason. How is the accuracy? That is a big concern. Thank you very much!

 

I have the Oregon 300. The accuracy is as good as any of the other new breed Oregon/eTrex series (but no Glonass) It's just a little older than the 450. The only differences are that the compass needle is skinnier on the 300 than the 450 and when beaming caches to another unit, the 300 only sends the cache name & coordinates, while the newer models send the whole cache page. I would definitely recommend the 300 over the eTrex primarily for the larger screen, since my eyes getting to be 'mature'.

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Thanks for the reply. I went and picked it up this evening after posting. It looks to be lightly used. I'm going through all the features with the manual I found online. A bit overwhelming at first but I'm sure the stuff that is needed will become second nature and the rest of the stuff I won't use will be forgotten about. haha

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Thanks for the reply. I went and picked it up this evening after posting. It looks to be lightly used. I'm going through all the features with the manual I found online. A bit overwhelming at first but I'm sure the stuff that is needed will become second nature and the rest of the stuff I won't use will be forgotten about. haha

 

The most important manual is available at the Oregon Wiki

 

If it doesn't already have maps installed, you can get lots of free maps at GPS File Depot

Edited by Triple Crown
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That GPS File Depot site seems pretty cool. It got me nosing around in the maps section of this device and I found that this GPS has CN North America NT 2011.31 which I definately want to keep.

 

And also city navigator maps for Middle East, North Africa, and South East Asia. It's also got the Digital Globe, all of these I already disabled as I won't be using any of them. These files were installed on the memory card that was installed under the batteries. I'm assuming the guy bought these files from Garmin?

 

The only thing that concerns me about the file depot site is this wording in the tutorial on how to load maps on the GPS:

 

"Once you have finished selected all the maps you want to load hit next.

Note: Each time you load maps to the GPS it will erase all maps on the GPS except for the basemap (Navigation map on the Nuvi)."

 

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-load-maps-on-my-garmin-gps-unit/#pcbasecamp

 

I'm sure I'm not reading it right but it kind of seems like any downloaded and installed maps on the GPS will actually overwrite any existing maps on the unit aside from the base map. I really don't want to lose that city navigator map because I tested it on the way home tonight and it worked perfect. Gave good routing to my house surprisingly too. LOL

 

So how can I get some topos without losing the city navigator map that's already on there?

Edited by onthehuntin702
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So how can I get some topos without losing the city navigator map that's already on there?

 

That is only if you are using MapSource, which is the wrong software for your Oregon 300 anyway.

 

You should be using BaseCamp with the Oregon 300. For more complete information on this subject, try this link.

 

I'll check that link later when I get a minute but that quote I posted was from a tutorial on using Basecamp to transfer the map files, not mapsource.

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So how can I get some topos without losing the city navigator map that's already on there?

 

That is only if you are using MapSource, which is the wrong software for your Oregon 300 anyway.

 

You should be using BaseCamp with the Oregon 300. For more complete information on this subject, try this link.

 

I'll check that link later when I get a minute but that quote I posted was from a tutorial on using Basecamp to transfer the map files, not mapsource.

 

the GPSFileDepot tutorials are very old, very out dated, and largely incomplete.

 

Using any recent version of BaseCamp will not result in older maps being deleted, exactly as the tutorial I linked to will explain.

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So how can I get some topos without losing the city navigator map that's already on there?

 

That is only if you are using MapSource, which is the wrong software for your Oregon 300 anyway.

 

You should be using BaseCamp with the Oregon 300. For more complete information on this subject, try this link.

 

I'll check that link later when I get a minute but that quote I posted was from a tutorial on using Basecamp to transfer the map files, not mapsource.

 

the GPSFileDepot tutorials are very old, very out dated, and largely incomplete.

 

Using any recent version of BaseCamp will not result in older maps being deleted, exactly as the tutorial I linked to will explain.

 

OK, thanks for the explanation. I bookmarked that page and will get busy on it later today. I was going to download a topo before I go out to cache today but the "could take hours" disclaimer caused me to pause. Don't want to get the new (to us anyway) GPS hung on a lengthy install process when we are itching to hunt! LOL

 

Thanks again!

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That sounds logical............Sussamb, thanks.

 

As far as performance yesterday, I have to say it worked well. The only thing that was throwing me off was when I had the compass set to "course" mode versus "bearing" mode, it seemed like it wasn't working right. (I probably wasn't reading it right) But what was happening was there is a little compass in the upper left corner that was reading different than the large compass in the middle. Also, when I'd go to the map portion of navigation the "pointer" was pointing in the wrong direction. Not sure what is up that stuff. But when I had it on bearing it seemed to work correctly.

 

What is the purpose of the second compass in the upper right corner? I'm not getting that. Thank you. : )

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Since you've already got City Navigator, you're pretty much set for street maps, and that makes your purchase a great deal! Making a backup copy of the maps on your microSD card is also a great idea.

 

One thing to consider when adding maps is to remove the microSD card from the unit before transferring large files. File transfer to the GPS directly is really slow, but using an SD card adapter makes it much faster. There is an XML file on your GPS in the Garmin folder called GarminDevice which identifies your serial number and is what the City Navigator map is locked to. I copy this file onto the microSD card so the MapSource or BaseCamp program thinks your microSD card IS the GPS, which makes transferring files easier.

 

Also, if you don't already have one, a Zagg Invisible Shield or equivalent screen protector is a great way to keep your screen in perfect shape.

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Since you've already got City Navigator, you're pretty much set for street maps, and that makes your purchase a great deal! Making a backup copy of the maps on your microSD card is also a great idea.

 

One thing to consider when adding maps is to remove the microSD card from the unit before transferring large files. File transfer to the GPS directly is really slow, but using an SD card adapter makes it much faster. There is an XML file on your GPS in the Garmin folder called GarminDevice which identifies your serial number and is what the City Navigator map is locked to. I copy this file onto the microSD card so the MapSource or BaseCamp program thinks your microSD card IS the GPS, which makes transferring files easier.

 

Also, if you don't already have one, a Zagg Invisible Shield or equivalent screen protector is a great way to keep your screen in perfect shape.

 

Wow, great information, thank you very much for sharing these tips. Can you elaborate a bit on how to copy the XML file from the GPS on the SD card? I'm not seeing the XML file in the GPS for some reason? (not sure really how to find it actually)

 

Oh yes, by the way, that little compass I was referencing earlier is actually in the upper left hand corner, OOOPS. LOL

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Since you've already got City Navigator, you're pretty much set for street maps, and that makes your purchase a great deal! Making a backup copy of the maps on your microSD card is also a great idea.

 

One thing to consider when adding maps is to remove the microSD card from the unit before transferring large files. File transfer to the GPS directly is really slow, but using an SD card adapter makes it much faster. There is an XML file on your GPS in the Garmin folder called GarminDevice which identifies your serial number and is what the City Navigator map is locked to. I copy this file onto the microSD card so the MapSource or BaseCamp program thinks your microSD card IS the GPS, which makes transferring files easier.

 

Also, if you don't already have one, a Zagg Invisible Shield or equivalent screen protector is a great way to keep your screen in perfect shape.

 

Wow, great information, thank you very much for sharing these tips. Can you elaborate a bit on how to copy the XML file from the GPS on the SD card? I'm not seeing the XML file in the GPS for some reason? (not sure really how to find it actually)

 

Oh yes, by the way, that little compass I was referencing earlier is actually in the upper left hand corner, OOOPS. LOL

 

To find the GarminDevice file, connect your Oregon to the computer, then navigate to Computer, then Garmin Oregon (in my case it shows up as drive E), then open the Garmin folder.

Here is the visual aid...

GarminDevice.JPG

 

Then select the GarminDevice file and right click, select copy, then navigate to your MicroSD card (in my case it is drive F), open the Garmin folder, and then right click to Paste the file there.

Edited by Triple Crown
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Wow, great information, thank you very much for sharing these tips. Can you elaborate a bit on how to copy the XML file from the GPS on the SD card? I'm not seeing the XML file in the GPS for some reason? (not sure really how to find it actually)

 

Oh yes, by the way, that little compass I was referencing earlier is actually in the upper left hand corner, OOOPS. LOL

 

See also this page for more information on cloning your GPSr.

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