Comparing Etrex 20 and Oregon 450

[shadango]

So trying to decide between the two....

 

Seems that some here prefer the Oregon, others the Etrex.

 

Etrex has 1.7gb buil in memory, the Oregon 850 mb....both do memory cards.

 

Oregon is touch screen and a bigger screen (2.2 vs 3 inch)

 

Any other major differences?

 

The Oregon has "picture viewer"...but to do what with? It doesnt TAKE pictures....why would you need a picture viewer??

 

I like the idea of touch screen versus buttons....will the touch screen hold up though? And is half the built in memory be a problem.

[+coggins]

The Oregon 450 "has a built-in 3-axis tilt-compensated electronic compass, which shows your heading even when you’re standing still, without holding it level. Its barometric altimeter tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your precise altitude, and you can even use it to plot barometric pressure over time, which can help you keep an eye on changing weather conditions." It also ANT+ wireless ability to connect with external sensors such as TEMPE, Heart rate monitors, etc. and can also NMEA 0183 compatible devices via a Garmin Serial Data/Power cable, and has APRS capability with an Tracker2 or Tracker3.

[MtnHermit]

Oregon is touch screen and a bigger screen (2.2 vs 3 inch)

More about pixels than size, the OR will display more map area. But the eTrex is indeed brighter. The more pixel screen will allow data fields and still have lots of map.

 

Any other major differences?

Battery life of the eTrex is about double. The Garmin published numbers are a good guide.

 

The Oregon has "picture viewer"...but to do what with? It doesnt TAKE pictures....why would you need a picture viewer??

Thought that too, but if you geotag or want to grab photos off of Google Earth, then the viewer is amazingly handy. An icon will appear on your map, click the icon and viola a picture.

 

I like the idea of touch screen versus buttons....will the touch screen hold up though? And is half the built in memory be a problem.

My OR 450 is going on 3 years old, no problems. Most GPS units once had 56MB built in so 850MB is giganormous!!! Maps go on the SD card.

 

The touch is resistive so crude by smartphone standards, no pinch to zoom.

[+phlatlander]

If you check the properties/details of this image you will find embedded lat/long. If this image is loaded into an Oregon 450 (for example), when you view the image a little globe will appear near the bottom of the screen. If you have an appropriate map, your unit will go to the exact location. When you use geotagged photos the possibilities are endless. I use GoogleEarth images, add the lat/long and go geocaching.

[the statue of the little prince in Budapest, Hungary]

 

Edited April 24, 2013 by phlatlander

[+northernpenguin]

• The eTrex 20/30 will also navigate to photos.
• If sensors are important to you, move up to the eTrex 30 (that's what I use). I have a Tempē and use it with my eTrex 30. I also beam caches to friends with 62s, Oregons and Montanas.
• The Oregon 4x0 series will do you well if you work better with a touchscreen
• The eTrex 20/30 series will do you well if you want to use less batteries (this is a BIG plus to a backcountry traveller)
• The ultra reflective eTrex display also reflects well to a headlamp, so I don't even use the backlight at night.

[+sasqwatches]

I have an etrex 20 and i love it

[shadango]

Thanks folks!

 

I ended up ordering the Oregon 450 for $200 from GPSCITY.

 

Reasoning:

 

- I was turned off by the buttons/joystick on the etrex, especially the joystick. I read a couple places that this stick is always "active " so it is easy to accidentally bump it, whatever, when its in a pocket etc and end up doing stuff you do not intend. I have a ZUmo on my motorycle and love its touch screen (and yest, its also pressure sensitive, versus a smart phone). I had tried out the etrex (I think that is what it was) years back and actually bought one.....but I decided it was too small and (at the time) lacked features for me. And at the time I think it too used a stick and buttons. I ended up returning it for the V.

 

- The larger screen means a lot to me.....I hate squinting at tiny screens to start with. More data on a smaller screen just compounds my issues....(getting old...LOL).....

 

- The compass is nice to have, although not a dealmaker for me.

 

-Carrying a few extra batteries, to me, is not a big deal, for the tradeoffs. I am not in the woods for days at a time...just a few hours at a time for caching or trailriding on the ATV. I can see how the better battery life with the etrex would be awesome for a hiker.

 

I have seen mixed opinions on the screen brigtness of the two units in question. I saw a couple comments that the Oregon is great as far a brightness....another couple that the etrex has a lot of glare and is hard to see.......But I guess I will "see" soon! LOL Remember, I am used to the V in the woods- with its small monochrome, glarish screen and it was fine, so either would be a huge step up.

 

The barometric pressure thing mentioned is something I hadnt picked up on and is a cool feature for sensing weather changes indeed! Thanks for mentioning that!

 

I should have my new Oregon 450 soon and will update this thread when I do.

 

Thanks again for the feedback. I have been on the fence about getting a new GPS for some time...the V was getting difficult and was making me not want to cache much. WIth some new caches in my neck of the woods and a new GPS, I will have no excuse now!

 

One thing I do want to learn about is how to get maps from Google Earth, which I have seen mentioned. Or should I just buy topo maps?

[+phlatlander]

I would recommend purchasing an micro sd card (8gb minimum) and load ALL extra maps and ALL geocaches etc on the micro. Your O450 is quite capable of displaying maps of all of North America, the UK and Europe.

 

Garmin maps are available and free from

http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

and

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/

 

There is a bit of a learning curve with OpenStreetMaps but if you are going to Europe (for example), OSM is an excellent resource.

 

There are many posts about maps. Read them and ask questions as this forum has attracted a large number of well-informed gps users. Take the time to learn about your O450 and have fun!

[+BAMBOOZLE]

Thanks folks!

 

I ended up ordering the Oregon 450 for $200 from GPSCITY.

 

Reasoning:

 

- I was turned off by the buttons/joystick on the etrex, especially the joystick. I read a couple places that this stick is always "active " so it is easy to accidentally bump it, whatever, when its in a pocket etc and end up doing stuff you do not intend. I have a ZUmo on my motorycle and love its touch screen (and yest, its also pressure sensitive, versus a smart phone). I had tried out the etrex (I think that is what it was) years back and actually bought one.....but I decided it was too small and (at the time) lacked features for me. And at the time I think it too used a stick and buttons. I ended up returning it for the V.

 

- The larger screen means a lot to me.....I hate squinting at tiny screens to start with. More data on a smaller screen just compounds my issues....(getting old...LOL).....

 

- The compass is nice to have, although not a dealmaker for me.

 

-Carrying a few extra batteries, to me, is not a big deal, for the tradeoffs. I am not in the woods for days at a time...just a few hours at a time for caching or trailriding on the ATV. I can see how the better battery life with the etrex would be awesome for a hiker.

 

I have seen mixed opinions on the screen brigtness of the two units in question. I saw a couple comments that the Oregon is great as far a brightness....another couple that the etrex has a lot of glare and is hard to see.......But I guess I will "see" soon! LOL Remember, I am used to the V in the woods- with its small monochrome, glarish screen and it was fine, so either would be a huge step up.

 

The barometric pressure thing mentioned is something I hadnt picked up on and is a cool feature for sensing weather changes indeed! Thanks for mentioning that!

 

I should have my new Oregon 450 soon and will update this thread when I do.

 

Thanks again for the feedback. I have been on the fence about getting a new GPS for some time...the V was getting difficult and was making me not want to cache much. WIth some new caches in my neck of the woods and a new GPS, I will have no excuse now!

 

One thing I do want to learn about is how to get maps from Google Earth, which I have seen mentioned. Or should I just buy topo maps?

 

You did well.

I think the Oregon is a model above the Etrex. If anything the comparison would be to the Etrex 30 but reading this forum the 30 has issues.

You're right about the joystick/button arrangement.....I never cared for it on my older Garmins.

[+northernpenguin]

 

You did well.

I think the Oregon is a model above the Etrex. If anything the comparison would be to the Etrex 30 but reading this forum the 30 has issues.

You're right about the joystick/button arrangement.....I never cared for it on my older Garmins.

 

It's a personal preference thing more than a model above/below thing. Yes, the Oregon 450 compares better to an eTrex 30 due to sensors.

The eTrex is optimized for long (and I mean LONG) battery runtime and a more easily read daylight screen than the Oregon. There was much gnashing of teeth at the entire Colorado/Oregon screen readability in daylight thing when those models came out.

 

The Oregon 450 can put more map information on the higher resolution screen at the cost of battery performance. The buttons vs touchscreen thing is again a personal preference thing. I find my eTrex 30 works great in freezing rain and snow, with my gloves on. Also the touchscreens can show performance issues in very very low temperatures.

 

As for the eTrex being "buggy" I disagree. There are some very specific bugs that some people have identified that 90% of the people using the product won't even notice. Yes, it doesn't do auto-routing quite as smooth as my Nuvi. On the other hand my Nuvi battery dies two hours after I leave the car. I also know plenty of people who would like to throw their Oregon units at a rock and start over. Pretty much everything Garmin has released since the Colorado has programming issues, and Garmin almost came out and said so much last week (see GPSTracklog post where Garmin is quoted: "We also discussed the lagging bugs that continue to be present on older products such as the FR910XT, and even ones such as the Edge 500. He (and the Director of the Fitness and Outdoor division), acknowledged that this was a challenge for the division and that the focus really needed to be on delaying product releases (and announcements) until the product was ready.").

[shadango]

I wanted to followup now that I have used the Oregon 450 on a real cache hunt.

 

My boys and I went out and did our cache (3 stages) and 4 others.

 

I was VERY impressed at how spot on the Oregon was! And so much easier to use than the V!

 

Being able to download the cache descriptions and hints (premium membership required) for paperless caching? PRICELESS!

 

When we were caching a lot, I used a lot of paper and ink and TIME......now its all "in there" !

 

Battery lasted just fine and I had the screen lit 100% the whole time....

 

As an aside....We took the V with us as a backup......it ended up dying.....keeps shutting down an has a line thru the screen when it does...so I think the V is DOA. RIP V,....you were very good to me!

[+Mineral2]

I also know plenty of people who would like to throw their Oregon units at a rock and start over.

 

I wonder if these are people with unrealistic expectations for their GPS units.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

I also know plenty of people who would like to throw their Oregon units at a rock and start over.

 

I wonder if these are people with unrealistic expectations for their GPS units.

 

Without the correct firmware none of the GPS units function well and sometimes it takes the manufacturer over a year to get it right....the stigma will remain a bit longer.