Garmin Montana 650/650t Feedback

[+Team CCR]

We're thinking of diving into the deep end and getting one of the Garmin Montana 650 series.

 

I like:

* rechargable li battery, but flexibility of being able to use AA in a pinch

* camera, so i dont have to lug my super nice camera around and risk dropping/banging it around

* paperless caching

* electronic compass, and apparently whatever related doodads to make it accurate even when standing still

 

What I'm not sure about:

* If I need the 650 or 650t -- do i need topo maps? we arent hikers or outdoorsy people other then geocaching so we'd be extremely unlikely to use to say climb a mountain or something of that sort

* does it really remain accurate even when standing still?

 

We live in Canada, do I need to add some other maps that might not be on it already?

 

I understand I'd have to load up geocaches or whatever from the computer and am confident I can sort that out.

 

Does anyone have one of these that can offer their praise or jeers for this particular model?

We've looked around locally but haven't *seen with our own eyes* and i'm leary of dropping this kind of cash on something I've never seen without at least hearing from some folks who have one!

 

Thanks in advance!

[+Team CCR]

Thinking out loud a bit, the reason that I've been frustrated and looking to get a gps unit is that we currently use our iphone (its an older one, admittedly, and iphone 3g). After reading some posts here, I'm wondering if simply upgrading our iphone to a 5 (which I had planned to do for my husband's birthday in 2 weeks), would be good enough - as it has a comparable compass since the 5 has assisted GPS where the 3G does not?

[Colorado Bear]

Team CCR;

The topo maps on the xxxT models are the 100K series. While these are good, I like the 24K series cost is a bit more but you can get it for the specific are you are in. Personally I would get one of the T models.

And, and as you stated you are not hikers, do you need topo maps to begin with.

 

Not sure what you mean when you ask if it is accurate even when standing still. This is a relative question. Most find that even when the GPSr is stationary it sometimes shows that you are moving. If you think about we are all constantly moving, the earth is rotating, the GPS satellites are moving the GPS signal is being interfered with by factors such as the atmosphere, weather, electronic interference, tree cover, buildings, so on and so forth. So yes your GPSr is accurate to a point and I feel that garmin has one of the better software programs in their products that help make them the most accurate for the money you spend.

 

I have an Iphone but I prefer my Garmin GPSr to the phone, it is more rugged, batteries can be change when they are drained, better software. I feel that it is the better tool for the job at hand.

 

To muddy your waters a bit look at the Garmin Oregon 650, it is new, right now and hard to find, but I suspect in the next several month Garmin will have the supply issue taken care of.

Go to the Garmin website and compare the two models. Check out the forums here for more information.

 

Whatever manufacture and model you go with remember that as with any tool you have to learn how to use it. The GPSr can be a bit complicated. Do not expect to be able to take it out of the box power it up and go right out and find a geocache with it. You will need to learn how to find and interpret the information that you get from the GPRr. So many people I talk to, and from the posts I read get frustrated that they cannot use this toy they spent lots of money for. So please which ever one you buy take the time to read the manual, go to the wikis http://garminmontanagpsr.wikispaces.com/ or http://garminoregon6xx.wikispaces.com/home and practice with your toy/tool.

 

Colorado Bear

Jay

[vagabond]

I have the 650T which I bought last Sept REI had a sale on them otherwise I would have bought the 650. you can get free maps for them so the 650 would save some money. The camera is satisfactory, I also bought the Garmin cradle which turns the unit into a very nice Nuvi. So far I really like the unit.

[+Walts Hunting]

I have the 650T which I bought last Sept REI had a sale on them otherwise I would have bought the 650. you can get free maps for them so the 650 would save some money. The camera is satisfactory, I also bought the Garmin cradle which turns the unit into a very nice Nuvi. So far I really like the unit.

 

I got the 650 because I already had the DVD for North America TOPO for hiking. If you aren't planning on going out in the woods you don't need the T. For street maps the maps at gpsfiledepot.com are pretty good although not as nicely displayed as the CN NA from Garmin. All the 650 offers is the camera which is pretty handy but since my phone has a better one I end up using that.

 

The debate about phone vs GPS is covered here at least twice a week so you can find that discussion.

 

In summary if you don't want to use the camera get the 600 and CN NA for less than a 650T.

[+Paragon33]

I am in the same situation. I own the 650 and an iPhone 4s. I will tell you my own personal experiences, and you can decide on your own. I use my phone more often. I use the $9.99 app. The accuracy is excellent in the city and suburbs. Out away from town it can be "bouncy" with the signal. And sluggish. If you are out of cell range, it becomes extremely hard to use the phone obviously. Now, the iPhone shines when using the map while honing in on a cache. It will darn near zoom into the exact bush the cache is located in. It simply is awesome in that regard. Now my "area" may have newer maps that Apple uses. Others may not have the same up to date experience. But I love it. I also would say that a majority of the time, my trips are unplanned. I find myself with some free time and out I go. I do not carry my 650 with me, I carry my iPhone 100% of the time. I may decide to go on my lunch hour. I hit find all nearby caches on my phone and voila, off I go. The convenience is second to none. Now, that being said, the iPhone is REALLY BAD for battery life. It drains fast. I think there are little battery charge gadgets available now that you could carry, but mine would always be dead, so don't count on that. Now the cons of a phone many point out are the dropping it in water and durability. I have a waterproof case and it is very rugged. Fits my life. That choice is yours. Also, the data plan many point out. You can't have an iPhone without a data plan, the wireless companies don't allow it. So, yes, using the internet and the app, all awesome, again those things kill your battery. Now, for the 650. I don't have the 650t. There are really bad maps preinstalled. I am just now learning there are free maps and etc. I found an old 2GB MicroSD card, and loaded up the North America City Navigator from Garmin on it. It was a 1.76GB download from somewhere. It seems to make driving and getting around a bit easier. It does not have the "birdseye" map like the iPhone, but I am looking to see how the Garmin Birdseye compares to Apple app. I suspect the Apple map is far superior but I don't know for sure. I have many times used each unit in each hand simultaneously, both are equally accurate, in my opinion. The 650 may lag behind at times. I don't think it updates as fast as an iPhone. But I suspect that also relates to battery life. Now also, let me point out, yesterday I went to a cemetery on my lunch hour, as there are 5 caches in the place. I arrived and for whatever reason, the internet was down. Be it Verizon or an iPhone issue, I was dead in the water. And since I don't leave my 650 in the car, I was at the mercy of the cellular gods. It was a pretty wasted trip. Lets see what else. The 650 has a boatload of options. I wish I could walk and work with someone who has mastered it, it would make things easier. But alas I am a pretty private person so I'm on my own. I find the phone and app easier to use, i.e. less clunky and easy to navigate. But that may be me personally.

I can also log the cache as found instantly and type in the conditions like weather and cache shape instantly while standing at the cache. I text a lot from my phone, and having a qwerty keyboard on the phone, way better than the 650. Maybe on the 650 there is a option for a qwerty keyboard layout, this I do not know. On the 650 you can log it as found. You need to connect it to a computer and transfer the text file and fill out the description later. On the phone its instant, but doing so also uses internet and battery life.

 

So in my opinion, the phone is far superior graphically (out of the box). Equally accurate. Battery life goes to 650 hands down. 650 wins outside of cellular coverage areas obviously. Durability is a toss up depending on whether you need a case that is rugged for your lifestyle anyways. Phone wins for ease of use, but that is subjective obviously.

 

I hope I gave you something to consider. Or I just muddied the waters. Happy caching.

[insig]

When the Montana is in landscape orientation, the keyboard switches to qwerty. I never use it because I always have mine locked in portrait orientation.

[+NanCycle]

I have a Montana 600. Didn't need the topo maps and didn't need a camera. Bought it mainly because of the large screen which makes it easier to read maps. I also bought the City Navigator NA maps and the automotive cradle so I could use it for auto routing. It is a complicated piece of equipment and I'm still learning what all it can do, and how to make it do what I want. So far, everytime I have said "But it won't do something" it was just that I hadn't learned how to do it.

 

Loading caches to it is super easy; you just have to connect it (by USB) to your computer and think of it as an external drive.

 

The Owners manual is woefully deficient, but a good reference is at:

 

http://garminmontanagpsr.wikispaces.com/

[+coachstahly]

If you're not hikers you'll probably want the "t" version as it has most streets, most water features and some trails. The standard base map (the non-t versions) don't. They're NOT routable, meaning that you won't get turn by turn directions (or beeps if you don't have a cradle). If you think you might go hiking at some point in the future, you can always download free maps (24K with better details) from gpsfiledepot.com (they accept donations if you use enough of them). I've had the 650t since it was released (same price as a 600), never had ANY of the bugs that other people reported and only updated once I was certain the update was stable. The camera is nice to have but not really necessary as most smart phones have better cameras. If you have poor eyesight then I highly suggest this one over most others (although apparently the new Oregon can enlarge the type face while in use). The screen is large and easily readable in sunlight. I've used it as a Nuvi (on road trips) with the cradle and then just removed it when I got close to GZ in order to go look for the cache.

 

The main difference in the 100K maps and 24K maps is in the details. The more details, the more likely you would be able to find a "better" route to the cache than a straight line (apparently my favorite way as I invariably find a trail not more than 50 feet away from the cache, even with the trail overlay I've downloaded).

[+splashy]

At gpsfiledepot you find very nice free Garmin compatible Topo maps

At http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ you find free Garmin compatible strret maps (routable)

 

If you go geocaching with a phone be SURE it will works also offline and that you can install the maps you might need.

Sooner or later you will be somewhere without Cell coverage, on that moment you might need the Gps function the most.

 

Many online app's use much MB's, because if you move a foot they will redownload the whole map again

[+taeke]

We're thinking of diving into the deep end and getting one of the Garmin Montana 650 series.

 

I like:

* rechargable li battery, but flexibility of being able to use AA in a pinch

* camera, so i dont have to lug my super nice camera around and risk dropping/banging it around

* paperless caching

* electronic compass, and apparently whatever related doodads to make it accurate even when standing still

 

What I'm not sure about:

* If I need the 650 or 650t -- do i need topo maps? we arent hikers or outdoorsy people other then geocaching so we'd be extremely unlikely to use to say climb a mountain or something of that sort

* does it really remain accurate even when standing still?

 

We live in Canada, do I need to add some other maps that might not be on it already?

 

I understand I'd have to load up geocaches or whatever from the computer and am confident I can sort that out.

 

Does anyone have one of these that can offer their praise or jeers for this particular model?

We've looked around locally but haven't *seen with our own eyes* and i'm leary of dropping this kind of cash on something I've never seen without at least hearing from some folks who have one!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

The Montana is a good device, which would even be better if Garmin got their act together and fixed the long list of bugs (which may or may not annoy you).

 

Anyway, a few of my annoyances regarding your question:

- the camera is a poor performing device. If you even care for the slightest amount of quality, it will disappoint you. A $50 made in China digicam, will do a better job.

- the paperless caching is implemented, but quite poorly, especially when it comes to multi-caches. You can add pictures to a cache, but they have come up with some stupid directory naming to do that (manually). If there is a list of coordinates in the multi, you still have to enter the next waypoint by hand, instead of just touching the coordinates to go to the next one. It does a poor job in interpreting the HTML-codes in the caches description. Quite often, stuff which was written in paragraphs, is crammed together as one long text block, which is quite annoying if you do multi-caches (where was I again in the text?)

- As for maps, you can simply install Open Street Maps of the area where you want to cache. These are getting better and better by the day (and you can help improving them as well

 

When it comes to the screen, it's a lovely device. Large and the touch-operation is outstanding. And it's batteries will last a lot longer than the ones of your mobile phone.