Please explain why all the ZOOM LEVELS on the Oregon 600

[+findertwo]

The Oregon 600 has MAP ZOOM levels that go all the way from 20ft to 500miles plus 'AUTO' and 'OFF'.

 

What are all these choices about and how in the world does one arrive at a single selection? Making things even more baffling is why there is also an 'AUTO' which initially sounds to me like the logical choice, thus avoiding the value selection process completely.

 

Adding an 'OFF" choice makes one wonder why the MAP ZOOM may or may not be necessary.

[+Mineral2]

I believe those are your choices for setting the cutoff for displaying items on the map such as geocaches, waypoints, etc. so that as you zoom out, your map isn't so cluttered. Sometimes, the default is to only display details at zoom levels that are too close for your taste, so you can customize when items appear and when they'll be hidden based on your own preference.

[+JohnCNA]

I believe those are your choices for setting the cutoff for displaying items on the map such as geocaches, waypoints, etc. so that as you zoom out, your map isn't so cluttered. Sometimes, the default is to only display details at zoom levels that are too close for your taste, so you can customize when items appear and when they'll be hidden based on your own preference.

 

^This.

 

On my GPSMAP 64s and eTrex 30, the 'Auto' setting seems to work really well. I believe it cuts off displaying user waypoints and geocaches at about the 5 mile zoom level. If you are in a fairly cache-dense area, zooming out a good ways would have icons completely covering the map details and you wouldn't be able to see the roads, etc.