Hands on with the best Oregon yet
The Garmin Oregon 450
Related units
- The Oregon 450t adds pre-loaded, 1:100,000 scale topo maps of the US to the 450’s feature set (see the next section for reasons not to spend the extra money!)
- The Oregon 550 adds a 3.2 MP geotagging camera
- Going the other direction, dropping down to the Oregon 300, you’ll go back to an earlier generation (less legible) screen and you’ll get a standard electronic compass
- To see how the Oregon 450 stands up against other Garmin models, check out my Garmin handheld GPS comparison chart.
Save your money
The 450t’s pre-loaded topo maps of the entire U.S. may appeal to those who travel a lot, but there are few other reasons to step up to that model. The reason? There are better quality 1:24,000 scale topo maps available for free for most states. GPS File Depot is a great source for such maps.
Custom maps and BirdsEye imagery
Then there is the recent introduction of Garmin custom maps. Basically, this allows you to put any map image on your Oregon. Found a park trail map online? Add it to your GPS! The image at left below shows a custom map — a USGS topo map (raster) image. You can read more about this feature by checking out my posts on Garmin custom maps.
Garmin also recently announced their BirdsEye aerial imagery program, a $29.99 annual subscription that will allow you to add aerial imagery to the Oregon series. The image at right, above, shows a screenshot.
Now that we have that out of the way, lets look at some of the other new features in the Oregon line, which are all found on the 450…
Oregon 450 touchscreen display
All of the newer generation high-resolution GPS screens suffer a bit when it comes to visibility. The 550 series is slightly better than the x00 first generation, but the newer 450 series seems better yet. As a matter of fact, it’s the first Oregon I’m going to recommend for fixed mount, non-powered use, such as bike handlebars. In the past, I’ve recommended Oregons primarily for handheld use, where you will intuitively tilt it for the best view.
Let me back up a bit and share what I saw when testing the Oregon 450. The first time out on my bike, I was surprised by the visibility, but when I took the 450 off my handlebars, and held it side by side with my 400t, I couldn’t tell much difference looking at them straight on. Once I tried different angles though, it became clear to me that the 450 was viewable over a wider range than the older model. I don’t recall seeing this when I tested the 550t, so I asked Garmin if there had been changes between the 450 and 550 series in regards to screen technology. Here’s the response I got:
While the most notable enhancement in our Oregon screens was from the x00 to the x50 lineup, customers may notice other improvements that are a result of various hardware and software improvements.
The difference is seen in sunny, bright conditions only. I could not detect much difference in shade. And regardless, in at least some conditions, the 450 still isn’t as bright as older units that don’t have such high resolution screens (e.g., the 60/76C and eTrex C series). But the huge number of improvements the Oregon series is accumulating leaves me with little reservation in recommending them over previous model lines. With the recent improvements in screen technology, visibility just isn’t a deal killer, even for bikers. Even so, I still recommend that users create sun and shade profiles to improve visibility (discussed a little later in this review).
Portions of the following are taken from my Oregon 550t review.
Oregon 450 tri-axial compass
Having a tri-axial compass means you don’t have to hold the unit level while navigating. The downside is that the calibration process is more complicated than that for a two-axis electronic compass. It’s the same procedure that is used on the Dakota 20 — here’s a brief video I shot of it. The compass should be recalibrated every time you change the batteries in the unit.
Garmin Oregon 450 Interface
Handheld GPS receivers typically offer lots of options, and can be overwhelming for a first-time user. Even so, the Oregon is about as intuitive as they get, and I love the touch screen menus. The main menu is spread across five screens (as shown below); these can be customized, so if you don’t need “Man Overboard”, you don’t have to display it.
Customizing the Garmin Oregon 450
Take the time to do some additional customization and it gets even better. Here are some tips:
Use profiles – There is a “Change profiles” item on the main menu, and you can create a new one via Setup > Profiles. Tap the new profile to give it a name. Now start changing various preferences. Want track up when geocaching and north up when biking? No problem. The possibilities are nearly endless.
Rearrange the main menu – Set this different for each profile. I make extensive use of the Track Manager, so that gets moved to the first main menu screen for my hiking and biking profiles.
Create sun and shade profiles – A great use of this tool is to create separate sun and shade profiles (perhaps even one for each activity). Create a Sun profile and then go to Setup > Maps > Advanced Map Setup. Set Shaded Relief to Do Not Show to enhance visibility in bright light. If you’re in an area with lots of national parks and forest, you can also improve visibility by getting rid of the green background. Go to Setup > Map > Advanced Map Setup > Zoom Levels > Land Cover and set it to Off. Credit GPS Fix with originating these tips for sun / shade profiles.
Dashboards – The map screen can be set up to show 0, 2 or 4 data fields, or to display a dashboard. Choices for the latter are recreational, automotive, stopwatch, compass, large data field, geocaching (nearest or active) or elevation plot. I’ve included screenshots showing the last two below.
Shown below are the compass and trip computer screens. The data fields can, of course, be customized, as can the background. The trip computer screen can be also switched to show fewer (but larger) data fields. The top section of each can be modified display one of the previously mentioned dashboards.
Finally, here’s a random interface tip… When you select a location on the map, a push pin appears. You can now slide the map around underneath the pin, and zoom in as needed, to fine tune the selected location..
Route, Track and Waypoint management
The Oregon series has excellent route, track and waypoint management tools, including:
- Waypoints – The ability to project a waypoint, and to reposition one at your current location.
- Tracks – You can choose to hide or show tracks on the map and give them a custom color (17 colors are available). The image at the right shows a track in light blue (a record of a previous trip).
- Routes – You can view a map of the entire route, edit the route, reverse it and view an elevation plot.
Track Navigation
The Oregon 450 features some recent improvements in track navigation. Select a track to navigate and a route will be created. Waypoints are created for the high and low elevation points and any user waypoints along the track are added to the route. I’m a heavy user of track navigation. If I head out for a trail I’ve never traveled before, I do a search online for tracks (favorite search terms are .gpx, gps, trail name, and park name) and load the track to the device. One advantage of this new track navigation feature is that, unlike typical backcountry route navigation, you’ll get an estimate of actual trail distance rather than “as the crow flies” mileage.
Geocaching with the Oregon 450
The Oregon 450 is set up for full paperless geocaching support, meaning you can see the description, logs, and the hint, and you can log your attempt (find, DNF, etc.) for later transfer back to geocaching.com. Speaking of which, full access to these features requires a premium membership at geocaching.com. Shown below, clockwise from top left: Closest geocaches, geocache description, menu for a specific cache, and custom map using a USGS topo.
Wireless data transfer
The Oregon 450 is capable of wireless data transfer with other compatible Garmin units. You can transfer waypoints, tracks, routes and geocache summaries (paperless caching details cannot be transferred).
Garmin Oregon 450 in your car
The Oregon 450 makes an excellent dual-use unit, though you’ll probably want City Navigator and a car kit
Garmin Oregon 450 performance
The Oregon 450 performed very well for me in testing against multiple units including the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx and the Magellan eXplorist GC. I noticed no significant differences in accuracy at ground zero when geocaching.
Multiple tracklogs were collected, comparing the Oregon 450 and the Garmin 60CSx. Tracking was set to collect points every five seconds while mountain biking. Steep terrain ridden in both directions, combined with frequent stops to record notes, resulted in good testing environments. In the images below, the Oregon 450 tracklog is in blue, the 60CSx is in red. I’ve compiled these four tracks in a single .gdb file, which you can download and open in MapSource or BaseCamp for closer examination.
In one test, shown below, the 60CSX wandered a bit more than the Oregon in a few spots, while the Oregon track separated more at one point on the uphill and downhill runs. This test was a draw.
In the test below, the Oregon significantly outperformed the 60CSx. I’ve labeled a geocache at one point, because I moved around a fair bit there. Still there were two other points where the 60CSx wandered significantly. Each unit had a single instance of track separation on the uphill and downhill segments.
Battery life is rated by Garmin at 16 hours. In my testing it ranged from 10 hours, 27 minutes (backlight always on) to 16 hours, 51 minutes (backlight timeout set for two minutes, battery saver mode enabled). Battery life tests were conducted with the unit stationary, using Eneloop low discharge rechargeable batteries.
One other performance note — I’ve always been very impressed with how accurately my 60CSx reports overall elevation gain, and disappointed with the inaccurate numbers generated by my Oregon 400t. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Oregon 450 is extremely close to my 60CSx in terms of reported elevation gain. I hope to do some more testing before I send the review unit back to Garmin, and will post a full report here.
UPDATE: Well, I set out on the trail to test this out and to my surprise, the 400t, 450 and 60CSx were all within 2% of each other. Perhaps Garmin fixed this on the Oregon x00 series in their most recent firmware update. Go figure!
Garmin Oregon 450 pros
- Tri-axial compass
- Barometric altimeter
- Great touch screen interface
- Ability to customize display and menus using profiles
- Excellent track management and routing tools
- Paperless geocaching support
- Availability of free maps
- Accepts Garmin custom raster maps
- Accepts Garmin Birds Eye imagery
- Improved visibility over previous Oregon series
Garmin Oregon 450 cons
- Somewhat poorer sunlight visibility than eTrex and GPSMAP color units
Recommendation and conclusion
Highly recommended. The Oregon 450 is a great workhorse, at a reasonable price. The interface is very user friendly and it has a lengthy feature set. It is an excellent choice for nearly any outdoor activity, including geocaching and hiking. This is the first Oregon I’m recommending for bikes too, due to the improved screen visibility, which makes it more appropriate for fixed-mount use.
More Garmin Oregon 450 reviews
- Consumer-authored Garmin Oregon 450 review
have been posted at Amazon
- More consumer reviews of the Oregon 450
have been posted at at REI.com
- A first impressions user review of the Oregon 450
- It’s Not About the Numbers reviews the Garmin 450 from a geocacher (and Blackberry user’s) perspective
I’ll be posting more hands on GPS reviews as they appear, but in the meantime, here are some…
Other Garmin Oregon 450 resources
- The Garmin Oregon 450 owners manual, in the language of your choice
- A Garmin Oregon message forum
- This tool will show you how the Oregon 450 compares to other Garmin handhelds
- The Garmin Oregon wiki has an Oregon FAQ
- Trying to decide between the Oregon 450 and the Garmin 62 series? Maybe this will help
- Garmin Oregon training videos
- The official Garmin Oregon 450 web page
Compare prices on the Garmin Oregon 450 at these merchants:
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About Rich Owings
You recommend the Oregon 450 so highly that I wonder where you would rank it in your overall list of Top Handheld/Sport GPS?
A lot depends upon your specific needs, but absent other information…
#1.
Wow – hearing there is a new #1 is great, especially given your prior love affair with the “old #1.” My order is going in later today. I’ll be using it for biking, but already have a bike computer/HRM that I’m not giving up. This is for directions in unfamiliar parts of my road ride territory and occasional use in the car in other states and cities. Given that use, I’d appreciate you listing specific accessories that you know fit and work with the Oregon 450. Rich, you have a great website!
Excellent! I think you’ll really like it. Thanks for the kudos too.
Okay, I don’t want to overwhelm you, but you asked…
I like the standard Garmin bike mount, but some folks don’t due to the zip ties. But with pliers and a flat head screw driver you can pull it quite tight…
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=11411
Here’s an auto kit… https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=15428#
but I’d prefer to combine it with a friction mount (I really detest windshield mounts)… http://gpstracklog.com/2007/12/garmin-friction.html
City Navigator maps are a great addition to the Oregon and as a road rider, you may well want these. This post discusses it from another perspective but includes a nice screen shot… http://gpstracklog.com/2009/04/dual-use-gps-for-road-and-trail.html
Lastly, Eneloop batteries/chargers are awesome… http://gpstracklog.com/2007/11/eneloop-recharg.html
Hope that helps. Enjoy!
Rich, thanks for your reply – you are really performing a great service here. On the accessories, I see the friction kit but am not sure which bracket that grasps the Garmin is compatible with it. Do I need to get the “basic” auto kit, as well, or is there just a bracket to go with it. An all-in-one AC adaptor, auto kit would be great, if you knew of one off hand. With regard to the City Nav DVD, is it better to get an older, “unlocked” version, or a newer “locked” version. I’m new to the GPS game, so your input is very appreciated!
The part that slides onto the back of the Oregon pops off the suction mount and can be attached to the friction mount… https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=15428
AFAIK, there’s no kit that gives you both.
I don’t think there is any such thing as unlocked City Navigator any more. They can only be used with one device, most likely due to NAVTEQ licensing restrictions.
Rich, do you know how much memory is onboard the Oregon 450 (without the micro SD chip installed)? Finding the answer to this question about the Oregon 450 (or the other Garmin units) is not easy. Another thing that I don’t (quickly) see in the Product Description for City Navigator, is — how many computers can the DVD can be installed on? I understand that the disc will only allow you to download maps to a single Garmin GPS unit, but I have at least one or two other computers that I’d like to install it on, in addition to my desk computer. Finally, can you comment on the merits of having more than one micro SD card? Is deciding whether to get more than one mainly a matter of how many maps / charts you want to be able to use? Thanks for any help you can give – your answers would be relevant to people (especially to GPS newcomers, like me) who have other Garmin units, as well.
The specs say 850 MB, which is consistent with similar Oregon units.
You can install the City Navigator DVD on as many computers as you like, but can only transfer the maps to a single unit.
I’d get one bigger card rather multiple smaller ones. I hate messing with micro-SDs. Are you familiar with Garmin’s new 24K topo maps series, that includes City Navigator roads? I bring this up because it could influence your decision about CN and/or micro-SD cards.
Thanks for those updates re. available memory and multiple computer installation! Knowing that I can install City Navigator DVD on multiple computers will let me confidently go ahead with that plan, knowing it won’t be a waste of time. I believe their website instructions said I could only UPDATE the DVD for free, a total of two times, however.
No, I didn’t know that Garmin’s 1:24K topo maps had roads.
I’ve already purchased City Navigator (it’s much more accurate than the pre-installed global map, by the way), and am planning to get some of the 1:24 topo maps from the free source(s) you mention elsewhere on your site.
The card I got was a 2gig micro sd for a great price on Amazon.com (less than $10 incl. shipping–but don’t know how long it will be available at that price). Is this what you meant by “bigger?” How many do you think would be handy? Do you organize by keeping separate batches of maps on separate cards?
Your thoughts greatly appreciated, as always.
I just tend to put whatever I need on internal memory and change it if necessary. Here’s a post I came across that addresses size issues…
http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=246042&st=0&p=4287706&#entry4287706
Hope this helps.
Great link. Only technical question remaining is, can the Oregon 450 can make use of all Class 2, Class 4, Class X micro sd cards? I know with cameras, it sometimes makes a difference, and that bumping up the memory too high means the card can’t be recognized.
Just came across this today. How timely…
http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=248924
(see post #3)
Excellent info! OK – we’re on a roll, here so what the heck. Let’s say I’ve put my City Navigator maps on the 2G card I got earlier, but now I want to expand my collection way beyond what that card and the 450 will hold internally. Can I simply put the 2G card into my computer and move the files using Windows functions onto say, an 8G card or do I need to go through the steps of moving the files from MapSource onto the 450 all over again once I’ve plugged the 8G card into it? I know half the fun of getting one of these GPS units is just playing with it to see what will happen, but as long as I’m reading your reply to my question, above, just thought I’d ask.
Hooboy! I “think” so. If it’s a single .img file BTW, you should be able to rename it something descriptive, like CityNav.img. Let me know how it works if you try it.
I’ll give it a whirl once I get my 8G class 4 card.
In the meantime…I absolutely love the 450 and have had a ton of fun just trying things out to see what happens, sort of like my first real adventure video game (The Legend of Zelda…I’m dating myself here, but no matter). In playing with things I am imagining that the 550 or 550t with their on-board camera, would also be kinda nifty. BUT I steered away from the 550 series because at the time, you felt the 450′s screen readability out of doors was superior. Your first review of the 450, while quite thorough, didn’t have your red “hands-on” seal, and so I viewed it as preliminary. Since then, have you changed your opinion on this — is the 450 series still superior to the 550 series for outdoor viewability?
Ah, I dropped the hands-on seal with the new site design. The graphic wasn’t very high-quality. New hands on reviews will indicate that they are at the beginning of the post, as I did on this review. But yes, the 450′s screen is superior to the 550, in my opinion.
Quick observation re. Oregon 450′s screen and its viewability outdoors.
I rotated my polarized sunglasses over the 450′s screen, and lo and behold, the screen disappeared! This means that Garmin has applied some sort of polarizing filter over the 450′s screen, and so may explain some of its good viewing properties in brighter light. As a practical matter, on my bike the screen was visible (enough) almost the entire ride. On local rides it’s more of a fun gadget just to play with, but on longer rides outside of my immediate area, it should come in handy. Plus, I just discovered that City Navigator can now replace the Yellow Pages phone book I keep in my car! Man, that thing is loaded with goodies!
Back to the screen…thank heavens Garmin oriented their polarizing filter in the right way for my sunglasses. All my sunglasses work with it, that is, none of them immediately turn the screen black. I’m assuming there must be some standardization out there that Garmin took into account.
Dunno whether this application of screen polarizing also applies to other GPS products. A quick test on your part would tell the story of what devices use it, or not.
Hi Paul,
I tried this with two pairs of sunglasses yesterday, but saw no differences. I’ll try to remember to test it with some other sunglasses at home later today and report back. Good catch!
(I think) from a physics point of view, that means that the sunglasses you used did not have polarized lenses. If they themselves are polarized, when you hold one lens over the other, then rotate one 90 degrees, the view through them will darken considerably.
As to the Oregon 450, one amazing thing about its screen is when it dims after a timeout, a bright light shining on the dimmed screen from the right direction will make the screen noticeably more readable/viewable.
From a practical point of view, this means that when I rode with it the other day, with the Oregon mounted to the stem of my handlebars, I could still pretty much make out the map and my position icon during most of the ride–even though the screen had dimmed and the unit was conserving power. Maybe all GPS screens are like this, but I was definitely impressed by my 450.
Hmm, apparently even my pricey North Face glasses aren’t polarized, or if they are, I’m not seeing the same effect. I do recall some discussion about the effect of polarized lenses on Garmin hi-res displays, but can’t locate anything about this particular effect. I’ll keep checking though.
I’m glad the 450 is working out for you on the bike. I was pretty impressed and am wanting to replace my 400t now!
MapSource Problem with Receive from Device Function – with a workaround
I was having a problem transferring waypoints, routes and tracks from my Oregon 450 into my MapSource (version 16.ssss), on the two computers I’m using for MapSource. Everything else about MapSource’s ability to recognize my device and send maps to it worked fine. But MapSource would only pull one or two tracks into itself–no routes or waypoints, even though the message I’ve been getting at the end of the transfer is “The data was successfully received.”
Browsing various forums, I could see I wasn’t the only one experiencing this issue with MapSource. The good news is, I found a simple workaround at:
https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?p=27152
Be careful that you don’t modify/ruin any files on the Garmin itself as you walk through this procedure. I say this, not seeing any problem with the procedure as I’ve tried it however. I don’t think you’ll have a problem if you stick with these instructions, nevertheless, proceed at your own risk:
Hook up the Oregon 450 to the PC as usual, making sure you have the latest MapSource version, etc. Then pull down File>Open and navigate with the Open dialog box until you get to your Garmin device>Garmin folder>GPX folder. Pull down the Files of type menu and select GPS eXchange Format (*.gpx). If you have waypoints, tracks and routes, you will see individual files at this point, plus folders for Archive, Current, and Nav. You can open the individual files, one at a time, and go through a somewhat manual process of consolidating them as needed through a repeated Save as, etc., process.
I have alerted Garmin’s Customer Support to this via emails. In a separate issue over the weekend, I found them to be very responsive, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they will come up with a solution.
If you have any insights into this issue, Rich, I’d love to see them!
Oops – I forgot to fix a placeholder in the message above – the latest version of MapSource is Version 16.15.11 as of the time of this email.
On May 7 I asked you: “Can I simply put the 2G card into my computer and move the files using Windows functions onto say, an 8G card or do I need to go through the steps of moving the files from MapSource onto the 450 all over again once I’ve plugged the 8G card into it?” You answered that you thought the answer was yes, but asked me whether I would let you know once I tried it.
The answer is yes, as far as I can tell with limited testing. There may be some problem with this method that I have not yet experienced, and what I tried was only the most simple thing.
Using the ordinary Windows drag and drop method, I transfered the entire folder named “Garmin” with its contents from my 2G micro SD card onto my 8G micro SD card, and used it (apparently) seamlessly in the SAME Oregon 450 that I used to set up the files with MapSource originally. The entire 1+Gig folder transferred within about 12 minutes. This is quicker than it took to set up the same files through MapSource originally, so on the surface, there is an advantage to this method. The tracks, new names, routes, tracks, and waypoints that I set up when the 2G card appear to all be present and usable with the 8G card in place.
My Oregon is not used for anything mission-critical and I don’t have a real need to test this issue further, so proceed with caution; your result may vary from mine.
Excellent! Thanks for the followup.
IMPORTANT UPDATE to my May 12, 2010 at 10:16 pm post above re. using Windows to move files to the Oregon 450.
This morning I checked my Oregon 450 after having transferred approx. 3G of topo maps from GPS File Depot onto the 8G card using MapSource. Now my City Navigator map is not displayed as one of the map selections, even though it was displayed as an option and working properly prior to the MapSource transfer. I am now in the process of transferring the CN maps all over again.
I’m not testing this systematically and am a Garmin beginner, so haven’t probed and don’t know the reasons why. I just know that something didn’t work as expected. I do see an compressed zip type file on the card that wasn’t there before. Perhaps this should be the subject of another type of posting dialog somewhere else on your site, since my guess is the topic of whether Windows and/or MapSource is best to transfer files applies to more than just the Oregon 450. I don’t think I’ll comment further, other than to give my personal recommendation that the Windows method of transferring files probably has flaws with it, and that users should stick with MapSource, BaseCamp and similarly proven tools.
(Rich, you may want to comment on this and direct your readers as appropriate. Your call!)
Paul,
it will overwrite any old maps each time you send new ones to the unit. Read M15 to M17 here (http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Maps) and let me know if you have any other questions.
Rich, thanks for that great link! As a result, there was a happy ending to my previously foiled attempts to transfer more than one map to my larger micro SD card.
I followed the general advice at the link you provided above. The advice was very easy to follow. I repeat the essence of it below, for the convenience of future readers of this comment.
Go to MapSource (after downloading all the compatible maps you want to add to your Oregon 450. Then map by map, call up the first map, select the area map sections you want to transfer, call up the next map, select the desired sections. Repeat this process until all the map sections you want appear in the list that is built in the left panel. MapSource accumulates and tallies them all. You can see how many segments were chosen, and how much file space they consume in total. Then transfer them to the Oregon as usual.
The time it took my laptop to compile and transfer about 4G of maps was approximately an hour per gig, by the way. I started the process and just walked away from it, only checking progress once in a while.
The results worked well. Even though all the sections/segments are loaded together, the original map names you selected the segments from were preserved. This means that the individual names for the maps (MapSource labels this column, “AREAS,” I selected the segments from, are used in the enable/disable maps section of the SETUP menu in the Oregon 450. I can enable or disable the areas, map by map.
Again, thanks for the great service you are providing here, Rich. That tip worked great!
Glad to hear it! You can also load a single map at a time and use your file explorer to change the name from gmapsupp.img to something like topo.img or citynav.img. Then do the same for other mapsets. This is covered briefly in M17 on the same page. The advantage is that the next time you send maps to the unit from MapSource, the others are not overwritten.
Rich,
I have done a pretty good amount of research so far, and I have narrowed my choices down to the Garmin Oregon 450, Garmin Dakota 20, Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx, or the DeLorme Earthmate PN-40. This will be my first GPS and it will be used primarily for Geocaching and hiking, as well as maybe biking and auto. Based on these needs, which unit will be the best fit for me?
Thanks
I would get the Oregon 450, with the understanding that you’ll probably want to buy City Navigator maps for highway use. The DeLorme is a good unit, but their software is overly complex, the screen is small and their highway routing / database is weak. The 60CSx can’t do paperless geocaching. My second choice would be the Dakota, but I’d go with the Oregon for screen size.
Thanks Rich,
I have ordered the Oregon 450, and should have it by late next week. I can’t wait to start using this thing for Geocaching and hiking. I see that you mention GPS File Depot for downloading free maps. Do you know of any other sources? I live to the East of Sacramento in the ElDorado Hills, and I would like to get some good maps of Northern California and Nevada.
Thanks again,
Jerry
Cool! I’m betting you’ll have a blast with it.
I think that’s the best source of maps. You may also want to check out Garmin’s 24K topo for California, which would also get you set up for street routing. Another thing to look into is searching for track files online, that you can load to your Oregon. This will allow you to load the trail ahead of outdoor adventures. Try searching for trail or park name + gpx.
I’m having continued fun with my Oregon 450, setting up custom profiles: “Bike,” for use on my road bike where I can alter routing choices to keep me off major highways, and other useful shortcuts, and “Home,” for use indoors where I am more likely to be playing with routes in a demo mode, using an Automotive style profile as a base.
I’ve looked at the Wikispaces article on how to control the speed of my imaginary vehicle in the Simulating Driving mode, but for the life of me can not get the speed to change based on their instruction to jump over to the Compass function press and hold at 12 o’clock, and jump back to the map. Do you have any suggestions on how to control the speed when “driving” a simulated route?
I haven’t tried that (nor was I even aware of it!) There is a forum on the Oregon wiki. You might want to ask there. I’d try it here but don’t have CN on my Oregon.
Hi Rich,
Would you mind commenting in a little more detail on the outdoor screen visibility of the Oregon 450 vs. the Dakota 20. I’ve narrowed my choices to these two models and would like to know if both models are basically indistinguishable in their sunlight readability or nearly equivalent with a slight edge going to one model vs. the other. Also, in the real-world, do you observe a significant difference in battery life between the Dakota 20 and Oregon 450 under comparable terms, as is indicated by the Garmin specs.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
I’d have to go off recall, since I didn’t test them side by side. They are probably pretty close. For whatever reason though, the 450 sticks in my mind as perhaps a bit brighter. I did not see a significant difference in battery life when testing the two. Given the choice, I’d go for the larger screen Oregon 450 for my use. A backpacker or someone else very weight-conscious would be better served by the Dakota though.
Hi Rich, Through review – thanks. I have a broken 60CS that needs to be replaced. I hit a pothole on my bike the other day, broke the bike mount, and the GPS hit the ground. It continued to work until I accidentally hit the antenna with my finger… anyway I need to get a new one. While I was pretty sure I was going to get a 60GSx to replace it this article is making me rethink that. One problem I had with the 60CS was that I could not download .tcx training files to it. They had to be converted to .gpx files AND THEN they had to be trimmed to just 50 points because the 60CS would not navigate a route that had more than 50 points on it. Does either the 60GSx or the 450 have the ability to take the .tcx files and if not, what is the maximum number of points that routing can navigate for either unit?