 |
Great upfront but leaves you wanting more
I read some of the comments about the problems with the Oregon, but I think they were played down. I went from a 60csx to an Oregon 300. I use my handheld gps for backpacking, day hikes, and street navigation. Oregon pluses I noticed: 1) 3d view shows elevation even in street mode 2) shaded relief 3) touch screen 4) smaller size 5) screen lock feature is nice 6) sat initial lock is very fast and strong 6) Battery life is pretty good for a touch screen. Lithium batteries will get you about 15 hours. Oregon negatives: On the map screen you have the option of two fields or no fields 1)can not flip from screen to screen without exiting to the main menu and then selecting the other screen ( seems like they could just let you slide you finger left or right at the bottom of the screen to go to the next or previous screens. The do basically this on the main menu screen. 2)battery meter does not read correctly 3)car power adapter that is recommended by Garmin is not correct. I has a 90 degree turn that is the wrong way. Works but is not correct. 4)No preview of your pending turn when the system beeps to let you know a turn is coming. 5)If you are on another page other than the map page you get a beep warning that a turn is coming but no preview. You just see the page you are on at that time. 6)should you miss your turn the Oregon is sporadic regarding how fast it will correct your path. Maybe immediately maybe a few blocks, maybe never. 7)Can not manually stop, edit, or recalculate your route from the map screen, you must exit the map screen to the main menu then go to active route screen. 8)Screen is very dim. In full sunlight you can not see the screen to read it. I light cloud cover it is hard to read. 9)Not many search options. With the Garmin 60CSX you can search by almost any criteria you can think of. 10) You can not customize the Oregon much, 60csx you could customize everything. Bottom line: If you have not had a gps before or you have had a low end unit you will like it. If you have had a high end unit like a Garmin 60csx you will be disappointed. I returned mine and got another 60csx.Very expensive for some missing features
1. You can buy a wireless hearthate monitor so it will log the data. But for what? It is not compatible with garmin training center!!! That's unacceptalbe. 2. The beep sound is to low. You almost can't hear it. 3. What about a wrist strap or armband? Some bigger units have one. The is no option buying a wrist strap. I'm very disappointed with my unit. I sold my old Forerunner 201 thinking Oregon would replace it better for bike biking activites. Why have Barometric altimeter and elec compass since you can't see those graphs in training center? Shame on you Garmin.Many nice features, but a few backwards steps
I bought the Garmin Oregon 300 after owning a Garmin eTrex Legend CX for the last year or two. Alhough initially sceptical of the touch screen, it actually works well. I like the menu system too. My main criticism of the Oregon is the fact that the screen (at max brighness) is not nearly as bright as the Legend screen. The Oregon screen is almost invisible in bright light, even when the screen itself is shaded. This is a significant issue in Australia. My other critism is that the customisation of the navigation screen is limited, with one fixed field at the top and only 2 adjustable fields (Legend has up to 4 adjustable fields).Purchased for Hiking and Biking
I purchased the Garmin Oregon 300 primarily for hiking and for mountain biking. Recently, I used the hand held in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, CO. Reading several reviews, I decided to purchase what I felt was "current" technology rather than spending less money on a unit that has been on the market several years. Here are my observations: - In most reviews you'll see complaints about mapping software. It is true that the Maps are very expensive, I ended up purchasing two City Navigator and US Topo. I considered the National Parks West mapsource, however as each of these additions are $100 or so it starts to get more expensive than I'd like. - I felt the US Topo map was "good enough" for my hiking in the National Park. Many of the trails were visible but not much detail on them, but for what I was doing it was OK. I marked each trail head that I was traveling, and used the device to track my travel time, rest time, gain in elevation, and captured my "tracks" for future reference. As I returned from the trail end to the trail head, this gave me a good estimate on ETA, and sunset times. - The touch screen is a great feature (i do have an iPod Touch and like this interaction). - The battery life is OK. I purchased the auto charger and be careful that it has an "L" shaped connector that doesn't fit well into the Oregon (It's made for other units). After the fact, I saw reviews that recommend getting a third party charger. - The size of the device is very good, feels comfortable in the hand. Built very well, seems sturdy. - The 300 built in base map is not very useful, I'd recommend looking at the others that may include maps that you'd need to purchase built in. - The menu's are OK, but I've found that the City Navigator is challenging me to route using Freeways, continually wants to route me as the "crow flys". Overall this is a quality product, however, expensive when you consider the cost of the additional maps. I'm hoping that we can use the US Topo for biking. Our local trail system would be nice to be able to overlay onto the US Topo as well as the snowmobile trails in the eastern Upper Penn.Incredible for Multiple Purposes
I did several weeks of research prior to making the purchase of the Garmin Oregon 300. My needs for a GPS unit were several, including going geocaching with my two children, the need to have a unit that could give me street navigation (I purchased the City Navigator card also), as well as for use while distance walking. Some things that others may want to consider - the learning curve is simple. Having used the Etrex Legend in the past, the menus on the Oregon are really simple and self-explanatory. It's quick at locating satellites, and locking in your location. I added a screen protector, as in the past having used Palm Pilots, there were several times these came in handy for protection. My one and only fault I can find is that geocache locations once loaded into the GPS can only be deleted when you then attach to the PC, and delete through Windows (come on Garmin, make this something I can do from the unit itself!) In conclusion, just remember it's a Garmin, so you are buying the best technology in a durable unit!Keyword : garmin
No comments:
Post a Comment