Garmin Oregon 300 Portable GPS System

Garmin Oregon 300 Portable GPS System

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

Garmin Oregon 400T 3-Inch Touchscreen Handheld GPS Unit with Preloaded Topographic Maps

Garmin Oregon 400T 3-Inch Touchscreen Handheld GPS Unit with Preloaded Topographic Maps

oregon 400t

bought the oregon and the city navigator software and set out on a 4500 mile hunting/sightseeing trip. I did need some help from the garmin folks to get it set up, but after this small headache I found the 400 to be a superb on and off road navigator. It's everything I had hoped it would be. I threw my magellan away. If you buy the mounting device for your vehicle expect it to work but you will have trouble with the power cord. It's not made for the 400 but you can buy it and go by wal-mart or target and buy a power cord for a verizon phone and it will work perfectly. After driving 4500 miles and days hunting in Colorado I have not one complaint with the device. It performed superbly for me. I was told by a retail store sales rep to get two devices and not try to use the 400 for street navigating but being the cheapskate that I am, I tried it to save money and clutter and it proved to be a great decision.

Not in Kansas Anymore

It was a dark and stormy night on San Francisco Bay and one of the crew had a Foretrex strapped to his wrist. We weren't in Kansas anymore, but rather on a J24 flying the spinnaker at night and uncertain as to where a 15ft navigation aid was planted in the shallow water to the north of the unlighted ruins of the Berkeley Pier. We wasted a lot of time looking for it. The Foretrex did a good job at telling us we were flying along at 7 knots. When the crewmember attempted to use the map however, he commented that it just wasn't much use for that. The next day I went looking for a mapping unit, and after much frustration at Best Buy, purchased an Oregon 400t from a Sports Chalet, and then spent more money at West Marine to get the MapSource/BlueCharts software. Garmin does a really bad job communicating to someone who is looking for charting, what map product works with what unit. Next time - when I upgrade - I'll do more research at Amazon.com and buy a marine version like the 400c unit online (I was in a hurry and trying to decide how the size of the thing would work out). The Oregon plus MapSource plus BlueCharts (plus a holster - see below) is a cool tool box for sailing once you get over the rather blunt and clumsy user interface. I developed a custom holster with a strap to fit over the buckle of my PFD, and the GPS unit fits very nicely and doesn't get in the way. When I need to use it, I can pull it out and put it back one handed, and it's always connected to me. It is not too small and not too big - just right for high performance sailing on a dark night. A week later I was doing foredeck on an Ultimate 24 at night and we were flying along. This time the Oregon told me that the pesky navaid was directly in front of us, and we wasted no time looking for it. When the GPS told us we were 500 ft from it, it was clearly visible exactly where the Oregon said it was. The user interface is a bit clumsy for sailing, but the Mapsource software and Bluecharts charts are excellent. I concur that the speed display is way off, the display dim for daylight use, and battery life could be better. But at night or in the fog in a harbor full of stuff to avoid . . . I agree with Jay Lowenstein - I'd vote for this to be mandatory on all small boats. It would get 5 stars if the user interface was more in line with the needs of the sailing world.

Excellent

Just returned my Nuvi 500 to Amazon because the opportunity came up to purchase the Oregon 400t and the Nuvi 500 is poorly suited for off-road compared to trail-devices. Now my only questions are, what's the limit to what I can do with this thing? People looking into the Oregon may want to look at Delorme's PN-40, released yesterday. The compass has a prompt to hold it level until it can read well and then the prompt dissapears, it would be nice to have a 3 axis compass, but it's not a big deal. The internal compass is, however, a great asset to the device allowing for alot easier navigation then trying to walk around and find your bearing. The touch screen works with fingers, PDA styluses, and winter gloves! It performs well in below freezing temperatures for extended periods and is fairly rugged. For off-road it's amazing however on-road it offers routing, auto re-routing if you miss a turn, but not voice announcements only beeps to announce turns. Mac and Windows user have the option of uploading and downloading and saving tracklogs using GPS Babel and converting them into .kml files to be seen over-layed on google earth. Conversely, you can create tracks on google earth and upload them to the 400t. Great device!

The best Hand held GPS on the market

I bought Oregon 400C. I have Topo 2008 and many other Garmin maps on micro SD cards. No matter which Garmin Oregon you pick this model offers all you need in a mapping hand held GPS device. Fast, convenient with its touch screen interface and it is very compact. The only con is the relatively low battery life but with charged 2700+ mAh NiMH or Lithium batteries in particular you can use it for 2-3 days. Compared to the Garmin Colorado this device has much better battery life, smaller profile, and much, much better user interface. If you need a reliable, easy to use and powerful hand held GPS don't look further. Buy it!

The best yet

I've owned about 6 GPSr's since my first loaf-sized Lowrance Eagle. Almost all of them have been Magellans, but since my XP PC fatally crashed and Magellan doesn't offer a driver for Vista Home Premium (why not? I suppose that since the Triton series is so bad they're giving up) I went ahead and bought an Oregon 400t. It is by far the best GPS that I have ever used! The size is good, the graphics magnificent, and the operation is intuitive (if you're familiar with GPS operation). (I can't speak about a learning curve -- sorry.) The touchscreen is responsive, fun to use, and much less error-prone than buttons. The maps are clean and easy to read. Pan and zoom is very easy, and different features appear at appropriate scales. The PC interface is error-free, and the firmware upgrade process is a no-brainer. The GPSr and micro-SD card both show up as drives, so you can do anything that you want with them. (There is a warning not to delete the maps.) Cons: the minor roads are blue (contrary to cartographic convention), but it's easy to adjust to seeing them. Hard to read in sunlight? It's a silly point raised by pampered people. Summary: The Oregon 400t sets the new standard; it is way ahead of the previous generation of GPSRs. It's quite expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Keyword : garmin

TomTom GO 730T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic Receiver

TomTom GO 730T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic Receiver

One problem

I have the 720. The 730 has only minor improvements once you update the 720...so I thought I would tell about one feature that is a problem... Maybe TomTom will fix this if they see that it drives away (no pun intended) potential customers. The features and operation of the TomTom Go series are amazing... I think they are much better than Garmin or my built in volvo navtek system EXCEPT FOR ONE IMPORTANT FEATURE: You can't search with a street address (and state) only. You MUST have the town name or you won't get a result. This is a problem in suburbs where every mile or so, there is a different town name...names that even the people that live there don't know because they go by the Metro area name. If you don't know the name of that small suburb, you are stuck. All the other makers allow you to put in the state and street name and then let you pick from a list of results from each jurisdiction. They need to fix this. I cannot fathom why they would leave you out in the cold like this. If you use this, make sure you know in advance the town name or zip code or you are stuck. TOMTOM... fix this problem!

Keyword : tomtom

TomTom ONE 130S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Bundle with Case and Charger

TomTom ONE 130S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Bundle with Case and Charger

gets me lost often

i love my tomtom, but it has got me lost almost every time i use it, it sometimes doesnt give you enough time to lane change, and will often not tell you to take an exit - just to bear right, which could mean to go around a corner, or take an exit. most of the time it gets you there in the end - but with detours

Good Basic GPS

I have used this GPS for several trips and so far, so good. Cons: 1) Like other reviewers have said, the volume could use some improvement. 2) It would be nice if a charger, other than a car charger, were provided. 3) Once charged, it only holds a charge approx. 2 hours, but if you keep it plugged into the charger, that is not so much of an issue. Pros: 1) Good price for a basic GPS System. 2) Nice features of downloading or updating maps from the website. 3) So far has recognized all the addresses I have attempted and gotten me there with no problems. The above cons are minor and the pros outweigh the cons. Overall it is good GPS at a good value. If you are looking for a basic system and don't want to spend big money, the TomTom One 130 is a good buy.

Not your best TomTom

I first tried the TomTom One 3rd edition, and although it worked rather well, it did not have spoken street names, a feature that I find very important. I returned it and ordered the TomTom One 130S since it seemed like a good price for the features offered. I noted that some of the earlier reviews were not favorable, but that the later reviews seemed to indicate that problems had been fixed, so I took the chance. Big mistake. This model should never have left the drawing board. Although this model has the "text to speech" feature that provides the spoken street names, the voice is so indistinct that it is difficult to distinguish "turn left" from "turn right" even when the volume is up all the way. After more research, I decided to order the Garmin Nuvi 360, and I have been very pleased with it. Perhaps a different model TomTom would have been better, but stay away from the 130s.

TomTom ONE 130

TomTom ONE 130 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator We have used the GPS a few times now, and it is has been reliable and correct. Without reading the manual, my family and I have had no trouble figuring out the menu items.

Great for my first GPS

This was my first GPS, as I got a great deal I wasn't going to complain. The TomTom is really easy to set up and use. The voice is easy to hear, as long as you don't "crank" your radio. The only downfall I find is if I go off the beat path, the first thing it does is try to get you back on it, and living in a crowded surburban area, most of the time I do that to avoid traffic.

Keyword : tomtom