The "New" Oregon series

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:23 pm

I've been kind of watching, drooling really, the development of the new Oregon series GPSr. The 600, 600t, 650, and 650t. I've looked and thought, "Since Garmin opened up their own caching site, will they bother to continue development of a Wherigo Player on the new products. Since this is exclusive to GC.com (I think), has anyone read/heard anything? I would still like to add a Wherigo or 2 to my finds list.

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:00 pm

the 600 series are known as the Montana not the oregon. and you are correct, there has been no updates to the Wherigo players for the Garmin GPS for awhile. If you want to do them, might as well invest in a smart phone.

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:06 pm

Check out Garmin's site. They announced the new Oregons that share numbers with the Montana. **sigh** The smartphone option for Wherigo is not something I can seem to get to work properly. However, an older model would suffice I guess...

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:29 pm

Garmin announced this week the "new" series of Oregon GPS units. Previously Garmin had the Oregon 400 & 450 as well as the Montana 600 & 650 series. Now they are introducing the Oregon 600 & 650 series. And they are inpressive!

Here's what's new:
- 8MP camera with flash (650 series) with flash and coordinate geotagging
- Auto dual orientation (portrait or landscape)
- Stores 4,000 waypoints, but reportedly stores UNLIMITED GPX geocaches in unit (not just 2,000 or even 10,000!).
- 3.5GB memory
- Optional micro SD card for additional storage
- Dual battery system: in-unit rechargable NiMH battery (16 hours on a single charge) or AA (NiMH is optional in 600)
- More vivid screen is 2x brighter than the 400/450 series, easily read in daylight, can operate with many types of gloves
- One-touch image capture and waypoint marking
- Faster processor with interactive display: you can not only look at map, but interact with multitouch to rotate or zoom in/out
- Utilizes US-made satellites as well as WAAS and Russian-made GLONAAS satellites. (IPhone4S was the first American cell phone to use GLONAAS). When using GLONASS satellites, the time it takes for the receiver to “lock on” to a position is faster than using GPS only. And when using both GPS and GLONASS, the receiver has the ability to lock on to 24 more satellites than using GPS alone.

Plus it has the usual features of wireless transfer of files, 3 axis electronic compass with accelerometer tilt compensation, chirp receiver, touchscreen, etc.

It's not available until sometime 1st quarter 2013. I don't know if it's whereigo compatible or if the touchscreen is glass like the Montana and many smartphones, or if it's soft like the Oregon 400/450.

I think it sounds great!

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:17 pm

It is unlikely that the new Oregon's will support Wherigo. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was removed from existing units when the operating systems are upgraded. Since they have decided go to war against Groundspeak, and wherigo is a Groundspeak creation, they are trying to distance themselves as much as possible.

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 12:53 am

My 62st I got last year does not have a wherigo function.

WGA Member Joined: 2008-09-10 Posts: 231

We bought got a Montana 650T and it doesn't support Wherigo
Sad