› Forums › Geocaching in Wisconsin › Tech Talk › Garmin Oregon 550 Series
- This topic has 81 replies, 17 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 5 months ago by
Ashen15.
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08/06/2009 at 1:58 am #1911086
Great to hear, I will be calling REI tomorrow to see if they have the units in stock. I will be doing the same thing you did and return my Oregon 400t for the Oregon 550 non-t. I really don’t need the topo maps.
08/07/2009 at 10:07 pm #1911087Christmas came early… 😀
I thought we’d try to sell the 400t but I think we’ll keep his and hers Oregons instead. 8)
On the Left Side of the Road...08/07/2009 at 10:24 pm #1911088Well REI still does not have the 550 yet. I am going tonight to return my 400t and get the store credit. I will order the 550 on-line and it will be here in a week.
08/11/2009 at 2:42 pm #1911089Oh I’m so excited about a feature I found on the 550. It has tide scheduals. Pick a spot on the map and it shows the time the tides will be high and low. It also shows water depth at all times in the area on a graph. It is very cool.
08/11/2009 at 3:13 pm #1911090@Lostby7 wrote:
Oh I’m so excited about a feature I found on the 550. It has tide scheduals. Pick a spot on the map and it shows the time the tides will be high and low. It also shows water depth at all times in the area on a graph. It is very cool.
Are you hoping to pick the optimal time to approach a T5 somehwere?
On the Left Side of the Road...08/11/2009 at 3:19 pm #1911091@gotta run wrote:
@Lostby7 wrote:
Oh I’m so excited about a feature I found on the 550. It has tide scheduals. Pick a spot on the map and it shows the time the tides will be high and low. It also shows water depth at all times in the area on a graph. It is very cool.
Are you hoping to pick the optimal time to approach a T5 somehwere?
My next vacation will near some “dramatic” tides….this feature is gonna be awesome helpful…
08/11/2009 at 3:19 pm #1911092No. If you saw one of Lostby’s threads elsewhere on this board, he wants to visit coastal tides either on the east coast or west coast.
Edit: Yeah, what he said.
08/11/2009 at 3:23 pm #1911093@Lostby7 wrote:
My next vacation will near some “dramatic” tides….this feature is gonna be awesome helpful…
Well then you my friend have the tools you need!
On the Left Side of the Road...08/12/2009 at 12:21 am #1911094Having had some time with the 550, we essentially concur with LB7s assessment of the unit. It is virtually identical to the 400 with a few key upgrades–screen brightness and camera among the most notable.
The “upgrade” price of $100 over the 400t is well worth it for the included camera, battery, charger, and hardware tweaks. Of course you do not get the topo maps, but I have found them not necessary and they don’t work for autorouting anyway.
The camera is not only a great feature, but the size of the viewfinder makes it very easy to use and very easy to respond to the inevitable “let me see!” requests from the kids after a picture is taken.
As far as the functionality of the unit, it shares the strengths of the 400:
-Incredibly fast lock-on (seconds) and outstanding signal lock in cover
-Fast and reliable routing. I know this is probably just a regular feature but this is our first foray into autonav and it’s great, especially for solo caching. Having it all on one unit, versus using a Nuvi/handheld approach, is a big plus.
-Great performance on rechargables with decent battery life–a full day in always-on mode, haven’t had to recharge yetThe main drawbacks relate to Garmin-specific “features” which I’ve already mentioned in other threads; namely, the lack of any robust device-level geocache (GPX file/waypoint) management.
But for what it sets out to do–get you to a cache and give you accurate coordinates to find it–it does so very well. And as an all-in-one device, it only needs a phone. (Sorry, I’m still not sold on the iPhone given its GPSr limitations and overall limitations if you lose the network.)
On the Left Side of the Road...08/26/2009 at 12:00 am #1911095I’ve been reading this thread with interest, especially after having seen the Oregon 550 at geowoodstock. Today I finally made my decision, and am making the switch from Magellan to a Garmin Oregon 550. My Magellan still works pretty good, but I was disapointed that I can no longer upgrade the maps, and that Magellan no longer even provides repairs for this unit. I think that caching is about to get a whole lot more fun. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with this model.
08/26/2009 at 12:03 am #1911096@Frizz wrote:
I’ve been reading this thread with interest, especially after having seen the Oregon 550 at geowoodstock. Today I finally made my decision, and am making the switch from Magellan to a Garmin Oregon 550. My Magellan still works pretty good, but I was disapointed that I can no longer upgrade the maps, and that Magellan no longer even provides repairs for this unit. I think that caching is about to get a whole lot more fun. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with this model.
Good luck…..it will be a fun ride.
08/26/2009 at 1:03 am #1911097Oh come on now Frizz. I could of swore you had magellan Repair on Retainer!!!
Good to hear your getting a new unit man. Very cool.
I think I am going to be going the same route as well!
08/26/2009 at 1:59 am #1911098@Frizz wrote:
I’ve been reading this thread with interest, especially after having seen the Oregon 550 at geowoodstock. Today I finally made my decision, and am making the switch from Magellan to a Garmin Oregon 550. My Magellan still works pretty good, but I was disapointed that I can no longer upgrade the maps, and that Magellan no longer even provides repairs for this unit. I think that caching is about to get a whole lot more fun. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with this model.
I predict you will not be disappointed with this unit! There is a learning curve but it’s pretty fast.
On the Left Side of the Road...08/26/2009 at 4:45 pm #1911099@Frizz wrote:
I’ve been reading this thread with interest, especially after having seen the Oregon 550 at geowoodstock. Today I finally made my decision, and am making the switch from Magellan to a Garmin Oregon 550. My Magellan still works pretty good, but I was disapointed that I can no longer upgrade the maps, and that Magellan no longer even provides repairs for this unit. I think that caching is about to get a whole lot more fun. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with this model.
That’s a big switch. I still use my good old Magellan. I love it!! HAHA But I “cheat” I use my Magellan with my iPhone. It works pretty well. I must remain strong on the Magellan team.
08/26/2009 at 11:44 pm #1911100step away from the dark side, and get the Garmin (the force will be strong with you)
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