Handheld GPS Reviews

Price:$331.00

Garmin Oregon 450 Handheld GPS Navigator Product Reviews

THE OREGON IS AWESOME (Works Both On Road and Off-Road), May 6, 2010

As of May 6, 2010 I have had and used this product extensively for about six weeks. The software on the unit has been updated to the latest which is version 3.40. I do a lot of cross-country driving and I go off road several times a week especially in remote locations with no trails.

For those that do not wish to read the rest of this review let me just say that THE OREGON IS AWESOME and I recommend it to anyone for both On-Road and Off-Road.

Runs on AA batteries which is a godsend when traveling as you can purchase them anywhere around the world. You can also utilize rechargeable batteries. Keep in mind the unit will not recharge batteries but you can make your unit run off of external power conserving your batteries. You can utilize any charger with a USB connection to do this. You must however have the unit set up to Garmin Spanner in Setup>System>Interface setting configured, otherwise the unit will go into USB mass storage mode and you will not be able to use the GPS.

This unit will support navigating to geo-tag photographs. This technology is becoming more prevalent as more and more digital cameras are now geo-tagging their photographs. Not to mention Google has a ton of geo-tagged photographs that one can download. Now if you ever find a photograph you like that is geo-tagged all you have to do is click on the picture in your Oregon and it will take you directly to the spot where the picture was taken.

The size of the Oregon is amazing and it will fit into a pocket quite easily and comfortably which may not be an issue when you’re outdoors and have a pack but when you are walking the city streets it is a huge advantage over the Garmin 60csx.

Let me just say I have owned the Garmin 60csx as well and I will make some important comparisons to that unit that are relevant for everyday use. Please note that the Garmin 60csx is also a phenomenal GPS and this review is not meant to discredit the unit in anyway.

Let’s get to the point of accuracy. Plain and simple the Oregon is not as accurate as the 60csx. Having said that it is plenty accurate. In most situations I will get around 13 feet of accuracy on the road on the Oregon. The 60csx in a similar environment will get about 9 feet of accuracy. For driving it is not that big of a deal. For outdoor use in most situations it makes no difference. This unit will lock on to satellites indoors in most structures just like the 60csx.

As far as locking onto a signal I never have problems with the Oregon. The first time out of the box took maybe 2 minutes for it to lock on. Ever since then it takes less than 2 seconds even when I have a few days that goes by without using the unit which is not often since I love my Oregon.

Addressing the screen. As far as brightness goes, again the 60csx is definitely brighter in direct sunlight. In other environments you really cannot tell the difference. What most people don’t realize is that the Oregon screen has a much higher resolution then the 60csx which is a lot more crucial for reading topographical maps and for general navigation. It is because of this higher resolution screen that you have less brightness associated with the Oregon.

The brightness in direct sunlight is not an issue for me with the Oregon as a matter of fact I turn the brightness down to zero and the display can be read perfectly well in direct sunlight (you will have to play with the angles in which you view the device more so than with the 60csx). The capability of having a touch screen is a huge advantage over the 60csx in my opinion. The one thing that the Oregon doesn’t have is a dedicated Mark Waypoint button that I miss from my 60csx, this is a huge feature missing from the Oregon.

The actual software is pretty good on the Oregon however I wish it would have used some of the neat features they developed for the 60csx. Having said that the software and the trip computer are for the most part completely customizable. There are too many to get into in this short of a review but there is plenty of information comparing the two software versions on the Internet.

The Oregon does have profiles which can be set and this is very useful not only for setting up the GPS for different environments such as Off-Road and On-Road navigation but also for the preferences of different users.

To anyone interested in how this unit performs in the car the answer is simple, GREAT. I have no issues for using the Oregon to navigate the roadways anywhere I go. Although the Oregon does not speak the street names it will give an audio beep for upcoming important notifications. You can have custom POI. You can have proximity alerts.
There are routable maps available which means the unit will notify you when you need to make turns and on what side your destination is located on. You can send addresses from Google maps directly to the unit with the Garmin plug-in installed.

Off-Road this thing is AMAZING. In a lot of the aspects I liked it a lot more than the 60csx. I have had no issues with the unit off road. I will not comment more on Off-Road use as there are a lot of other positive reviews addressing the Off-Road capabilities of this unit.

The 3-axis Compass is AMAZING. It works phenomenally well and is extremely useful. One thing that I love is that you can actually insert it into the trip computer which for me works a lot better than the dedicated compass screen as you can see a lot more useful information along with the Compass.

This unit is marine capable but I have not tested the unit out on the open water.

For the most part the Altimeter on the Oregon is completely useless.

Almost a Great Unit BUT…, May 1, 2010

I’ve used a 60 CS and the CSX versions since 2004. It is probably the “Gold Standard” for hand held mapping gps’s. So I was expecting great things from the Oregon 450. The learning curve was quick and easy. The Oregon has a lot of new features that make navigating easier — shaded topos, increased memory, different user profiles, great ergonomics of the unit, increased screen size and resolution.

BUT…
If you plan to use the unit for some serious backpacking or day hiking, Beware! The Oregon does not accurately record distanced traveled and associated data on the trip computer screen when travelling below 3mph (20 min mile). It does however record accurately only when you save the track and then call up the track and check the distance traveled, or if you upload the data to your laptop. I just don’t normally carry my laptop when I’m hiking.

I have contacted Garmin about this about 10 days ago and heard nothing back from them except that they are looking into the matter. For some self help try [...]. It is a good discussion website for the Oregon series.

Good price, May 22, 2010

This was my 4th Garmin unit. I use the primarily for geocaching. Amazon had it for a fair price and I received it much faster than I expected. After learning what did what it became second nature.It so far seems to have very good accuracy. I was really excited for the feature of it holding 5000 caches. I will recommend this.

Oregon 450, June 3, 2010

I have been waiting on the side lines for literally years for a hiking GPS. Decided to finally take the dive. After now months of internet studies I decided on the Oregon 450 (550 was my preference to have the camera but cost played a factor). My biggest concern purchasing this unit “sight unseen” was screen visibility. I am sensitive to this because I have had retina issues and my contrast is not a good as I would like. I am convinced I made the right choice and really love this unit … nice job Garmin.

The screen was very readible and I think this is a non issue. I firmly believe Garmin trully engineered this screen considering vital factors like direct sunlight (which actually enhances visibility on this unit), touch screen technology and (very important) battery life. Is it bright like my HDTV? … no … is it more than effective in the field? … absolutley yes. I love it … case closed for me.

Last weekend I took my daughter and nephew to Mackinaw Island, Michigan for a day of mountian biking and ended the day searching for a geocache which I downloaded off Garmin “Extras” site. The Oregan made the day lots of fun because we all learned to use the GPS to guide our adventure. I started Tracking once off the ferry and stopped once we left the Island. When I got home and downloaded the trip the Garmin site displayed a very cool summary of the days ride trip … elevation and speed strip charts, Track overlayed on a map of the Island and a great summary of time, distance, ascent, descent and then even an dynamic review of the track.

So far the only annoyance is software user friendliness. If I wish to calibrate the compass my intuition is to find the option under “Compass” … nope … look under the “Heading” softkey on the main menu. Not sure if I can customize by relocating such actions but I will have to look into it more.

Note: I have an 8GB Kingston micro-SD card in the back with 1:24k Northeast U.S. Topo maps installed with just under 4GB left for more.

Oregon 450 odometer is wrong, May 30, 2010

The Oregon 450, as well as the 550, has important software problems: The trip odometer readings are about 15% less than the real distance. The stopped time shows absolutely wrong values, sometimes the stoping time is longer than the total trip time!

It seems incredible that Garmin delivers such expensive products with bugs like these, while older units as the GPSMAP60CS(X) performed well. Most e-mails about the problem are not answered.

Not as bad as some say, May 18, 2010

I purchased this to replace my failing eTrex. I have been watching the Oregon since the 300/400 series. Took a chance that the display on the 450 would not be as bad as many have said. Must say that the display is acceptable in all lighting conditions. Could be brighter in clear sun but is by no means unreadable. In fact in direct sunlight it is very good. Everything about this GPS is brilliant. Highly recommend. I have been using it for several weeks with zero problems and nothing but satisfaction. The compass is spot on…I have three very expensive compasses to compare against.

Love, Love, Love it, July 18, 2010

This is the 3rd GPS we bought for geocaching and by far the most userfriendly, don’t even need to look at the directions and I’m pretty much computer challenged. It makes geocaching so fun, gets us within 6 feet every time without doing the fish hook dance that the magellan has us doing, you know, go forward 5 feet, now turn 180 degrees and go 6 feet and turn 180 degrees and go 9 feet now do this about 10 times, My son was holding the GPS and I was following him looking like Mrs. Gomer Pyle. The Oregon just omits the little dance so you blend in and no one was wanting to call the guys with the white jacket to pick me up. The only complaint I would have would be it is not very bright in the sun light but I can work with that. You get all the hints and logs when you download from [...], it saves the title (which the Vista did not) can mark it as found or not found, easy on batteries, can’t get much easier then this. When my son goes off to college he gets to keep the Magellan, momma gets this one, lol. If you’re on the fence this is the one I would buy again, no hesitation.

Poor documentation impairs usefulness, August 29, 2010

I’ve had good luck with Garmin automobile navigators for years, so I purchased a Garmin Oregon 450 for outdoor use. My contemplated use is in the Peruvian Amazon, and after two weeks of experimenting with the Oregon, I’m an unsatisfied owner. An automobile navigator is a no-brainer, but an outdoor navigator is altogether more complex, and the Garmin documentation and instructions for use of this unit’s features are nearly non-existent, as other reviewers have said. The unit comes with a superficial you-print-it-yourself owner’s manual, and Garmin’s website “Training Videos” average one (1) minute each in length, and are equally superficial. There are only about six of them. The other website documentation for this unit is seemingly confined to selling the unit, not telling a new purchaser how to use it. I was caught in a vegetation “trap” last year in the Amazon and couldn’t find my way back out, which led to a more-than-interesting night in a canoe in the jungle. I wanted a “course back” (which I think Garmin calls “TracBack”) feature, so I could follow my own trail back through the water (where there are no paths to follow) so as to retrace my course back out of another trap. This involves laying down a “course” or “track” which you can follow backwards, and then not deviating from it. The “Compass” on the Oregon has a “Course Deviation Indicator,” which would seem ideal for this purpose, however Garmin has no instructions about how to use it, and it is definitely not intuitive. Mine doesn’t work at all like the Owner’s Manual suggests it should, and the documentation is insufficient to help me determine whether the unit itself isn’t working, or whether I just don’t know how to use it.(I suspect the latter.) In some circumstances, in the mountains or a jungle, knowing how to use the navigator can be a life and death matter, so I think the maker of the product has a duty to the purchaser to provide adequate, if not excellent, documentation regarding its use. Garmin may have designed a very nice piece of electronics, but it failed its higher duty to provide adequate instructions for its use, which is a serious safety consideration in my opinion.

Great GPS, poor documentation, June 25, 2010

Garmin’s engineers have created a great handheld GPS with good features. Unfortunately, they only did half of the job. The documentation is incredibly poor lacking any information on important details. For instance, the device has a set-up feature to tell it whether you are using Alkaline, Lithium. or NiMH rechargeables. Why? Does it recharge the NiMH batteries when externally powered? Are there different functionality/preferences for the different battery types? Nothing in the documentation to indicate why it cares.

Another example is the MicroSDHD card device. There is no indication of what size cards are supported. I installed a 16GB and it allowed me to install maps and such onto the card; however, when I attempted to install two DVD’s worth of 24K quads to the card the basemap application crashed and required me to reformat the SDHD externally before the GPS would recognized it again. Ok, so maybe the map files are limited to 4GB? Well I installed just shy of 4GB of topo onto the 16GB card and everything worked fine. However, when I attempted to install some geocache files and waypoints, it tells me that the drive is full (even though there is 12GB left). So I guess the GPS only supports cards up to 4GB.

As I said a great device, and the above limitations are something I can live with, but it would be nice if they put in a modicum of effort in writing a decent manual.

Load better maps for geocaching, June 9, 2010

We bought the Oregon 450 as an upgrade from our Garmin GPSMAP 60CS. Here is a quick summary of the relative benefits of the Oregon 450 for geocaching:
Pros:
– Much better position accuracy
– Does not lose signal as quickly under tree cover
– Holds thousands of caches (60CS just had 500)
– Includes[...] information, including logs and hints (go paperless!)
Cons:
– Basemap appears to just have major roads, with no lakes or rivers. This is just silly for a hiking/caching handheld. We would have been perfectly happy with something like the basemap on the 60CS. If you are deciding between the 450 and 450t and don’t want to load custom maps, go with the 450t. If you don’t mind about an hour of work, you can download free topographical maps and save $100.
– Touchscreen could be better than buttons, but the logic in getting from page to page is often not intuitive. It will take some getting used to, and you will find yourself making multiple taps to, say, go from the compass to the tracking to the satellite strength. (On the 60CS, the “PAGE” button would scroll between the important screens.) I think the Oregon series could be improved if Garmin added just one button for key functions.

Summary: A huge upgrade for us on the key things we need for geocaching. The map and interface issues are a little frustrating, but we are happy with our purchase.