*Ireland and Northern Ireland are in one map. San Marino is included in Italy. May 23, 2010 Triton RMP also lets you use paper map scans to make RMP maps that can also be used. The RMP's can't be used on the Crossover, just the MapSend ones can. With most magellans getting your maps for free are very easy except for MapSend. 2008 Hitting the trails a couple of months ago, the Garmin Oregon 400t makes a big leap in technology for handheld GPS devices the first major handheld GPS device with a touch screen display. Building on the foundations of the Colorado line, the Oregon line aims to make the GPS easier to operate through touch. But how well does it deliver? We’ve been kayaking, hiking, geocaching, mountain biking, and driving with the new Garmin Oregon GPS giving it a workout over a few months time for this review. Physical Design Taking the Oregon out of the box, I was a bit surprised about the size. The Oregon is smaller than I imagined and fits very comfortably in the palm of your hand. But it was also a bit heaver than I anticipated, coming in at 6.8 ounces with batteries giving it a dense, but rugged feeling. ![]() ![]() On the back of the device is a clip that can be used to attach the included carabiner as well as access the battery compartment (two AA size). I was a little concerned about just how waterproof the Oregon would be given the very low pressure required to close the battery compartment, however I didn’t have any issues with water getting in there during several days of ocean kayaking. Along the bottom is a rubber gasket which hides the USB port. After a sea kayaking trip I did notice a bit of salt building on the inside of that gasket around the mini USB port. It was easily wiped away, however this does give me a little bit of concern over extended periods of time. Also at the bottom is a small loop that could be used to attach a lanyard. Unfortunately the hole is really tiny so you wouldn’t be able to get a very thick cord through there. Still, I’m glad to see this attachment spot is at the bottom of the device as this puts it in a more user friendly orientation as it is hanging from your neck. When you grab it with your hand you are holding it in the correct orientation when you go to view the device, rather than a loop at the top which would put the device upside down when you pick it up while it is hanging from your neck. There is just one button on the Oregon, the power button along the right side. Garmin seems to want to emphasize the touch screen as much as possible and eliminated all but the most essential buttons. Personally, would have liked to have seen at least one more button dedicated to marking waypoints (more on this later). Touch Screen The Garmin Oregon touch screen is certainly the biggest reason you might consider this device over other models. The touch screen is the Garmin Oregon’s biggest asset, as well as the biggest weakness. First the good The Garmin Oregon GPS is hands down the easiest handheld GPS to operate. Nothing else comes close. If you are new to GPS and tend to be intimidated by consumer electronics, the Garmin Oregon will be your best friend. Mud on the display? Water on the display? Wearing thick ski gloves? Magellan Triton Free Topo MapsWell you might have some accuracy issues with such a thick finger, but the touch screen can still respond. Do you find naming waypoints is a tedious process “arrowing” around the keyboard on a typical handheld GPS? ![]() Magellan Triton 300 ReviewThe touchscreen of the Oregon handles this like a breeze. The only “touchable” part of the display I didn’t like was that panning the map can be somewhat difficult. If you don’t apply firm pressure, the screen can sometimes get “stuck” while you are trying to pan and register a click instead. The issue is compounded by the fact that a tap on the screen is the method that adds a new waypoint. So whenever I would try to pan around on the screen I’d wind up with a half dozen new waypoints I’d have to clear out. But the biggest issue I had with the Oregon 400t is the readability of the screen itself. The transflective color TFT display is difficult to read in most lighting conditions. No matter what direction I was facing, where the sun was, the angle of the sun, or even if I was in the shade the screen is not even close to being as readable as previous Garmin models such as the 60 series. While enjoying hiking or geocaching this wasn’t quite as much of an issue since I could orient the GPS in my hand to find an angle where I could scan the screen. But kayaking, driving, or mountain biking you can’t just move the screen around at will as it is strapped down somewhere. This made it very difficult to keep tabs on my progress while enjoying those types of activities. The backlight will help, but it will also kill the battery life. And even with the backlight turned on I didn’t find the screen as readable as my older. Maps The Oregon comes with different sets of maps depending on the configuration. The 400t I tested comes with topographic maps of the USA based on USGS 1:100,000 resolution data. You can see other configurations below. Yes When you can clearly see the maps they look fantastic. In low light conditions with the backlight on for example the maps look spectacular. Despite only being 1:100k resolution, they are still good enough for the activities most people will use the device for. Magellan Triton 300As we have noted before,. Screen redraws were very fast and you even get a good number of POIs such as parks, schools, and churches. Something we really missed though was the ability to use those maps from the computer. If you purchase the 400t, the maps come pre-loaded on the device and can’t be transfered to your computer. However you could also purchase the Oregon 300 and add the accessory topo maps and essentially wind up with the same outfit as the 400t. Then those maps could be used with some of Garmin’s desktop software for route planning. Otherwise with the there isn’t any way using Garmin software and maps to plan a route on your computer that follows a trail, and transfer that route to the GPS without manually building a number of point to point segments. The maps can also display in 3D. No, we are not taking just “shaded relief” although the Oregon can do that as well. The GPS can actually view the terrain from a ground perspective to give you a real world view of what the terrain looks like. The graphics in this mode are not as clear as they are in the 2D/shaded relief modes, and if you are accustomed to reading topographic maps you might find the feature “fun”, but of relatively small practical use. The view just always looks “overzoomed” and “pixelated”. Electronic Compass The Garmin Oregon does feature an and a barometric altimeter. The electronic compass allows the GPS to determine direction (North, South, etc) while the GPS is standing still; something most GPS devices cannot do. It can be handy to view the compass while you are stopped to take a break, but keep in mind that the electronic compass in the Garmin Oregon does require you to hold the GPS level to get an accurate reading. For example I was sea kayaking in the fog making a long harbor crossing without any view of land just white fog in all directions. With the waves the electronic compass wasn’t any use, however I could still follow my plotted route on the map screen so long as I was moving. You should never rely on GPS as your sole means of navigation, so carry a traditional compass along with you too. Magellan Triton 1500 MapsThe barometric altimeter increases the accuracy of the elevation reading since GPS tends not to be nearly as accurate vertically. Profiles I enjoy numerous types of outdoor activities, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, snowboarding, geocaching, etc. With many handheld GPS devices on the market today I’ve been frustrated by the fact that for each of those activities there is different types of data I would like displayed on the GPS. For some I might typically keep the GPS in a map view while geocaching, a route instructions view kayaking, a trip info view while mountain biking, etc. Every time I go enjoy one of those activities I typically have to reconfigure a bunch of settings to get the GPS to show me what I want to see. Not so with the Garmin Oregon. Using the concept of “Profiles” the Garmin Oregon series allows you to setup different preferences for different types of activities. The pre-configured profiles are recreational, geocaching, automotive, marine, and fitness. Using those profiles I can setup most of my different activities with their own profile so I don’t have to keep changing settings every time I enjoy the outdoors. Very clever, and something I hope other devices adopt. Geocaching Geocaching is particularly fun on the Garmin Oregon due to the touch screen display and the ability to download geocache information straight from the Geocaching website into the Oregon to enable paperless caching. When I go geocaching I tend to hit several in one day. So I’m creating lots of routes, zooming in and out of the map, flipping to the satellite info screen to view the current estimated accuracy, etc. With “tap intensive” activities like geocaching, the true power of the touch screen comes into play. When you go back to a GPS without a touch screen you will realize just how convenient the touch screen is. The Oregon also features a short range wireless communication option with other similarly equipped GPS devices.
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