Garmin Oregon 550 GPS

First things first, this GPS receiver is really targetted at the outdoor enthusiast and is not really intended for in car use. If you are looking for an in car navigation device, then I suggest you look elsewhere. If you are a Garmin fan, the NUVI series are pretty good. These in car devices are both cheaper and more appropriate than this device. If you are looking for a device for walking, geocaching, cycling etc, then read on.

I have the 550 model - the one without the maps. I find the software based maps of limited use (prefering to use the real paper based ones in the mountains) and find the free maps from the OpenStreetMap initiative more than adequate for my needs. They have contours and paths as well as routable roads and Points of Interest (POIs). The whole of the UK comes in at around 250MB, so it will easily fit on the SD card in the device. A quick internet search will take you to the appropriate download page. You will find the page here: http://sites.google.com/site/talkytoasteruk/ukmaps

The device boots up quickly and seems pretty accurate. I bought this device specifically for geocaching (more on this later) and currently use a GPSMAP60csx. The Oregon seems as accurate as the 60csx and works well under tree cover. The device is easy to set up and configure - everyone seems to set theirs up in a slightly different way.

For geocaching, it is a really great device. You can run a pocket query on geocaching.com (you need to be a premium member to do this) and can then load the subsequent GPX file onto the device (this involves copying it into a directory on the device). The GPX file contains all the information you need for each cache - description, location, previous logs and even the hint. Using this approach, I have loaded up all of the caches within a 20 mile radius of home. It means no more printed out pages and enbles me to look for caches on an adhoc basis. It is even possible to log your attempts on the device and then upload the file to geocaching.com. These attempts can even contain field notes. This comes into it's own when you are logging a number of caches per day or logging caches over a number of days before you can log them on the internet.

So, now the not so good features. More niggles than anything, but here there are! The user interface is a bit cumbersome. The use of a touchscreen has led to a very convulted UI. For example, when geocaching I often flip between the map page, the compass page and the cache description page. Each time you move between pages, you need to go back upto the main menu. On the 60csx, you can just flip between the screens. Another thing to bear in mind for geocachers is that if you put the answers to clues into your field notes on the device, these cannot be read on the device. You have to load them up to the internet to be able to access them. So if you are looking for a bonus cache and want to do the calculation in the field, then take a paper and pen with you.

Battery life on AA alkalines is pretty poor, but much more respectable on the rechargable NiMHs supplied with the unit. You can use battery saving mode to extend the life of the batteries, but this just turns the screen off after every few seconds and gets annoying. I can spare alkaline AAs as backups for the rechargables.

The unit will run off power supplied to it via the mini USB cable, but it will not charge the batteries via this cable. Shame.

The touchscreen can be difficult to see in bright sunlight and can be scratched. I already have a scratch on my unit, but then I tend to leave it loose in a rucsac pocket.

The 550 does have a 3.2MB pixel camera, but it is pretty limited in terms of camera controls.  My advice is don't leave your camera at home.  However, if you do, you could use the 550 at a push.  The good news is that it does store location data with each of the picture that you take.  Thus, when you browse through the images in the album, you can navigate back to that location.  I haven't had any reason to use this feature, but I can imagine that there are other users out there who might have a need for this.

All in all a great device. I am hoping that Garmin will improve the UI and this will be available through software updates.

Garmin 60CSx

The first Garmin handheld unit that I bought was a GPS12XL and it must have been more than ten years ago. At the time, I remember connecting it to AutoRoute running on a laptop and being amazed while watching the moving map in the car (with all the kit sat on the passenger seat). At the time, it felt like a gadget worthy of James Bond! Today, all that kit comes in a piece of hardware so small that you can attached to your windscreen with a rubber sucker!

Well, ten years on and I have bought my second Garmin unit (I lent the 12XL to someone and never got it back!). Thinking about it, I have bought a number of devices recently with GPS built in (a car, a camera, a watch), but this is the first (well, second) dedicated GPS handheld that I have bought. And boy, how the technology has improved!

First off, the power up and location time is amazing. No more hanging around, waiting for the device to find it's location. It locates itself in under 60 seconds. No doubt this is longer if you have moved significantly distances between using the unit, but in normal use it is stunningly quick.

Great reception. Even under trees. In open ground, I am frequently picking up 9 satellites simultaneously at full signal strength. Thanks to the responsiveness of the unit, you can see the signal strength dip when under a tree canopy, but this has little effect on the unit (it does seem to reduce the accuracy slightly). With EGNOS enabled, the device's accuracy is usually reported as +/- 2M (under cover this gets reduced to +/- 3M).

Barometric altimeter. You need a signal from at least 4 satellites to be able to provide an estimate of altitude and GPS devices are notorious for not being great at providing height readings. Not too much of an issue if you are using it for marine use, but if you are using it for outdoor activities, this can be much more important. Anyway, the inaccuracy of GPS altitude readings are solved with the 60CSx by using barometric readings instead. These work well and the unit will provide graphic display of the readings (you can also configure the device to use GPS altitude rather than barometric altitude, if necessary).

Great User Interface. I read the quick start guide, played with the unit and then read the instructions. As they say, we all else fails read the instructions! But I haven't needed to with this device. For me, the Garmin UI is becoming like the Nokia UI for mobile phones - the UI that everyone is familiar with and the benchmark against which other devices are compared. The device is very configurable and the software includes functionality for geo caching, parachuting and marine usage.

Great battery life. The unit takes 2 AA batteries and it meant to last up to 10 hours. Well, I have been using mine for about 4 hours and it still displays full battery strength. I suspect that I will get more than the rated 10 hours. When connected via a USB cable, the unit is powered via USB rather than it's batteries which is another neat feature.

Rugged form factor. The device feels great and handles well. The rubber grip around the base of the device makes it easy to use with gloves on and the device looks robust. The unit is water resistant to 1M and the battery compartment has a full gasket. If you are a marine user, you might want to attach a float to it since I suspect it will not float on it's own!

And the downsides.....

Well there aren't that many really and these are more of a nit pick that anything.

The default map is a bit ho hum. This is not a biggie for me since I use it in conjunction with a map. However, the device has great display capabilities and the default map does not do the device justice. Sure, you can buy additional maps (they are installed on the MicroSD card that will be found under the batteries), but it just feels like a missed opportunity.

Is that karabiner loop strong enough? You can see this in the photo and it is just a loop in the soft rubber that covers the top of the unit and aerial. Although the device isn't heavy, I bet that it wouldn't take much to break the karabiner loop. I am not so worried about breaking the loop as I am in losing the device itself.

All in all, a fantastic device and all for around £230. If you are into Geo Caching, then this device has to be on your list.