Too much info! Keep Nuvi 750 & buy 60 Cx... or trade for just Oregon 450xx?

[goglen]

>>>> I have read TONS on GPSr's in the past 2 weeks - much of it here, or on Amazon, Google hits, product sites like Garmin, Delorme, Magellan (but not TomTom?) and countless forums <<<<

Facts:
* Have Garmin NUVI 750 (previously 250, 650) - it is only ever used for "road trips", usually towing our camper, thus staying within 500 miles of Sacramento, California.
* NUVI is never used "around town" - so no need for red light camera POIs, etc
* Usually towing camper, so must stay on GOOD roads, good directions/maps, etc.
* Wife has started to get into geocaching.  6YO daughter loves the "treasure hunting" - she prints pages from geocaching.com for our destination campground areas.
* Nuvi 750 (honestly) sucks for geocaching.  Not that accurate.  Many settings to change it to off road, heads-up, type in coordinates, etc -- and it still says "please DRIVE to highlighted route" - and no easy compass to zero in on the final area.  Oh, no WAAS, so it is so inaccurate
* Wife is easily frustrated by technology - so I'm willing to subscribe to Premium on Geocaching rather than have her learn/use GSAK to load caches...

CRITICAL:
Sunday, May 9, 2010 is both Mother's Day... and my wife's birthday.  She dislikes my NUVI for geocaching, so I want to get a present that will let her geocache.  I am also on a TIGHT budget (decreased employment) - but want to do what is BEST.

Choices:
1) Keep NUVI 750, get Delorme PN40 or Garmin GPS 60csx
--> if Garmin, are GPSFileDepot topo maps good enough for geocaching once you get "about there"?
2) Sell NUVI 750 to my parents (**) and buy just  a Garmin Oregon 4xx to replace both.  In which case, can I buy North America turn-by-turn street maps (does it speak street names on the Oregon?) and use the GPSFileDepot topos?
>>>> Can the Oregon be used in "landscape" mode & 3D for street driving?  This is what I've been using for years with my NUVI, and towing a camper, I'm SOOO used to it.  I don't know if I could adapt to a small & portrait street view...
>>>> Can the Oregon set a "via point" - assume we're driving 200 miles to a campground, and get hungry - can I search for fast food and add it to my route as a via point?

Choice #1:
Delorme seems to have so much "for the money".  However, I can use GPSFileDepot topo maps on the Garmin 60 CSx.  Assuming I do not care about road navigation - which is better???

Choice #2:
My parents will graciously buy my NUVI 750 for $250 (overpriced, but them contributing to my wife's present).  I then buy the Oregon 450 and add the GPSFilesDepot CA topo maps, and buy then North American street maps - but I need it to "speak street names" and really want it to have a landscape 3D driving orientation since I've used that for SO MANY years...


(**) I gave my NUVI 650 to my elderly parents a couple years ago when I bought my 750 for a gift since they drive NON-STOP TX to PA, or to CO. or to CA, etc - this way they can find food & gas.  Plus, my dad does occasional oil-rig contract jobs in Senegal or Mauritania (Africa) in the desert - so plotting distance/direction back to a GPS coordinate (or "home") is valuable.  It was stolen from his luggage last year, so he's wanting another one - and likes the "breadcrumb" trail option that my 750 has.

I'm open to comments, options, suggestions, etc!
Many thanks...

[-Oz-]

The oregon doesn't speak while doing navigating.  That may be a deal breaker right there.  Honestly you need to keep the Nuvi because navigating with the handhelds, while it works, is not ideal.  If your wife gets  frustrated by tech she probably won't be happy using the Oregon to navigate.

The 60cx is a great unit.  Depending on how much it is you may also want to look into the Garmin Dakota 20; its a newer unit that allows satellite and aerial imagery to be loaded as well as the topos.  I don't have a delorme unit but the maps here are plenty good for geocaching.

[Boyd]

I don't do geocaching, so I can't comment on the finer points of that. But the Oregon and Dakota series get high marks from uses for their "paperless" geocaching features. As Oz says, they don't have speakers so no voice prompts. They only work in portrait mode. But they are very user-friendly due to the touchscreen interface yet still offer all the advanced handheld features. The new "BirdsEye" downloadable aerial imagery is a great feature for $30/year unlimited subscription. And the "Custom Maps" feature is also very nice (make your own maps from scanned paper maps or photos).

There are a couple new series coming soon, and although they won't meet your deadline you might want to be aware of them anyway. The Nuvi 3700 series is the first that Garmin has made since the 1990's that offers both landscape and portrait mode displays (switches automatically like an iPhone). It has the new enhanced pedestrian mode which gives directions in a format more compatible with walking, and works with Garmin's "CityXplorer" maps which can route via public transit. I suspect it will be like other Nuvi's though, with simplistic features and no advanced menus. We won't really know until they are released however.

A replacement for the 60csx is also expected soon, perhaps a GPSMap 62 series. People assume it will be like the just-released GPSMap 78 series. Same resolution screen as the 60csx but better color depth. No touchscreen, but compatible with BirdsEye and Custom Maps. No timeline yet for these, just speculation since it hasn't been announced. Perhaps the 60csx will drop in price after it is released though.

If you must buy right away however, and you like the Oregon, I would go for it. You will find that it's basically the same price to buy one of the cheaper Nuvi's along with it instead of adding the City Navigator maps. I see the Nuvi 205 for $87 and Nuvi 260w for $100 on a quick Amazon search for example. These will give you voice navigation and are better suited for the car. You would also need a car mount and power cord to use the Oregon in the car, so the cheap Nuvi may actually be cheaper than outfitting the Oregon for auto use.

[alpine]

A true multi-purpose GPSr would be the Nuvi 500. It handles the paved road navigation, and it is waterproof.

I have used my 750 on the ATV before, it does fine, it is just not waterproof. For me the larger screen is the reason I lean towards these units, and stay away from the handhelds.

[Boyd]

The 5x0 series is a good choice for multipurpose use if you are willing to accept some compromises. For auto use, the screen is smaller and lower resolution than the widescreen Nuvi's. For handheld use, it is missing the advanced functions that "real" handhelds has (track management, electronic compass/altimeter, advanced map display settings, BirdsEye imagery and custom maps). Battery life will also be considerably less, and you don't have the option of using standard AA batteries.

But it is attractively priced, waterproof and shockproof, has a bright screen, supports paperless geocaching and contains pre-loaded City Navigator and 100k topo maps.

[goglen]

Wow - thanks for the quick and thorough responses.

I think that not speaking streets & no landscape is a deal breaker for me   Since the NUVI is primarily used while towing a camper through strange areas, much of my attention is focused on the camper (wider & longer than my SUV) - so listening to the street names and which way is important, as is a bigger screen so when I glance at it, I can easily see it all.

Plus, the almost 6YO likes being able to gleam info from it, such as when she sees the endpoint "flag" in the distance in the 3D view

I had forgotten that the 60CSx is not true "paperless" (my wife does often need the hints).

Since I am thus keeping my NUVI, I think I'm going to go for the Delorme PN40 as it is now paperless - and seems to have much better value (included topo maps, data credit and data library, use up to 32GB SD cards).  It has been getting very good comments on many forums.

Plus, I think orange is a cool color for a GPS - it will be easier to find when dropped!

[Boyd]

(included topo maps, data credit and data library, use up to 32GB SD cards).

The newer models (Oregon, Dakota) can use big memory cards - I have put about 8GB of BirdsEye imagery on a 16GB card for my Oregon and it works great. 32GB micro SD cards were pretty pricey the last time I looked, but the way I am going with BirdsEye downloads, I may need one eventually.  

Funny how we all have different tastes. Personally, the bright orange color and odd shape of the PN-40 are almost a deal-breaker for me. It is just plain ugly to my eyes.

[Indrid Cold]

Since I am thus keeping my NUVI, I think I'm going to go for the Delorme PN40 as it is now paperless - and seems to have much better value (included topo maps, data credit and data library, use up to 32GB SD cards).  It has been getting very good comments on many forums.

Plus, I think orange is a cool color for a GPS - it will be easier to find when dropped!

Be aware the DeLorme gave away a bunch of those as a gorilla marketing program, so those "reviews" don't include the units shortcomings. I've personally used an Earthmate GPS. Having said that, I would say you might want to think about getting a Colorado 400i which goes for $180 in a couple of places, get some 24K topo maps from this site that are better than DeLorme's 100K offering, and with the money you save you can get a BirdsEye subscription that will blow away the imagery offered by DeLorme. And it will work with a 32GB datacard in case you were interested.

[goglen]

We'll see how we like it - it should be here tomorrow   I'm sure my wife will want to give it a test run this weekend...