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Display was supposed to be better right from the start on the 450, though I hear Garmin has upgraded more recent versions of the 550 to the same display. I did a review of the 450 for my website:

http://freegeographytools.com/2010/a-review-of-the-garmin-oregon-450t-gps-for-field-work-part-i
http://freegeographytools.com/2010/a-review-of-the-garmin-oregon-450t-gps-for-field-work-part-ii-the-touch-screen-interface

Short version: As a long-time user of the 60Cx, I hated the touchscreen interface, and didn't care for the display when viewed in sunlight. I've just bought the 62s, and while I like it better, there are still substantial issues with it (look for an upcoming review). If my 62s broke tomorrow, I wouldn't feel rushed to get it fixed; if my 60Cx broke, I'd get it fixed right away. Does that tell you something? ;-)

Unless you absolutely need to have the Birdseye aerial imagery, or need to use scanned custom maps, it's not at all clear to me that the 450, or even the 62s, is that much of an upgrade. Especially when it's $300+ for either unit.

Some quick (and non-comprehensive) answers:

- You need either MapSource or BaseCamp to install the maps. MapSource you have to buy (it's also called Trip and Waypoint Manager); BaseCamp is free, and can be downloaded from the Garmin site.

- It's not actually BaseCamp you use for selecting/uploading maps, it's an associated program called MapInstall.

- After you get that out of the way, you should research "Garmin custom maps" and "Garmin BirdsEye"; that's how to get aerial/satellite imagery on your Oregon.

Garmin documentation is usually bad. For full info on the Oregon, check out the Oregon wiki:

http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/

I know one guy who uses aerials for navigating LA swamps, and he's happy with it even with slow draw speeds. For river running, aerials would be too slow, and too low-res; topos would probably be OK, especially if created with the BMap2MP utility.

Work in progress. I also figured that those who are taking advantage of the more advanced options are already reasonably comfortable with the command-line options. I'm also a newbie with mkgmap; as I get deeper into it, I'll probably add more options.

Just posted on the latest version of my free GUI for the mkgmap compiler. Now supports .mp files, input of a map ID number, and a few other options.

http://freegeographytools.com/2010/free-tools-for-custom-garmin-vector-maps-xviii-full-gui-for-mkgmap-compiler

Moagu will create "bitmap" DOQQ images that will display on the 60/76Cx series, but draw times will be slow, about a minute for full screen draw. Once drawn, they'll keep up with a walking/hiking pace, but nothing faster. Resolution is also limited to the 500-ft. zoom level max, which works out to about 4 meters per pixel. So it works for these, but just barely.

For USGS topo maps, draw speeds are a lot faster, and they're usable.

I'd be happy if they just gave you the option of enabling/disabling custom overlay files. This should be trivial to do - just move a disabled file into a separate directory that isn't accessed by the OS when it looks for custom overlays.

For those of you who've bought/registered my Moagu program to convert raster maps into Garmin format, the beta of version 2.0 is out, and I'm looking for feedback:

http://www.mediafire.com/?rveu4wsd3r58w33

You also need to have the free version of cgpsmapper installed on your computer:

http://cgpsmapper.com

If you haven't registered it, the new beta increases the spatial extents available in demo mode, making it more useful if you only need small map segments (about 1.5 miles x 1.5 miles or so); it's free in demo mode.

Biggest changes:

- mkgmap is now the default compiler; it compiles maps about 30 times faster than the current free version of cgpsmapper, and 150 times faster than older versions.

- Includes a de-collaring utility for standard USGS 1:24K topo maps (NAD27 GeoTiffs only)

- I've optimized the GUI front-end to the BMap2MP vectorizer utility to create decent-looking USGS topo maps with much faster draw times than standard Moagu maps (2-3 times faster). A new tutorial section in the help file walks you through the process of creating these. These are now fast enough to work OK on the older 60C/76C models. I've created an installer with a sample USGS map that you can try out:

http://www.mediafire.com/?bpsbmrpr03nmhmu

This has both the installer and a GPX waypoint located within the map (to simplify finding the map location).

I don't have my 62S yet, so I haven't been able to test out this BMap2MP topo map on the newer Garmin OS that runs on Colorado/Oregon/Dakota/62/78 series; they should work, but I'm not sure. If someone could try it out on one of those models and let me know if it works, that would be great!

Longer list of improvements here:

http://moagu.com/?page_id=15

Cool - that was my biggest gripe about the Oregon 450, that there wasn't quick access to the waypoint marking function. Don't know what to think about the Sirf chipset, since this is likely very different from the old reliable SirfStarIII thanks to the patent issues. I'm hoping that Garmin realized that the Cartesio chipset wasn't working out (especially with WAAS reception), and went to a better option.

Scott at GPSFix has some indirect evidence that a model 62 may be announced shortly:

http://www.gpsfix.net/garmin-gpsmap-62/

I really hope that a "62" model does get released. I like the Oregon/Dakota hardware and features, but really dislike the touch interface, and have a hard time recommending them over my old 60Cx for serious field work. If they configure the button interface on a "62" to work well with the new OS, many of my objections would disappear. One thing that bugs me about the 78 models, though, is that they appear to be missing a separate "Mark" button that lets you enter a waypoint or MOB point from any screen; I hope the "Enter" button can serve that function, at least from the map screen. And I would hope that a larger quad-helix stub antenna would be a feature; presumably, that would also fix the rather major WAAS issues that exist with the Oregon and Dakota models.

Anybody know which chipset the new 78 series uses? Cartesio or MTK?

I'd guess that most of the US imagery will come from either the USGS (free), the NAIP (free) or state agencies that make their data available for free. Digital Globe charges for their imagery, so I suspect Garmin would only use that for areas outside the US.

Is there a limit to Birdseye Imagery in terms of file size or area covered, similar to the 100-tile limit for Custom Maps? If not, is there any chance they've lifted the 100-tile limit for Custom Maps with this latest update?

Should be the waypoint coordinate; don't know why you'd get a 2-meter shift.

Garmin's MapSource program offers the option to save data imported from your GPS as a DXF file. If you don't have MapSource ...

http://freegeographytools.com/2007/garmin-mapsource-for-free

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-install-mapsource-if-it-didnt-come-with-your-gps/

Don't use accentuated letters in the name of KMZ file.

I don't think this is the problem - G-Raster generates its own names for both the embedded JPG tiles and the final output tiles, and those don't include any accents, punctuation, underscores, anything that people have said might be a problem. And it has no problem reading files that include those characters.