Oregon 450 or 450T?

[Ramblin GPS]

Hi,

Apologies for not doing advance homework on this cool site, but I'm pressed for time to buy a GPS. 

The unit I've chosen for backpacking is the Garmin Oregon 450.

Should I get the 450 or 450T?  I know there are tutorials for loading maps on this site, however, how hard and itime consuming is it to do so?

Should I get the 450 and just load the maps myself, or should I get started with the 450T with the preloaded maps?

Thanks, RG

[maps4gps]

The pre-loaded maps are Garmin's 100k topo mapset.  They are routable and have a built-in elevation grid for 3D viewing. 
The topo mapsets here are roughly 24k, but are not routable and do not have 3D/shading.  Garmin sells 24k mapsets.
The mapsets are easy to install and use when the instructions are followed properly.  Time will be a few minutes upwards depending on the mapset (a <10Mb versus a 1Gb mapset).

[Boyd]

The pre-loaded maps are Garmin's 100k topo mapset.  They are routable and have a built-in elevation grid for 3D viewing.

Garmin 100k topos, like the ones on the Oregon 450t and 400t are not routable. They will behave just like the non-routable free maps on this site. If you want routable topo maps you will need to purchase Garmin's 24 topo for your region.

If you really don't want to deal with computers and map transfers, the 450t may suit your needs well. Just turn it on and start using. But if you need routing you'll also want to install either City Navigator or a Garmin 24k topo. The easiest way to do that would be with a pre-loaded data card which you just plug and and start using.

FWIW, I have an Oregon 400t which also has the pre-installed 100k topo's. It can be handy to have topo maps for the whole US available without doing anything special, but Garmin's 100k topo maps are not terribly accurate. They will be fine for many, if not most, outdoor activities though.

[foresterscott01]

I would recommend the 450 and use the 24k topos on this site.  If you find that they don't suit your needs (which I'm sure they will) then you can just get a micro SD with the Garmin topos on it and you won't be spending any more than if you purchased the 450t to begin with.  The free topos are very easy to upload.

I've got the 550 (non-T), loaded it with the topos from this site, and used the $100 I saved on topos to buy a City Navigator SD card, effectively turning the Oregon into a NUVI for highway navigation as well.  I would also recommend a factory refurbished unit to save even more $$.  I bought my 550 for $299 last year.

Scott

[jbensman]

Certainly you can get free better topo maps here than the built in maps.  However, the T models also come with 100K DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data which some features require.  You can only get DEM data from a T model or Garmin 100K topo or Garmin's 24K topo (which have 24K DEM).  Us map-makers have not been able to figure out how to make DEM data to load on your GPS, so you cannot get DEM data from gpsfiledepot.com.

While one may still decide the DEM data is not worth the extra money, it needs to be weighed in the decision.  I thought it was worth the extra money when I bought my 550T.

DEM:

To show shaded relief, the GPS requires DEM data.  If you have DEM data on your GPS, it will show shaded relief on any map (including the ones from gpsfiledepot.com).  However, shaded relief makes the GPS significantly harder to read.  However, sometimes it can be nice when looking at a map to see if the trail goes uphill or downhill.  You can turn it on if you need it.  Without it, usually you can tell which way is up, but sometimes you have to click on topo lines to figure it out.

The 3d viewer requires DEM data

With DEM data, the GPS will add elevation data to a track you load and follow on track manager.  This allows you to view the elevation profile of your trip.  However, I use http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/elevation to obtain the elevation profile as the DEM data there is more accurate than the built in 100K.  But it is nice to have it just in case.

These are the two things I like (and use) the most:

With DEM data, the GPS will add elevation data to a car route.  So you can see the elevation profile of the route you are driving.

With DEM data, you can click anywhere on the map and one of the pieces of information about the site that will be provided is the elevation.  While it is based on 100K DEM, it is reasonablely accurate. 

[Ramblin GPS]

Thank you very much for the repiles.

I'm not sure I really need DEM for shaded relief topos or elevation profiles of routes.

I'm concerned, however, by the term routable topos if someone could clarify this.

I guess expectations should be clarified a bit.  The intent is to be able preselect way points to plan the route of a hike, note points of interest for later dispaly on a topo map uploaded and printed off the PC, roughly gps in property boundaries, and geocaching.

Thanks, RG

[Boyd]

When you create a route on a routable map, the software computes the best way to get between the points you choose while following the roads and trails on the map. The unit can then provide turn by turn guidance ("Turn right on Main Street in .2 miles").

With a non-routable map, straight lines will be drawn between the points you choose. The software will not know how to follow the roads or give you directions because that data is not part of the map. So, basically, a non-routable map just shows your position on the screen. It can, however, show a track of where you've been. And I've read that the newer handhelds (like the Oregon 450) can actually use a previously recorded (or downloaded) track for navigation. No familiarity with this since I have an older model, but see this article: http://gpstracklog.com/2011/04/five-reasons-to-upgrade-your-garmin-handheld.html

[babj615]

I have Oregon 300, 400t, 450, 550t.

The preinstalled 100K topos garmin preloads on the "t" units can be off by as much as 300 feet [I can document], so, for me, the only advantage of the "t" models is the extra ~3GB of storage space on the GPSr itself. Of course, micro SD cards can be had in 16 GB flavors for well under the extra $100 the "t" models cost over the non "t" models.

I do like the camera in the 550/550t, as it actually takes decent photos, and geotags them.

It does NOT replace a real camera though.

At any rate, the Garmin 24K Topo maps are much better than the garbage preloaded on the "t" units. If you buy the SD version to drop into your Oregon, it will have less data than the DVD version you load into MapSource/BaseCamp and transfer yourself.

I am running 16GB Patriot MicroSD in all my Oregons, and use maps from GPSFileDepot for >90% of the time, as they are the most detailed FOR MY USE.