Oregon 550 vs 450T at about same price

[barnacle9]

I just found some great prices on older Oregon models at Cabelas, and I am wondering what people think of the advantages of the preloaded topo mapset on models like the 450T versus the base DEM on the models without the topo installed.

So far as I can tell, the main difference between the 450 and 550 models is the camera, but perhaps there are upgrades to internal components I am not aware of. So it could be that the choice here is between topo maps and a camera.

Is anyone aware of a free topographic mapset available that can be loaded into Garmin models along with the NW Trails dataset? And if so, how might it compare to the preloaded topos on the Garmin?

So I can get a 450T for $189 or a 550 for $199. I really want the GPSMap 62stc, but I might wait until they come down a little in price, or I feel a little richer. In the meantime, I think either Oregon is a great deal for the price (both normally listed at $499 at Cabelas, although you can find good deals elsewhere).

Anyone have any thoughts on which Oregon they would choose?

[akgh519]

I have a 450T. I bought it over the 550 because I always carry a camera which is better than the one in the 550. I also have my iPhone that I carry so the camera feature was not an option I was interested in. To my knowledge they are the same otherwise.
Some say getting the map set installed is not advantageous. I don't recall why. The map set is good. I have used it both in the 49 and in the lower 48. I use northwest trails on occasion. Quite frankly, I prefer to bushwhack. I have not loaded NW trails on the 450 so I could see how many of the Alaska trails came preloaded. More than I thought would be are.
I still have not put a micro SD card in it. Haven't needed the room. That amazes me. I use queries but not large ones. I haven't deleted any I input in over a year. Lots of memory.
I have no experience with the 62.
That is all I can think of. Hope it helps.

[ladybugkids]

I would never buy a "t" version for one simple reason...one can't trip plan with MapSource or BaseCamp, plot tracklogs, view elevation profiles, etc. on one's desktop or laptop. I do a lot of trip planning as well as post trip tracklog clean-up before submitting to Northwest trails using a stand-alone DVD version of the topo mapset.

The "t" version works fine for folks who want a turn on and play GPS and don't want to work with the maps outside of the GPS. Northwest trails can easily be downloaded to a "t" version.

I don't have any direct experience with the 550's camera. It does have the advantage of being able to geotag a photo, but so do many smartphones.

After using the touchscreen of an Oregon for several years, I don't see myself ever going back to having to use a wheel or a toggle switch or anything else to move between menus and type text.

[barnacle9]

I see - so you can't 'pull' the preloaded mapset back off the GPS into MapSource or BaseCamp, and since it is preloaded, they don't give you a DVD. But there is no disadvantage to getting a 't' version if you get it for the same price as one without, correct?

[ladybugkids]

As far as I know, correct.

Interestingly, the Garmin maps purchased on a microSD also cannot be used with Mapsource or Basecamp.

With or without the "t," one can still load Northwest trails via MapSource or Basecamp (I've switched to Basecamp because it has more features than Mapsource, including the ability to name mapsets before downloading them to the GPS, thus eliminating the risk of overwriting the pre-existing MapSource generated gpsmapsupp.img file) or by having a friend provide the img file.

[akgh519]

I have not explored down loading from the unit. One of our more tech savvy caching friends might be able to answer that.
No they don't give you a DVD.
When I purchased mine at REI it was marginally more for the 'T' version. I am glad I have it.

[barnacle9]

Thanks guys - that is useful information. Now I still can't decide which one to go for (my android has a much better camera which can also geotag). If I thought that the 550 had any other improvements over the 450, I would probably go for that one and invest in the mapset on DVD, which I would probably end up doing anyways.

One question I still have is regarding the quality of outside, free topo mapsets. I wonder if anyone here has any experience with them, and how they might work using BaseCamp.

[barnacle9]

I procrastinated so long the 450T sold out. So I ordered the 550. Interestingly, in doing some research, I found a comment suggesting BaseCamp will now access the preloaded topo maps. That should make the 't' models a little more attractive. Too bad I won't be able to confirm that here.

I guess I will be loading free topo sets from GPS File Depot www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/state/all

[SSO JOAT]

Correction for Mike... you cannot look at pre-load or SD card maps with MapSource.

However, you most certainly can look at them with BaseCamp. Start BaseCamp. Plug in the GPS with the pre-load or SD card in it. BaseCamp will automatically recognize your GPS right after the computer does. The map will automatically start to load. Over the USB connection, it can take several minutes for the mapset to transfer to the computer. There is a progress bar under the device listing on the left pane during that. You can work with BaseCamp normally during this process. Once the map is loaded, it will appear as an option under your map products selection box at the top of the window. Pick the map from the GPS and it will replace whatever basemap you were looking at before.

As to the "T" model question... if you are only interested in Alaska, I would NOT get the T model and instead spend the $100 for the Alaska 24K Enhanced Topo SD Card. The preload maps add about the same price to the model, but the resolution and accuracy of the 100K topo pre-load basically sucks. The pre-load is the same as the Topo 2008 DVD set, which includes the entire USA. If you want maps for areas outside of AK and don't mind the lower resolution, then you can pick either the T model or just buy the Topo 2008 DVD and load your own.

And then there are the blue charts... ($$$)

[SSO JOAT]

BTW... I own the original 3-CD Topo USA set, the Topo 2008 DVD, a 62stc with pre-load topo, the AK Enhanced topo SD and the "HUNT AK" SD card (3rd party topo with land ownership overlays). Having worked my way through all of those, the best one by far is the AK Enhanced. The HUNT AK card is also pretty awesome for the extra data (like seeing who actually owns the land where you are thinking about placing a cache), but it is still on 100K topo maps. The downside to having two cool SD cards is the need to power down, take out the batteries, and swap the SD cards to switch between maps. There is no way to copy an SD to place both maps on the same card as they are protected and serial number encoded to the physical SD card.

[ladybugkids]

Great information, Scott!

I've just recently started tinkering with BaseCamp and not having a "t" model, didn't know it would read the maps off the GPS. Garmin's own website (used to?) says one can't read the maps from a SD card or a "t" model on a PC and that if that's what one wants to do, one should get the DVD. Another example of if it's on the Internet, it's not necessarily true!

Can you provide information on where to get the HUNT AK mapset? That sounds like it could be a pretty good alternative (interim) solution to getting the land shape files we've been waiting for the Advocacy Committee to obtain. It'd be tedious, but one could manually trace the boundaries in BaseCamp and save each parcel off as a gpx or other file for import into other toolsets.

Finally, have you seen the Alaska 24K topo? Does that mapset contain additional features, or did they just interpolate more contour lines? My experience with the USGS paper maps is that the different scale maps don't have significant differences in the information on them, but that one doesn't need a magnifying glass to read them. However, with the new digital maps that were recently announced, hopefully that's all changed.

[barnacle9]

Thanks Scott for that info!

I understand the Alaska 24k actually is mostly 63k - only 24k in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau - this limitation coming from the original USGS Topo surveys. The free version sounds like it is only 63k, but I don't know that for sure. I do understand there are some benefits to buying Garmin's version, and I read somewhere that BaseCamp allows 3D view only with Garmin mapsets - don't know whether that is true - I will try and verify that later.

[ladybugkids]

Sept 11, 2013 6:26:56 GMT -9 ladybugkids said:

Can you provide information on where to get the HUNT AK mapset?

Found it. Includes many borough private land plats, too.

[akgh519]

I understood there was to be a garmin statewide 24k map coming out....sometime this year

[barnacle9]

Sept 11, 2013 15:24:42 GMT -9 akgh519 said:

I understood there was to be a garmin statewide 24k map coming out....sometime this year

Hopefully that will be available soon - it is not listed yet on the Garmin Map Page

[SSO JOAT]

In my opinion, there is no comparison between the Topo 2008 and the AK Enhanced 24K. A world of difference and it's more than just city centers that have the 24K maps. There are large tracts of the state with 24K USGS quarter-quads available. But still, most of the state was mapped on 63K USGS quads. The Topo 2008 claims 100K resolution, not 63K USGS. In any case, they are a digital representation of the USGS data and NOT the actual maps. There are plenty of errors.

Here is a comparison of the same chunk of remote AK (near Eureka) that I did for someone on another forum that I was discussing this issue with recently.



There is a notable difference between the digital AK Enhanced or Topo 2008 and the actual USGS 24K quarter quads. My 62stc came with a demo 24K map of the grand canyon in it. I scrolled down there to look at it and the difference is HUGE. When you move from the digital 100K Topo preload over to the 24K quarter quad, you are looking at an actual scan of an actual paper 24K USGS map with all the lines and markings included.

If they ever get to the point where the AK maps are actual scans of the USGS paper that are correctly datum shifted from NAD27 over to WGS84, I don't care if it cost $300, I would buy that SD card!