Garmin GPS Map 60 or newer Oregon?

alosix

Expedition Leader
I need to throw a good handheld gps into the kit.

Got to looking around Bass pro shops last night. I really like the GPS Map 60 series, but the features and form factor of the Oregon series caught my eye.

Most of the Carda team I'm around seems to like the GPS Map.

What do you guys use?

I figure it just needs to be dead reliable, and some topo doesn't hurt which each of them support.

Thanks
Jason
 

Travelmore

Adventurer
I did this comparison myself when looking for a new SAR GPS. Everything I read indicated that the 60 series is more accurate and faster than the Oregon. If you are off trail I would go with the 60 if you are running forest roads and ocasional hikes on marked trails I would go with a Oregon.
 

Tucson T4R

Expedition Leader
I've been using the Garmin Map 76 CSx for the last few years and really like it. Same features as the Map 60 CSx just a different form factor and it floats. Handle both of them and see which you prefer.

Go for the CSx models because they have the more sensitive receiver chipset in them.

These are a little small for in truck use but I put up with that because I wanted to also take it with me on hikes.
 

alosix

Expedition Leader
I did this comparison myself when looking for a new SAR GPS. Everything I read indicated that the 60 series is more accurate and faster than the Oregon. If you are off trail I would go with the 60 if you are running forest roads and ocasional hikes on marked trails I would go with a Oregon.

Yeah, this is what I'm starting to find.

Seems the Oregon is more suited to the Geocaching people. I mostly need something that 'just works'

Got a Nuvi 750 in the Jeep for 'on the trail' and road stuff. Works pretty well for that so I'm mostly just looking for a handheld.
 

redbeard

Adventurer
Once thing to keep in mind, is the Oregon can support raster maps/imagery...google it for more details.

Basically if you need a little bit of sat. imagery, the oregon might be the way. Not sure how the touch screen works when wet/cold.
 

SunTzuNephew

Explorer
After all the issues in the State of Oregon this past couple of weeks, I hear Garmin is going to rename that unit ...



To NOTOREGON
 

Shasta FJ

New member
Hopefully this will be of use. Costco dot com has the Garmin 60Cs, not the Csx. It seems to be a pretty good price at $219.99. I got one for Christmas, haven't used it that much but really like it so far.
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
I work for a Garmin dealer and we sell a variety of handhelds from Oregons to eTrex units and the Map60 continues to be the number one seller by far. We notice that many GPS sales are based on recommendations from friends who use a particular unit and with so many fans of the Map60 lots of people come in asking for it in particular.

The Map 60 Cx and Map 60 CSx are the same unit but the latter has an electric compass and alti/barometer. Features many people THINK they want, but seldom use.

The Oregon has been a good seller for us as well, but it does get some not so positive feedback sometimes because the touch screen can be challenging to read sometimes and forget using it with gloves. It's also not very sensitive to the touch for some fingers.

The Map 60 has a slightly larger screen than most units and more dedicated buttons makes interfacing easier for some. The Oregon series does have some nicer options for maps, with more on the way.

Bothe have excellent reception and accuracy, so that's a non-issue. Hard to beat the value of a Map60.
 

oz97tj

Observer
I have an Oregon 400t and love it! I've never had issues with the sensitivity of the screen not working. I find it's way easier to go through screens than a 60 too, but that's just me. It also seemed easier to learn to use, but I suppose that will differ depending on what you've used before.

If I had it to do all over again, I would buy a 300, which can be picked up for relatively cheap and has the same hardware as the 400. I'd buy Garmins City Navigator DVD and load maps that way for streets, which also has just about any two track you can find as well on it. Then I would download the free 24k topo that can be found at a bunch of different places online and have a great unit. I've done those two things with mine and don't use the maps that came preloaded on it so I wasted money by purchased the 400t.
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
Then I would download the free 24k topo that can be found at a bunch of different places online and have a great unit. I've done those two things with mine and don't use the maps that came preloaded on it so I wasted money by purchased the 400t.
The 400t preloaded with topos is great. What 24k free maps are you talking about???
 

oz97tj

Observer
Whattaya know. Thanks for that. I wonder if it will work with my Edge 705.

Don't know. It's a free download and loads into MapSource on your computer. Then you can try to transfer it.

I've actually downloaded a bunch of different maps that I view on MapSource that is usefull for trip planning and such, but I've only actually loaded City Navigator and topo on my GPS.
 

Bogo

Adventurer
The Map 60 Cx and Map 60 CSx are the same unit but the latter has an electric compass and alti/barometer. Features many people THINK they want, but seldom use.

The electronic compass I use. The altimeter I wish I could turn off. It needs calibration...

Anyways, the actual chipset is wonderful. Over 24hours on a set of generic alkaline batteries. It will lock on in dense tree cover. With the optional external antenna it will maintain a fix in some parking ramps. Never had a problem with fixes in city street canyons, though some times it takes a bit of time to catch the WAAS data for a more accurate fix. Get a 2G micro SD memory card for it. Then you can download around 1/4th of the USA into it as Topo maps using Mapsource. You can also set it up to log to a file. It will make a new file each day, and it can store many weeks worth of all day tracks in the free space on the micro SD card. This is separate from the track log screen it has.

For car use I just hook mine up to the laptop and use Delorme's TopoUSA.
 

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