Garmin Oregon 450

[Za]

Hello,
I am thinking of buying a Garmin Oregon 450 GPS and was wondering if anyone has one of these and could either recommend it or suggest a better option, I tend to just go places and wander around, so it would be good to have something that would let me see where I have started, and the best way back to there. Can you set them to track where you have been so that you can find your way back easily for instance?
Its about time I tried to catch up with this technology malarkey I think.
If I get one in time it might help me to find Thursley as it took me about 3 hours walking at least to find it last time

Cheers,

Za

[Boddie]

I am not sure it does mate. I have been generally disappointed with my Oregon 300. Far prefer my Satmap, which does just what you mention.

[Za]

Cheers Andrew,
I havent heard of them but Ill give it a Google and see what I come up with, I have never tried any of these things before and Garmin seemed to be the name that cropped up most often.
Za

[tom00_uk]

a lot of mobile phones will do this these days using supplied applications or ones available for free

[Morchella]

We have an Oregon 300 and I really like it mainly because you can get free OSM mapping for it showing most footpaths etc. Better than a mobile because you don't have to worry about it getting a soaking if it decides to tip down while you're out walking.

You can also plan routes in advance or download them and use the device to follow them. It bings at you every now and again so you know you're on the right track and tells you how far you have to go. I'm sure I've avoided getting lost quite a few times because of it.

Will also track where you have been and you can take waypoints for anything of interest you might have found out and about.

Laura

[Za]

Thanks for that Tom, Ill have a look into that as well, my phone only does calls and texts, might be time to have a look at 21st century models
Za

[Boddie]

Originally Posted by Morchella

We have an Oregon 300 and I really like it mainly because you can get free OSM mapping for it showing most footpaths etc. Better than a mobile because you don't have to worry about it getting a soaking if it decides to tip down while you're out walking.

You can also plan routes in advance or download them and use the device to follow them. It bings at you every now and again so you know you're on the right track and tells you how far you have to go. I'm sure I've avoided getting lost quite a few times because of it.

Will also track where you have been and you can take waypoints for anything of interest you might have found out and about.

Laura

Crikey, you're gonna have to talk me through this sometime. Where do you get the free OS mapping from?

[poschiavanus]

Originally Posted by Boddie

Crikey, you're gonna have to talk me through this sometime. Where do you get the free OS mapping from?

Morchella says free OSM mapping, not free OS mapping. OSM=OpenStreetMap not OS=Ordnance Survey. There's a huge (& intimidating) amount of information about maps for Garmin devices here: OSM Map On Garmin/Download - OpenStreetMap Wiki. There's also a lot of info. elsewhere for other devices.

For the UK a reliable source is talkytoaster, including contours. These are relatively straightforward to install and use.

These maps might not be as complete as the OS in your local area: but in some places will be much more detailed: for instance pubs which serve real ale might be marked as such. I have all of Europe on my Garmin + a few specialist maps for walking.

Although the Ordnance Survey released free data over a year ago I'm not aware of anyone making a decent GPS or SatNav app. from the data. One of the reasons is that it entirely lacks footpaths. There are likely to be some good raster maps soon: I've seen a brilliant one of the area round Ben Nevis from the Grough magazine team.

Back to the OPs question, I use two Garmin etrex devices and am very happy with them. I bought the first for naturalising, the second for contributing to OpenStreetMap because the first did not have an external card. I would say this latter feature is far more important than the device category (for Garmin: etrex, 60, Oregon, new Montana etc).

Posch

[ChrisJB]

Originally Posted by tom00_uk

a lot of mobile phones will do this these days using supplied applications or ones available for free

Check out the Viewranger application that you can install on a smartphone. It cost me 90 dabs for complete OS Landranger coverage of England, Scotland and Wales. It uses GPS to show where you are on the map and creates a track of your route, plus a load of cool graphs showing speed, altitude, etc, if you like that sort of thing. I'm not normally a fan of gadgets and gubbins like that, but I do rather enjoy messing about with this.

Regards, Chris

[tom00_uk]

i use edmondo (free)for sports tracking

most sports brands, like northface, nike, addidas has their own free apps as well

mytracks by google is quite good and open source so people have taken it and run with it and released enhanced apps using its functions