Garmin Oregon 450: Feedback?

[Airbusdriver]

I have a Garmin eTrex Hcx that I want to upgrade. Sportsman's Warehouse has the Garmin Oregon 450 (not the 450t) on a Black Friday sale for the price of $199. The closest price I've found is $279 (Costco).

 

Does anyone have experience with this unit? My family and I have also recently gotten into geocaching, and the non-digital compass on our current GPS is a real pain. I'm not too worried about not having base maps, as they're readily available for free online via user groups.

 

Any info appreciated.

[azslim]

I have the 450T, love it, great maps for the entire US, hard on batteries compared to my 13 year old Etrex but you have to pay for the extra features somehow, a couple more batteries is a cheap price.

 

My partner this weekend had the 450, he is happy with it. Hates their customer service tho. I haven't had to use them so I don't have an opinion on CS.

[creed]

That's a good price but you are either going to want to download topo maps from GPSfiledepot or buy their SD card for around $100. I am not crazy about the touch screen. You will want to get a touch screen friendly screensaver. Battery life is shorter than the eTrex so carry extra batteries. A cigarette lighter adapter is a good investment too. If you do a lot of driving back county there are mounts and cradles for it but I can never get the suction cup type to work well for me. I have a bolt on cradle that I use on my Rhino. Another thing is that Garmin no longer supplies owner manuals. You can download one but it doesn't help me alot when my computer is at home and I am out in the field. I could print it off but carrrying a bunch of 8x11 paper around is something I don't want to do.

 

As Slim mentioned, their customer service is about as bad as it gets. If it is under warranty then you get an exchange. They won't simply repair a problem with a unit out of warranty but are going to charge you a fixed amount regardless of the problem. I had a scratched screen on my 60csx that I needed replaced. They would not repair it but instead charged me $110 for a refurbished unit. That unit wouldn't accept an SD card so they swapped it. The compass wouldn't work on that one so I swapped it again. I don't remember if their warranty was 30 or 90 days but I had trouble with it shortly after the warranty expired and got to pay another $110 for another refurbished unit that I eventually gave to a member on this forum. I then turned around and bought the Oregon. I learn things the hard way because the touch screen on the one I own now is getting insensitive and it isn't going to last much longer.

 

When the Oregon I have now takes a dump I am going to look at another manufacturer. It is a decent unit but I have no love for Garmin.

[yotebuster]

Best gps made IMO. I've got the T. But I have landownership chips for every state I hunt, and they have all the topi built in and it overrides the garmin one. I was skeptical of the touch screen but I've had mine for 4 years and its been really tuff, no problems. It does like batteries, that's my only complaint. I was gonna buy a new

Montana 650, but its way to big, won't fit in a pocket or GPS pouch, so I knew it would get lost right away.

[joe hunter]

I've owned a 450 T for a couple years and IMHO I think it's one of the best there is. The touch screen is the only way to go, it is a simple gps to use. It has a bright screen that is awesome in the dark when your trying to find your way out. It has a clock, an alarm clock, track back option, compass, ect . For batteries I use 2 litheum batteries and get a week or so out of them and thats using it every day on a hunt. As far as customer service .....I had a Rhino act up once (4 years old) and sent it in, it cost me $80 and they sent me a brand new one. Good luck with whatever you get but I assure you that you will find far more people giving the 450 a thumbs up than you will people giving it a thumbs down...GREAT gps !