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Garmin Oregon 550t with Camera and US Topo Tips For Writing A Good Review
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Recent reviews for this item: Cmangusso, February 13, 2011 I bought the 550T version because it came with a map. I
should have gone with the regular 550 model and bought the
24K TOPO map instead. The 550 plus 24K TOPO map would cost
the same as the 550T and you would have a better map.
Anyway I have been using my GPS every day and have not had
any issues. The 24K TOPO map is awesome, have not had any
issues with it, yet. I don't understand the reviews
knocking the brightness of the screen I have not had any
issues and I use it all the time in the sun and can see the
screen even with the sun shinning directly on the screen. I
have an 8Gb SDHC card in it and use it to store mostly
photos I take with the camera. The camera is not bad,
granted it is not a high end camera but it works for what it
was intended for. I use it to take pictures of areas I want
to navigate back to. The cool thing is you can take a
picture one year and navigate back to the same spot the
following year. This is helpful for hunting seasons. I can
take an animal and if I have to leave it overnight for some
reason I just take a picture and then navigate back to it in
the morning, very cool. If you are looking for a hand-held
GPS unit the Garmin 550 model with a 24K TOPO map is the way
to go. I would definitely purchase this item again. Jim, October 18, 2010 This Garmin 550t is my 5th GPS, all Garmins. It is far and
away the best. The touch screen is far better than any
button-type model easy to use and customize. Yeah, it's
expensive, but the 400 or Dakota series is a cheaper
alternative if money is the issue. The camera lacks
features of a true camera of course, but the pictures are
excellent. I just returned from two weeks in Europe and
found I used it more than my digital camera and upon
downloading the pix, found they were equal in quality. If
you are "into" pictures/cameras they won't measure up, for
for everyday snapshots it's way beyond what was expected.
Geotagging the pictures is a very nice feature also,
particularly when traveling.
Garmin is sneaky about routing. Even tho the 550t has 100k
topos, and city street detail beyond what is expected, the
the unit will not provide street-by-street directions. You
must purchase the city micro SD for that feature. Given the
cost this should have been included. It was clearly done
just to make the customer buy more Garmin "stuff."
Like every other GPS unit out there using topos, the maps
are copies of U.S. Forest Service topos. If you are
expecting more, even using the 24K topos, well, you won't
get it. FYI.
The ability to load your own maps is a clever and great
feature. It's a bit time-consuming, particularly at first,
but once you get the hang of it, it's easy. Search Youtube
for GPS City clips on how to do it.
Battery life is short, but that's because of the high def
screen, a worthwhile trade-off IMO.
"Cons": The lanyard hole for a wrist strap is too small.
Make it bigger. The unit needs an easy and convenient
mounting system for handlebars on bikes/ATVs similar to the
E-Trex. Whoever thought the removable "prongs" for the
battery charger was a good idea should be slapped into the
middle of next week. Easy to lose when traveling. Make the
prongs fold - just like every other rechargable and portable
thing on the market. wydopnthrtl, September 21, 2010 Recently got into ATV-ing in Idaho. And I'm a novice with
GPS. This is my third one, the first two were a low end tom-
tom, and a mid range tom-tom (for street use). For this
Garmin I also purchased the US street maps, a motorcycle
ram mount, the auto kit with ram mount for the windshield,
and additional energizer re-chargable batteries (2300mAh).
To say the least, I've spent A LOT on this Garmin Oregon
550t. Far more than I wanted too. However I've been
disappointed in the low end GPS units and wanted to have a
single unit that could go on/off road.
Been on two atv trails and one out of state trip so far.
I'm learning and so far am pleased.
Switching between functions is easy and it'll still be
guiding you (and recording) even though you may have
something else displayed. Gives audible tones when a turn
is coming up. Still haven't figured out how to change the
volume yet...
Battery time: The AA's that came with it will go about
4.5hrs with display on full brightness. The AA energizer
2300mAh will go about 6.5hrs on full brightness.
I've used the camera several times and it's ok for showing
things like a trail head and where it's located.
I very much like the physical quality of the unit. It's
tough and the back with integrated mounting is tough.
The ram mounts are a MUST. Very good quality!
Still learning.... marl59, September 14, 2010 I recently switched from a Garmin Rino 120 to the Oregon
550T. I am very pleased with is unit. Acquisition was very
fast and stable even in bad weather and lots if tree cover
in Idaho. The features all worked very well. The topo map is
a HUGE plus. It saved me more than a few times in a recent 2
week Idaho elk hunt. I would highly recommend this unit to
anyone who could afford it. The only negative I would offer
is that when you use the "Sight N Go" feature, it deleted
all of my waypoints. Not good! I hope Garmin fixes this with
an update. I was able however to restore some of the
waypoints. The ones that were assigned to the photos that I
took. So I avoided the Sight N Go button after that.
