Comments on: Garmin Oregon Beta 2.95 Available — Seriously!

By: Garmin Oregon Satellite Reception Woes - Beta 2.95 or Something Bigger? - GPS Fix - GPS Fix

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:31:03 +0000

[...] last four days have been trying times for some Oregon users. Around the time Garmin released Oregon beta 2.95 software people started reporting intermittent but serious GPS reception issues. Initially it [...]

By: Speedwalkers

Speedwalkers — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:37:56 +0000

I charged the new release 2.95.
Everything seamed fine. But when trying to seek a cache I noticed that previous to the release existing pocket query on the GPS was not considered to show the caches, only the single loaded caches existed.

Back home, I deleted every WP, Cache and pocket query – then loaded the pocket query again. Now the caches from the query were showed.

Problem solved.

By: Jody Poe

Jody Poe — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:34:47 +0000

Thanks again Scott!

If you make it this way check out where I work and know that it’s a rather unique place to stay here in Colorado Springs. I’m the Manager of Technical Services and could show you around, it’s right next door to Garden of the Gods.

http://www.navigators.org/us/ministries/gleneyrie/

there’s not many prettier hikes than Pikes Peak from the Barr Trail, just bring your oxygen

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:58:17 +0000

As of recent Garmin has been providing a lot more updates for the Oregon. Many of these are “beta” drops, but they do contain so very nice enhancements (not just bug fixes). I’m beginning to doubt if the Colorado is ever going to get these enhancements. Probably some bug fixes but I think it is in “maintenance mode”.

Ruggedness of the Oregon has been great, I take mine every where, dropped my first one on solid granite and other than a few scratches it was fine. No problems with screen reliability — I do use a Zagg and a lanyard.

That shot is from the White Mountains in NH, I live in New England not too far away. Hope to get our your way soon for some hiking.

By: Jody Poe

Jody Poe — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:49:35 +0000

Yep, that’s what I’ve kind of concluded from talking with folks at REI and other sites I’m reading. I also seem to get a feeling that Garmin is way more committed to the Oregon software updates than the Colorado, thoughts?

Do you have any issues with actual or perceived ruggedness of the Oregon? I know a good Zagg screen protector and the Garmin case helps tons, but………

Thanks for the response, and hey where do you live, your picture in the about page looks like Colorado, I’m in the Springs?

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:26:35 +0000

Thanks for finding us Jody, also check out the Garmin Colorado and Oregon wiki’s where you will get a lot more detailed help. I have both units and really prefer the Oregon at this point. The Colorado has a few slim advantages over the Oregon, the biggest is better screen readability. Sometimes I find the Oregon a little harder to read but overall the advantages of the touch screen and all these new updates are really starting to make the Oregon Garmin’s flagship handheld.

By: Jody Poe

Jody Poe — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:21:51 +0000

Scott,

Great site, searched for info on the latest software update and found you! Your reviews and especially screens shots are awesome!

Hey quick question, I have a Colorado 300, am a bit disappointed with the interface and am thinking of exchanging it for an Oregon for the touch screen.

Any thoughts, especially now with the updated software that gives much more capabilities with the Oregon.

Any regrets with yours?

thanks

Jody

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:13:39 +0000

I think the issue is with the STM chipset or chipset firmware. Given that the DeLorme PN-40 is based on the same chipset and has similar problems with WAAS I suspect the issue is with the chipset. Since it has been this way for 6-8 months I’m not holding out much hope that Garmin will be able to fix the problem if it is an issue with the hardware.

By: dostuffgps

dostuffgps — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:18:50 +0000

Still havn’t seen an improvement in WAAS lock on and retention. Would really like to see this feature addressed and fixed for accuracy of the Oregon 400t unit.

By: AZRadioHead

AZRadioHead — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:26:02 +0000

So far Garmin has done a great job with this release. The shutdown was most annoying while out GeoCaching! Arghh…

One thing I would like to see fixed or addressed it in the ‘geocache_visits.txt’ file it always uses GMT/UTC/ZULU time regardless of your local timezone. I’m located in Arizona, -07:00 hours UTC, so when I’m out geocaching at 1700 (5:00PM) the time stamp in the geocache_visits.txt file switches to the next day and 0000 UTC. When I upload my caches to Geocaching.com it looks at the time and date stamp and everything after 5pm Arizona time is seen as the next day so I have to manualy change the date when I post my logs. This isn’t a major deal now that I know about it but it was time consuming the first few times when I had to go back and change a dozen logs to the previous day. I would like to see the log keep time in the local timezone that you are in and not UTC time. Garmin?

Cheers!