Garmin Rolls up Oregon Beta into Official 3.10 Release
Shortly after shipping the Oregon 550t Garmin has officially released the features introduced during the course a lengthy beta on the Oregon x00 series (my shorthand for the Oregon 200, 300, 400i, 400c and 400t). Last week Garmin announced release 3.10 which is nearly identical to the 3.01 beta delivered to Oregon users several weeks ago and available via the WebUpdater. I’ve reviewed the release notes and found several that did not show up on any previous beta release:
- Improved automatic route recalculation
- Improved compass responsiveness in challenging GPS environment
- Improved Spanish keyboard
Garmin has also indicated that there are some “any name” .img file support improvements related to GB Discoverer which are unique to 3.10.
The complete list of improvements and feature enhancements added since 2.8 are:
- Added Waypoint Averaging application (For more information visit our new Trail Tech website at http://garmin.blogs.com/softwareupdates/trail-tech/) (2.96)
- Added Sight ‘N Go application for the Oregon 300/400i/400c/400t (2.96)
- Added Man Overboard application (2.96)
- Added big numbers option to the trip computer (2.95)
- Added customizable text to unit power-on screen (see \Garmin\startup.txt) (2.96)
- Added ability to load maps from any img file in the Garmin directory (2.99)
- Added new trip computer dashboards (2.95)
- Added option to display four configurable data fields on the map (2.96)
- Added ‘search near’ option to Geocaches search (2.95)
- Added the ability to view geocache logs separate from the description (2.96)
- Added ability to see a list of points from the map when several points are at the same location (2.94)
- Added ability to edit a waypoint from the waypoint review (2.94)
- Added support for Custom POI database and category selection (2.85)
- Added distance and bearing to point when reviewing a Custom POI (2.86)
- Added POI subcategories (2.95)
- Added change location to Sun and Moon (2.95)
- Added change location to Hunt and Fish (2.95)
- Added ability to force the Oregon into mass storage mode by holding the power button for 30 seconds while plugged into a USB cable (2.85)
- Added NMEA 9600 baud (2.85)
- Improved render quality of GB Discoverer maps and maps with satellite imagery (2.94)
- Improved map zooming (2.85)
- Improved map draw speed (2.85)
- Improved map panning and zooming when shaded relief is turned on (2.86)
- Improved automatic route recalculation (new)
- Improved Custom POI spell search (2.86)
- Improved Main Menu setup and added option to add and remove items (2.94)
- Improved readability of configurable data fields (2.94)
- Improved display of numeric degrees and mils (2.99)
- Improved GPS performance at slow speeds in tree cover (2.86)
- Improved compass responsiveness in challenging GPS environments (new)
- Improved battery gauge for NiMH batteries (2.85)
- Improved stability when changing profiles (2.85)
- Improved Wherigo stability (2.99)
- Improved connection reliability with Spanner (2.93)
- Improved Spanish keyboard (new)
- Fixed airport points not displaying on the map (2.85)
- Fixed lockup when a search returns no results (2.97)
- Fixed elevation errors when reviewing a point other than a waypoint (2.99)
- Increased the number of waypoints viewable from the Waypoint Manager and Where To?>Waypoints (2.96)
While I’m a little late on the announcement I did go back through the 3.10 release thread on the wiki and the Groundspeak thread. My impression is that Oregon x00 users are generally happy with the official 3.10 release. I used 3.10 for a day or two before a new beta 3.12 came out and never saw any difference between it and beta 3.01. Given my good luck with the 3.01 beta and all of the great features that this release includes I’ll recommend 3.10 for all Oregon x00 users, even if you’ve been hanging back at 2.8 waiting for a non-beta release from Garmin.
Oregon beta 3.12, which I’ll be posting on later today, is another issue.
Related posts:
August 4th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
[...] Promises GPS Receiver Improvement Aug.04, 2009 in Garmin Oregon Shortly after receiving an official 3.10 release for the Oregon x00 series, Garmin has followed up with a new Beta release, 3.12, which employs new [...]
August 5th, 2009 at 4:54 am
hi,
i think, there is an issue with the multi-map-function.
i installed two maps from osm with different names. (wandern.img and all_in_one.img). if i want to view the version-information in the preferences-menu the oregon hang up. can you confirm this issue?
cu
fossy
August 5th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Fossy, I’m assuming that you mean the GB Discoverer OSM maps?
Unfortunately I don’t have these maps to try but I was told by Garmin that they were working on some issues with the “anyname”.img file support and GB Discoverer — I thought they were fixed in 3.10 but maybe there are still some lingering issues. I would send this off to productsupport@garmin.com or call tech support to see if they are aware of an issue.
=Scott
August 5th, 2009 at 10:59 am
hi scott,
ok, thanks. i mean the european all_in_one here: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/DE:All_in_one_Garmin_Map and the german ride and hike-map here: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/DE:OSMC_Reitkarte (sorry, is only available in german)
the all_in_one is a very good map for europe inkl. the routing-possibility.
i will contact the support of garmin.
fossy
August 6th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
GPSFix told us right: “Garmin Oregon 3.10 BETA Software Available”.
My 400t wouldn’t boot anymore after that update when the memory card was in the device. So I removed the card, changed the settings and tried to boot again. In the end I noticed, that I could have either the card in the gadget and background set to default ot the other way round or it would refuse to boot.
Before upgrading i had all background images other than Default modified to show my phonenumber. For that I had used IrfanView. Now I opend these images with Gimp, did a fresh save and replaced the files on the device with these new ones. Now it starts up again with memory card AND the changed backgound image. But I have to note, that when replacing the image files I additionally deleted a OSM mapfile that was stored both on the Oregon and on the card.
This story just to give someone a hint what might help in similar situation.
August 6th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
That duplicate map file was probably the issue. From the Garmin Oregon wiki Issues List:
August 6th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I think this might well be part of the problem, thats why I mentionned it. But don’t you forget, that the Oregon DID boot with that duplicate file, if the default background file was in use. So I think, background setting is an option to think of in such a situation.