Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

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Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby Stew63 » Fri 27 Jan, 2017 11:17 am

I've recently sold my old Garmin GPSMAP62s to finance a new GPS and have narrowed it down to either the updated Garmin Oregon 700/750 or the GPSMAP64s - I'm now in a dilemma as to which to buy.

As the Garmin 700 series are relatively new I can't find any online reviews critically comparing the two side by side - only reviews for the older 600 series vs 64s.
Is the reception of the 64s still superior to the new 700/750 series (compared to the older 600 series) or is it just too close to call these days with the latest improvements to the 700 series? The unit will be frequently used bushbashing in dense Australian bush. What are the benefit/s one unit over the other - apart from the glove friendly buttons of the 64s?

Regardless of which I buy should I buy with preinstalled Garmin Topo maps or buy them separately on Micro sd?

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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby keithy » Fri 27 Jan, 2017 7:10 pm

Hi Stew63

I find that the touchscreen vs buttons choice can be quite a personal preference. For me, the decision was for the Oregon for:

  • touchscreen vs buttons
  • screen size - larger than the 64s
  • smaller (well, shorter than the 64s, even though the 64s is slightly thinner, without the protruding antenna, the Oregon is more pocketable for me)

The battery life of the two are about the same in the standard power saving mode (screen off, GPS recording tracklogs). If you left the Oregon screen on, it does consume more power than the 64s screen on, so you'd get about half the battery life if you left screen on full brightness on both.

As mentioned the size difference without the protruding antenna can be an issue in terms of pocketablility. And the Oregon weighs lighter by some 50g or so.

You'll be used button navigation having come from a 62s, but I really do prefer the touch screen. Once I used the touchscreen to enter coordinates, name waypoints, navigate around the map, I find it hard to go back to my button GPS units.

My Oregon 600 touchscreen works with the various gloves I have - leather palm/fingers and other thin gloves. It can work with ski gloves but is harder to control with thicker gloves.

In rainy conditions I've had no problem with it working in drizzle or light rain, but when the rain drops get big, the bigger drops trigger the touch screen and water on the touchscreen causes "phantom" touches and the touchscreen then becomes a little frustrating to use.

With regard to the new antenna of the 700 series, I have still only heard anecdotal evidence that it is more accurate on horizontal distance when compared with the 600. There was a German forum where someone posted their comparisons of a 700 vs a 600 but I can't find the posts. I recall posts in that forum mentioning quicker GPS signal acquisition but that track logs were not always superior than the older 600 series with still some drift in valleys.

Between the 62s protruding antenna and the internal antennas of the Oregon, I have not noticed any discernible difference in accuracy in actual use. I haven't had a chance to play with an Oregon 700 or 64s in detail though, but I don't suspect the accuracy will be too far from the 62s. I have had no problems using my Oregon 600 under tree cover. I am happy with the time to first fix on my 600, and I believe that both the 700 and 64s are faster.

On to the new operating system on the 700s - I am less a fan of it, probably because I'm used to the "Classic" menu styles. You can switch back to a "classic" menu style on the 700 series, but the Profiles mode has been altered quite a bit so it takes a few more steps than it did on the 600. Coming from a 62s you might find it quite a change as well.

Interestingly the default setting on the 700/750 is to save tracks in the FIT format (stored in the activity log rather than the track manager). FIT files are handy if you have the various fitness sensors connected up and want to upload the data to an online fitness portal, but GPX is really the way to go for navigation. I'm not sure if this has been addressed in recent firmware releases, so if you go down the 700 path, remember to change the Output format to Tracks (GPX/FIT).

One other thing to note on the 700s is that some people have reported that 2 fingered pinch to zoom does not work well when the unit is not being held (like on a table or mounted on a bike). You can still use the +/- to zoom in/out. Not sure why this is.

For you maps query, the 750T comes with the Garmin Topo Lite (AU/NZ) instead of the full Topo version. I am assuming it is the V5 (latest September 2014 data). The Topo Lite version has 40m contours vs the 10m contours of the full version. The Lite also doesn't do auto-routing, although that might not be a concern for you. Be aware that the V5 maps also seem to have introduced some errors - see viewtopic.php?f=63&t=22557.

I still recommend buying the unit and maps separately. The 750 does have slightly larger internal memory. Garmin Maps can be bought on DVD and you license it to your Device serial number, but have to install it to your own microSD or Device yourself via a PC. It can be sometimes cheaper to get the DVD version than a pre-installed microSD card. If you buy the pre-installed microSD you can pretty much just plug and play, but the maps are linked to that microSD card so you can drop that microSD card to any other Garmin GPS and it should work, but you are unable to copy the map files to your another microSD card.

Another map option is the more expensive Oztopo V8 preinstalled on a microSD card. Or you can use OSM maps which I currently also have on my Oregon.

And price might be an issue for you as well. The Oregon 700/750 is still priced quite a bit higher than the 64s.

And as always, with new Garmin devices, there will invariably be firmware issues. The Oregon 700 is on v2.80 as at December 2016. In comparison the Oregon 600 finished at V5.00 in July 2016 - but between v2.80 adn v5.00 there were at least 15 firmware updates not including withdrawn updates. These were mostly bug fixes that users had reported. Some updates introduced more bugs while fixing others.

Not sure if I have helped or confused you even more.
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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby Stew63 » Sun 29 Jan, 2017 9:01 am

Hi keithy - thanks for your comprehensive information on the GPSs - a lot to digest but solely from your advice/info. I think I'll go the Garmin 750 IF I can get one... It looks like the only 750 models available in Australia are the 750t with preloaded maps (Topo light) I'd much prefer no maps and I can purchase the Topo MicroSD (or other) myself. Whats the difference between Garmin Topo maps and Garmin Topo Lite maps.

Cheers :)
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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby keithy » Mon 30 Jan, 2017 5:01 pm

Stew63 wrote:Hi keithy - thanks for your comprehensive information on the GPSs - a lot to digest but solely from your advice/info. I think I'll go the Garmin 750 IF I can get one


Sorry for the information overload. I didn't edit much before posting.

I have noticed that for the Aust/NZ it seems that Garmin are only selling the 750T. I thought they would include the full topo maps, but when I checked it seemed that they were pre-installed with only the Topo lite maps.

For maps, I have not played with the V5 full in detail yet, but in 2015 I made some comparisons with the V4 full and the V5 lite. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=18409#p255060 The screenshots were taken on my Oregon 600. Where I walked I didn't notice much of a change in the maps, but I did prefer the full contours version on the V4.

On the maps front though, you really should check out andrewp's compilation of the OSM maps. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14234&start=150

andrewp updated them in November 2016. I haven't downloaded the latest compilation yet, but the previous ones have been excellent. For VIC/TAS the contours/water courses are derived from the state mapping services so are pretty good. For other states they might be a bit of a hit and miss as they use the 3sec SRTM DEM data which isn't so accurate.
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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby Stew63 » Mon 30 Jan, 2017 6:52 pm

Thanks keithy,

I went down to JohnnyAppleSeed in St.Kilda this morning and picked up a shiny new Garmin Oregon 750t, a Garmin temperature sensor/module and the tether kit for my pack.
I reluctantly $upgraded from lite to the full AUS/NZ Topo Maps - plug and play. I'll check out the OSM maps later. Are the OSM maps simple to download onto the Oregon or a bit of technical know how required? Cost?

Although I have only been playing around with it at home for a few hours I definitely prefer the easy to use touch screen controls of the 750t compared to my clunky Garmin 62s. ie. SO much faster and easier to rename entered waypoints compared to the 62/64s.

Q. To change the colour of a downloaded route on the Oregon (to a brighter colour) can I only do it by changing the colour through BaseCamp and then re-downloading?

Thanks heaps for your info. keith!
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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby keithy » Mon 30 Jan, 2017 9:29 pm

Stew63 wrote:
Although I have only been playing around with it at home for a few hours I definitely prefer the easy to use touch screen controls of the 750t compared to my clunky Garmin 62s. ie. SO much faster and easier to rename entered waypoints compared to the 62/64s.


That's great. Even though the touchscreen experience still lags behind modern smartphones, you can see how much faster it is using touchscreen compared with buttons especially when entering data, and scrolling through map screens.

Stew63 wrote: I'll check out the OSM maps later. Are the OSM maps simple to download onto the Oregon or a bit of technical know how required? Cost?


The great thing about Andrew's OSM is that it is already compiled for you and it incorporates contours and hydro (in VIC and TAS) from the state land authorities, so it is as accurate as paper maps. You will find that the OSM also includes quite a few trails not marked on the Garmin maps. And the best thing, it is FREE and simple to download and transfer to the Oregon GPS.

Steps to get it:
  • Go to andrew's link: https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code ... B6dSEegVby
  • download the maps you want.
  • These IMG maps can just be copied directly to the Oregon internal memory, or copied to the SD card. Make sure they are copied to the \Garmin directory and you're good to go.
  • Both the OSM and Garmin maps can live on the Oregon GPS simultaneously, but when you pick between them, to avoid maps overwriting each other on the display, go to Map Setup, and Enable/Disable only one at a time (eg. Enable the OSM map, and Disable the Garmin map or vice versa)

Discussion on the maps is in this thread viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14234&start=120

Stew63 wrote: Q. To change the colour of a downloaded route on the Oregon (to a brighter colour) can I only do it by changing the colour through BaseCamp and then re-downloading?


Not sure on the route colour. I normally keep it as the default. But to change the track colour is simple through the Track Manager > Color. I normally don't use the Routing function. If I am following a downloaded route, I copy it as a GPS track and follow it manually.
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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby Stew63 » Mon 30 Jan, 2017 9:34 pm

:D
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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby GPSGuided » Tue 31 Jan, 2017 10:15 am

Good decision. Touch screens are so much better than the toggle.
Just move it!
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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby Stew63 » Tue 31 Jan, 2017 6:11 pm

keithy wrote:[*]These IMG maps can just be copied directly to the Oregon internal memory, or copied to the SD card. Make sure they are copied to the \Garmin directory and you're good to go.

[*]Both the OSM and Garmin maps can live on the Oregon GPS simultaneously, but when you pick between them, to avoid maps overwriting each other on the display, go to Map Setup, and Enable/Disable only one at a time (eg. Enable the OSM map, and Disable the Garmin map or vice versa) [/list]


keithy - do I download the OSM maps into BaseCamp first then transfer to the MicroSD card or plug the MicroSD into the computer and transfer across? Seems like a BIG file for the Oregon?
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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby keithy » Tue 31 Jan, 2017 6:25 pm

Stew63 wrote:keithy - do I download the OSM maps into BaseCamp first then transfer to the MicroSD card or plug the MicroSD into the computer and transfer across? Seems like a BIG file for the Oregon?


No need to use BaseCamp for the OSM maps. They are ready to go as is.

Do the latter option - plug the MicroSD card into your computer and just copy the IMG files for the states that you want to the \Garmin directory on the MicroSD card.

The files aren't too big - VIC is around 334Mb. That shouldn't be a problem for it to live on the Oregon's internal memory. If you picked all the states, then it is closer to 2Gb. If you wanted all the states, I'd check the available internal memory first.
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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby Stew63 » Tue 31 Jan, 2017 6:59 pm

When I select NSW the file is only 318.3Mb but when I download the downloading window says it's downloading 2.56Gb! (Yes - I do have only one state selected for download...)
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Re: Garmin GPSMAP64s or Oregon 700/750?

Postby keithy » Tue 31 Jan, 2017 8:41 pm

You might have figured it out already, but in pcloud, after you select the map you want, click the "Download Selected" button, not the blue "Download" button in the top right. The blue "Download" button will download the entire directory.

pclouddownload.jpg
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