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I know we have reviewed a few GPSs recently, but brand new ones don't come along that often
and when Garmin offered to give us exclusive access of one of the first of their new Oregon
600's to roll of the production line we couldn't resist..
Mike > and here it Is (holds Garmin up) and right now it is the only one in the country
and this is going to be the worlds first review. So obviously we thought that the producers
of the GO Outdoor Show would want to send us somewhere spectacular, the Alps maybe?
Possibly even the Cairngorms or the Lake District .. not a car park in Chester
Mike Unfortunately the sound of the construction site next door and us
forgetting to tune our radio mics properly made most of the audio sound a bit like this..
but basically the producers wanted us to answer a question "In a world where smart phones
do GPS and whole lot more, what's the point of something that just does GPS.. ?
They decided that best way to answer that question was a challenge, a 100 mile navigation
triathlon driving, cycling and walking starting in Chester and finishing at an undisclosed
location deep in Snowdonia. The first check point being Gywder Forest.
First we established who would be using the Oregon
Mike: That's the drop test
Ollie; Its certainly is rugged.. its fine, its fine
Mike: Right I'm off.. right
Mike Looser
At this point it became apparent that Oregon might have been put a considerable disadvantage,
which made the producers quite worried.
Ollie decided to take the Northern Route with lots of motorways, and I went for the more
interesting southern route
Mike: I've got a feeling that I might actually have the advantage here, because Smart Phones
are multi tasking - that's what their made for - and thats what this
Ollie: Hey, we're in Wales..Bore da
Mike: I actually use to do a bit of mountain bike, and I know that for a fact that Ollie
has only been on a mountain bike once in his life..� and it didn't end well.
� Ollie: So what I just noticed when I dropped
that in the middle of a car park� this Oregon is Ollie Proof!! I'm a bit clumsy sometimes
and dropping it, took the hit and its just rolled and it was completely fine .
Ollie>> So with the Oregon here you can set it up to different profiles and at the moment
I've got it set up on the stat nav profile.. The stat nav uses nuvi and I key in the post
code, its very easy to read, very clear cut maps.I am missing that bit where it speaks
to me, because I find that quite useful
Mike>> Google maps seems to rely on the mobile signal to do its turn by turn navigation,
and its starting to get a bit scramble
Im not sure how by Ollie won the stat nav part of the challenge.. but the mountain biking
would be the bit that Ollie would be dreading and while this part of the challenge was useful
to test the bike attachmenton the Oregon you can't really get lost on a signal track mountain
bike route.. I could picture our producers Ian face if the Oregon lost, but I don't like
loosing
Uh I'm in the lead again..
And so I arrived at the final part of our challenge in the lead, and was told to find
a geo cache deep in Bedgelert forest
Ollie: Mike's just arrived before me but, GPS signal is very difficult to pick up in
dense woodland - with the Oregon here I've got a super sensitive receiver which works
with both GPS and something similar which the Russians use called GLONAS ..
Mike I am a bit worried about the accuracy of the GPS in the phone because i've been
walking of the path for 5 minutes now and as far as my phone isconcerned- i'm still
on that path..I can't be confident about exactly where I am right now
Mike>> I'm also a little bit worried about my battery, because i've only got, and i'm
on the red now .. and got less than 20% battery left and its started going down a lot quicker
using the GPS all of the time
Ollie>> Ok, so it looks like I'm at the right spot here and the coordinates match up - so
its now just the case of trying to finding this prize - but the good thing is that there
is no sign of Mike around
Mike>> My battery has just died - Im so close to the finish
Ollie>> its go to be around here somewhere .. here it is .. and its a golden envelope
Mike>> The producer of the GO Outdoors show is a cruel master .. Ollie is about to find
out that he actually has won anything - but your loss can be you gain - on Saturday 30th
March 2013, GO Outdoors will be publishing the location of a GEO Cache hidden in Snowdonia
that contains a real golden ticket that the finder can exchange for a shiny new Garmin
Oregon 600 - see the video description for details.
Mike From a hardware perspective the Oregon 600 is slightly thinner, but also feels more
solid and better put together than previous oregons. You do get the sense that the perceived
competition from companies like apple has forced Garmin to up their game on industrial
design. It's all glass and high quality rubberised plastics. The fit and finish is spot on and
the unit has a premium feel.
The screen is the first Garmin to use the same capacitive touchscreen technology found
in smartphones bringing multi touch to a GPS for the first time. It is also of a higher
resolution and brighter than the one in the old oregon. In use pinching to zoom, and manipulating
maps with your fingertips is a massive improvement, and the screen is noticeably sharper and brighter,
making it easier to read in direct sunlight. The most surprising thing is that you can
still operate it with light gloves on, which is something I wish was possible on my iPhone.
Garmin have added a faster processor than before, and we can confirm that maps load
more quickly and there is generally a lot less lag in operation. It doesn't feel as
snappy as an iPhone, but it is now at least playing in the same league.
The Oregon 600 series now picks up signal from the Russian Glonass as well as GPS Satellites.
It can track more satellites and in use this means a faster location lock and greater accuracy.
You also get customisable buttons that work really well with the profiles feature. In
one profile a button can operate the camera shutter release, in another it adds a waypoint.
Finally, faster bluetooth and an 8 megapixel camera on the 650t make transferring photo's
and information between your device and gamins excellent base camp software a breeze. Being
able to sync the device with the base camp mobile app is a nice feature, and to us, should
be the only time you should really be relying on a smartphone in the great outdoors.
The software has also been updated
Generally the updates seem to have been around making the device more customisable, adding
more shortcuts, and generally refining an already solid platform. One very welcome improvement
is much improved waypoint management tools that make it far easier to organise and delete
waypoints on the device.
Also, memory restrictions on Geocashes have been lifted so you can pretty much store as
many as you like.
All in, it is a definite step forward over the previous Oregon. For me the new capacitive
multitouch screen that you can actually use with gloves is the most immediate improvement.
Whether that or any of the other changes are worth upgrading for is up to you, but it is
definitely worth popping down to your local GO outdoors and having a play with one of
them. And with your discount card if you decide to buy one and find it for less anywhere else
GO outdoors will beat that price by 10%, even against online prices.