Garmin Oregon 450 reviews/info

[ilovehardwater]

I recently purchaced a Garmin Oregon 450 and have little to no Gps experience. I will be using the unit strictly for ice fishing and Morel hunting in the spring. I did purchace the LakeMaster card to go along with it. It seems to be a good unit so far and seems to be very accurate. Would anyone with some experience using this unit chime in and give me your opinions, I just want some conformation I got a good unit because I have nothing to compare it to.

[OnAFly]

I just got my Oregon 450 in the fall. I like it so far.

Pros:

Touchscreen can be useful

Battery life is 7X my H2Oc (huge plus!)

Acquires signal much, much faster than my old one

More functions (barometer)

Intuitive to use

Lots of FREE maps available on the internet, including MN Lakes

Waaaayy more lakes than I had on my old one (but that's really the card)

Cons:

Touchscreen with gloves

Screen is a little small

Lakemaster maps are up in the air

[eyebjim]

I bought one to replace my lowrent H2O.

Pros: fast satellite lock, very accurate.

Cons: screen too difficult to read in any sunlight, touch screen not sensitive enough.

I find myself still using the H2O even though it is slow to lock on.

I am not overly happy with the oregon. It is not bad if you don't need to use it in sunlight. The main problem with use in sunlight relates to the contour mapping software (lakemaster). I can see the contour lines half the time in sunlight.

[OnAFly]

You can adjust the brightness of the screen, it will reduce your batt life, but makes it easier to see.

[eyebjim]

No I have adjusted the screen it is the way the contour lines are set up that make them hard to see.

[OnAFly]

The only thing I don't like about the contour lines is that the 1 foot lines are all the same color and the 5 foot lines are all the same color. I liked that LM shaded the deeper water in my old H2Oc. It was easier to immediately distinguish a point from a shallow trough.

[Jmnhunter]

i bought one in the fall also and love it, I havent had any problems viewing the contours in the daylight (if you set it to marine colors, making the water white and contours blue), as for hunting and seeing the screen, I have a subscription of garmin's birdseye and thats tough to see outside, otherwise the aerials are pretty good!; I was skeptic about the touch screen but it responds perfectly to the finger (i also attached a guitar pick with string attached for better touching);

with the lakemaster contours, you do have to realize some of the lakes are DNR contours 5-10' contours in which are general contours, the lakes in which lakemaster surveyed 1-3fters you will be alot more accurate!

[OnAFly]

I actually can use my nose to run the touch screen if my hands are busy...or frozen

I'll have to try putting it into Marine Mode.

[Whopper Stopper]

Other than the touch screen being hard to use with gloves. I sure like mine.

WS

[MN Mike]

i bought one in the fall also and love it, I havent had any problems viewing the contours in the daylight (if you set it to marine colors, making the water white and contours blue)

GOOD TIP!

Garmin Handhelds have this feature in one way or another, on the older units they called it Land or Water mode, now days it's called Marine mode. If anyone has a older Garmin, you may want to look for this feature to contrast the contour lines more. It will also enhance your tracks too.

Mike

[eyebjim]

I'll Have to give that a try. Maybe there is some use for the thing yet.

[ilovehardwater]

Thanks guys!!! I'll have to look into the Marine mode. I usually do a ton of research on the products I buy but I was at Scheels and the guy working sold me on the unit. I'm glad I didnt get a pos unit. Thanks again, B.T.

[eyebjim]

Thanks for the marine suggestion. I set it that way and now I can see it better in sunlight. Now maybe I will get some use out of it.

[timjones]

I have the 450 but don't see how you get to Marine mode. Is that in the display setup somewhere?

[eyebjim]

Oh boy, I just did it last night lets see if I can remember...I think it was under the setup then map something or other. I guess I'm getting old. Maybe someone without CRS can help.

[MN Mike]

[eyebjim]

I just went to it in my unit again.

You select setup then marine then marine chart mode and then select nautical.

If I select fishing mode from marinechart mode I get no contours. If I select nautical I can see the countours and they are much easier to read in sunlight.

[timjones]

I just went to it in my unit again.

You select setup then marine then marine chart mode and then select nautical.

If I select fishing mode from marinechart mode I get no contours. If I select nautical I can see the countours and they are much easier to read in sunlight.

I was just going to reply that I figured it out. That is exactly what I did. thanks for the help.

[Jmnhunter]

i was sitting in the fish house this weekend playing around with the gps trying to figure out how i changed it in the 1st place and it took me awhile!

[OnAFly]

One piece of advice for ice fishermen. Attach some sort of float to your GPS so when it falls out of your pocket as you mess with the frozen shut door you don't wind up with a wet arm as you try in vain to grab it while if falls into 24ft of water. The second worst part of that ordeal was the ATV ride back to the landing in 3 degree temps.

That was a pretty sick feeling watching that thing drop.

[sticknstring]

That's the beauty of the H20 with with lithiums - it floats! Whenever I make a significant donation to the lake like that, I'm usually rewarded with outstanding fishing. Gear sure has a way of finding holes.

[OnAFly]

Luckily I have a bunch of gift cards and points built up at Cabela's. Also, REI has the GPS for $50 less and Cabela's will price match, so in the end I'm just about even. Oh well, lesson learned. I'm just mad that I lost a few good spots marked on that thing. At least it happened at the end of our trip so we got to use it most of the time.

[MN Mike]

That's the beauty of the H20 with with lithiums - it floats!

And with anything else they sank like a rock! I always get a kick out of that one......... leave it to Lowrance.

Bummer about your Oregon Fly, sickening feeling for sure. Maybe a person needs the GPSMap78? Atleast it will float regardless of battery type.

Good luck!

Mike

[OnAFly]

I thought about it, but I really liked that Oregon. I guess I've got a little time to think about what I want to get to replace it.

[bigbad401]

One piece of advice for ice fishermen. Attach some sort of float to your GPS so when it falls out of your pocket as you mess with the frozen shut door you don't wind up with a wet arm as you try in vain to grab it while if falls into 24ft of water. The second worst part of that ordeal was the ATV ride back to the landing in 3 degree temps.

That was a pretty sick feeling watching that thing drop.

I have a lanyard for my Oregon so that won't happen. I hook it on a belt loop or something like that on my clothing.