Garmin Oregon 550T 3-Inch Handheld GPS Navigator with 3.2MP Digital Camera (U.S. Topographic Maps)

Don't buy the pre-loaded maps - they are WAY off I was tired of loading maps, so bought the 550T instead of the 550. When I tried it out in my neighborhood, the maps were A FULL 1/3 BLOCK OFF in the E-W direction. Called Garmin, and they said, yes, the 2008 topos can be off and that there is no way to fix it. I have the Topo 2008 maps loaded on other units, and they are off a bit in some cases, but not like that. I had to return the 550t as it is not useable to me if it is that far off. So I can get the 550, but missed out on the rebate. But am now considering whether I want the Oregon. I have a Colorado, and find it very slow clunky for caching. Perhaps that is one reason they discontinued it. That is why I wanted to go to the Oregon as I tried a friend's Oregon and it was easier to use. But Garmin still could make several improvements on the Oregon for caching. They obviously didn't have experienced cachers consult in the software design. Rating: 1 (pneelie, 2010-07-12) Garmin Oregon 550T 3-Inch Handheld GPS Navigator with 3.2MP Digital Camera (U.S. Topographic Maps) customer review

Just what I'd hoped for! I upgraded from a Garmin GPSMap76cs, which was an upgrade from an eTrex. Reviews of the Oregon 550t have been concerned about the brightness of the screen and about battery life. I don't think either of these are problematic. The Oregon's screen is just about as bright as the 76cs ever was, and the batteries seem to last just as long if you're not taking a bunch of pictures. I agree that taking photos runs the batteries down noticeably; but if you're only taking one photo per cache, for example, you'll not have any problem. I like the size of the Oregon compared to both the 76cs and the eTrex. I like the touch screen a lot, as well as the ability to set up various profiles for various uses of the GPS. I added the auto kit so as to mount it on the windshield, as well as the 24K Topo map for my part of the country (with an 8 GB micro SD card) and an invisibleShield for the screen, and I'm altogether good to go! The price isn't bad compared to what I paid for the 76cs several years ago. Rating: 5 (D. Stancil, 2010-06-04) Garmin Oregon 550T 3-Inch Handheld GPS Navigator with 3.2MP Digital Camera (U.S. Topographic Maps) customer review

Oh yeah! This unit sure has made geocaching easier for me. It has a few things that I don't like about it, such as not being able to delete "found" geocaches from the unit after you've logged them online. At least I haven't learned how it can be done yet, without connecting it to a computor. But other than that, and a couple other small details that apply only to geocaching, this is an outstanding GPS with a great camera! Rating: 5 (D. Udell, 2010-05-12) Garmin Oregon 550T 3-Inch Handheld GPS Navigator with 3.2MP Digital Camera (U.S. Topographic Maps) customer review

Best Garmin I've owned so far after using a 60C then 60CSX for the last several years, we upgraded to the Oregon 550t this year and totally LOVE it!! i've also owned a Nuvi 250 that i upgraded to a 260w and I use a Forerunner 205 for marathons. of all the garmins i've owned/used so far, this is the most user-friendly, and fastest. very easy to use for geocaching...you can view all the hints, logs and cache details on your device in the field where it really helps when you're searching for that hard-to-find cache. even in the hands of our younger kids the touch screen is super user-friendly and easy to use. at the same time, i'm on our county's Sheriff's Search and Rescue ATV Posse, and this gps provides all the usefulness i could ever wish for. the tracking function is similar to other garmins and in the field i love the rugged waterproof feel and not having to worry if i drop it off my ATV in the mud. the satellite reception works great even in my basement surrounded by concrete and its super fast...locates your position is less than 15 seconds every time. camera works fine...picture quality is good...a flash would be nice but you dont miss it that much. i've been able to find some topo maps online available for download that are 24k instead of the 100k that Garmin includes, but it would be nice if Garmin included the 24k topo maps on the unit strait out of the box. the lanyard seems to be much stronger but i still dont trust lanyards. i've lost both of my gpsmap60s and had to backtrack looking for them in the past because the lanyard broke on one and the belt clip broke on the other...both while riding a horse and bouncing in the saddle a little. never had problems with either of them bouncing out of my ATV handlebar mount though. overall 5 stars and totally worth the price. Rating: 5 (Amy Thueson, 2010-05-09) Garmin Oregon 550T 3-Inch Handheld GPS Navigator with 3.2MP Digital Camera (U.S. Topographic Maps) customer review

Oregon 550T The only negative with this GPS is that the user's booklet doesn't give very much information. The manual on disk is a "4" on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the best). However, the GPS is easy to use and most of the menu items are pretty much self-explanatory. Having the TOPO maps included is a big plus. If you were to buy the more inexpensive 450T and have to buy the maps for various regions you could easily spend far more to have maps for the entire U.S. than what this device costs. The scale is acceptable, the contour intervals are not as good as a USGS map of course, but you do have the option to purchase more detailed map (at at least $99 a "pop"). I've found that I don't really need that much detail. As a backpacker, I found setting a route using my own waypoints to be a great asset. I've also used this GPS for geocaching and it is pretty accurate. The camera is another plus, the detail is good enough unless you want to print an 8X10 photo. Downloading the photos was relatively simple and I was able to easily bring pictures into my Kodak Easyshare program as well as my Nikon program. Again as a backpacker I like to only take items with me that have more than one purpose (I use a frisbee as a dinner plate, but I have yet to find more than one use for my toothbrush). Anyway, I'm pleased with this GPS and reccommend it. Rating: 5 (Profsparrow, 2010-04-27) Garmin Oregon 550T 3-Inch Handheld GPS Navigator with 3.2MP Digital Camera (U.S. Topographic Maps) customer review