Oregon 600 opinions?

[dgjessee]

My Vista HCx is croaking I'm afraid... Looking at etrex 30 of course but damn the Oregon 600 is nice. I was wondering if anyone had been using it. Is the extra bulk/weight worth it for the processing power and large screen?

[robotfury]

I used the Oregon at the Stagecoach 500. it is slightly bulky, but not really super big. Just sits high on the stem or bars.  It doesn't look so bulky when you have bike packing gear on the bike.  The screen real estate is worth it as well as the ease of navigation - like using a smartphone. The size is certainly offset by the quality. Superfast and accurate. If I was confused about direction on a trail, all I had to do was turn the wheel every so slightly to the right or left and the gps would immediately track the movement. I am talking just a simple turn no more than an inch. The feedback is instant. Brightness is tremendous. Something that is important to me. Incredibly easy to see in direct light as well.  Even on 50 percent, it is brighter than any other device I have used.  Battery life is great. Probably more bells and whistles than you need - an etrex is really all you need - but I loved the touchscreen activation. There is definitely a learning curve with the unit.  For me at least. I got it only a few weeks before the race and had no idea how little I knew. Little things too - turning off the automatic orientation. Whenever I leaned my bike or shifted it too much, the screen would shift to landscape orientation. Turn that feature OFF.  Also, the touchscreen is so so sensitive. Often when I would touch the map, I would drop a pin and have to go back to remove it. Small things. The unit is sensitive and you have to spend some time with it, but overall I liked it. I was going to get the eTrex 30, but opted to try this one out. The money is well spent. I read that Scott Thigpen used it during the Divide, so that gave me some confidence to try it out. Definitely get the SD card in there and DEFINITELY tether it to your handlebars. The mount kinda sucks and there is  no third party - like Bar Fly - that makes a decent mount.

[dgjessee]

Thanks! That's a good mini-review and pretty much told me what I wanted to hear. How would you rate the battery life? Were you getting the advertised 16? or did you use lithiums (and get more)? That's probably the only thing holding me back is that the eTrex will do like 40 hours on 1 set of lithiums.

[robotfury]

ABSOLUTELY use the lithiums. I did not monitor battery usage as well as I should have, but regular batteries died stupid quick. Terrible. Hours. I don't think the lithiums lasted the full 16 though. Then again, I was glued to my GPS and had it firing on all cylinders when I could have turned it off for certain stretches. I think the eTrex wins when it comes to battery life.

[dgjessee]

Right on. Thanks! You've been a lot of help


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