As I say in my article:

Routing, or, in other words, automotive mode, requires:

• a routing engine (software) inside the GPS unit — included when you buy the GPS unit
• a routing capable map (a map that describes its features like roads and trails in such a way that a routing engine can use it to calculate the optimal route) — not included in the GPS unit and sold separately

Thank you for the detailed comment, I appreciate it.

You mention the Colorado cover being “much” easier to remove than the Oregon’s.

Actually, it’s the opposite in my text: “The battery cover of my Oregon 300 squeaked and moved 1 mm when pressed. [...] As an advantage, the cover is much easier to remove than on the Colorado: changing batteries is simpler.”

So I wholly agree with you.

Maybe you refer to some other point in my article where I might have mixed up the units’ names?

Second point is regarding the bike mount slipping after a few bumps. [...] place a thin piece of rubber (perhaps cut from an old bicycle tube, etc) between the mount and the metal before cinching down the zip ties to give it extra grip.

Absolutely. I’d received such a suggestion from Dominique BLACHON shortly after I published the Oregon vs Colorado review. I’ve applied the idea to both ahead stem and handlebar positions and it works great.

So I’ve included the tip in my more recent Garmin Dakota vs Garmin Oregon GPS comparison review.

Thanks for the beep tip! Haven’t tried that one… and will as soon as possible.

Second point is regarding the bike mount slipping after a few bumps. I have an Oregon 400t, but it doesn’t matter which, this will help. If you can’t put your mount on the gooseneck of the bicycle, which I see from the photo in your review you probably can’t, then place a thin piece of rubber (perhaps cut from an old bicycle tube, etc) between the mount and the metal before cinching down the zip ties to give it extra grip.

Your response to a comment from Phil regarding following the compass while biking mentions not having turns called out due to no exterior speaker, but you didn’t mention that there is a beep that sounds audibly when a turn is coming so that time spent looking at the screen is limited to the very short period necessary to determine where you turn next and in which direction, a couple seconds really at most if zoomed correctly. And the beep comes once for nearing your turn and then twice for an immediate turn, so if you know your general direction, you needn’t look at the screen much at all.

Since you don’t geocache, I’ll say that the Oregon and Colorado both are exceptional geocaching units, as is the 60 CSx, but the Oregon gets my vote for top performer with its GUI interface and touch screen, and both have the myriad ways you can customize the “profile” screens for your particular activity, switching back and forth between them easily and quickly when changing activities. Geocaching, Recreational, Automotive, Marine and Fitness profiles are standard and you have the ability to create your own versions for specific uses you have, each allowing a totally different setup of icon access for ease of use, not to mention the ability of the new “dashboard” feature to add specific, smaller versions of other features on the GPS to the Map View, both when navigating and/or when NOT navigating! This is a very useful thing. For geocachers, for example, the map view while driving could show the nearest geocache with a small icon next to it that, if pressed, will give the details of the cache. Or you can add data fields with ETA, speed, compass, stopwatch, elevation plot… It goes on and on. And, unfortunately, so do I.

I really wanted to thank you for your review and point out a couple things, but I got carried away. So, thanks for your review!

I’ve finally published my Garmin Dakota vs Garmin Oregon GPS comparison review. Sorry again for the delay, looking forward to your feedback.

After reading every word of your Garmin vs Colorado review, I do trust your opinion. I trust it enough to pass along my brand new Oregon 300 to my son and opt for the Dakota 20 even without reading your review — but I’m really looking forward to it. On every bike ride in bright sunlight, I find myself staring at a reflective, solid bronze screen wondering if I’m on the route. The problems with daylight screen visibility on the Oregon can’t be underscored enough.

Overall, yours is the best in-depth review of a particular GPS’s functions and features I’ve ever read.

Drew

The Dakota, Oregon and possibly Colorado (haven’t checked) allow to display “distance to next”, “ETA at next”, “time to next” and “next waypoint name” on the screen.

If your map is routable, the GPS will calculate the distances on the paths / roads. If your map is not routable, it’ll calculate distances in straight lines.

What do you mean by saying I do not “actually follow the map on the screen of either the Oregon or Dakota when cycling”? There’s no in-built speaker calling out the turns… I have to follow the map and routing directions using my eyes.

Screen resolution is not as important as screen readability. If you can’t see what’s on screen, however high-resolution it may be, you can’t use the GPS.

In the UK I’ll produce routes using bikehike.co.uk which will follow footpaths from OS mapping and also a combination of auto routing using google maps. The shop units and staff haven’t been able to tell me the following: when coming to a route (waypoint) change of direction can it give a countdown to that point and the intended new direction? I can’t see that you actually follow the map on the screen of either the Oregon or Dakota when cycling – or do you? Does the reduced screen resolution inhibit use when following maps.

Look forward to your help and the long review.

I apologize for the delay with delivering the Dakota vs Oregon article. It is at the top of my writing list and I’m doing my best to free some time from photography and design projects to finish and publish it.

I’ve logged thousands of kilometers on the bike and on foot with the units, backpacked, used in the cities (including nightmarish Paris), in different lighting conditions, temperatures (+25 to -15) and weather (sunny to snowy). So, the data is ready.

The pictures are ready.

The text is waiting several draft revisions. My writing workflow involves a lot of re-reads and re-edits.

The short conclusion is that the Dakota 20 is the best outdoor GPS unit we can buy today. Regardless of price.

Even if the Dakota 20 was twice more expensive than the Oregon 550, I’d still get the Dakota 20.

Reasons?

1. Screen usability. I can read information from the Dakota in any lighting condition.

2. Size. Easier to handle than the Oregon, takes less handlebar space, weighs less.

So, if you trust my opinion without first reading the detailed review, get the Dakota 20.

Sorry again and thank you for your patience!

Honestly, I’m not the best person to talk to about geocaching. I don’t do geocaching at all and have zero experience with Garmin geocaching features.

The iPhone is barely useable in bright sunlight. Just reading a book on my iPhone, sitting in the sun, is sub-optimal. And I have to crank screen brightness level to maximum, draining the battery real fast.

Dedicated GPS receivers like the Garmin Oregon, Colorado or Dakota also have a huge advantage: they work without cell phone coverage. Using GoogleMaps on the iPhone is nice when you have coverage and when you’re ready to pay 1 EUR per 1 Mb of data roaming when outside of your country.

The Dakota vs Oregon article I’m preparing has side-by side shots of Oregon, Dakota and iPhone for size and bulk comparison.

From what I know, Garmin does not develop maps or other navigation data (examples: elevation data, POI, airport approaches, etc.) In other words, they do not survey countries around the world to create maps.

Garmin specialty is hardware and embedded software that interfaces data read-in from instruments (examples: GPS, air-speed, attitude) with navigation data created by private companies (examples: Navteq) and state agencies (examples: USGS, US NACO, France IGN, SwissTopo).

Garmin does help to convert the data into formats compatible with Garmin devices.

In my understanding, the core data of the Topo Swiss map is produced by the Swiss Federal Office of Topography, and not by Garmin.

The PDF document you reference above dates from 2005. 5 years old. And even that document mentions Garmin Switzerland as Bucher+Walt, the importer and reseller of a large gamut of equipment. No mention of Garmin painstakingly surveying the Swiss Alps.

Furthermore, all maps produced roughly since the invention of Postscript and Bezier curves’ editing software (examples: Freehand, Illustrator) are vector maps. The cartographers use aerial imagery and local surveying to draw maps in vector format, name locations with vector fonts, add details like topography, symbols, etc. The files are then printed on paper, reused in other products, or rasterized into what you seem to call “pixel” form (TIFF-style data). But the source remains in vector format.

The Garmin Oregon offers the following choice of position formats:

• hddd.ddddd°
• hddd°mm.mmm’
• hddd°mm’ss.s”
• Austrian grid
• Borneo RSO
• British grid
• Dutch grid
• EOV Hungarian grid
• Estonian grid
• Finnish grid
• German grid
• Icelandic grid
• Indonesian equatorial
• Indonesian irina
• Indonesian southern
• India zones
• Irish ITM
• Irish IG
• Loran TD
• Maidenhead
• MGRS
• New Zealand
• New Zealand TM
• QNG grid
• RT 90
• Swedish grid
• SWEREF 99 TM
• South African grid
• Swiss grid
• Taiwan grid
• US national grid
• UTM UPS
• W Malayan RSO
• User grid

When can we expect to see the Dakota 20 vs Oregon comparison review?

I want the 3 axis compass (like in the Dakota) but I think the WhereIGo geocaches seem like a cool fun idea, but the Dakota does have those :(

But screen visibility is very important so…

Maybe go with Oregon 450 instead? which has the 3 axis compass, but more expensive and all I want is a geocaching GPS! Sigh

Thanks and keep up the good work

have you ever tried to use a OpenStreetMap ? There are some renderings:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/DE:All_in_one_Garmin_Map (sorry only German descrition)
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:Computerteddy

or basic info about Garmins and OSM:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Garmin