Garmin Oregon 550t GPS Receiver

This thing is a dream to use! I have had other GPS units but this one tops all. I like the fact that I can keep my settings from being changed or deleted simply by using the profile feature. This enables another user to have thier own settings. I can't wait to use this for fishing trips to mark hot spots on the area lakes and also for hunting trips to record those special spots in the woods for future reference. I would recommend this GPS to anyone exploring the outdoors. My wife and I are avid hunters of arrowheads, so a quick photo of our find tags it for later reference and location all at once. She likes geocaching which the 550T has built-in geocaching functions to keep those seperate from other settings. The maps are very easy to see due to its fine detail display. The compass function is the best I've seen without spending a whole lot more money. The camera creates sharp photos and tags them to the location taken along with the date and time. Very nice! Garmin did a good job on this unit.

I have a Garmin 60 cx which I have been using and I have nothing bad to say about it but I wanted a unit that would go paperless geocaching. In checking the unit out it seems to lock onto the satellites quite easily and has loads more functions than my 60cx. I like the fact that I can take a photo at waymarks or when I find the cache to log it. It can transfer information between other Oregon's so if you are with someone else you can give them the information you have without them going to a computer. The only thing that I have found is that the screen is not quite as bright as my 60cx but I haven't played with it extensively yet and maybe there is an adjustment for screen brightness. It's quite spendy compared to my 60 but I figure that it will last me for years to come. I can also load different maps into it with the use of a micro card so I can use it for in depth topographic or load cities and streets and use it like a GPS for autos. If I had it to do over again I probably would buy the unit. Later on if I find out some gliches I don't care for I will come back in and redo my review.

Adding www.huntinggpsmaps.com to this unit makes it a great GPS unit for the outdoors, as far as using this in the State of Oregon. Hunting GPS Maps only make their info for certain western states, this makes the Garmin GPS 550t a great marriage of information. It cost a extra $100.00 but well worth it. Shows much more detail then the map software that comes with the Garmin unit, which makes it iffy for good information as to the info you would like to know about in any given location. I was disappointed in my first look at the Garmin uint, as I was use to a Magellan Platinum that I gave to my son to buy this one. But after adding the hunting gps maps it far exceeds the Magellan unit. Garmin needs to get better and more information on their topo map software to justify the expense for this unit. I haven't used the camera as of yet, will do more checking out when hunting season starts next month.

Have had it about 2 months and it is simply fantastic. Upgraded from a Ledgen, which I still use, for the added featuers it advertised. The extra featuers of the Oregon proved to be quite impressive once I had it in-hand. It was a little hard for me to get the hang of and to operate, but all my problems were operator error and failure to read the instructions. I find the camera feature simply fantastic. So far my experiments with the altimeter seem to find it fairly reliable but I do feel changing weather conditions has an effect on its real accuracy. I think this feature is good for the "about" catagory but still handy enough that I record this info for references and find it reliable enough for my purpose.
The main usage of both of the units is tracking and making maps to share with other explorers. They both work great for this feature but the added featuers of the Oregon make it well worth the price difference and the upgrade. I got a lot more than I thought I would get and am very pleased.

It is simply the best GPS track I've ever seen. Garmin Congratulations! I'm captain of artillery of the Brazilian Army and never imagined that a gps track could have so many features: Military: values in milliseconds for direction and compass, Civil: sensors and sensor CADIAC paced, 3D, among other functions. Really the best toy for a man. I walk with him anywhere I go. I recommend. Sorry for my English.