NaviGadget

Garmin BirdsEye

Jan 20, 2010 garmin, gps navigation, software 1 Comment

Garmin just announced a subscription based service called Garmin BirdsEye which lets users load highly detailed photo maps to their handheld GPS navigation devices. Currently the compatible devices include Garmin Oregon, Garmin Dakota, and Garmin Colorado and the annual subscription costs $30 which gets you unlimited access.

Here are some specs about the BirdsEye service:

• aeriel photo based maps
• 0.5 meter per pixel resolution
• zoom capability ranges from 12 miles to 20 feet
• can be overlayed over vector maps
• data provider is DigitalGlobe

You’ll have to wait until March of this year for the BirdsEye satellite imagery.

Garmin Oregon 450 and 450t

Dec 30, 2009 fitness, garmin, gps navigation, tracking 1 Comment

Garmin just yesterday announced Garmin Oregon 450, and Garmin Oregon 450T. This makes the already crowded Oregon series even more crowded; just how Garmin likes it. We already had:

Garmin Oregon 200
Garmin Oregon 300
Garmin Oregon 400c
Garmin Oregon 400t
Garmin Oregon 400i
Garmin Oregon 500t
Garmin Oregon 550
Garmin Oregon 550t

But anyhow, back to Garmin Oregon 450, and 450t. They feature a bright 3″ color display, newly added user-selectable dashboards, enhanced track navigation, and also high-speed USB for faster map transfers.

You’ve still got the photo navigation and the 3-axis tilt-compensated electronic compass which is a must if you’re lost in the wilderness. Of course Garmin Oregon 450 and 450t does feature a barometric altimeter, the necessary software for easier geocaching, and wireless exchange of tracks, waypoints, routes and geocaches.

Both 450 and 450t come with a worldwide shaded relief basemap, but 450t adds a preloaded 100K topographic maps for the U.S. including 3D elevation perspective. They weigh 6.8 ounces, and can last up to 16 hours on two AA batteries. They feature a GPS receiver with HotFix which kinda mimics A-GPS technology. They come with 850 MB of internal memory and a microSD card slot for photos and other optional map data.

What’s different from the 5xx series? These don’t come with a digital camera. MSRP for Garmin Oregon 450 is $400, and for Garmin Oregon 450t is $500.

garmin custom maps

Nov 19, 2009 garmin, gps navigation 6 Comments

Garmin just introduced a free service called Custom Maps that lets Garmin Oregon, Garmin Dakota, and Garmin Colorado users upload their digital or even paper maps into their device.

You’ll have to update the software on your PC and on the Garmin handheld devices we just mentioned, save the map in JPG format, create an image overlay, link the JPG file, adjust the boundaries, then send to your device – all of which are explained here in detail with images too.

Garmin Oregon 300 – Mushroom Edition

Oct 6, 2009 garmin, gps navigation 5 Comments

Garmin Oregon 300 has been around for a while here in the U.S. and it seems like the same is true for the Spain. In fact Spaniards may be a step ahead of us.

Garmin Oregon 300 Mushroom Edition, although sounds like a joke, is the hot new thing as far as portable navigators go. As you may have guessed from the name, we are before a handheld GPS navigator that includes a database with information and images of one hundred common mushrooms.

Garmin collaborated with micólogos and associations of mycology to put all this fungi information into the database. In each card the common name is included, the name in Latin, the family it belongs, and a brief description with an identifying photo.

Beyond the database of mushrooms, the interesting thing about Garmin Oregon 300 – Mushroom Edition provides is that it knows about the best locations to search for each kind of mushrooms

The price of the Garmin Oregon 300 Mushroom Edition is about 429 Euros… Read More …

Garmin Dakota 20

Jun 27, 2009 garmin, gps navigation, tracking 2 Comments

Garmin Dakota 20 is Dakota 10’s bigger brother. Announced at the same time Dakota 20 has pretty much the same appearance as Dakota 10 but when it comes to specs it hides a lot inside.

Priced only $50 more than Dakota 10, for a total of $350, you can expect the same impressive 20 hours battery life from Dakota 20. It also has a microSD card slot to store more stuff, like maps, a 3-axis compass tilt-compensated electronic compass, and a barometric altimeter. Also don’t forget about the wireless connectivity feature that lets you share waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches wirelessly with Dakota, Oregon, Colorado and Foretrex devices.

If you’re looking for something bigger and more expensive you should check out Garmin Colorado or the Garmin Oregon series.

Wait until September for Garmin Dakota 20 to come out.

Garmin Dakota 10

Jun 27, 2009 garmin, gps navigation, tracking 4 Comments

Garmin Dakota 10 is one of the latest outdoor GPS handheld devices from the company. Compared to the Garmin Oregon series, the Dakota 10 is a lot cheaper and lower end.

Garmin Dakota 10 has a 2.6″ color touchscreen, weighs 6.75 ounces, and runs up to 20 hours on two AA batteries. It is also built rugged, and is waterproof (IPX7). It has worldwide basemap pre-installed and comes with 850 MB of memory, which can store 1,000 waypoints, 50 routes, 2,000 geocaches and an active tracklog of 10,000 points and 200 saved tracks. We doubt you’ll run of space.

You can expect to get yours hands on a Garmin Dakota 10 starting in September for about $300.

Garmin Oregon 550

May 9, 2009 garmin, gps navigation 1 Comment

We just talked about the Oregon 550t – but don’t forget about it is cheaper little brother Garmin Oregon 550. The difference here, other than the “t” in the name of course is that Oregon 550 does not include preloaded topo maps of the entire us – but you can always purchase those later. Garmin Oregon 550’s suggested retail price is $500.

Other than this difference, the rest of the specs are identical to 550t. You’ve got your 3.2MP camera with 4x zoom, 3 axis digital compass, and a new sunlight readable touchscreen. Garmin Oregon works with 2AA batteries and it comes with two charged Ni-Mh rechargeable batteries.
Read More …

Garmin Oregon 550t

May 9, 2009 garmin, gps navigation 1 Comment

Garmin just announced the Oregon 550t touchscreen handheld GPS device, which integrates a 3.2MP digital camera that can geotag images, and a 3-axis compass. Garmin Oregon 550t is water proof and has an easy-to-use interface (suggested retail price $600)

Nice thing with a camera on your GPS device is that it will let you take pictures w/o you having to carry a separate device, geotag automatically, and most importantly let you navigate back to it, such as a hidden spot you may have found.

Other nice features that are new in Garmin Oregon 550t include the built-in 3-axis compass which shows your heading even when you’re standing still, without holding it level. The 3″ touch screen is also new and is now more sunlight-readable. 550t even includes preloaded 100K topo maps for the entire U.S. in state-of-the-art 3D elevation perspective.

Garmin Oregon 550t weighs 6.8 ounces and comes with two precharged (oh thanks) AA NiMH batteries which is supposed to last up to 16 hours. 550t also has a microSD card slot to allow storage of more photos and maps.

Back in nuvi series the “t” meant that the device had traffic updates. The difference here, however, between 550 and 550t is that 550t includes preloaded U.S. topo maps.

Check out this video too:

Garmin Oregon 500T

Mar 16, 2009 fitness, garmin, gps navigation 1 Comment

It looks like the latest in-store REI catalog leaked some information on a couple of new Garmin Oregon models. You can expect to see the new Garmin Oregon 500 and Garmin Oregon 500T at retailers very soon for $500 and $550 respectively.

You may ask yourself, “why so expensive Garmin”? Well the reason is that the new 500 Oregon series come with a digital camera. We’re not sure how many pixels this camera will support but if it’s good enough it means one less gadget on your hiking trip! Yay! Read More …

GPS maps for snowmobiles

Feb 3, 2009 fitness, gps navigation 1 Comment

We just came across this and thought it would be useful – if you live somewhere with snow and have a snowmobile. A recently launched site – SledGPS.com – now offers comprehensive maps of trails for snowmobiling.

There are 6 packages offered and each of them cost $50. Or you can buy them all for $125. The regions are Great Lakes, Mountain West, North East, Pacific West, and Upper Midwest.

Your maps will arrive on a memory card and will be compatible with all Garmin nuvi’s, Colorado, Oregon, Zumo, and PSmap 60Cx/60CSx, GPSmap 76Cx/76CSx, eTrex Vista Cx/HCx, eTrex Legend Cx/HCx, eTrex Venture Cx, Rino 520HCx/530HCx, Edge 605/705.

They’re located in sunny Arizona :)