Garmin | On the Trail

Versatile Oregon 550t finds its way to new mountains and magazines

Garmin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:00:00 -0500

The day we announced the Oregon 550t, Garmin's waterproof touchscreen handheld with a built-in 3.2 megapixel camera, we knew it would get a lot of people's attention. The hikers and hunters appreciate its preloaded U.S. topo maps, meaning they no longer have to load, erase and repeat when changing areas of exploration. Climbers and campers embrace the built-in barometric altimeter and 3-axis tilt-compensated electronic compass, which shows your heading even when you’re standing still, without holding it level. And geocachers love going paperless, with the ability to display detailed information for up to 5000 caches, such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints and description. But we hoped that everyone else would find ways to use Oregon in their favorite hobbies and everyday activities. And they have.

In their November issue, BIKE magazine (above) says Oregon 550t is perfect for "stoking every rider's inner nerd" as one of 2010's 10 Most Promising New Products: "Taking GPS technology to the trail - a movement led by companies like Garmin - has revolutionized the way we find and share new trails. ... With 850 megabytes of storage, the Oregon makes taking and geo-synching trail photos easier than ever." And if you prefer snow to dirt, the folks over at SKI magazine put the 550t in their October issue as part of their fall line of Gear and Gadgets. "The key to this high-end handheld is its big color touchscreen. It's easy to read in direct sunlight and allows for quick toggling between functions, which include compass, altitude, trip calculator and preloaded topo maps."

In the video below, see why hunters are flocking toward the 550t, and be sure to check out the award-winning Land of Oregon minisite to learn more about the rest of the Oregon family of handhelds.

Garmin in action: Your pictures are worth a thousand words

Garmin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:01:46 -0500

Among the many emails we get each day from delighted Garmin users, some just beg to let the pictures do the talking. So here are a few recent notes and images sent our way. The first comes from Runner's World favorite and Forerunner fan John "The Penguin Bingham, who travels long distances to run long distances. "Thought you’d get a kick out of this," John wrote. "We’re marking and measuring the course for the Antarctic Marathon on King George Island using a 205! We had others, all Garmins, but that little thing worked GREAT."

Then there's this one, from Ruane C in Waltham, MA, who caches under the screen name of Findit and showcases his Garmin pride everywhere he travels: "Hi there...I am the proud user/owner of a Garmin Vista HCX and a couple of other Garmin devices used on a regular basis while running, biking and just cruising around.....I use my Vista primarily for Geocaching, but also for occasional hike assistance. I thought I would send you this picture of my Massachusetts Geomobile...you may get a laugh out of it."

And finally, Pamela C. from Billings, MT, who caches under the name Freedancer, sent us a few fun photos with captions: "Hello Garmin! I am sending you a couple of pictures of my eTrex Vista C on the road with me. We made a Geo-Jaunt down to Casper Wyoming and had a blast with my eTrex and 60CX. Hope you enjoy them. There is one from the Platte river in Casper WY and three from the interpretive center located up on the hill."

Her captions, from above left: "Here I am at the Platte River with my eTrex Vista C." Above right: "Hope he can find his way home!" Near left: "Trying to hand him the GPS but he was too tall!" And near right: "I put the eTrex Vista in a place he could reach!"

Thanks, John, Ruane and Pamela, for sharing your photos and making our day. If you want to have your adventures considered for inclusion on the Garmin blog, visit Garmin.com/ContactUs and email us your stories and testimonials.

Oregon 550t Goes Waterfowling

Garmin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:58:06 -0500

Our outdoor-rec sales and marketing director is back from a goose and duck hunting trip to Manitoba, and he reports that the Oregon 550t helped make his trip a success. Of course, having a ruggedized, waterproof camera in the blind is always handy -- and as you can see, the 3.2 megapixel lens takes some nice photos.

And although there isn't a lot of movement involved in waterfowl hunting, the touchscreen Oregon can still come in handy. Knowing the precise legal shooting hours is a snap, thanks to the built-in sunrise/sunset calendar. And if you've ever hunted ducks, you know what a pain it can be to lug all of that equipment in heavy clothing in the middle of the dark through mud, swamps, and cornfields. With GPS, it's a breeze to mark your parking spot and follow the easiest route to the blind -- no wild goose chase necessary.

Little eTrex plays a big role in peacekeepers' mission

Garmin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:16:44 -0500

From backyards to the Outback, Garmin's classic yellow eTrex has had more than its share of global adventures, and at $99 remains a favorite around the world. It's always amazing to us how such a small device with such a little price tag can have such a big impact on excursions as pertinent as military missions or as personal as family vacations. Here's just one of those stories.

My name is Justin J. and I work with in many different countries throughout Africa, one of which was Sierra Leone. I was there to train the military for their upcoming peacekeeping mission to Darfur, Sudan. It is the first peacekeeping mission that the country has been involved in. One of my tasks while there was to teach a select number of soldiers how to use some of the new equipment that they would be deploying with. The one piece of equipment that they were most interested in was the Garmin GPS. Most of them had never seen one but had heard stories about them. When I started my class they were absolutely amazed that this technology existed and how easy it was for them to use. In only 5 days they were able to use the GPS with a high level of proficiency.

I was a soldier in the United States Army for 14 years before being medically discharged. I deployed overseas 4 separate times in my military career and each time I took a Garmin GPS with me. As you know Garmin has been helping soldiers in the war on terror for many years, but now you know that it is also going to play a very important role in the peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

Thanks, Justin, and keep up the great work. We're honored to be able to help.

Geocoin alert: Cacher flying high after finding Oregon coin

Garmin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:30:00 -0500

Over the past couple years, the Garmin blog team (and our secret geocaching stashers) have been placing limited-edition Oregon and Colorado geocoins in caches across the U.S. and around the world. Every stashed coin has a message asking the lucky cacher to send us a note when they're found. Here's yet another note that proves to diligent searchers everywhere that these treasures are still out there to be found!! And with Garmin's Oregon, Colorado and Dakota units, that hunt is even easier thanks to paperless caching. Click on their links for interactive demos about each product.

I retrieved an Oregon Series Garmin Geocoin from central Colorado using my Garmin Colorado 400t GPS. Since then I have taken the coin on a Sky High Adventure to Telluride, CO. riding the gondola and visiting the Gondola Postal Travel Bug Inn cache. Then back to Olathe to see the "O" Sweet Corny Cache. I would like to take the Oregon GARMIN geocoin to Salt Lake to the Geocoin and T.B. event 10-10-2009. Thanks for sharing! I hope to move along soon. -- Sandy M.

Garmin named the "clear leader in GPS satisfaction"

Garmin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:30:00 -0500

PC Magazine has posted the results of their GPS Device Service and Reliability Survey. Readers have voted Garmin as as the "clear leader in GPS satisfaction." We also received top marks for reliability, map quality, ease of use, and more. According to the survey, "based on the number of responses, the company [Garmin] has 3.5 times as many users among PCMag readers as the next vendor."

We're thankful for and humbled by this recognition, but we also know it never would have been possible without our customers. Thank you to all Garmin users and a special thanks to the 1,508 Garmin customers that gave PC Mag their opinion on our products.

Download S&R2009_GPSDevices

eTrex survives 12' of mud and muck

Garmin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0500

Some people may think that our outdoor GPS devices are only for hiking, hunting and geocaching, but they can do so much more. And as you can tell from this recent customer testimonial, they're ruggedized so they'll go the distance:

I use the eTrex for my RC boat hobby, to check max speeds, just to see if I'm making the boat faster or not. About seven weeks back I was testing one of my boats, and I flipped it over and lost the GPS in about 12' of water. Today, I was trying to find a propeller that I lost by dragging a set of magnets and found the eTrex that I lost. After returning home, I open the unit, drained all of the water, cleaned out the mud and sprayed it down with WD40. I notice the spring inside that connect the battery line to the circuit broad was rusted off, but had enough to stretch to make contact. I put it all back together, installed new batteries, and turned it on. After sitting in 12' of water and mud, this thing still works! I went to the page that shows how fast it was traveling. It still had my max speed and it showed that it ran under water for 3 hours and 53 minutes. I'm amazed and happy to say that Garmin makes a dang good product.
Thanks for your time
Harold M.

Have an interesting story to share about your Garmin GPS? Send it our way!

Early-Season Hunting with the Astro

Garmin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:00:00 -0500

Recently, a couple of us had the chance to head out to Central Nebraska for a sharptailed grouse and prairie chicken hunt in the Sandhills. For those of you not aware of this unique ecosystem, it's 20,000 square miles of rolling, sandy prairie. Since the soil's no good for agriculture, it's more or less in the same state it's been in for hundreds of years.

We met up with Steve Snell and an associate from Gun Dog Supply, one of our Astro GPS Dog Tracking System dealers. Combine big-running bird dogs with 90,000 acres of federal hunting ground, and you've got a perfect place to use the Astro.

Something as basic as finding your truck in this landscape can be hairy, so we appreciated the Astro's ability to lead us back to our rigs. But keeping an eye on our dogs is really where this unit shines. It's easy to lose sight of your dog, and without the Astro, there'd be no way to know if they were over the hill 50 or 500 yards away.

One of the perils of early season hunting is that temperatures can quickly rise to 80 degrees by noon -- hot for humans, but potentially deadly for hard-working dogs. Thankfully, windmills scattered every half-mile or so served as our oasis, and we used the Astro to help lead us to water (the dog's didn't seem to mind the slime).

The Astro certainly won't guarantee success afield -- we learned that the hard way on this trip. But it will allow you to let your dogs do what they've been bred to do -- and that in turn lets you enjoy your hunt.

Jake's Journal: Charged up for Interbike

Garmin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:25:00 -0500

Here's hoping that what happens in Vegas next week doesn't stay in Vegas. That's because we're going to be at Interbike at the Sands Expo Center showing off a wide range of new Garmin products that suit every type of cyclist on every type of bike, regardless of whether you're a pro in the peloton, an occasional commuter, an off-road explorer or a weekend wanderer. The headliner is the brand new Edge 500, weighing in at just 2 ounces and bringing ANT+ power compatibility to the masses with a lower price tag. And of course, the Edge 705 and Edge 605 are popular choices for two-wheeled navigation, especially with the new cross-country and commuter options we unveiled recently. You can now get Edge 605 with City Navigator's preloaded points of interest and turn-by-turn directions, or you could choose Edge 705 with topo maps for those hitting the trails. And be sure to watch our online video tutorials to get the most out of your Edge.

But our bike options extend far beyond the Edge series, as our outdoor handhelds are compatible with Garmin bike mounts. Dakota offers a touchscreen interface in a compact, rugged handheld. Dakota 20 features a barometric altimeter for more precise elevation data, and the Dakota 10 is available in a hike and bike bundle with topo maps and a bike mount. Learn more about Dakota at Garmin's Buzz site. If you want to capture memories of your ride, you can opt for the touchscreen Oregon 550 or Oregon 550T (preloaded U.S. topo) with built-in waterproof 3.2MP digital camera. All of your photos are automatically geotagged so that you can navigate back to the site and relive the good times.

I could go on and on - Forerunner 310XT is power compatible, Forerunner 405CX has advanced calorie computation, etc. - but you should just find time next week to stop by the Garmin booth #2630, where Team Garmin's Christian Vande Velde and Dave Zabriskie will be meeting fans and signing autographs Wednesday from 2-3 p.m. Hope to see you there!

In water and on bike, Oregon outlasts the worst of the great outdoors

Garmin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:00:00 -0500

Since we shared a few recent stories about the durability of our rugged outdoor handhelds and marine devices, more proud Garmin customers have been quick to share their experiences. Here's a note from Randy Clark of New Mexico, who knows a thing or two about great adventures.

Last November I took off on a nine month, 3,200 mile kayak/bicycle trip from Key West, Florida to San Diego, CA and back to my home in Rio Rancho, NM. For the first month the Oregon 400c was mounted on the deck of the kayak as I paddled up the coast of Florida. Despite numerous submersions in salt water, occasional bangs with the paddle and two bad squalls, the Oregon never failed me. After 30 days on the kayak I then mounted it on the handlebars of my touring bicycle. For the ensuing eight months it endured constant vibration and weather off all sorts 24/7 and even a misadventure where the bicycle tumbled head over heels down a 1,500 ravine in the Rocky Mountains. After dragging the bike back up the ravine with rope, the Garmin fired right up and I was back on my way!

Rare is the product that holds up to this sort of abuse, much less an electronic device. Well done! Next spring it's off to Canada and Alaska and the Garmin will lead the way.

Thanks, Randy, and we're glad that it's the Oregon and not you that's taken the brunt of the submersions, squalls, swats and spills!!