garmin oregon/montana

[gmtech]

anyone familar with these two garmin gps?
montana / oregon
looking to get a new gps for the bike to replace super old nuvi

will use it a lot for on road travel too

 

[coastie]

Montana with city Navigator and topo maps if you want detail on many dirt roads works well. I personally can't stand Basecamp. Not very user friendly.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[bloodline]

Montana, for sure.

Amps cradle is cheap and works great.

One thing you may not be expecting is it does not have a speaker. It has audio out but no built in speaker. It does have a beep function that you can set to prompt turns. However, I don't use it. I've got it set to autozoom at turns and I normally see the screen change and that prompts me.

It serves many uses for me. I have the same amps cradle on my sailboat and use it there in marine profile as a backup. Have used it on my dirt idle in West Virginia. Have used it in the car, too.

 

[coastie]

I use the Garmin rugged mount paired with the Touratec lockable mount. It has worked great for me so far. Only montana problem I have had is every so often it shows a loss of satellite, but I X out of the screen and go right back in and it is good to go.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[offcamber]

I have had both. The Oregon is not suited to motorcycle travel. The Montana is.

Lots of good info on the Montana here http://garminmontanagpsr.wikispaces.com/

 

[gmtech]

sweet guys i dont use the voice prompts anyway
what is this amps mount you speak of? got a link?

 

[tubebender]

Montana is the way to go. Both the Montana and Basecamp require a bit of learning curve but once you figure it out it's pretty slick.
You can get the AMPS mount from a bunch of places. I use GPS City for all of my GPS and mount needs.

http://www.gpscity.com/garmin-montana-6xx-amps-rugged-mount-with-audio-power-cable.html

Hey, I was just over on ADV Rider and GPS City had a discount going for the Montana. Don't know if they are still active but it dosn't hurt to try. Here's the link:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=881762

go to reply 21

 

[xr400guy]

The Montana is great, but it does have a learning curve. Don,t expect to take it out of the box and use it. it has almost unlimited customizable settings and with patience, it will do exactly what you want.
Just my 2 cents worth. ::021::

 

[coastie]

The Montana is great, but it does have a learning curve. Don,t expect to take it out of the box and use it. it has almost unlimited customizable settings and with patience, it will do exactly what you want.
Just my 2 cents worth. ::021::

Correct it DOES NOT come preloaded with maps. You have to buy them.

 

[gmtech]

buy all of them or just main and backroad maps?
what do you get for 550 bucks then!? i can see buying the upper north america maps

 

[offcamber]

If your going to use the Montana for road nav you need to buy the North America (assuming your in North America) City Navigator map set....this will give you turn by turn directions like a Nuvi...My 650T came with 100K Topo maps of North America ( note the T stands for Topo so those with a T after the number have pre-installed Topo maps)....The Montana does come with a base map in it but it won't give you turn by turn directions. If you want to hear the directions you need to buy either the Rugged mount or the automobile mount with speakers or use headphones...

The Montana is for trail use first, hiking, ATVs etc....road use second. If you just want a road GPS then a Zumo may be a better choice. I like the fact that the Montana is multi-use I use it on my bike, my boat, hiking geocaching etc.

 

[Mchaskell]

I have used the Oregon 450t on my bike. The unit has both the 24k topo maps and the City Navigator maps. To me its processor is a bit slow which makes for less than stellar road use. I would not recommend it as a primary navigation device, but it is nice if you want a trip computer. I do like Basecamp (learning curve excepted), but I use it more for hiking than planning road trips.

 

[coastie]

Re: Re: garmin oregon/montana

I have used the Oregon 450t on my bike. The unit has both the 24k topo maps and the City Navigator maps. To me its processor is a bit slow which makes for less than stellar road use. I would not recommend it as a primary navigation device, but it is nice if you want a trip computer. I do like Basecamp (learning curve excepted), but I use it more for hiking than planning road trips.

I thought the Montana was slow until I discovered you can turn the map speed up. Are you sure the 450t does not have that option?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[merchant]

Not to throw a wrench in the works, but I love my Garmin Zumo 550. The RAM mount is powered direct to the battery, so doesn't take up your outlet. It is XM ready (which I use and love) and has blue tooth connectivity to the cell phone. Also accepts an SD cards for your music. Nice big controls and lots of screens with different trip/fuel info. My system is all wired to my helmet, so I get voice commands. And since it was designed for use on a bike, it is waterproof.

Garmin replaced the 550 with a newer model (Zumo 650) with mixed reviews. Pretty sure you can find reconditioned 550's. Mine has been trouble free for going on 7 years.

 

[gmtech]

that thing is ginormus! does it double as a fish finder too?! side scan sonar? vhf radio haha?

 

[bloodline]

The Montana is light years ahead of the Zumo models.

The one thing I don't really like is the touchscreen zoom buttons. Next to impossible to use with gloves on. However, if you are zooming and panning around, you need to pull over anyway.

 

[Mchaskell]

Re: Re: garmin oregon/montana

I thought the Montana was slow until I discovered you can turn the map speed up. Are you sure the 450t does not have that option?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

I will look when I get home. I know you can change the map detail level which might speed it up.

 

[merchant]

that thing is ginormus! does it double as a fish finder too?! side scan sonar? vhf radio haha?

It makes a mean smoothie too! ::008::

 

[sportsguy]

I've been using my Montana since I bought the Tenere.

I love it, but...

Even with City Navigator maps, it can sometimes mislead you. In my instance, I was trying to follow backroads to my destination, whereas the Montana kept trying to get me to backtrack, go back to the interstate highway, then follow it to my destination, even though my destination was less than 20 miles form me, it insisted I backtrack and go around the long way via the interstate.

Now, I don't think this is an issue with the Garmin, but rather I suspect I had one or more of my settings selected incorrectly.

Which brings us back to a point made earlier - the learning curve. To just click through all the options on the Montana (I have the 650t), will take you over 30 minutes - that's just to click and explore. Many things are intuitive, while many are simply arcane and you must "learn the Montana way" or remain flumuxed.

I've found it super easy to add maps to, then find them - though there is a distinct difference between routes and tracks, so choose your option carefully. Each has its own use, though either will do in a pinch.

I found basecamp somewhat easy to use when making my own routes, but a couple false starts had me using the tried and true "if that didn't work, then maybe this will work" method. So like the Montana, Basecamp has a learning curve.

 

[bloodline]

My montana died, had the dreaded screen problem. 2 months out of warranty. Garmin replaced it, free.