Garmin Oregon 650t 3-Inch Handheld GPS with 8MP Digital
- 3-Inch sunlight-readable, touchscreen display with multi-touch capability
- Dual-band GPS/GLONASS satellite positioning
- Sensors (3-axis compass, accelerometer, barometric altimeter)
- ANT or Bluetooth technology -wirelessly share routes, tracks, waypoints, geocaches, custom maps and photos between units Dual orientation – auto switching between landscape or portrait views
- Dual battery system -2 AA batteries or NiMH battery pack charged by the Oregon (battery pack included with 650/650t; optional with 600/600t) 8MP autofocus camera (650, 650t only) with LED flash/torch and digital zoom
From the moment you cradle the 650t in your hand, you’re ready to enter into a bold new world of Garmin GPS mapping and positioning. With high-sensitivity GPS and GLONASS satellite tracking (more satellites mean faster fixes, even in challenging environments), preloaded TOPO U.S. 100K maps, worldwide basemap with shaded relief and a faster processor, you don’t just look at maps, you interact with them. Zoom in, pan out and rotate using multi-touch. The touchscreen even is compatible with many gloves. The reflective display technology boosts touchscreen brightness so much that maps and displays are as vivid in full bright sunlight as they are in shade. And, mark memories with an 8 megapixel autofocus camera with digital zoom an
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Rodolfo Q. Z "roqz"
October 20, 2013A review in progress,
I will update this review every now and then…
2013-07-17: Got this device in July 2013. I promised myself that I would be using the eTrex 30 in the foreseeable future until there were new devices with access to the Galileo or COMPASS constellations that are being deployed. So while the eTrex 30 supported GPS and GLONASS, and there isn’t much of an upgrade on that matter when using the Oregon 650, I still went for it after reading in a couple of blogs all of the new features.
First of all, I was fed up with the rocker switch of the eTrex 30 and Vista HCx I also previously had, I find it difficult to believe that Garmin doesn’t find useful to add a button lock feature like a cell phone touchscreen lock to those devices, almost every time I put those in a backpack I will find a weird thing happening when retrieving them back, sometimes even the device was frozen. Not anymore! As a touchscreen device, the screen lock is easily accessible from a single tap on the power button.
Booting is very fast, around 10 to 15 seconds, compared to a couple of minutes on the eTrex 30 with the same loaded maps.
The quality of the pictures taken by the camera is acceptable, nothing really awesome, but it is nice to have a water and dirt resistant camera with geotagging. I will add a couple of pictures soon. The screen is readable on any condition.
The weight is a bit on the heavy side for a handheld device, and it can get warm after a few minutes of usage, I think that the accessory adapter on the back is made of aluminum because of its heat dissipation properties instead of an aesthetic choice.
The redesigned track manager is very helpful and useful.
The home screen is very customizable, inspired by smartphones it allows to have access to the favorite features of the user easily. The programmable button is also very nice to have, and I like the default camera access assigned to it.
Something I don’t really like is the rubber cover of the USB port, it is bulky and attached by a very thin rubber strip, so it feels like that it will be break soon, also, the cover doesn’t stay put correctly. And, speaking of the USB port, it uses a “Mini USB” connector whereas most devices being sold today (Smartphones, audio players, etc) uses the slimmer “Micro USB” connector. Right now is the only device I use that continues to use that kind of connector, everything else is “Micro USB”.
The battery charging mechanism is a nice feature, but I don’t like that Garmin due to safety reasons has a mechanic switch in the battery compartment that will detect their “battery pack” (A couple of NiMH AA batteries hold together with a proprietary thing) and will not allow standard NiMH batteries to be charged. I acknowledge that this is necessary to avoid trying to recharge non rechargeable batteries, but still, a limited feature. Battery life hasn’t been an issue to me, as I connect it to a charger when driving and the few trips I have taken at the moment have been very short.
Now, current smartphones already have access to GLONASS and probably have better picture quality than this receiver, however, for me the selling points are, the use of widely available AA batteries, dust/dirt/water proof body and therefore camera, and of course, much more tough than a smartphone in many environments. I don’t know if some day the exclusive receivers will disappear, but in my case it all depends on durability and resistance to the elements. Few phones provide that on the trail or even in a rainy city.
TIP! Also, a personal recommendation when driving, get a RAM Mounting Systems combo of RAM-HOL-GA31U Plastic Cradle (made specifically for this device) and RAM-B-166U suction cup mount. Very high quality, made in USA (Yep, not China, USA!) and better than the dashboard mount offered by Garmin.
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|Traveler
October 20, 2013Best handheld Garmin Yet. Still a few bugs though.,
This is by far the most sophisticated Garmin Device that I have owned. So far it exceeds all my expectations but one and that is the track log “Auto Archive when full” feature. Instead of archiving the entire log when full and starting a new log, the unit will get to around 9700 track points and archives the earliest 2500 +/- points in to about 15 useless track logs. Some logs are only 5 points some are 500 points. There can be 6 separate logs for one day alone. If you are trying to log a long trip, be sure to manually save your track log before it reaches 9500 points, otherwise you’ll end up with a bunch of useless logs that will quickly hit the 200 track log limit. Yes, I could combine the track logs in WordPad when I return from a trip but this would be counter productive. The Auto-Archive feature is one of the main reasons for purchasing this device. Hope they fix this bug soon as I am about to leave on a photographic trip to the Balkans where I will shoot around 4000 shots that I will want to GeoTag upon my return, thus the gripe on the track log feature and having to keep an eye on how full the track log is. The fewer logs…the easier the tagging process is.
As for the battery life, I am getting about 13 hours with the new Duracell Durablock 2400ma NIMH batteries. I will not be traveling with the included Garmin battery pack as that will require yet another charger and cable. I will have to try turning off the GLNSS and WASS satellites as I understand that is supposed to improve battery life.
The area that Garmin is really lacking in this device is the manual as it just doesn’t go into enough detail on how some of the new features work. I would like as much detail as possible as I just don’t have the time to learn by trial and error right now and I have already sold my Oregon 400t.
This isn’t a no-brainer Nuvi although you could use it like one if you have the City Navigator maps installed. You can customize this unit to fit just about any type of activity that you want, save them as profiles and easily go back and forth as needed (driving,cycling, hiking etc). The screen is incredible in direct sun. Again, the best of any Garmin that I have owned (10+ right now starting with the 3+).
Yes, the unit is expesive. Would I buy it again?… In a heart beat.
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|Epicure "Epicure"
October 20, 2013Almost Perfect,
So Garmin has on its hands the nearly perfect GPS receiver for me.
First let’s take a look at the offerings. The 600, 600t, 650, 650t. If it is a 600, then it is without camera. If it is a 650, then it is with a camera. Add the t for included 1:100k topo maps. The pick of the litter is the 650 and here’s why:
The built in camera allows you to take pictures with an IPX7 waterproofed camera. Keep your phone safe so you can make calls another day. The photos are also Geotagged so you can see where they were taken later. The camera is also very good — on par with an iPhone. So for $80 more you get a pretty good waterproof camera. But wait — there’s more. It also comes with the rechargeable battery pack so you can charge the unit with the batteries installed and it comes with 3.5GB of storage instead of 300MB.
The 6xxt models aren’t worth it to me. First the 1:100k map isn’t routeable, second it won’t work on your computer with basecamp unless your GPS is plugged in to your computer, third for the price you can buy excellent 1:24k maps for your area that are routeable, and have much more detail, and will work with your computer and other devices without installing — get the DVD. If you don’t want the routing and just want 1:100k detail — then just buy the DVD. There are even free maps available that will get you 1:24k, but they do not have elevation data for 3d view/route profile.
I got this to replace my old eTrex venture Cx. It’s not even worth comparing them as this is much more readable in sunlight, the touchscreen is as responsive as an iPhone. I use it for mountain biking, road biking, day sailing, and hiking and it works well with just about everything I have. The GPS has been responsive under canopy, but I haven’t had a chance to try canyons. I will try to get more data on that with GLONASS enabled as well.
Where does it fall short? The basecamp mobile application is pretty weak. I’d like it if it had the full Garmin Connect support that the Edge 510 and 810 have. For example it’d be nice if people could monitor me while I’m out and about and it’d also be nice for my “workouts” to be easily uploaded to connect from my phone. I wish I could send a route to my GPS from my computer and have it download to my GPS via my phone.
I didn’t have the issues the first reviewer had downloading — again — I suggest buying the DVDs as they will work without having the device tethered and they work on multiple devices as well.
UPDATE: ANT+ transfer to computer (Garmin ANT Agent) or Android is not supported (same as all other eTrex/Oregon devices). However, USB upload is possible from Android as long as your device supports USB Host and you have the appropriate cable. I used “Uploader for Garmin” from the Play Store.
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