Super-T wrote:I personally would only recommend this unit for driveby caching. If you actually get out and start searching - or even worse, do caches that require some hard searching - then steer clear of it. I doubt it's up to serious hiking or the like from having come off so badly from a very minor brush with a very small branch.
Having just spent a solid week in some thick remote bush up Far North Queensland, using it continuosly everyday (went through 3 sets of lithiums
), and having taken numerous other units into the bush at the same time, i would say that this unit is quite up to the task, albeit with the standard care required of any GPS in this environment.
I've ended up with a similiar scratch on my JasJam (PDA style phone) and my 60CS shortly after purchasing, caused by similiar "non-descript" twigs brushing the screen.
Yes, the Oregon could be considered prone to scratches, however no more than a similiar sized PDA.
The screen is at least recessed into the unit, and Garmin has reverted back to a harder form of plastic than the Colorados etc.
They don't make screen protectors for all devices these days for no reason.
The lack of buttons is a godsend, with less incorrect buttons pushed when used by inexperienced operators......."most" features on the Oregon are pretty much self-explanatory (except a couple little tricks with recording and saving tracks etc). Changing mapsets etc is a breeze with the Oregon compared to other Garmin handhelds, with the selection accurate and quick, whereas the etrex's are much slower and require more concentration due to the smaller menu systems.
Left and right click buttons kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a touchscreen only version IMO.
BTW, if anyone misses the Waypoint Averaging feature from previous Units, there is a WhereIgo cartridge that has been developed specifically with these features....see here to download it ==> Build your own GPSr
mm