Garmin 300 review

If you are like me and you love to escape to the great outdoors without feeling frustrated that you might get lost, then the garmin 300 is your ideal companion!

And it gets even better: If you are into geocaching, you will be very pleased to know that this wonderful little gadget suits you perfect!

Just to mention some of its features, it is rugged, waterproof and has an ultra-sensitive GPS receiver, which picks a strong signal even in the most obscure places. It has a built-in electronic compass that provides bearing information even while you're standing still, and its barometric altimeter tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your precise altitude. It comes pre-loaded with a world basemap, which most of the times is enough to have when you are not in the city. Its touch screen is very intuitive and simple to use (no need to remember any commands and hard to understand menus) and its battery life is surprisingly long, considering that is powered by AA alkaline batteries.

And if you are a geocaching enthusiast, I am sure you will appreciate the fact that you can readily download the gpx files (containing the geocaches and other details) straight into your garmin, from the geogaching.com site, without having to manually enter any coordinates. And you can show off photos of your excursions with the device's picture viewer.

Here I tried to include snippets of real comments published by users, of the garmin 300, in an effort to help you make an informed decision when you consider buying it.

About the compass feature:

"I really like the Garmin Oregon 300. However, I bought it knowing it was meant for Trails, Hiking and the like but not for Street Navigation. For Trails and Hiking it is a great unit with a lot of excellent features. I consider it to be a good basic modern (WAAS) GPS unit. The Compass works quite well and is insensitive to angle from the horizon. Other GPS units that I have tried required that the unit be held flat for the compass to work."

GPS sensitivity:

"One big plus is that the Oregon acquires the satellites quickly and even worked while driving with the unit in my coat pocket."

Batteries:

"I plan on using it with a 12v power adapter on an ATV most of the time but also for hiking. If you are going to use it on battery power, make sure you have spare Alkaline batteries with you. As yet, I cannot find a rechargeable NiMh battery that will work, even when you set the unit for NiMh batteries, the gauge reads incorrectly."

"In the car the unit is frankly useless without external 12V power, as the screen is all but unreadable in direct sunlight, but is adequate when on 12V. I am not keen on the rubber booty that protects the power/data port on the bottom of the device, as I feel it will not last, and does not seem to secure as positively as the round plugs in the 60 series."

Very good general review on features and who this device is intended for:

"I did several weeks of research prior to making the purchase of the Garmin Oregon 300. My needs for a GPS unit were several, including going geocaching with my two children, the need to have a unit that could give me street navigation (I purchased the City Navigator card also), as well as for use while distance walking. Some things that others may want to consider - the learning curve is simple. Having used the Etrex Legend in the past, the menus on the Oregon are really simple and self-explanatory. It's quick at locating satellites, and locking in your location. I added a screen protector, as in the past having used Palm Pilots, there were several times these came in handy for protection. My one and only fault I can find is that geocache locations once loaded into the GPS can only be deleted when you then attach to the PC, and delete through Windows (come on Garmin, make this something I can do from the unit itself!) In conclusion, just remember it's a Garmin, so you are buying the best technology in a durable unit!"

Comparison with competitive products:

"I am liking my Garmin Oregon 300 very much. I had a Megellan but was unable to download "geocaches" from their web. It is much more user friendly than the Megellan. It was recommended to me by a friend and I am very satisfied."

Street navigation

This thing works great. After installing Garmin City Streets 2009 on the Oregon, I kinda wish I hadn't bought a Nuvi 265WT. The Oregon performs street navigation great.

Pros and Cons:

"Favorite Features:
- Ruggedized, Waterproof
- Surprisingly good battery life, around 20 hours on regular alkaline AA's.
- Excellent resolution screen, good color reproduciton
- Built-in electronic compass, barometer
- Touch screen is very functional, I don't miss buttons at all!
- Comfortable ergonomics
- Customizable interface, sevreral view selections
- Accurate, fast acquisition times
- Downloadable Maps

Complaints-
- Only one: the screen should be brighter. Running on batteries it can be hard to see the screen in bright light. You have to turn and find the right angle against the sun. When plugged into a cigarette lighter plug in the car the screen gets about 5x brighter, making it easier to see while driving. Why can't we just choose to have it be that bright all the time if we want?"