18. Oregon vs. Colorado

Figure 69: Garmin Oregon versus Colorado

Physically, the most obvious difference between the Oregon and Colorado is the Oregon's touchscreen. Unlike the Colorado's "Rock'n Roll" scroll wheel, all operations on the Oregon are performed via the 3-inch color touchscreen display. The Oregon is also a little lighter (6.8 oz versus 7.3 oz with batteries), smaller, and has slightly better battery life than the Colorado.

The Oregon feels easier to hold in the palm of your hand, and the plastic case is less scratch prone than Colorado's brushed metal finish. The Oregon has an internal patch antenna instead of Colorado's top-mounted quad-helix antenna, and accepts microSD cards instead of the SD cards used by the Colorado. The Oregon 400t also includes a carabiner lanyard attachment.

Oregon's interface is much easier to use than Colorado's; all functions on the Oregon have a dedicated icon on the main menu, and it's easy to navigate the user interface touch screen. By contrast, text entry on the Colorado is slow going, and the software can be confusing.

When I reviewed Garmin's Colorado handheld back in January 2008, some readers felt I wasn't critical enough of the Colorado's dim LCD display, shorter battery life (compared to the older GPSMAP 60CSx), and the fixed orientation compass instead of a multi-axis compass. Some users also reported poor GPS accuracy on the Colorado, and wished Garmin had opted for a touch-screen interface instead of the "Rock'n Roll" scroll-wheel.

The Oregon delivers the touchscreen some users longed for, but screen brightness is still an issue, the compass is still not 3D (so you have to hold the compass level), and battery life is only marginally improved. GPS sensitivity was about the same in my testing (both the Oregon and the Colorado lag behind the GPSMAP 60CSx's GPS signal strength).

Below is a more detailed table of differences between the Colorado and Oregon handheld GPS units:

19. Oregon vs. nuvi 500

Figure 70: Garmin Oregon versus nuvi 500

Garmin recently released the nuvi 500, an all-in-one crossover GPS designed for driving, boating, and outdoor recreation.

Although both the Oregon and the nuvi 500 have Topo maps installed and can be used outdoors, the nuvi 500 is primarily an automotive GPS and an outdoor GPS second.

The Oregon lacks a speaker, so there's no verbal navigation announcements. You'll also need to buy additional maps for the Oregon if you want to get turn-by-turn routing in automotive mode. The Oregon also doesn't come with a vehicle windshield mount.

The nuvi 500 supports Geocaching, off-road, and boating navigation, but it doesn't have anywhere near the outdoor feature set of the Oregon.

If you'll primarily be using the GPS in the car, and want a single device that can pull double (or triple) duty off-road or on the water, the nuvi 500 is the best all-purpose GPS available. However, if you're looking for a dedicated handheld outdoor GPS and need more features, the Oregon is better suited to your needs.