We bought the Oregon 450 as an upgrade from our Garmin GPSMAP 60CS. Here is a quick summary of the relative benefits of the Oregon 450 for geocaching:
Pros:
- Much better position accuracy
- Does not lose signal as quickly under tree cover
- Holds thousands of caches (60CS just had 500)
- Includes[...] information, including logs and hints (go paperless!)
Cons:
- Basemap appears to just have major roads, with no lakes or rivers. This is just silly for a hiking/caching handheld. We would have been perfectly happy with something like the basemap on the 60CS. If you are deciding between the 450 and 450t and don't want to load custom maps, go with the 450t. If you don't mind about an hour of work, you can download free topographical maps and save $100.
- Touchscreen could be better than buttons, but the logic in getting from page to page is often not intuitive. It will take some getting used to, and you will find yourself making multiple taps to, say, go from the compass to the tracking to the satellite strength. (On the 60CS, the "PAGE" button would scroll between the important screens.) I think the Oregon series could be improved if Garmin added just one button for key functions.
Summary: A huge upgrade for us on the key things we need for geocaching. The map and interface issues are a little frustrating, but we are happy with our purchase.Get more detail about Garmin Oregon 450 Handheld GPS Navigator.
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