Oregon 450 just received - love it - Couple random questions though

February 7, 2011

Received my Oregon 450 yesterday and loaded a bunch of maps on it from gpsfiledepot. Work great but think a couple may be duplicates. Had a few on that I even removed as I didn't care for them. Mainly just have a couple different topt maps for Michigan and NE and NC US. Didn't care for the land ownership maps and one of them showed up 3 times in my map files and only one of them did anything.

Questions below.

1. Does the amount of map data on the unit affect start up time? I have about 1.5 Gb on a 4 gb card. Start up time is 45 seconds to a minute.

2.Can I use my Blackberry Curve wall charger to power it when my lazy rear end is sitting in chair watching TV and playing with Oregon?

3. Can I use my Blackberry Curve car charger to power the unit when in the car?

Both chargers are the mini usb as the Oregon is and not the new micro usb that many phones are now going to.

4. Some of the points of interest things show up 2-3 times and duplicates in my POI folder. Is this because I have mulitple maps loaded that may have the same info?

5. Last but not least I have software version 4.30 and gps software version that came loaded on it. I believe this is the latest non beta software out there. Typical accuracy is +/- 18 feet in my basement and even some WASS lock down here and outside around 13 +/- feet. -s that good.

Sorry for the long post with loaded questions.

7k · February 7, 2011

1. not totally sure, but 45+ seconds seems like a lot. You should really remove the maps you don't need. Simply disabling them may or may not do the trick as well.

2-3. no idea what plug the Blackberry takes, but if it's a mini-USB plug, then you're good to go. If it's not, then it won't fit.

4. yes, see 1.

5. sounds good. Outside you should get down to around 9 feet accuracy under good conditions.

Edited February 7, 2011 by dfx

February 7, 2011

Thanks dfx.

For the power qestion it in the same size plug. Do I need to do anything in profiles to power it with either of the chargers?

The maps I have on there are all diabled but one or two at a time. Depends on if the second one is transparent or not.

7k · February 7, 2011

No, you just plug it in, it will take power off it right away. The only "danger" is that it may detect the cable as an actual USB connection and go into mass-storage mode, in which case you can't use that cable. At least I'm not aware of a way to keep it from doing that.

As for maps, you can always try just moving or renaming the files on the Oregon and see if that speeds things up.

February 7, 2011

No, you just plug it in, it will take power off it right away. The only "danger" is that it may detect the cable as an actual USB connection and go into mass-storage mode, in which case you can't use that cable. At least I'm not aware of a way to keep it from doing that.

Select "spanner mode" under setup / system / interface

February 7, 2011

Can I just leave it in spanner mode all the time? If not what to the other functions under that tab do?

February 7, 2011

Yes just leave it in spanner mode. It will just ask if you want mass storage or to continue as normal, just press normal. That category just tells it how to respond to external hardware that can be used to tie into the gps.

February 7, 2011

Awesome. Thanks Guys.

start up time still around 45 seconds to a minute. Is that normal?

7k · February 7, 2011

Awesome. Thanks Guys.

start up time still around 45 seconds to a minute. Is that normal?

I just clocked mine and got 33 seconds. That's without any imports and with a 3-second user message in the startup screen (which shows for much longer, so I assume it doesn't make a difference).

Did you update the firmware yet? That could make a difference maybe.

Edited February 7, 2011 by dfx

February 7, 2011

I have software version 4.30 and gps software version that came loaded on it.

dfx. above is what was loaded on it when it came. do i need to update from there?

7k · February 7, 2011

That's the most recent non-beta firmware.

Kinda running out of ideas here. Do you get a status bar while it's booting or anything? Do you have a slow SD card installed maybe?

February 7, 2011

I'll check the brand of the SD card tonight and get back to you that could be it. I bought it with the unit from an un-named company that did a great job getting me the unit and accessories at a resonable price and timing.

No status bar per say. at the bottom it will say loading images then loading maps but thats it.

February 7, 2011

Does starting it up with the SD card removed improve things?

February 7, 2011

There was thread recently on http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/ about startup times. Mine had always felt rather long to me, but it's gotten better in the latest beta firmware - my 550t without card inserted started up in 17 seconds, and took 22 seconds with the card inserted, which has the CNNA maps (1.7gb) on it, but no photos. These are startup times without new stuff added to the unit - every time you add gpx files or whatever it takes a lot longer the first time to start up.

February 8, 2011

Okay, I did a little test. With the card out it took 12 seconds to start up and with card in it took 47 seconds. I reviewed the card and it is a Dane-Elec 4gb high speed sdhc card. I believe from the last time I had it hooked up to the computer it had 1.4gbs loaded onto it.

Any help would be great.

Thanks again.

5.6k · February 8, 2011

Okay, I did a little test. With the card out it took 12 seconds to start up and with card in it took 47 seconds. I reviewed the card and it is a Dane-Elec 4gb high speed sdhc card. I believe from the last time I had it hooked up to the computer it had 1.4gbs loaded onto it.

Any help would be great.

Thanks again.

"High speed" doesn't have any meaning. Somewhere on that little card you should find a partial circle with a number in it. If the number is a "2", that's a Class 2 card, typically good for playing MP3s on a cell phone, but rather slow to move large amounts of data to your 450. Consider at least a Class 4 card, Class 6 if you plan to do some serious map work or get involved with Birdseye raster images. Unlike SD cards, it's harder to find the 'faster' microSD (uSD) cards since so many cheap and slow ones are out there for phones. If you can't find any number in a circle, heaven knows what you've got. It's an SD standard symbol.

4.9k · February 8, 2011

[...] 1. Does the amount of map data on the unit affect start up time? I have about 1.5 Gb on a 4 gb card. Start up time is 45 seconds to a minute.

[...]

No, it doesn't. I got 3.9 Gb Maps on SD-card and have a start up time of appr. 12-14 seconds.

CAUTION: Avoid having GPX files on the SD-card. If you have them there, the Unit ALWAYS has to parse the gpx files which leads to those long start up times.

Gpx files (especially large cache gpx files) should always be copied onto the unit.

HTH

Hans

February 8, 2011

"High speed" doesn't have any meaning. Somewhere on that little card you should find a partial circle with a number in it. If the number is a "2", that's a Class 2 card, typically good for playing MP3s on a cell phone, but rather slow to move large amounts of data to your 450. Consider at least a Class 4 card, Class 6 if you plan to do some serious map work or get involved with Birdseye raster images. Unlike SD cards, it's harder to find the 'faster' microSD (uSD) cards since so many cheap and slow ones are out there for phones. If you can't find any number in a circle, heaven knows what you've got. It's an SD standard symbol.

Aha, I've heard people talking about classes of card and never knew how to find the class of card I have. Thanks for the info. Every day is a school day.

February 8, 2011

CAUTION: Avoid having GPX files on the SD-card. If you have them there, the Unit ALWAYS has to parse the gpx files which leads to those long start up times.

Gpx files (especially large cache gpx files) should always be copied onto the unit.

This doesn't agree with my real world experience. I load fairly large, 4K+ geocache .gpx files onto my sd card, and it behaves the same as if I loaded them into the devices memory - I.E. a fairly long first load, but then very fast after that. The same speed as if it were loaded into the device memory. I have a 550t - maybe it's different for other models.

February 8, 2011

13 seconds with card in on my Or 550. Takes about half a minute when it's loading a new large Pocket query that loads onto the sd card. So I'd say something is amiss here. I'm running the 4.32 beta and 5.0 firmware.

Edited February 8, 2011 by arcs

February 8, 2011

I checked the card at lunch and it has the 4 in the little circle, which i assume means a class 4 card. I'm running the 4.30 software that came on it and 4.30 garmin software that came on it too. Do I need to upgrade one of those? Is the firmware the garmin software thing? Sorry to be such a noob.

If the 45-50 seconds to boot up is the case then i guess i have to deal with it. I may take all the maps off the card tonight and load them individually and see what happens. As i said above if I remove the card start up is 12 seconds.

Thanks again for all the info.

February 8, 2011

I would try the one at a time approach as it looks like something or everything on the card is doing it.

5.6k · February 8, 2011

I checked the card at lunch and it has the 4 in the little circle, which i assume means a class 4 card.

Fast enough for govt work. Does not explain your slow downs. Keep trying.

February 8, 2011

Fast enough for govt work. Does not explain your slow downs. Keep trying.

ecanderson,

I think that is still to fast for gov't work as if it were quicker they would have to explain how they got so much done for the day.

I will dump the card tonight and install each map one at a time and see what happens then. As I have said without the card it is i think 12 seconds start up. maybe one of the gpsfiledepot maps is doing it or corrupt in some way.

This will keep me from doing the honey do list too.

Thanks again.

February 9, 2011

Avoid having GPX files on the SD-card. If you have them there, the Unit ALWAYS has to parse the gpx files which leads to those long start up times.

Gpx files (especially large cache gpx files) should always be copied onto the unit.

I disagree with this and do the exact opposite. I ONLY load gpx files to the card. Occasionally (with all paperless garmins) you can have a situation where the gps shows no geocaches loaded, this requires a removal of the offending gpx files and a clean reboot with none loaded to clear the internal database. At least this way if you are caught in the field with this situation, you have a good chance of fixing it without the need for a computer. Remove card, reboot. Turn off, insert card, reboot. Fixed. If you have a corrupt gpx file that is causing a startup hang, you also have the ability to fix this much easier than if it is the core memory as well.

1.4k · February 9, 2011

Avoid having GPX files on the SD-card. If you have them there, the Unit ALWAYS has to parse the gpx files which leads to those long start up times.

Gpx files (especially large cache gpx files) should always be copied onto the unit.

I disagree with this and do the exact opposite. I ONLY load gpx files to the card. Occasionally (with all paperless garmins) you can have a situation where the gps shows no geocaches loaded, this requires a removal of the offending gpx files and a clean reboot with none loaded to clear the internal database. At least this way if you are caught in the field with this situation, you have a good chance of fixing it without the need for a computer. Remove card, reboot. Turn off, insert card, reboot. Fixed. If you have a corrupt gpx file that is causing a startup hang, you also have the ability to fix this much easier than if it is the core memory as well.

Ditto...although I'm on a Colorado 400t.

I've been loading geocaches on the SD card for almost 2 years now, after having my GPS go brain dead (as I like to call it) a couple of times. Since I've made the switch to loading GPX files on the SD card, I've only had it happen once or twice...but I was able to remedy the problem in a matter of minutes in the field, instead of needing a computer.

It might take a little longer to boot...but how many times a day do you turn your GPS on/off? I turn mine on in the morning and either leave it running all day, or only turn it off once...during lunch. That extra minute is worth it to me for the ability to fix a brain dead GPS in the field.

YMMV

February 9, 2011

Last night I did some testing with loading the maps. Below is a spreadsheet of what I did and the boot times there after. I did shut it down and turn it on 3-4 times after loading each map to make sure everything was good before i took these times. Does this sound like about what everyone else is getting. Do you think if I broke some of these larger files into a few smaller ones but still have all that info on there that it would speed things up? Maybe me being a newbe I am loading to big of files on there at once.

start up time file size

no card 12 seconds

michigan topos 14 seconds 146,536 kb

other michigan topo 14 seconds 59,299 kb

US states and counties 14 seconds 1,918 kb

US P North Central 25 seconds 335,832 kb

US P North East 32 seconds 282,872 kb

NE Topo Part 1 46 seconds 642,656 kb

Total 1,469,113 kb

Disk reads 1.40gb used 1,504,444,416 bytes

2.28gb free 2,452,291,584 bytes

3.68 gb capacity 3,956,801,536 bytes

Thanks again.

7k · February 9, 2011

Interesting test, thanks for this. Can't answer your question though.

1.2k · February 9, 2011

I think you may be spending much more time to figure out how to shave off a few seconds than the time gained

What takes time is loading a new PQ.

Also remember while it is loading, it is also working on getting a fix. If your GPS boots up and you have to wait to get a fix, are you saving any time? I have many more maps than you and I am happy with my start up time.

February 9, 2011

I think you may be spending much more time to figure out how to shave off a few seconds than the time gained

What takes time is loading a new PQ.

Also remember while it is loading, it is also working on getting a fix. If your GPS boots up and you have to wait to get a fix, are you saving any time? I have many more maps than you and I am happy with my start up time.

myotis,

I'm not saying it is bad if thats what it is thats what it is. I'm affraid if I keep adding maps that my start up time may be 3-4 or maybe even 5 minutes by the time I'm done. I hear others say they have 3.9 gb of maps loaded and their start up time is 15 seconds. How can that be? Is it the type of map I am downloading? Is it I should be breaking them up into smaller units? I'm not going to leave the unit it on all the time so I would like to be able to turn it on and go, but if i need to wait 3-5 minutes(if it gets to that) maybe I need to change what I keep on the unit or figure something else out. If I need to keep just maps on it for the areas I will be in for the near future I can do that, but I would hate to forget to load a map set and travel out of the area I have and then not have access to it. Just trying to cover all the bases and see if I am doing something wrong.

Thanks again for the help/input.

February 9, 2011

Just added a little more info to the list. Added how many segments each map has.

michigan topos 14 seconds 146,536 kb 130 segments

other michigan topo 14 seconds 59,299 kb 44 segments

US states and counties 14 seconds 1,918 kb 2 segments

US P North Central 25 seconds 335,832 kb 330 segments

US P North East 32 seconds 282,872 kb 268 segments

NE Topo Part 1 46 seconds 642,656 kb 463 segments

Total 1,469,113 kb 1237 segments

1.2k · February 9, 2011

I've got over 6 gigs of maps plus a bunch of birdseye (which I rarely use) and it took about 40 seconds to boot.

February 9, 2011

I've got over 6 gigs of maps plus a bunch of birdseye (which I rarely use) and it took about 40 seconds to boot.

are any of your maps from gpsfiledepot? do you know how many segments yours are? do you have full maps such as NE Topo 1, 2 or 3 on any other area of the country on yours all at once? You have 4 times what I have on mine and a quicker start up time. I still wonder if i break the big maps up into individual states if that would help. I may get confused then by how they show on the maps page as I would think they would all have the same file name and I would be searching for which one iI want all the time.

Thanks,

Rob

2.1k · February 9, 2011

Regarding the "class" designations of microsd cards:

I curious about screen redraw speeds in relation to the speed of the sd card. has anyone noticed screen redraw improvements with the higher class cards? At face value I would say that in theory there should be an improved performance in the screen redraw category but I'm wondering if the redraws are limited to the processing power of the unit moreso than the transfer speed of the sd card. Since screen redraws would be fastest accessing the units memory I suppose it would be easy enough to test (maps on units memory vs maps on sd class 2). Thinking about redraw speeds I cannot remember seeing any improvements in the past given the afformentioned testing scenario.

Summary: Is the higher class card worth the price vs benefits gained? Is there any other improvement to unit performance aside from faster transfer of data to the card? I feel that the class of SD card may be mute for anything other than transfer speeds (from computer to disk).

Edited February 9, 2011 by yogazoo

7k · February 9, 2011

I have a class 2 uSD card in mine and I think I notice a slower redraw speed when the birdseye maps come from the SD card and not from the internal storage. I can't say I've ever conducted any proper tests though.

February 10, 2011

Does anyone think a new thread might be worth while to discuss the speed issues as I have never seen a specific thread for this. May benefit all users of all unit. Thought?

2.1k · February 10, 2011

I almost posted a new thread on the issue of SD speed. That might be a good idea.

February 10, 2011

I'll do it now.

February 10, 2011

I've got 7.4GB of maps on my 8GB class 2 uSD card. It has a 1:15 boot time. It stays on the loading photos screen for almost all of that time. Swapping in a fully loaded 4GB class 4 card, load time drops to 32 seconds. Pulling the card all together, gets me a 12 second boot time. I believe that the class does make a difference. I just wish I knew why it spends so much time on photos and literally seconds on the maps. Doesn't matter which card it is. I'm going to try a 8GB or 16G higher class card and see what happens. New egg has got some pretty cheap cards with free shipping.

1.2k · February 10, 2011

I've got over 6 gigs of maps plus a bunch of birdseye (which I rarely use) and it took about 40 seconds to boot.

are any of your maps from gpsfiledepot? do you know how many segments yours are? do you have full maps such as NE Topo 1, 2 or 3 on any other area of the country on yours all at once? You have 4 times what I have on mine and a quicker start up time. I still wonder if i break the big maps up into individual states if that would help. I may get confused then by how they show on the maps page as I would think they would all have the same file name and I would be searching for which one iI want all the time.

Thanks,

Rob

I've got all of City Navigator on my card. The garmin 100K topos that came with my 550t on the GPS. The rest of my maps are all from GPSfiledepot (the ones I make My Trails, My Topos, My POIs, Eastern Landownership, Western land ownership, etc.) My Topos is about 1.3 gigs and it is on my card. The rest are on the GPS. I've got a cheap 8 gig card. I have a different img for each mapset-it makes it easier to update with new version. I also have lots of tracks, 3500 caches, 100,000 plus POIs, many georefrenced photos, and lots of birdseye files

Oregon 450 just received - love it - Couple random questions though

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