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May 26
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The New Garmin Oregon 550 and 550t
Garmin Oregon 550t
Overview
Garmin have recently released the two new versions of their popular Oregon device. The Oregon 550 and 500t are still the great touch screen devices like their predecesors, but come with two great new features and one major improvement! Garmin are catching up with the mobile phone market, and have decided to include a 3.2 megapixel camera built into the device. What makes this camera better then most is the ability to “geotag” your photos… meaning you can upload them to certain websites (such as Google’s Picasa) and have it displayed on a map - each photo will appear as a “pin” where you was at the time you took it! You can obviously take photos in portrait or landscape, and with the 850MB inbuilt memory, you can snap away till your hearts content (about 1500 photos)!
The camera also boosts a 4x digital zoom, for those moments which are slightly out of snapping distance.
Another nice little new feature is the three-axis compass. This allows you to see where north is even when the device is held upright - ever had those moments where you have to hold the device level, but then can’t see anything because of the sun? Which, coincidentally brings me onto the next point… Garmin have done a good job at listening to feedback and improved the readability of the touch screen making it much easier to read in bright conditions - something which was a main drawback to the other Oregon devices.
If you do end up treating yourself to the 550, you’ll notice that Garmin have FINALLY got the common sense to include batteries with their devices, and not just any batteries - Rechargable NiMH AA’s… complete with charger! Well done Garmin.