Pls excuse if this is not the correct forum. I need some help in making a purchase decision. I am trying to decide whether to buy the 550t. I am not familiar with mapping gps units, but I do have a keen interest in gps technology.
At present, I own an old etrex, a Tomtom for the car (received as a present), and I have the Forerunner 305 on order. I learned to land/navigate with a map, compass, and protractor. My main interest is photography and I am a nut regarding geotagging. I own a Nikon P6000 point and shoot with a weak gps receiver, and I also own the Nikon GP-1 gps receiver that attaches to my dSLR cameras (very happy with this). I use Lightroom which allows me to pull up a map of geocoded photos. Much of the time navigating back to an old photo is easy (not far off of a road); however, sometimes it is more difficult (ex. in the marsh or finding a particular tomb in a New Orleans cemetery). I often visit locations taking lots of pictures as a “reconnoiter” photo shoot, with the intention of bringing heavier equipment later to do a more formal and static shoot (pro lenses, tripods, light stands, pelican cases, etc.). Thus I want a GPS unit where I can enter long and lat as waypoints, if geotagged with the Nikon GP-1.
I have a Droid Incredible on order and it has GPS too. The research I’ve done on the droid is that it has a pretty good gps receiver, but the maps are not resident to the smartphone itself, so if I’m in the woods (will be in the NC mountains next month) I may get a location without a map (can still breadcrumb my way home). Additionally, I hear that gps usage on the droid is a strain on the battery. Of course the droid will not be nearly as robust as an Oregon, which is also a factor.
I don’t expect to be in the wilderness, but a few times per year. Most of those treks will be in south Louisiana which is pretty darned flat. Additionally, I have a second job as a police officer and most of us like to have a gps unit handy. I think a robust unit could come in handy for some of those situations (rain, getting knocked around in the car, etc.). Also, I’m active in our local emergency response team, which could involve some light search and rescue (we are not Alaska afterall).
I like the idea of the 550t’s camera (albeit it is very limited) due to my photography. Both it and the droid will geotag and have gps maps. So, not being made of money, I’m trying to decide. I’ve looked at lots of reviews and they are only so helpful. Other than what I’ve mentioned, what will the 550t do for me that the droid will not and based on the above activities, would you do the deal? I’m not opposed to spending the money on the 550t, even at that price, I just want to know if this makes sense for me. Thanks.
