The Portable Oregon 300 from Garmin

One of the lightest and easy to carry-about handheld GPS devices available in the market is the Oregon 300 manufactured by Garmin. By holding the device it is apparent that so many factors were considered by the designers who gave their best to ensure that it is one of the best of its kind in the market.

The first feature that would strike you is the physical design that comes with an IPX-7 rubber casing that can withstand the rigors of outdoor activity and a 3" touch screen basically used for control and that displays its content with high resolution that are easily readable in sunlight. Garmin has improved on the battery cover, unlike Colorado 300 which has a fiddly threaded battery lid at the lower-end; this has been replaced by a simple metal clasp. This design allows users to easily secure a carabineer to the clasp.

Although it takes some 3min 15sec for the device to start-up to full signal acquisition, the device has a HotFix satellite position memory cache which makes warm start-ups to be under 20sec. A 3-D view mode is available on the Oregon 300, providing a display similar to the standard automotive GPS navigation view. However, this doesn't work with the preloaded maps; it's intended for use with Garmin's aftermarket maps, including the country-specific City Navigator maps and TOPO topographical maps.

Unlike Garmin's lower-end models that have navigation problems, the Oregon 300 comes with a base map. The preloaded map is fairly basic, displaying major arterial roads and significant locations for each country. The Oregon 300 also boasts a Digital Elevation Model layer that displays topographical information in the form of shaded relief.

However, some negative features observed include the microSD card slot placed underneath the batteries, this means users must first remove the batteries before they can swap memory card; the screen is slightly more resistive than we would have liked, forcing us to press quite hard in order to get a reaction from the device, but this is probably a side effect of its protective layer.