I am looking to pick up a used Montana or Oregon unit. I do not have any experience with either of these, and have not used a GPS unit before. I like the larger screen size and touch screen option. Obviously the Montana has a larger screen, but are there any other major differences between the two that would be of benefit in the BW?

I would like to use it to help maneuver some of those island studded lakes where my maps don't give me enough detail, and having lake contours would be great. If it had campsites and portage locations as well, I would be thrilled! I understand that they would not be perfect, but another tool in the toolbox.

Any idea what would be considered a reasonable deal, roughly? The Montana seems to be all over the place in the 600 series. Oregon's can be found for $100-$200 depending on the series (450-650).

I'd suggest a used unit from the likes of Ebay I have and currently use Garmin Gps units bought used on Ebay with very good results. I normally start at 50% of new cost trying to stay with newer models. The big change was the development of the operating system in the GPS62 series. Roughly 2010 and up. This covers all Montana's I think, and the Oregon 450 up.
My preference is to the 62/64/65/66 and the smaller Etrex 20/30 bunch.
However ya go spend time using it around the neighborhood and at work if that makes sense. Geocaching is also a great learning tool.
If you go the way of custom mapping the potential is quite large.

butthead

Thank you for the info! Is it preferable to get one of the "T" versions? The only difference that I've been able to find is that it has preloaded topo maps. Is this easy enough to add to a unit? It seems like there are more used non "T" units available.

That 't' designates preloaded TOPO U.S. 100K maps. In the models I have used -- 62st, 64st (and now looking seriously at the 66st), the 'st' indicates the same thing, and to me, it is the way to go. Plenty of map detail for the money built in from the start. Add maps from there as you wish.

Built in 100K Topo is handy but not necessary. I am a fan of the Birdseye USGS Raster map subscriptions ($29 per year) that can be loaded on a Garmin GPS.

butthead

I have owned the Montana 655 for about five years now. It’s been on many of my trips. Absolutely recommend this unit if you are looking. I also bought the Garmin topographic chip that gives me 24000 like tops maps use. Garmin also has a BWCA chip you might be interested in. Shows the campsites and portages.

I don't know if you already bought a GPS yet but I highly recommend the Montana. I happen to own two Montanas and I could sell you one if you are interested. I make my own maps for print and GPS. I prefer to make my own maps for Quetico because on commercial topo maps many of the portages are not accurate, they are in the wrong location or the length is wrong, etc. The portages on my maps are all from walking the portages with a GPS so they are very accurate.

RC: "I don't know if you already bought a GPS yet but I highly recommend the Montana. I happen to own two Montanas and I could sell you one if you are interested. I make my own maps for print and GPS. I prefer to make my own maps for Quetico because on commercial topo maps many of the portages are not accurate, they are in the wrong location or the length is wrong, etc. The portages on my maps are all from walking the portages with a GPS so they are very accurate."

Hi RC,
I have not made the plunge yet. I may be interested in your Montana depending on model/price. I had the opportunity to look at an Oregon over the weekend and decided that I prefer the larger screen on the Montana.

Saberboys: "

RC: "I don't know if you already bought a GPS yet but I highly recommend the Montana. I happen to own two Montanas and I could sell you one if you are interested. I make my own maps for print and GPS. I prefer to make my own maps for Quetico because on commercial topo maps many of the portages are not accurate, they are in the wrong location or the length is wrong, etc. The portages on my maps are all from walking the portages with a GPS so they are very accurate."

Hi RC,
I have not made the plunge yet. I may be interested in your Montana depending on model/price. I had the opportunity to look at an Oregon over the weekend and decided that I prefer the larger screen on the Montana."

Hi RC, I shot you an email about the Montana.

Hi Mike, I replied to your email but I don't think you got the reply. Maybe it went into your email spam folder? I'll try again.

RC: "Hi Mike, I replied to your email but I don't think you got the reply. Maybe it went into your email spam folder? I'll try again."

Hi Rick,

I did not see anything come through. I'll try to shoot you an email from my gmail account.