General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Cheap GPS by Oregon Scientific? Rss Feed  
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2011-11-25 2:12 PM

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Athens
Subject: Cheap GPS by Oregon Scientific?
I was wondering if anyone has seen/tried this? I actually saw it on my company's gift/reward website that they created to replace cash bonuses, and was considering ordering it.  It looks like the real deal as far as bare-bones athletic GPS is concerned, and since I'm not spending any "real" money on it I might pull the trigger on it.   


2011-12-03 3:27 PM
in reply to: #3914887

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Subject: RE: Cheap GPS by Oregon Scientific?
Yeah it looks pretty bare bones,b ut GPS modules are pretty cheap.  I am building a GPS LED clock for my parents for xmas and the GPS module I'm using is only 50 USD and there are cheaper chips you can buy, especially when you get price breaks for volume.

Edited by ionlylooklazy 2011-12-03 3:30 PM
2011-12-03 7:23 PM
in reply to: #3914887

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Subject: RE: Cheap GPS by Oregon Scientific?

The Garmin's are really good.  really well done.  my guess is that you're looking at daily aggravation for the next year until you break down and get a garmin.

 

but- prove me wrong.  looking forward to your product review.

2011-12-03 10:45 PM
in reply to: #3914887

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Subject: RE: Cheap GPS by Oregon Scientific?
You may want to consider the Soleus unit as well.  It's about $90 and like the Oregon Scientific doesn't download data.  I ran my first run with it this morning (9.3 miles) - and was rather impressed by the little unit.  Accuracy wise was within .05 of my Garmin unit.  Good stuff.
2011-12-05 12:39 PM
in reply to: #3914887

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Athens
Subject: RE: Cheap GPS by Oregon Scientific?

Well, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on this unit, more out of curiosity than anything.  So far, the best I can say is that it works. Mostly.

Here are some of the PROs:

  • Cheap - I think this is a fairly new offering, so the only place I found it for sale was the manufacturer's website.  That said, if it sees wider distribution I would imagine the price might go down (I'm thinking big box stores like Wal-Mart might carry this).
  • Fairly easy to use - once you skim the directions it's pretty easy to use.  There aren't really any options to configure, so you don't have to fool too much with it.

Now for the CONs:

  • It's HUGE - if you think that the Garmin Forerunner 205/305 is too large then this is not for you.  It's easily 1.5 times the size of those Garmin units.  To be fair I think it's designed to worn around the upper arm, but that doesn't seem be very practical.
  • Not accurate - on a coupe of 2 mile runs, the Oregon Scientific differed as much as 0.14 from both my iPhone and Garmin (which were both pretty close to each other).  I could be wrong, but that doesn't seem like the sort of thing that will sort itself out on longer workouts.
  • Weird Strap - the strap is really just one long piece with velcro that doubles over on itself.  My wrists are average for a man, and it's pretty loose at it's tightest.
  • Super slow satellite lock - takes an average of 90 seconds to get locked on, not exactly stellar
  • No data transfer - it hardly tracks any data besides speed, time, and distance anyway, but if you want to share your results you're out of luck
I could go on, but this post is already pretty long.  Suffice it to say that your money could be much better spent elsewhere.  I didn't spent any actual money on this, just some reward points, so it was an interesting experiment.  Also, I kind of knew going into it that this would only be good as a back-up or a really low-end entry level device.  For the same money or less you can get a used Garmin or a brand new Soleus on eBay, and that would be my advice to anyone looking to buy a starter fitness GPS.
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