chuckbernard

Unfortunately, the model I ride has an unregulated AC power source without a battery. The simple solution is to add a rectifier and regulator but a previous attempt for my 60CS wasn't successful without adding a battery because the voltage dropped near idle and the unit keeps telling me that it lost power and this popup blocks the screen. There is nowhere good to mount a battery and when left outside in sub-freezing temperatures those small batteries just die, in a permanent way, so quickly... It is all just a real pain to deal with when the GPS itself should run for 6-7 hours on its own batteries including using the backlight for 30-40 minutes during this period. The 60CSx easily exceeds these requirements so I would expect the Colorado to do the same. I've asked for a replacement unit and then we'll see how the batteries and backlight work on it.

I have a similar but more illogical unlock story... I bought a 60CSx a couple of years ago. I also bought City Select V7 which is comes with a license for 2 gps units! I unlocked it for the 60CSx and it has been working fine for a year or two. Now, I bought a Colorado 400T. I spend an entire weekend unlocking/installing City Select V7 onto the Colorado. (Many, many, many attempts before I realized that the Colorado's USB interface just can't hang on long enough to transfer that much data. After buying a USB card reader/writer I was able to transfer it.) Anyhow, now I have CSv7 installed on both the 60CSx and the Colorado 400T. I wanted to buy the City Navigator 2008 upgrade and install it on the Colorado 400T. Couldn't figure out how to do it online so I called Tech Support. Turns out the Upgrade ($75) will work on the 60CSx because it was the "first" unit I installed CSv7 on. There is no upgrade path for the Colorado since it is using the second license of CSv7. I explained that I understand the CN 2008 is a "1-unit licensed product" and that I only wanted to use it on 1 unit, my 400T. Can't be done because it was the second unit the CSv7 was installed on. Illogical to me. I have a license for 2 units of the old version and I just want to upgrade 1 of them. Which one should be my choice and not theirs. A license is a license and both gps units were bought from Garmin. Not being cheap but more feeling cheated, I refuse to pay full retail to upgrade my license so I just won't do it. Their loss as well as mine. By the way has everybody noticed how LONG it takes for the Colorado to boot if you have a large map installed on the SD card? The 60CSx doesn't suffer from this same issue!

Yes, in excellent conditions with plenty of direct light you can see it. Also, with the unit plugged into an outlet you can see it because the backlight is set to a very high level which is NOT achievable while under battery power. (Try it). Now, while you are in a forest with cloud cover (i.e., poor lighting) it is IMPOSSIBLE to read the display unless you activate the backlight and have it up pretty high. Which of course assumes you have a fresh set of batteries in the thing or else the backlight will be either severely reduced or disabled altogether. Remember, same situation, same lighting, side by side the 60CSx is possible to read while the Colorado is NOT. By the way I have perfect vision, both daytime and nighttime. Since it is NOT only me saying this inside this forum, but also on blogs, reviews, and other forums it is most definitely a problem. And, while pressing a button isn't a problem for one taking a hike it isn't such an easy thing while operating a motor vehicle. Albeit I am traveling no more than 3-10mph when reading the display, if I were to let off the throttle to activate the backlight I would most definitely get stuck in the snow and then would need to spend the next 20 minutes with a shovel digging myself out. Again, 60CSx no problem after 2 years of experience. With the Colorado it is a problem right out of the box on the first ride. Of course, "maybe" my unit has a faulty display and yours doesn't? I do know that my batteries only last 2 hours without even touching a key to activate the backlight even 1 time. And that is 2 hours plus or minus a few minutes. Not 2 hours and 20 minutes, and not 1 hour and 45 minutes. Brand new set of batteries. So, even if the backlight were to work as expected where would I store all of the batteries to during a trip? By the way, with my 60CSx I leave the backlight on for the longest setting and can ride for a long period of time before having to reactivate it. With this POS it will tell me that it has disabled the backlight when there are still 2 bars of battery left? So, on mine I only get about 1 hour of time to use the backlight and even so it isn't that bright. I'm going to send mine back for a replacement and if things improve then we'll chalk it up to a bad unit. That just means that they don't test their stuff before they send it out which isn't a good thing either.

Thank you toddm for such a fact filled post. I've had mine for a few weeks and I just don't have enough time to list "all" of its shortcomings. The ones that bother me the most are: The display is dark and unusable outdoors in MOST lighting conditions. When plugged into a power source the display is BRIGHT and great. When using batteries you CANNOT achieve the same brightness as they have purposely limited brightness while on battery power. Why??? The tracks problem is MAJOR. In addition, to not being able to track back, it can only display a single track on the display at one time. The 60CSx could display all 20 tracks simultaneously. I have several tracks crisscrossing a mountainous region and need at least 2 or 3 tracks displayed simultaneously for quick reference. Having only 1 track displayed would be tantamount to having only 1 road on the display while driving across the city in your car! I mount mine on my snowmobile and travel through forests while I rely on the GPS to stay on track. Unlike hiking, the snow conditions change from week to week and year to year so you cannot stay exactly on a trail. Sometimes you need to deviate and still be able to glance down at the GPS to find your way back to a known track. With the Colorado I have to stop, and risk getting stuck, to press a key to get the backlight on so I can see the display! No such problem with the 60CSx. Plus, there is NO way to manage tracks saved on the unit. For example, you cannot delete a saved track. The chipset is inferior to the one used in the 60CSx in that it takes MUCH longer to get a lock and can be off by several hundred, if not thousand feet, while walking in the city or in deep forest. To prove this I ran both the Colorado 400T and the 60CSx side by side on several walks, hikes, and rides. Did they save a few bucks by using their own, and inferior, chipset? Besides the fact that it has a chipset that is easily confused by multi-path interference, it has a display that cannot be viewed, it goes through new batteries an order of magnitude faster than previous models, it cannot manage saved tracks or display more than one on the screen, cannot average waypoints, shall I continue????? Well, besides all of that, they have something! Virtually worthless in my opinion. Unfortunately, I bought mine with many non-returnable accessories, maps, and a restocking fee. Looks like I bought into a pile of garbage.

Yes. Maybe there is just a hardware issue with this one. I just fear that if I send it back then I'll just get the 3GB version

I received my Garmin Colorado 400T a couple of weeks ago and the laundry list of BUGS and missing features (as compared to the 60CSx) is too long to list here. The one thing that is HORRIBLE is the battery usage. I get 2 hours with NO backlight and no key presses whatsoever. Yes, I have the latest software installed on the GPS and I'm using Duracell Ultra batteries. Don't even get me started on the Nimh batteries as they are FAR worse! (As of note the batteries are new and the same batteries last 14 hours or more in my 60CSx) So, I contacted Garmin and they said that I can send it back for a replacement... However, since I have the 4GB model I'm wondering whether I should wait a while before sending it back because I don't want the 3GB model and then later find out that it was just a software problem... I do feel that it is a software problem because if I take out the so-called-dead batteries and plug them into my Mag flashlight it burns bright and strong for a LONG time... Is there any advantage to the 4GB model versus the 3GB? Seems like there should be some since it is questionable whether the SD card is used for much on these besides other maps. I'm more interested in track memory which seems to be all on the internal memory.