infiniteMPG

I have a Garmin MAP60C (yeah, wish I'd of waited a little longer for the 60CSx but oh well). I got City Navigator as a gift and love the features. The problem I run in to is with limited memory of the 60C we can only load in 1 or 2 mapsets (the state of Florida is 4 mapsets if I recall correctly). What we were wondering is if there was any way to reduce the amount of detail that we can upload to the 60C to save memory? For example, can we just load the street maps and not the restaurants/gas stations/various POI and stuff to get more streets loaded without the POI clutter memory use? With Mapsource we can control the detail displayed but it always seem to upload the entire map detail information to the GPSr. Any way to upload less detail????? Also, the NOTES screen section for a POI/geocache on the 60C looks like it could display about 150 characters or more of text, but when entering information (manually or via GSAK) it stops at 30 characters. Is this just the way it is or is there a way to use the display space for more text? Thanks!

You type all that in manually for every cache?!?!?! I can load up my GPSr and my PDA with GSAK and Cachemate and hardly touch my keyboard while holding every letter of the descriptions, hints and the last 5 logs regardless of how long. And if you snagged the first 1023 of the description you might not grab anything but some comments about the area the cache is hidden in. Here's the first 1023 characters of Where The Green Fern Grows (the #1 rated cache in this area) : ATTENTION: There's some delicate plants in some of the areas of this series,PLEASE tread lightly and step around them to avoid damage,it doesn't require much effort.....And PLEASE beware of muggles and hide the caches back well, making sure the containers are tightly closed,this doesn't take much effort either,but cache maintenance on a series this size requires alot of effort/mileage and your cooperation will be greatly appreciated! The list of names below are the Geocachers who have completed the entire multi series and been confirmed,...this list will end with the 50th placement,.....from there on, any unconfirmed logged "finds" will be deleted.If you haven't found all parts of the entire series and e-mailed the required info., then post a note or DNF ,not a "find/smiley" ..... (1)Varren66,(2)Conanman,(3) South Tampa, (4)TheHobos,(5)TBBuck,(6)Reef Rats,(7)TheBoonieman,(8)Smiling Little Perch & Old Bass Cacher,(9)(Team Burgi)- Yuzawa Kat,Burgi Dad, ChuckSar & Cache Scene Investigator(CSI CRUE),(10)Freef That wouldn't help much.

We do similar things but we also include "last date found" in the notes section so if we start heading for a GC that has a last date found of 1/6/2005 then we probably want to look at it closer before putting a lot of effort into it.

To do it on the 60 you have to get to the status screen, then toggle up and click on SELECT ALL, then toggle down to RESET, the when prompted CANCEL(default)/OK you have to toggle over to commit to doing it. It's not a one click and it's done sort of deal, there are confirmations.

A few more questions.... With the storage (paper-less) on a 400t, what is the displaying/searching of caches like compared to CacheMate on my Palm PDA? On my Palm I can display all caches in a database (and I can have a load of different databases active) sorted by cache full names. Then with one click I can sort them by their waymark GC code. When I click on the cache I get a brief overview, then I can see the full description, difficulties, owner, date information, hints (decoded), past five logs and I can enter info into a log or notes field right there. Does the 400t have the ability to browse thru caches similar to this??? And when the caches are displayed, can you customize waymark symbols? I like to have ALL caches in an area showing as I like hiding caches when I stumble across a new spot and you need to know where everything is, not just unfound caches. So I customized GSAK to mark MY caches with a different symbol so when we're tooling around I know just from the icon if it's an unfound cache (closed treasure chest), found cache (open chest), or my cache (and also load up all stages of my multi caches, too). Can you still use GSAK and customize the icons, names and things like that before loading them to GSAK? And can you download the data from the 400t to Mapsource to see what you've done at the end of the day?

I agree with Miragee on this. I have a Palm Tungsten Tx and a 2Gb SD card on the side. I use CacheMate and GSAK and this allows me to totally customize the way things load to both my Palm and my 60C, including customized waypoint symbols (I like to have all caches loaded and not just unfound ones as I like hiding caches as much as finding so I like to know where everything is). I use a different symbol for my caches and I strip the "GC" out of the names (EVERY cache starts with GC so this is useless on a GPSr).

On the 60C (which I am stepping up FROM) you can go to a reset screen and you can delete all waymarks, geocaches, tracks and everything with one "reset all". From what the review said you have no way to clear everything on the Colorado all at once, as if you have to clear each type of loaded data each one at a time. Is this true or can you reset all on a Colorado???

I have a nice belt carrier for my Palm Tungsten Tx and it has a cool magnetic flap so I can whip it in and out quick. The problem I've had is the cover doesn't cover the stylus area and the stylus can just slide out even while the Palm is in the case. One day I was preparing for a hike and when I went to clip it on my belt I missed my belt and the thing went slamming onto the concrete parking lot. I checked and it powered up fine. Whew! Then I looked and it had dented the corner of the plastic in a little where the stylus sits. I pulled the stylus out and now the stylus is locked in and I have to pull it out rather then it free falling out! Dumb luck!!!

Didn't they say that the Colorado REBOOTS when you disconnect it from a computer.... I would think if you have it ported to a USB device, even to recharge the batteries, that it would reboot when you disconnected.

We already use the 1-hour rechargables and get good life but since both the GPSr's (MAP60C and eTrex) and the Z3 both use the same AA batteries we carry quite a few. It's just that I have yet to ever need to field change the batteries in my MAP60C. Wonder what would happen if you're marking a route while hiking with the Colorado, seeking a geocache, have everything displayed and the batteries die. Stop what you're doing, dig out the spares, swap them out, power it up, wait for satellite signal, re-find the cache you were seeking and start again... and what happens to the route?

Posted this in another thread but applicable here, too. I found a few comparison sites and this one was direct between the Colorado and the 60CSx : http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Colorado+vs+60csx A few things that caught my attention : - For internal and SD memory Colorado beats 60CSx hands down - For battery life the 60CSx minimum is 12 hrs (max 14) while the maximum on the Colorado is 10hrs (min 5). Kind of yucky as 5 hours isn't a lot for us. - No direct lanyard attachment on the Colorado (that's how I carry my 60C) - No single way to reset everything at once on the Colorado (used immediately after downloading my current GPSr stuff daily, before I upload all new stuff) - Colorado reboots when you disconnect from computer. We use the Toughbook in the field to push stuff back and forth to the GPSr. This sounds flaky. - Map files and segments a lot higher in the Colorado - No accuracy ring displayed on mapping pages in the Colorado - Can't pan/zoom maps in preview mode for routes on the Colorado - Can't switch between track UP or north UP on the Colorado (we like this feature!) - Can't customize waypoint symbols on the Colorado - No POI descriptions on the Colorado - No proximity alarms on the Colorado - 20 saved track logs can be displayed at once on the 60CSx and only 1 on the Colorado - Change change track color on the Colorado - Can't recalculate the route on the Colorado - No indication of upcoming cross street on the Colorado - No prompted recalulation if off route on the Colorado - Turn information pops up on the 60CSx when you're on any page, not on the Colorado - Colorado can hold twice the geocaches as the 60CSx (but you need more then 1,000 loaded at once?) - Colorado can mark cache in need of maintenance or DNF (we add it to notes on the 60C) - Alarm clock on the Colorado - Tide data/graph for date available on the 60CSx - Current outdoor temp available on the Colorado but stated it's basically useless and reads wrong - Other additions to Colorado is picture viewer, wireless data transfer, heart rate monitor, cadense sensor, but the 60CSx has built in games which the Colorado doesn't Don't want to rain on anything but I am now leaning towards the 60CSx and hang on to my Palm for data (and everything else).

Double post.... oops

Found a few comparison sites and this one was direct between the Colorado and the 60CSx : http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Colorado+vs+60csx A few things that caught my attention : - For internal and SD memory Colorado beats 60CSx hands down - For battery life the 60CSx minimum is 12 hrs (max 14) while the maximum on the Colorado is 10hrs (min 5). Kind of yucky as 5 hours isn't a lot for us. - No direct lanyard attachment on the Colorado (that's how I carry my 60C) - No single way to reset everything at once on the Colorado (used immediately after downloading my current GPSr stuff daily, before I upload all new stuff) - Colorado reboots when you disconnect from computer. We use the Toughbook in the field to push stuff back and forth to the GPSr. This sounds flaky. - Map files and segments a lot higher in the Colorado - No accuracy ring displayed on mapping pages in the Colorado - Can't pan/zoom maps in preview mode for routes on the Colorado - Can't switch between track UP or north UP on the Colorado (we like this feature!) - Can't customize waypoint symbols on the Colorado - No POI descriptions on the Colorado - No proximity alarms on the Colorado - 20 saved track logs can be displayed at once on the 60CSx and only 1 on the Colorado - Change change track color on the Colorado - Can't recalculate the route on the Colorado - No indication of upcoming cross street on the Colorado - No prompted recalulation if off route on the Colorado - Turn information pops up on the 60CSx when you're on any page, not on the Colorado - Colorado can hold twice the geocaches as the 60CSx (but you need more then 1,000 loaded at once?) - Colorado can mark cache in need of maintenance or DNF (we add it to notes on the 60C) - Alarm clock on the Colorado - Tide data/graph for date available on the 60CSx - Current outdoor temp available on the Colorado but stated it's basically useless and reads wrong - Other additions to Colorado is picture viewer, wireless data transfer, heart rate monitor, cadense sensor, but the 60CSx has built in games which the Colorado doesn't Don't want to rain on anything but I am now leaning towards the 60CSx and hang on to my Palm for data (and everything else).

Totally agree. I get ribbed (in fun) about walking around hiking with a Sony A100 Alpha DSLR camera over my shoulder, a Minolta Z3 in my pack, a Garmin MAP60C on my belt, my Palm Tugnsten Tx beside it, my LG8700 beside that, my ultrasonic skeeter repeller, my ultrasonic dog chaiser (works with other critters, too), my mini-Maglite,... if I fell into a pond I'd get electricuted! I'm all for cutting down by at least one device. How long do the 400t batteries last in normal operations? And what kind of water-tight issues are we referring to? Oh yeah, one life saver with the Palm is that all my contacts and phone numbers are in there, I have multiple GSAK databases loaded in for all kinds of different areas including one for all my two hundred some odd hides and all stages of them as I do occasionally get 9-1-1 geo-panic calls from stuck cachers, and we load in PDF files of the park and preserve trail maps and info sheets for field reference. Still looking for a field wildlife identification guide to load in, too. How much PDA function is in the 400t? And can you fully utilize an SD card? Can you load up an multi-gigabyte SD card with tons of caches (like GSAK databases) and then just access the ones you want at that particular time? Like if we were doing caches at several different places that were many, many miles apart, can we load in just the ones we're looking for right then and then swap them out when we go somewhere else or do all the caches have to be loaded at once (does this affect response)? One other thing, we boght City Navigator for the MAP60C, does the 400t come loaded with this type of detailed mapping or do you still have to do something like buy extra mapping data? And if we already own City Navigator can we load that on the 400t (if necessary)? We like the search features of being able to find an italian resteraunt and a route us there and give us the address and phone # so we can make reservations before we even get out of the kayaks. Thanks for the help. Big decision for me and if I don't do it soon the $$$ will end up paying bills rather then buying new toys

Definitely sounds promising but what about the things that are floating around about battery life and accuracy? We have an old eTrex and the MAP60C will run the whole day on one set of batteries while we change out the eTrax batteries a couple times. Not fun in the field (or if you forget the extra batteries). And for displaying trails when we're hiking and we loose signal (heavy tree cover, etc) the MAP60C often breaks the trail waymark string and starts a new one when it regains signal. If I am reading this right with the 400t only displaying one trail does that mean I wouldn't be able to display the segments at the same time because they are stored as two seperate paths????

Sounds like it will do a lot but it would also be a slight compromise in screen size. Not a big deal as normally after a remote trip we pop them into the ol' Toughbook anyway.

In many places we hike and cache we're in heavy tree cover. We do our paperless caching with my Palm Tungsten TX with a couple Gb SD card and tons loaded on there. We also have the ability of yanking the SD card from the Z3 digital camera and viewing them in a slide show on the Tx and with the contacts, PDF's of park info and all the other stuff we use the Palm for I doubt we'd be sluffing off the Palm. So if the CSx is as good (if not better in some aspects) then the 400t for it's GPSr abilities, if I keep the TX with me then I'm not seeing much advantage to the 400t over the CSx. We have City Navigator so we're set on that already. So if choosing between a MAP60CSx + Palm Tungsten TX or a Colorado 400t by itself, which is the better choice? My MAP60C has been swimming on more then one occasion while kayaking, has been knocked off my bike handlebar mount while mountain biking and has taken many a tumble when dislodged from my belt clip while bushwhacking. Will the Colorado be as rugged????

I have a similar discussion going on and I am in a similar situation wishing to upgrade from my MAP60C and debating the 400t or the 60CSx. From the sounds of things (accuracy, battery life, trail displays, etc) I think I'm leaning to stick with my plan on stepping up to the 60CSx (with my City Navigator) and stick with my Palm Tungsten TX which has a lot of other uses then just geocaching. Sounds like the 400t is cool but has it's limitations and doesn't do everything my Palm can do. In fact we take our memory card from the camera and pop it in the Palm and view a slideshow of the pictures we took while caching on a decent sized screen... don't think we'd be doing that with the 400t.

I am a mechanical engineer designing high speed packaging machinery for the food industry with an overactive immagination and an artistic nature. If you buy it at the grocery store and it's in a pouch or a box, we're probably involved somewhere along the way. Geocaching (with my camera in tow) lets my true self shine thru and gives my shrewd and evil immagination a good outlet (which is why I often times like hiding more the finding) especially now that my kids are mostly grown

When we first started using out xTrex for geocaching, we didn't have a clue how to enter a waypoint so we walked and saw which way the numbers were changing until we went in the right direction for the right distance. We made a few finds that way, too. Once we found how to mark a waypoint and then edit the coords to head straight towards something we were agasp with wonder! Now with the MAP60C and City Navigator we just tool down the roads and do our geocaching and wonder what else we'll stumble across that our GPSr can do.... maybe we should RTFM sometime

Thanks for the comments but can you expand on this? If I have been tracking my paths and had some previously saved, does the Colorado only show one and not overlay all of them on the display? Ouch!!! I am not overly happy with the reception on my MAP60C and if the Colorado is less accurate I'd be making it into a TB....

Sounds like the Colorado is getting the higher marks. Going to have to check the comparison info out. When you say you can dump the PDA in favor of the Colorado, how much can you load on there? Previous logs? Hints? And what about mapsets? We bought City Navigator for the MAP60C and really like that (but need to upgrade). Does the Colorado offer such a thing or is it built in? If the Colorado has the mapsets included then the cost difference isn't that much compared to a MAP60CSx + City Navigator....

I have a Garmin MAP60C that I've run into the ground (literally) and Garmin replaced once already. I pretty much like the unit with the exception of the mushy center navigation button (press UP+UP+UP and often it goes UP+LEFT+UP or something.... no tactile feel at all, like the eTrax nav button better). Also heard that some Magellin units are more able to deal with geocaching with more notes (like hints) able to be uploaded to it. I also have City Navigator and we use that for driving directions which is nice to have. But with the limited memory of the MAP60C we can't load in but one or two maps so for long trips it's useless. And we kayak a lot, mostly rivers and some bay paddles and have a suction mount for on the water. And I have a bike mount on my mountain bike and my road bike so my MAP60C has a lot of use outside geocaching. I just finished some side work and have a littler 'fluff' money to spend and was thinking about upgrading. Looking at the MAP60CSX and the Colorado 300 (even though I don't care about unit-to-unit transfers or the picture viewer), but don't feel obligated to stick with Garmin if something else fits our needs better. Any and all suggestions and comments welcomed!

When I wrote to Garmin about upgrading my maps I got this response : You are able to update your maps to v2008. This can be done by accessing your myGarmin account (username: ****) and ordering the update DVD, which is $75. I bought my GPSr off Ebay but we bought the City Navigator from Garmin and that's where the maps come from. I can see Garmin's point as if someone bought the maps CD and loaded them on Mapsource and into their GPSr and unlocked them, then sold the CD to someone else who was able to obtain an upgrade then you have two users using the same map software (i.e. pirating). I do have to give kudos to Garmin as the mount button on the back of GPSr was worn and if was falling out of my belt clip and I wrote them to see how much this was and they just asked for my mailing address and sent me one for free. And when I asked about getting a replacement button pad for my way out of warrantee MAP60C as the button faces were worn off, for $25 they replaced my GPSr with a 100% rebuilt (like new) one and they paid shipping and turned it around f-a-s-t!

No problem and happy to start helping others as I have received my share of help in here. I am looking at stepping up from my MAP60C sometime to a MAP60CSX as I hit the ceiling on the fixed memory in mine and would love to have a couple gig of storage onboard. The one thing I have found with City Navigator is that the maps take up so much memory that I am limited on what I can load. Florida is divided up for about 4 or 5 different map sets and I can't load but 1 or 2 on at a time. Which means if we're travelling a long distance I can't have the detailed maps all loaded all at once for the whole trip. And when we travel from here back up to NC then the maps I can load are limited. Expandable memory should not of been an afterthought by Garmin and wish I'd of know before I bought mine or I'd of waited.... well, probably not as I was anxious to get on the trails. Good luck!!!