mightywarlock
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Posts posted by mightywarlock
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From the complaints on the previous Garmin Units...I wish they would just fix them instead of announcing new units.
I'd hate to buy this and be unsatisfied like the previous owners who bought the newer units.
For now, I'll stick with my 60CSX...it has done me good.
I think the thing that gets me, is that no matter what, there is always going to be bigger and better...
but it seems that you don't even get a year on unit before the next comes out to make you feel like you need the next greatest thing.
it's true with all electronics, but sometimes I wish they would last longer than a year before making you feel like you wasted money, especially if you were an early adopter!
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they (Garmin) probably think the current chip is fine, so i don't think they would change anything there, or they probably would have announced a change.
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i just discovered this info on the garmin webpage and came here...and here are my thoughts about the 550.
I like it.
I had a Colorado 400t. I had issues with accuracy. I returned it to REI and did an even swap for a Oregon 400t last year when they came out. I had only had the Colorado about 2 months at the most.
I like the Oregon, but the news of the 3-axis Compass has me wanting to swap again, as well as the hopefully better screen. Camera...well, i guess that's cool as well, although I wonder if that will cause freezing issues and such...but all that remains to be seen. I have in the past carried both a gps and a camera, so in a way, it might be good enough to leave the camera at home. 3.2mp is not much...but good for internet pics. Just think of all the new pics when folks will log their geocaches.
I'm not too worried about bugs however, as those typically get worked out eventually. hopefully.
but the compass i find useful. i just have to hope it would work well...i mean, wouldnt it be nice to have the arrow actually point AT the geocache, instead of all over the place, this way and that?
i think so.
darn it...now comes the waiting period lust!
(oh and as for abusing the REI policy? I don't think it is abusive if something you buy is not perfect. I have bought clothes, and have never thought of returning them there. But i bought a pair of Keen's last week, went to Hawaii, and they killed me...i was in agony all week with all the walking I had to do in them. I got back yesterday morning and didn't think twice about returning them immediately...however, i DID try to exchange them for something else that might have worked better. I returned them, and they will re-sell them at their member only sales in upcoming months, but if i had not been able to, i would have been stuck with shoes I will never ever wear again, and out $75. I am glad they have the policy they do. I have never been happy that the 400t has issues with WAAS accuracy, and perhaps this could be a reason to swap as well if they fixed it.)
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PM / offer sent.
replied.
still available at the moment.
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PM / offer sent.
I never got any message.
please resend?
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I picked this up recently thinking i would use it, then got a heart rate monitor i thought i would use more...then got the Colorado and now an Oregon, and have been trying to decide which to use on the bike.
I think i will probably use the Oregon, and bought a bike mount for the Oregon, and as such, the Edge 205 is now for sale.
I have never used it.
I have never attatched it to the bike.
I have turned it on and checked it out, but nothing more than that.
Edge 205, brand new, with everything that is in the box (without the box, but a bag).
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=160&pID=6400
not sure about pricing...this was $249. just recently, so please make an offer, knowing that is is brand new.
Thanks!
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I am on the east coast visiting family in NY, and have been doing a ton of caching with my Oregon 400t, and i have a couple of issues.
1st, not once since buying it have I noticed any WAAS working.
2nd, i know this is a weird issue, but i always seem to be just slightly off from the caches...
in upstate NY, under a lot of tree cover, i am consistently 15-20ft off from every cache. unsure if it has to do with my gps, or the person who placed it however, but it seems the same almost every time i am under trees.
3rd, the topo maps and tracks...they hardly ever seem to match up.
The Oregon is getting me close, and then i have to look real hard to find the caches...but just wondering how we are doing with Garmin and the WAAS situation?
very hard to find caches when you never get past 23-30 ft accuracy in the woods.
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i joined the club tonight. after being so thoroughly disgusted with my Colorado while out geocaching yesterday, i decided to take the plunge. Took my Colorado 400t to REI and swapped it for a brand new Oregon 400t.
so far, it seems ok, but i already found a problem. So on the way home from REI i stop and pick up a 4gb microSDhc card (this is correct?) i had the gps on while driving home and discovered my plug from the Colorado (not made by Garmin, but some other aftermarkey company) worked just fine in the Oregon. I get home, and pop in the microSD card and some batteries, then decided to plug it in to the computer (mac) to make a complete backup of it before i even start playing with it (worth the 2 hour effort to save a week of downtime or so later!!).
well, the thing crashes when i plug the cable in at the connected screen!!
ok...i figure it's a bug, and decided to take out the batteries and the SD card since they are the only variables i have at the moment.
plug it back it, and it loads right up.
So...
either I bought the wrong card (i should be able to use a 4gb MicroSDhc card, correct? There is no such thing as a 4gb SDcard that is NOT an SDHC...correct?
Once the backup is completed, I will update the oregon from the Garmin page...and see if i still have that issue with the connecting and the card.
It's going to be weird getting used to a gps with no buttons again! But I am hopeful that this Oregon will be better than my just 'ok' Colorado.
EDIT!!
OK, so after the backup, i went to the Garmin page and discovered my Oregon came loaded with 2.2 software. I uploaded to 2.3.
then, after i made sure it turned on again, i loaded in the SD memory card again and connected it to the computer, and voila! no problems...loaded right up.
Also, i noticed a new file i haven't seen before, (not on the Colorado at least), gmaptz.img - and was wondering what that was?
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You will see far more positive things about the 60csx than many other GPS units. They are rock solid. I use mine for geocaching, hunting, and of course street level routing when I travel for work.
The 76csx and 60csx use the same 'guts' just a different form factor. Some like the button placement better on one or the other. 76 floats too whereas the 60 does not.
Now if you want a unit that does paperless geocaching, then maybe the Oregon is what you need.
But for an all around rock solid, high sensitivity GPS, you can't go wrong with a 60 or 76. I see more of those with geocachers than anything else.
Oh yeah - if you want to save a few bucks you can get the 60cx instead of the 60csx. Only difference is some of the built in sensors and electronic compass (which I never use on mine). Perfectly fine unit for caching and street routing.
I think you see so many people complaining because we expect more than we get. I might be wrong, but the most accurate gps i have ever had in the past was a Garmin GPS V Deluxe, and when it got stolen from my car i replaced it with another Garmin! That one was stolen as well (gotta love L.A.) and I bought another Garmin (2820), which is a great GPS. I was unable to geocache with that one, and ended up buying a Garmin Quest II, which I just didn't like at all, and sold immediately, so i could buy another Garmin! This time i bought the Colorado 400t, and i have felt that it is really not all that accurate from day one. I plan on going to REI this week (now that the sale is over and the Colorado's are the same price as the Oregon's) and exchanging the Colorado for the Oregon, simply because I think there are less people complaining about the accuracy of the Oregon. I went out geocaching yesterday with the Colorado and 3 out of 3 i just plain gave up on because the Colorado had me either in the wrong spots (here, no over there, no wait...over there...no...back there...but there's nothing there....no...over there...ahh screw it!) and have had this happen more than once where i just feel it's making me not want to geocache as much just because of all the wandering around it does.
We all want different things in a GPS, so no one GPS will ever be perfect. However when you spend many hundreds of dollars on an electronic device whose main goal is to tell you where you are, and it cannot do that correctly, i think the complaints are warranted.
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Do a hard reset. See: http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Miscellaneous#toc10
It was the first thing I did. No change. "Hard reset" only wipes out user data without prompt, but does not affect internal memory.
I suspect in formatting you may have deleted hidden file(s) that you could not have backed up--maybe? There should be a way to fully restore the Colorado / Oregon in the field if there is no hardware failure--but there isn't to date to my knowledge. There is no available disk image I'm aware of nor means of getting into the Colorado's OS.
There are too many cases of "system software missing" through no fault of the end user and I'm sure others have "accidentally" formatted their virtual memory drive/partition(s) too. (There but for you go I.)
The results of this thread could be important for all of us with Colorado and Oregon models.
you have 3 options.
#1- if possible, you can return to the store.
#2- call Garmin, and they can either Send you a disc or have you mail it back to them.
#3- beg someone who was smart enough to make a backup disc of their Colorado to mail you a copy of their backup disc.
Note to new Colorado and Oregon users...when you take that sucker out of the box, before doing anything whatsoever, grab a blank DVD and copy everything over to the DVD to save all the info in case you make a mistake somewhere down the road.
how do i know all of these?
it has happened to me and I now know better.
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just a note...and this is something I have now taken into account to try to remember to do EACH time i am going to connect the Colorado to my computer...
I empty the trash Before connecting it, as just in case I do delete something in the trash when the Colorado is plugged in, i want to make sure i see EXACTLY what is getting deleted...
Otherwise, you could end up deleting an important file that will render the Colorado useless.
I am not sure if this was an issue I had with a previous Colorado, but I used to delete my Geocache_Visits log each time after I uploaded the files to Geocaching.com...and somewhere along the line something must have gotten tossed in the trash as well, even though I never noticed anything was missing.
My old Colorado's maps got corrupted after trashing something, and I ended up with NO maps loaded and had to send it back to Garmin.
So even if you are on a mac, just try to remember to empty the Trash, and always look in the trash before deleting anything!
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I thought it interesting, that this website no longer exists!
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I bought the invisible shield zagg one, and for the most part, after the messy install, i am pretty happy with it...it seems to fit just fine to me, and has definitely protected my screen from all the messy places geocaching has taken me.
if they had a bad batch, it seems ok to me now, and i just ordered mine from them less than a month ago.
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Just got my replacement Colorado 400t in the mail today, and wanted to load some pocket queries in, but i noticed some new queries i was emailed had the same numbers in the file as older GPX files i had gotten previously...so i got to thinking, after the Geocaching.com website emails you the pocket queries, can you rename them to something so you will know what they are for? (example, one file i have is 1954825.GPX...but i would like to rename it something like Valleycaches.GPX).
can this be done, or do we have to keep it the filename we were emailed?
thanks!
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just a note...
Today I received my replacement 400t.
I turned it on, and it said May 15th. (date of testing or manufacture?)
Oh! but before i even did anything with it, i plugged it in the computer, and backed everything up to DVD.
all seems well so far.
Hopefully no more issues.
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I am a colorado user (400t) and a Mac user. I've owned a few Garmin handhelds over the last 10 years and have had to use a seperate Windows computer to manage them.
My current setup includes Parallels (Build 5608) running Windows XP for manipulating my GPS devices. I'm pretty comfortable using Parallels for USB and serial pass-through - i'm using several serial/usb GPS and radio devices under this same WinXP instance (under parallels). (only one at a time for this troubleshooting)
Most recently i got a new Garmin Edge 705. I've had no issues using this device on the same computer through Parallels under the same WindowsXP installation.
After using the 705 for a week i decided it wasn't the right GPS unit for what I needed to do so i exchanged it for a Garmin Colorado 400t. The 400t will not work on my Windows VM. I attach it using the Garmin USB cable and tell the Parallels VM to attach to it. The Garmin switches into mass storage mode but after about 10 seconds appears to simply power off.
I have a physically separate windows computer in another room. The colorado can connect to it just fine. Further if i don't let the parallels VM on my Mac access it and simply use it within MacOSX it works fine. As all of my maps etc are installed on the Windows VM i really need to be able to use it there. Has anyone else had a problem like this? All evidence points towards Parallels being the problem. I've verified that i'm running the latest version of everything involved:
- Garmin Colorado Firmware: v2.40
- Parallels Desktop Build: 5608
- WindowsXP SP2: All updates applied
- MacOSX: v10.5.3 (no pending updates)
- Garmin included USB Cable
- SanDisk ExtremeIII 2g SD card within the Garmin. I've verified that i have the same exact behavior with and without the SD card installed.
I've checked the support forums at Garmin (not much information at all) and Parallels (can't find anything) and am not having much luck.
I've also verified that my 60CSx works just fine in the same environment. For what it's worth i'm using a Mac Pro and connecting to the lower front mounted USB port
If anyone has any suggestions/workarounds etc i've definitely be interested in them. I love the unit and figure this is something that'll get fixed one way or another in due time. I do have the Garmin Mac utilities also. My bet's on this parallels problem being fixed and stable way before the Garmin Mac utilities make it to prime time
I have had the same exact issue.
So i was just using my other PC in the house at first, then i was able to load some GPX files from the mac. but no can do in windows in Parallels.
suppose it's just another bug...either in the Colorado, or the Parallels program.
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so i just got off the phone with Garmin, and they offered me 2 solutions (after being on the hold and the phone for 2 hours, they had to call me back). 1st solution was to send me a disc with all the software backed up that would replace all the software on my Colorado. the 2nd option, which i chose, is just me sending mine back and them sending me a new one.
I chose to send it back and get a new one...which I will just backup like i should have from the start, when i first take it out of the box.
they said they have never heard of this issue before, (although you clearly stated that you talked to Garmin as well), but they are making good on their part, so no worries...just a lost week of GPS time.
hopefully this will be the last of my problems.
If this happens to anyone else, just know Garmin will help you out in the end...
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not sure if my initial post worked or not, so just reposting, since it timed out when i tried to post this:
Howdy.
Just letting you folks know the deal i got last week, from Pricegrabber.com from the seller MyMPT. I bought a Garmin Colorado 400t for 447.99 with free shipping. it came brand new in the box, and loaded with 2.50.
My Colorado needs to be sent back to Garmin for other reasons (suddenly, my map disappeared), but this IS the best price I have yet to find, and the problem with my unit has nothing to do with the seller...so I would recommend them for anyone looking for a 400t, or other gps.
good luck.
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I wanted to "like" my unit too after I had these problems and now I do. I absolutely would not go back to a regular GPS now that I have tasted paperless caching. It can't be beat at this time. I have had some minor glitches twice now with my replacement GPS such as it shutting off for no reason or getting hung up on the initial splash screens. It is a pain to pull a battery to reset it, but so far, everything else is ok. For me, the pros outweigh the cons I have encountered (and read about) so far.
There were some earlier problems when the unit first came out so some retailers may still have the older, glitchier models in stock which is probably the models you and I purchased. When you get your replacement model from Garmin, you will get the most current version which is less buggier.
My recommendation is to just get past this event by calling support. They will either walk you thru the issue over the phone and correct it or send you a new GPS. Then the fun begins.
I forgot to ask you if you checked to make sure you have a map selected. To do that, choose maps, then click the left soft key to "select maps". From that screen you can confirm that maps are loaded and whether there is a check mark next to them which makes them active.
To answer your question, there are no maps loaded. When I turn on the unit it says loading maps, but does not say TOPO 2008 or anything else, then goes just to a white screen. when i go to see about selecting a map, there is nothing there.
HOWEVER!!!!
MY WEEKEND IS NOT TOTALLY DESTROYED!!!
I FOUND A SLIGHT WORKAROUND!!!
I had one of those AHA! moments and thought maybe I could pull off a workaround...
Since My Topo Basemap seems to be missing, what if i grabbed my old version of it (the old Topo DVD's, and loaded it onto an SD card....onto the computer, into Mapsource, then onto the SD card??
would that work??
ok...here's what happened...
So i loaded the old version of Topo I had in the closet, and Mapsource crashed. it kept asking for the Topo Basemap Patch. So i went to the garmin page and downloaded and installed the Basemap Patch. it didn't help anything...same crash.
Then I remembered, this had happened to me before in the past, and another AHA moment...what if i reloaded the Mapsource that I installed, that came with the Colorado, from the Trips and Waypoint Manager cd. So i pop in that disc, and reinstall, with the autostart installer, and still the error message. Then i decided to "Explore" the disc" and clicked on the .enu file, which asked if i wanted to "reinstall or repair" the Trips and waypoint manager, and it "repaired" the Mapsource program.
Finally, this worked.
I was able to get Mapsource to open, select the OLD TOPO maps, chose a bunch around the L.A. area (where I am at), saved it to the SD card, and then thought I would see what I had...
at first i thought it didn't worked, because after doing the resetting earlier, all i saw was a white screen again, but it was zoomed out 500 miles. when i zoomed it, i started seeing something...
in the middle of all that white, there were my maps!
Now, yes, I still know I will be sending my Colorado back to Garmin this week after I talk to them on Monday, since the original mapset seems corrupt, but at least THIS weekend is not blown, and i can get out and still get some geocaching done!
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Yes, I know how you feel as I also was extremely disappointed too. But, on the bright side, the Garmin customer service is excellent and they want to help solve any problems.
Have you tried a hard reset yet? If not, you may want to try this (this is something that Garmin had me try too while I was on the phone with them). While holding down both soft keys, turn the unit on. This will cause a reset.
Your other alternative is to call them and they will try to debug the situation over the phone -- unfortunately you will have to wait until Monday. Hopefully your situation is not as glum as mine was. I've included the support info below. I personally wouldn't waste any time with sending an email to them...it takes days for a response and the back and forth is excruitiatingly slow.
Good luck and let us know how you make out.
(800) 800-1020
Support Hours of Operation
Monday - Friday
9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Support on website: http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/us/support
I'm not sure I would really even call that a Hard Reset...All it did was erase my settings...like how i liked things set up on the GPS. the GPX and Wherigo files I loaded were still there, as were the white background jpg i loaded in as well.
I stupidly had NOT done a backup yet (i just got the thing this week, didn't expect it to die so quickly), and when i tried to copy the img file of the map to my computer, i received an error message on my computer about the data being bad...so I would think the Map file is corrupt or damaged somehow. Now I see the difference between having a DVD come with the product or not. If the Colorado 400t came with a DVD, and on that DVD was a "restore" file, that would have solved a lot of headaches...instead of having to now wait a few weeks, have 2 weekends ruined that were supposed to be out Geocaching, and the possibility that it could happen again!?
Perhaps the cheaper 300 would have been the better deal...after all...If i had bought that and the Topo software, I could have easily just thrown out that map file and reloaded it, don't you think?
There's no instructions worth a dadgum with this thing, and if it weren't for this forum right here, people wouldn't even know half the things going on with this Colorado mess.
I want to like this thing...I can't tell you how awesome it is to have paperless caching right on the GPS...I just wish, like everyone else, Garmin didn't put out this Beta Tester of a product like this. Very much disappoints me with Garmin...as this is NOT my first GPS...more like my 5th...(GPS V(Stolen out of my truck, with), StreetPilot III, Quest 2 (didn't like it at all), and 2820 (very good Auto GPS).
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Update on my missing topo issue...Garmin has given me a RMA and is sending me a new unit.
Tonight, this problem has just happened to me.
I have had my Colorado for a total of 5 days, and tonight i was out geocaching when it seemed as if the unit reset itself after being turned on.
i started it up again and continued.
then later in the evening i was loading up some pocket queries, and afterwards turned on the unit only to be greeted with the initial startup screens, followed by NO MAP!!
just the white screen you mentioned earlier.
I also checked to see if the files were all there, and they are...
sounds like i am having the same problem you had, except i was not even using an SD card at all...this is all a UNIT problem.
It saddens me that this has happened, as i have been enjoying the Colorado, and had plans to go out Geocaching in the morning and afternoon with a cousin who is only here for 1 day from out of the country! Now this means i will be unable to do any caching at all for a few weeks it sounds like.
Very disappointing.
and judging from what i have read on these forums, it appears there is NO FIX for this problem other than to return it to Garmin.
Which really stinks.
I don't ever remember having any problems with my old GPS V...it worked fantastic, sometimes even getting a radius of 2-3 feet accuracy from a cache.
I was going to buy a 60Csx, but wanted the paperless caching (which has been really great to have!), but this totally sucks...5 days and it's done! This isn't top of the line stuff, this is just an expensive toy that they have screwed us into buying.
very disappointed.
!
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Depends on how much space you have on the internal memory. If you want to have both the City Nav maps *and* another type of map, you have to select both and build them together. The combined maps may exceed the amount of memory you have.
If you are using the SD card, the fastest way to load maps on them is to use an SD card reader. This lets the PC talk to the SD card much faster than the Colorado will let you.
I just got my Colorado 400t and I have been trying to figure this out as well...
Do you have to use Mapsource to copy the files to the SD card exlusively, or can you just copy the whole City Navigator folder to the SD card with all the .img files? if so, is there a directory name i need to do this as?
is this possible at all?
help
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I ran into an interesting problem today when I was trying to download waypoints to the 400t. Every time I connected the USB cable I got the message, USB Cable Detected. Would you like to go to Mass Storage? When selecting Yes the Colorado would shut down. This happened numerous times using different cables and even different computers. Neither a soft nor a hard reset resolved the problem.
I resolved the problem by removing the SD card. After removing the card the unit operated correctly. I replaced the SD card and it's still working OK.
This is another quirk to be added to our list of 400t problems in the event anyone else experiences this problem.
I have had this problem, on my Macbook Pro, when using Parallel's for windows xp...i would try to use the Colorado in windows, i would get the same messages, but it would shut down due to what i believe is the gps mounting on the MacOS side, and then it shows on XP that it is in use.
still trying to figure this out, as i have my mapsource program on this computer, with all my maps, and i wanted to copy over the city navigator to the SD card, but haven't been able to due to this problem!
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Just wondering what i should do, or what we should do, other than emailing the person who took a travel bug and has never dropped it off anywhere over a very long period of time? One of my bugs has been in someone's possession for 8 months or so and i emailed them about it, and they very briefly told me they were busy and would get around to it sometime...or something like that.
should there be a rating system for geocachers on this site, sort of the way ebay has they buyer and seller ratings?
what do you think??
New Oregon software, non-beta!
in GPS technology and devices
Posted · Edited by mightywarlock
I Take it this software is not for the 550 family? I just got one last week and haven't put it through the paces yet.
I checked out the wiki and didnt see anything...
I am going to use my 550t today for some mega caching so we'll see how it works compared to everyones updated 400's