The Hungry Caterpillars

Mine has batteries in and the internal clock stops when switched off. I have been intouch with Garmin support in my part of the world and been told that they were not aware of a gain in time by the internal clock and have been given to understand that it is normal in the Colorado for the internal clock to stop when the instrument is turned off! As you say these problems negate a number of the facilities offered by this model related to this -long time to first fix, useless stopwatch mode, an alarm clock that will not run properly and apparently no pressure trend recording? Anything else whilst we are at it? I am more than alittle disturbed about all this with reason. I personally paid the equivelant of nearly $600 dollars for this.

"For geocaching its great" Its a great idea in theory but in practice at the moment is not so great. Hopefully that will quickly improve. After three months of struggling with it have started going back to my pda and 60CSX for geocaching. I agree most definitely that the 60csx is THE one I would trust well before the Colorado for "Mountain Rescue" type activities for many reasons.

Have coached athletics for many years so a stopwatch mode that is useless is a real downer.

Thanks for the help all. So I take it that all Colorado units have an internal clock which does not keep any kind of time when the unit is off unlike the CSX60. And the stopwatch function is useless as it stands at the moment. This last as a total athletics buff is pretty important for me personally. I seem to have spent the last three months fighting the 300 and still have other problems with it occasionally a totally wrong position by some hundred feet, it seems to turn itself off after a certain sequence of button/scroll wheel usage that I have not bottomed and seems to update a lot more slowly than the CSX. I am no technical expert but have had and still have an old yellow etrex, an old vista, a 60cs a 60csx and a 305. This 300 model really needs some major work. Perhaps another Firmware update that does not carry a health warning with it may offer some of that major work?

So do all Colorados have this problem?Or just some? I would have thought that with a satelllite fix the stopwatch function would work correctly? And if you lose satellites for some period of time will that cause false readings for your actual position? Even a 5min loss is about 2 secs gain for the internal clock. I notice that this has been listed as a hardware problem on the Garmin Colorado FAQ issues list. If so what action if any would you propose I take?

I actually discovered this problem with 2.4 and think it was there earlier than that from what I recall at least with the time being incorrect at start up. The problem with the stopwatch was when I checked on a hunch that this may demonstrate some related problem. What I do find very disturbing is that even with a satellite fix the stopwatch still runs fast (24s per hour) (internal clock problem) Surely this must have a deleterious effect on a GPS that is after all time dependent. I do very much suspect that this is down to faulty hardware rather than anything else. Anybody else confirm please?

Hi espescially pharisee and mosstrooper. Do remember the sardines and I think I know where there could still be some lurking! We as a team got into trouble over some kitkats which apparently would attract wild bears and the like. Needless to say we had a great time revisiting the caches we had left these in and enjoying every mouthful of these disgusting out of date poisonous attractive to all creatures great and small chocolate bars!! That is in the caches that had not already lost these titbits not to wild creatures but rather hungry geocachers. On reflection perhaps geocachers are a form of wild creature? Those were the days!!!

Hi rugged swordfish. Have a number of problems with mine -perhaps you canhelp? I have noticed the internal clock on mine stops after turning off unlike the 60csx and the when turning on before finally picking up satellites reports this time. to check as far as I can I have discovered that even with a satellite fix the stopwatch mode on mine gains about 24 secs/hr or about 9mins/day. I am no expert but am totally taken aback by this. Do these problems lead to others such as time to first fix and also perhaps explain other problems that are reported with this unit?

I am beginning to suspect suspect that it may take more than a firmware fix to sort the Colorado out.

I run Memorymap and love it. As far as I am aware there is no way to properly use it on any Garmin. And at the moment a Colorado and Memorymap will not even communicate directly but is made so by a workround via mapsource. No other decent topo map as far as I am aware will communicate directly with the Colorado other than the Garmin version. I have used various Garmins over seven years. The Colorado to me is the most trying of them all for this and other reasons.

I may not have explained well. My 60csx gives me the correct time before getting a satellite lock. My Colorado does not do this but starts at the time I last switched it off! Also as I have posted the Colorado stop watch mode shows a 24 second gain over an hour. I am unsure just what effect this has on both gaining a lock and also on the position reported

It will be interesting to see what problems you pick as you use it more. I have a suspicion that there is something up with the internal clock that perhaps explains part of the problem. You can check this when you check the time before a satellite fix is obtained and also when you check the stopwatch-my stopwatch is out by about 9 mins a day or about 24secs an hour! I am no expert on this and am unsure of the full ramifications of this. Perhaps others can help?

I have had nearly three months experience with the Colorado and regardless of comments about "kicking butt" find myself less than impressed. There are issues with this particular GPS that suggests it has been launched too quickly. I have run a number of Garmin GPSs, First etrex yellow, then a vista followed by a 60cs and then a 60csx . The most satisfying buy has been the 60csx, the least the Colorado. I hope the firmware upgrades will eventually turn the Colorado into a better Geocaching tool than the 60 csx. Even with the ability to load geocaches onto the Colorado it is let down by other problems. I have noticed a lot of gung ho reports on the Colorado that really need a dash of objectivity. I personally suggest not buying at the moment until more firmware updates come out or at least if possible try before you buy.

Memorymap and the Colorado have the same issue unfortunately. I gather it is being worked on as we post.

"Have followed Satmap and others for some length of time. If you already have memory map you cant use it with satmap. Satmap also has a very losable rubber plug at the bottom so quickly loses its waterproofing. Satmap only give grid refs to eight places. It also wont accept other programmes such as cachemate onto it. Pros are armoured supposedly waterproof, good screen, long batterylife, good zoom function and maps on SD cards are OS maps and cards can be used in different satmaps. These maps are all about the same price as the memorymap equivelants I think with a little thought this could have been a dream geocaching device but unfortunately falls short on a number of fronts. Other devices are perhaps Roadangel and possibly the new Mios 360 and 560 but none quite make the cut for me. Suspect that Garmin may be waiting to produce something?" Update on the above- Have spoken to Satmap and can now add that the rubber seal at the bottom is a lot harder to lose as it is now attached. Unfortunately the battery life is NOT long. I also discussed the matter of readings to eight places and was told this was of little relevance-I personally do think it is relevant. Apparently an update has been brought out but am unsure as to what this comprises. I just wish somebody with some brains could bring memorymap and something like the 60CSX together. As for Garmin the 300 may just possibly be worthwhile in the future but am personally not overwhelmed with it at the moment. There do seem to be a number of very annoying firmware and software bugs, entering coordinates etc with the scrollwheel is lengthy and irritating and seems on mine at least to be slowly seizing up. There are also comments about just how waterproof this model is. Also there seem to be some number of faulty units out there. I do feel that this was rushed to market and do not like being treated as a beta tester for Garmin.

Have played with a number of different units over many yearsand now have a 300. Still prefer the 60CSX. Feel the 300 was launched early and suffers from lack of proper testing. Hopefully some time down the line (six months?) the firmware updates will turn the 300 into what it should have been from the start?

Have had hold of both and yes it is better in some ways but worse in others. Entering coordinates on the 300 takes forever with the scroll wheel. Think that the shortcomings with the 300 and 400 are down to a hasty release. Have used the 300 for over a month and still find myself missing many of the 60csx features. I really feel like a beta tester for this gps . I suspect there are both hardware and firmware problems that need sorting. I would suggest anybody wait for at least a few months to see whether or not this model is ever going to make the grade.

With all due respect I feel as does third degree witch that you wait some time before buying so that the glitches can be sorted.

Just to say I have the same problem with mine regardless of satellite reception or compass calibration. I have the newest upgrade already I also gather that there are two different chipsets in this model so an upgrade for one may well not correct problems for the other? As for the comment being rushed to market is an understatement. I feel as if I have been handed a gps for beta testing because that is what we are actually doing

I also have a Colorado and am not as yet mightily impressed. There are a number of most infuriating problems with this particular GPS that drive me up the wall. Hopefully some will be sorted in the near future? by firmware updates. To my mind Garmin are using buyers of this unit as beta testers. One thing that takes forever to do is entering anything by the scroll wheel. I understood very well just why the chap on the gadget show took so long to enter all the coordinates. As third degree witch says -dont bother at present and if in the future you wish to buy try first. I have looked at satmap and am quite impressed but the cost espescially if you have memorymap already is massive and quite prohibitive. I just wish somebody would marry up memory map to something like the Garmin 60csx. I am sure for many people this would be surefire winner.

Have followed Satmap and others for some length of time. If you already have memory map you cant use it with satmap. Satmap also has a very losable rubber plug at the bottom so quickly loses its waterproofing. Satmap only give grid refs to eight places. It also wont accept other programmes such as cachemate onto it. Pros are armoured supposedly waterproof, good screen, long batterylife, good zoom function and maps on SD cards are OS maps and cards can be used in different satmaps. These maps are all about the same price as the memorymap equivelants I think with a little thought this could have been a dream geocaching device but unfortunately falls short on a number of fronts. Other devices are perhaps Roadangel and possibly the new Mios 360 and 560 but none quite make the cut for me. Suspect that Garmin may be waiting to produce something?

Long time no see Alex but hope to see you there. And perhaps other people who remember Mark "The Cat".

Have used a garmin 60csx and topo map for some time. Topo is now available for about £70. Topo is not a patch on memory map and in my area misses lots of features. The fact that topo has suddenly halved in price suggests that garmin are about to produce a new gps that can run the equivelant of memory map perhaps with their own chip? There is competition coming onto the market in the way of a device called "satmap" which runs the equivelant of memory map and could become a very strong competitor from information I have recieved.

Seems OK for me too, sorry to be of no real help

Great to see this, great meeting and good outcome. , but those doggies can leave a mess in strange places